LionHeart

Best advice I can give other than always keep a tiny bit of your thumb on the spool is, do not go for distance. Go for a smooth cast. What I mean is, don't whip the rod forward, smoothly cast it forward. Also, don't start with spinner baits. It would actually do you well to start with a 1/4 ounce sinker and a decent sized Texas rig. This is light enough to teach you thumb control but aerodynamic enough to not lead to frustration.

Ya know I was afraid it would affect sensitivity because it just seems like it would but honestly I haven't detected any difference. Then again, most of my hand is grabbing the reel or touching the blank during the retrieve, so that may have something to do with it.

I did not use the Winn Grip tape. What I have is an actual grip that is installed after removal of your original factory grip. I ordered mine from mudhole.com.

I have Winn Grips on 2 of my rods, one of which I paid to have them installed. Love it! There are videos online that show how to install it yourself but I didn't want to risk messing it up. I think it cost about $40 to have them installed but surely it could be done for cheaper. No regrets whatsoever.

Good question but not a simple answer. Every company rates their rods a little differently. One company's medium heavy may feel like another company's medium. Believe it or not, the best way to tell would be to physically examine the rod and decide for yourself. The Falcon rod in my opinion is half way between medium and medium heavy. Perfect. If you have a store that sells it within an hour and a half, go handle it for yourself. Buying a rod with the right action and power is well worth a bit of a drive IMO.

If you get a chance to handle a Falcon Bucoo SR, they have a medium heavy rated 3/16-5/8 ounce. If I wasn't afraid of my wife, I'd get that exact rod for light plastics. To me, it feels like it was made for that purpose.

I use a Cabellas ZX Spinner Bait model as a sort of all purpose rod. It's actually a decent stick and pretty dang sensitive. If I had to nit pick it, I'm not crazy about a white fishing rod and the guides seem a bit cheap. Never had a problem out of them, but agggh, I dunno. I will tell you this, that model is rated 1/4 - 5/8 ounce, but I have thrown nearly an ounce on it, and it handled that with ease. It would do great with a half ounce jig plus trailer.

I truly don't know if it matters but even if I miss a single bite because a fish is line shy or whatever you want to call it, that is too many. I have mastered too many other ways to spook fish to even consider not using a leader.

Some day I will order a custom ALX Zolo rod for bottom contact stuff which will hopefully be well under $300. Every other rod and reel I own retails for $150ish, and I like it that way. $1000 for a used rod? No thanks, I got bills.

Looks pretty good except I prefer MH rod and fairly fast reel for Texas Rigs. Basically swap you lipless to your Texas setup, and your Texas to your lipless setup and you're pretty much dialed.

I don't own either of these but have experience with them both. If I were new to baitcasters, and looking for a decent setup that would take me far, I'd get a Dobyns Fury 734C for the rod, and a Daiwa Tatula (or Fuego) reel in 6 or 7 gear ratio (around 30ish inch per turn retrieve speed). Pretty tough to beat for a first set up. There are quite a few other brands but if you have a store that sells the fury close by, go handle it in person. A rod with a similar stoutness and bend would be very versatile IMO. I was also pretty impressed with the braking on those Diawas.

Really wanted to get into Texas rigged plastics this year. Been having quite a good run with Mann's Jelly Worms and lizards. I think I'm most pleased that I'm learning to feel the bottom with lighter weights and really slowing down my retrieve. Wasn't a part of any plan, but I also have become a believer in swimming a jig. Never knew how effective that could be. The size of my fish seems to be down a bit, but the number of catches is off to a great start, and for now, I'm happy with it.

Just my experience but I have had some pretty tough days on my local lake. I keep going back because it is so close to my house. It can definitely get discouraging if you have a string of unproductive trips to the same place. There is a pond near my work that I fish on lunch breaks some times and can dependably catch at least one fish per trip. This helps tremendously as far as confidence goes. Give the new spot a try. It may be even worse, but it could be a great spot. As far as fishing a popper goes, I typically try to give it an erratic set of pops/twitches, then pause for 3-4 seconds. 5-6 twitches, pause, 2-3 twitches, pause, 6-7 pops, pause, so on and so forth. One of my favorite lures.

No Sir, it's the 'other way round.' The faster the action, the closer to the tip is where the rod stops bending. With a treble hook popper, I want bend. Maybe what I said earlier didn't come out the way I meant it to or maybe we are both saying the same thing in different ways( it's early). Either way, I'd use fast for poppers, but they are almost the same action.

IMO fast and x-fast are very similar. Since you're talking medium power rods I assume you'll be using poppers and such. If that's the case I'd go with the fast. I like a little bend to the tip with treble hook lures. The x-fast would be good for light worms and plastics I reckon. Congrats on the good deal.

If replacing the level wind is all that's required to fix it, absolutely fix it. Since there is a fair chance that's all that's needed it is definitely worth a shot. YouTube baitcaster level wind, better yet Tacklejunky81 has a couple of really good videos on taking apart and servicing reels. I highly recommend you check them out. If properly cared for, a decent baitcaster should last for many years, but like anything else, parts wear out/break. 4 years is a fair life from a hundred dollar reel but if it were an easy fix, no reason to abandon it.

Dude, everybody's family is different but if you are married with kids and get to golf and fish in the same day, I should be asking you for advice.

I had a 10 ft Jon at one time. Loved it. I used to strap it to the roof rack of my Grand Cherokee. It looked absurd, but I cared not. Trailers ain't cheap, but if you absolutely must, patiently scour for a decent/serviceble used one for sale. Just a tip, don't kid yourself into thinking the tires are better than they are. If the trailer tires don't look to be in good shape, plan to replace them sooner than later and use that as a bargaining chip to negotiate price.

Dude trust me, no matter what, get a spare plug and a decent paddle.

Never lie to my wife, and I expect the same from her. There are no white lies, just lies.

I think I can understand why some people don't get into fishing by thinking about the reasons I personally enjoy it so much. The biggest draw for me is the solitude. There's nothing like being away from everyone and everything for hours. Don't get me wrong, if someone asks to go with me, I happily take them and we usually have a blast, but not in the same way as when I get to go alone. Just a different experience all together. The next, and most obvious is actually catching fish. To me, the excitement of this is amplified by the countless hours I've spent not catching diddily squat (at which I am an expert). All the things that go through my head once a bass hammers a lure... how big is this sucker? is this fish gonna stay pinned? Am I gonna get wrapped up again? etc. Very exciting. If it weren't for the catching fish part, I'd find another hobby. Absolutely not one who can enjoy a day on the water just as much even if I don't catch anything. The patience it requires... my least and most favorite part. Slowly dragging a lure across a rocky bottom over and over and over can be painful, but like the saying goes, it definitely builds character. I think a lot of people simply don't find reward in any of those things mentioned. They like to be around people all the time, can't stand the quite, and have little patience. Frankly, I cannot begin to wrap my head around how so many people can spend hours on facebook, staring at their phone to see what another person had for dinner, what alcoholic beverage they are drinking, or how many of each exercise they did at cross fit. To me, all those things are meaningless but it sure is a popular activity. I suppose those people feel about fishing, the same way I feel about social media (there is simply no reward in it).

In my opinion, at least with Lews TP 1 and Custom Lite models is that they are a bit a stouter than what I would expect from their listed ratings. I own a Tatula Heavy, and to me it feels like what a heavy should be. I own a Tatula Med, Heavy and I'd say it feels about right if not on the slightly, slightly a stouter end of a medium heavy.

If you want a medium heavy rod with some tip, get a heavy power dobyns.

There are plenty of rods that can nearly do every technique fairly well. Dobyns Fury 734 for example. No, I would not want to throw a 10xd or tiny finess worm on it, but just about everything in between. IMO, manufacturers label their rods with techiques because they know what suckers many of us are for buying new gear. The conspiracy theorist in me sometimes thinks the same applies to the lure ratings they put on rods as well.

Sorry man, I decided I Can't part with it.