Tmmytomato

Lots of very good copolymers to choose from. I have used over a dozen. Satisfied with Sufix ProMix, Berkeley Trilene, Yozuri Hybrid, P-Line FluoroCLear and Sunline. Prefered P-Line till I started using SufixProMix and have been very happy with the Sufix. I doubt you'll be disappointed with any of the major label products. I have three dozen baitcasters with a few different brands (many with braid and fluoro also) and use the copolymer - usually Sufix, or Trilene for topwaters and when wanting to keep a bait shallow with the line's floating characteristics.

I have about ten Crucials - most of them are five to six years old and two newer versions. I have had no issues with any of them that are six years or newer. There was a certain model (drop shot baitcasting rod) that had a weak point about eight years ago which Shimano honored under their old lifetime warranty. All the rest have been excellent. I also have some Cumara, Exprides and Zodias. I haven't yet fished enough of the Zodias but I really like that rod so far. Many manufacturer's actions are different meaning a Medium with a fast tip on one brand might be very different from the same rod in the same length and action of another brand. As I said I like the Shimano Zodias so far. I have had older versions of the St. Croix Avid which is an outstanding rod. I was never a fan of their Premier rod series that was one step down from the Avid. Have had some of the guys in my bass club that have been somewhat unhappy with the Abu Garcia line with above average breakage. Everyone seems to have their favorites. Some people defend a brand just because that's what they bought without much comparison to other brands. I have probably owned well over two dozen different brands of rods in the last forty years and have been very happy with a number of them. Some company's quality changes from time to time too. Try using some of your friends gear for a day or two and get what feels best for you regardless of brand name. I know what i am happy with.

I know the question was NOT "what is the difference" - you already knew that. I use both round bend and a sproat-type and like both. Skeet Reese says he loses way fewer fish with sproat-type hook so I would defer to his expertise.

Might want to try the relatively new Livingston Walking Boss. I had pretty good success with it this last summer. Looks like a jointed Spook with a Jitterbug paddle lip and feathered rear treble. Worked very well for me - and it needs no special tricks to fish it - just do a very slow steady reel with an occasional stop if you want.

If you decide to use braid make sure you don't crank the drag down as tight as possible. A big problem with many first time braid users is they don't realize that braid has zero stretch and breaking the rod is a definite possibility when the drag is set too high. I would take the suggestion of Primetime (above). I would use a sensibly priced copolymer for starters and see what you are comfortable and happy with. We all have our favorites and suggestions will be all over the place. P-Line, Berkeley, Sufix ProMix, Yo-Zuri - all very good lines.

I too have way more trailers of nearly every manufacturer. Too add to the mess I'll mention the Xcite Raptortail Chunk as an excellent compact trailer that stands up.

I really dislike being a grammar Nazi but I will be here. Why are people too lazy to know the difference between two, too and to? You say your son knows "to" much? What does that mean? Does that mean he knows two much or too much or to much? Two is the number that follows one and precedes three. Too as in excessive - he knows too much (think double "o" as in excessive - more than one "o"). And to as in "he's going to the lake". Easy - don't be lazy.

I have a couple Metaniums I bought from Japan a few years ago before they were available to the US market. Outstanding reels. So I bought three more when they were available in the US market. You can go on line and buy direct from Japan and save a bunch of money and shipping isn't much at all.

I added split rings to my Jitterbugs to get more free swinging hooks for less leverage by the fish to throw the bait. And this past year I had very good success with the Livingston Walking Boss. It has very good hooks, a Jitterbug type clear plastic lip and an elongated jointed body. Using just a slow steady retrieve the lure will wobble like the Jitterbug but with better hooks and hook hangers and better action - in my opinion.

I have 15# Seaguar InVisX on one and no problem whatsoever. Two other Metaniums have 12# and yet another with 40# braid. I haven't gone heavier with either Fluoro, mono or braid.

Don't get caught up in the number of bearings in a reel. There are some lower quality reels that boast a rather high number of bearings but after a year or less of regular use they get noisy and sometimes even crunchy feeling. Some of the very best reels I own have less than ten bearings and one with 5 total bearings but one of the smoothest I have ever owned is a Shimano Calcutta. Granted it's a more pricey reel. But the quality is in the bearings themselves, not the number but the hardness and roundness of the bearing. I have owned in the neighborhood of a hundred fifty baitcasters and the best reels have the best qualaity bearings, not necessarily the most bearings. I have added Boca Bearings to less pricey reels and made them very smooth to fish with for days.

Pretty good summary of the newest fishing shows. I think Mercer can be entertaiining but he and Fish Fishburn try too hard to be "cute" sometimes. I am sooo tired of Mercer on the Bassmasters and his "Boom Shacka Lacka" - very annoying. I like MLF and Zona easily as much as any shows.

Most baitcasting reels are not left handed. Although most are right handed (handle on right side) there has been a huge upsurge in requests for left handed reels, especially in the mid to upper range of reels. I pro staff for a very large sporting goods outlet and we have a lot of requests for lefty reels. Quite often there are not nearly enough lefties in stock although many more righties are sold. I used to reel right handed and although I can cast with either hand my accuracy was far better casting right handed and then switching. But two reasons caused me to change to all left handed baitcasters: my right elbow pained me beyond use from ligament damage over the years and secondly, I lost two very large fish trying to switch hands after pitching under very low overhanging branches where I can to keep my hand on the reel longer than normal. Both fish were in extremely shallow water and I could not switch and turn the handle to lock the spool fast enough. The other fact is that most spinning reels are shipped/set up with the handle on the left and most people have no issue casting with the right and then naturally reeling with the left. I have to laugh when I hear people who readily fish with a left handed spinning reel say they can't reel a left handed baitcaster because it feels so unnatural - what??

A fellow bass club member suggested using it in my outboard after he had many months of success using it. Sea Foam did wonders in stopping the little bit of smoking I and others in my club had at initial start up. I have to recommend it. I have about a dozen bottles of it with one always in the boat for the next gas fill up. I also use Star Tron and Bio-Bor to offset the damaging effects of ethanol.

I placed an order with them late last week and got it yesterday. I'm in the Denver, Colorado area and they are in Cali. - not right next door but not all the way across the country either.

Like many other posters here, I have a handful of brand name lipless cranks. The SPRO Aruku Shad does something many others don't and that is stand up when sitting still on the bottom, looking more natural. A Sebile Flatt Shad has worked wonders a few times when others didn't. Same can be said about One Knockers, and the benchmark Rat-L-Trap has certainly outfished a Cordell Spot. I doubt there is a single "best" answer. You might do what so many of us do and that is try various brands, colors and sizes because one will certainly outshine another on any given day.

BizzBaits makes a g-r-e-a-t stick worm that has easily as much action as a Senko and lasts longer and is considerably cheaper - but I do have over one hundred bags of Senkos.

I think many of these shows are filmed seasonally and there is lag time between releasing the new episodes. I get a lot of shows on WFN through Dish Network.

In addition to various brands of braid you might consider the reel you have it on. Older reels don't seem to have as quick a back and forth line overlap when reeling and will definitely cause more line digging into itself. And a faster ratio reel will cross wind the line more effectively too. I have been impressed with a few braids, namely Power Pro Super Slick 8, Sufix 832 and Tuff Line XP. I have used Sufix 832 in line weights from 6# to 65# and been very happy with it. It is pricier than the other two lines and it is one of the very few sinking braids. I like Power Pro 8 for top water and frogging in 40# to 65# and shallow jigging, and Tuff Line in 30# for pitching Jackall Cover Craws. I use the 30# because it is plenty strong and smaller diameter and allows the Cover Craw to slide backwards into the cover as it's designed to do with very little line resistance. I have the least overrun (backlash) issues with 832 and Sufix Super 8. You will get them occasionally regardless. I'm sure there are other very good braids also but it gets very pricey when you start buying multiple spools and brands of braid. Previously I had used Stealth and been pretty happy with it. I was never a fan of regular Spider Wire.

Those were pretty good reels and very durable too. I see no reason why you couldn't get a few years out of it although you will get some handle backslap when setting the hook. But that's what we had on all reels at the time.

Years ago all we had available were 4.7:1 reels and throwing buzzbaits when they first came out was an extremely tiring proposition, but then I was in my twenties. I am now in my upper sixties and now have reels from 5.0:1 to 8.5:1 and they each have their purpose. For a single all around ratio I would pick a 6.4:1 or something very close to that speed. That was considered a very high speed reel not too long ago and will fit the bill for all around use. Whether fishing square bills, worms, jigs, rattle traps or any soft plastic you'll be in the ballpark with that speed.

I was very disappointed to see Rapala drop the Trigger-X Agression series baits for bass and walleye. I have had very good success with with bass with the craw in Muck color. And the Trigger-X pheromone spray has been a go-to for me on many other soft plastic baits as well. When I found out the Trigger-X line was being discontinued I bought what I could find both in the Flappin Craw and the Slop Hopper and the spray (only have three bottles left of spray and maybe a dozen bags of Flappin Craw). I didn't use a lot of the other Trigger-X baits so I really have no opinion on them but I will miss the pheromone infused Flappin Craw when I finally run out.

I have a couple of the newer Calcutta "B" series and they are 5.7:1. That's a great speed for many crankbaits, especially the larger deep divers.

Try to watch the videos and shows that aren't just a half hour infomercial type thing. Most of the TV guys are actually selling their sponsors products but you can also find informative shows and videos that actually give solid suggestions on HOW to fish a certain type of bait. The most important thing is to be observant of guys who tend to be consistent in catching fish. I'd try to find the videos that are more "how to" like things offered by BASS and Lindner's Angling Edge. These shows will show preferences for certain sponsored baits but will usually give a "why, where and how to" for being more efficient. Also, understand that 90% of the fish live in about 10% of the lake or stream so try to learn patterns. If you have a boat a good starting point on most bodies of water is a point and either side of the point, preferably with deeper water close by. And look for transition areas - those places where the bank and bottom makeup change: a gravel bank that butts up to a larger chunk rock bank, a flat with grass where you can find definite edges where the weeds stop and start. Always look for edges and transition areas. And good luck - it'll come - sometimes in flurries and sometimes with a lot of boredom in between.

Dana, there are a lot of very good tips already posted here. Fluorocarbon is less visible so that's a consideration. It's long been said that bass that swipe or short strike can sometimes be caught with a color change of the bait. As far as wacky rigging Senkos I have found one hook that has been much more productive for me and that is a Gamakatsu Octopus Circle hook in sizes #2 & #4. What you probably know with this hook is to simply reel up after you feel pressure but do not jerk on it. It almost always catches the fish in the corner of the mouth and rarely does this hook get thrown. You're already doing the trailer hook on spinnerbaits. You might try a Mustad KVD Elite Ultra Point treble on your crankbaits with a slightly bent inward point - my fish stay buttoned better than with a rounded treble. The only other thing I can add for now is to keep your rod tip low while reeling after the fish is hooked. A low rod attitude tends to keep the fish in the water and less likely to jump. I hope the guys who have posted here can help you out with some good suggestions.