LionHeart

Medium heavy, mod-fast rod in the upper 6 foot to lower 7 foot range. 1/4 to 1 oz lure rating. If you really want a bait casting reel, you don't have to get the most expensive, but definitely don't get a sub $100 reel. Buying a lower end reel for your for first bait caster will likely do more harm than good. Lews Tournament MB ( great reel for the $) or heck, the Diawa Tatula CT gets a lot of praise here. Try one of those in a 7 speed. As for line, I think most would recommend 10-12 lb flouro. Seagur Red Label is pretty decent, but personally I don't care for flouro. 50 lb Power Pro braid would be my choice. And I have been using 20 lb mono leader with good results.

Huh?

Not sure I would put it like that. Mag breaks are always trying to slow your spool down through every part of the cast, while centrifugal engage the most at the higher spool RPM, which is at the beginning of your cast.

They both work differently. Centrifugal works by engaging more as your spool spins faster while mag brakes slow your spool all the time. I like having both, but spool control knob can carry the weight of mag brakes 'more or less'. Casting into the wind with a spinner bait can be tough regardless. I find that is when I need to turn both breaks up and really pay attention to thumb control. Even then, I will back lash a fair amount casting non aerodynamic lures into the wind. That's when it can be a breath of fresh air to just grab a spinning rod and cast hard directly into the wind and not care.

Have 3 Lews Tournament MB reels and they are excellent. You can get them from Sportsman Outfitters for $109. With all the love on the Tatula CT, I plan to get one on my next setup. IMO a 7 speed (31 inch per turn) can do most things well.

Will work great for spinner baits and chatter baits.

I can't help but feel like you're over reacting. At least I hope so. Would be a real shame if I killed this fish just to get a picture. Will seriously look into this and act accordingly.

Thanks for all the advice guys. From now on, I will at the very least get measurements if I don't have a scale. Argh, I think I can say this is my PB, but I'll never know for sure what it weighs. Kinda painful.

Tom you are full of helpful tips. Thanks

Interesting. Thanks. From the trigger of this rod, to the butt is 10 inches. Based on that, I'd say a 20 inch fish. When you say girth, does that mean circumference?

Hey guys, I caught this'n walking the bank so I didn't have any scales. You guys think calling it 5 lbs. is safe? Or over excited?

IMO, the length of rod you can easily pitch with is determined by how far you are off the ground/water. A nine foot rod could be pitched easy enough I guess if you are standing a couple feet off the surface, but if standing flat on the bank, pitching a 9 ft rod would be a dubious proposition at best.

Bb1 is known for being a very good all around reel. Personally I think 28 inch per turn is perfect for all crankbaits

Check the inch per turn on both reels on lews web site. They both have the same line recovery of 28 inches per handle turn. So they are both identical in speed. Difference in torque? It would be undetectable.

I too had a bit of difficulty at first. Two pieces of advice, well, three. First, your thumb is key. Matter of fact, while learning, 90 percent of your attention should go to thumb control. Really emphasize the amount of thumb pressure you apply to the spool during the initial part of the pitch. After only a few hours of practice, your thumb will get the hang of it. Second, don't try to look just like the guy on the YouTube video. IMO, everyone will have a slightly different technique for pitching. You will learn yours. After all, you're basically just trying to pendulum lob your bait to somewhere accurately and quietly. It really is that simple. Third, start with a shorter amount of line out. While holding your bait, it should be almost, but not quite even with your reel. I've also found that unless you are standing on something fairly tall, a longer rod makes pitching more difficult. Also, don't go for distance just yet. Go for thumb control. That's it. The distance will come later as you developed your technique. Okay, that was more than 3 things, but I kept thinking of stuff. Hope it helped.

50 lb. braid with mono or flouro leader. I don't believe in over kill.

Should be easy fix if you can get the replacement part. I'd call Quantum with the model number of your reel and order the part from them or just get the part number from them and order the part on ebay. There is really only a small number of things that could be wrong and any of them should be cheap and quick to replace.

Just me, but I'd wait for warmer weather. No fun standing around being cold just to not catch any fish and get discouraged. Been there, done that. Once the water warms up and the fish are biting, get out there and have fun.

Stick with braid. In my experience, it casts further, and is much easier to handle. It gives better hook setting authority, better strength and sensitivity. I use braid or braid to leader on everything for these reasons. Give me a spool of Power Pro or J Braid and I'm happy.

Sorry to hear about the reel dude. I think a refund is best. It would have likely bugged you. IMO, you shouldn't let this turn you off from EBay. A bad shopping experience it's bound to happen if you buy enough stuff (from just about any seller)

I have a Lews David Fritts Perfect 9 ft rod. It is Med heavy/ Moderate fast, and great for launching a 10 XD. I bought it last summer and found that I don't enjoy throwing mega crankbaits as much as I thought I would. I'll sell it for $60 plus shipping if you're interested. Other than a few scratches, it is in great condition, and only been taken out 5-6 trips. Also, if you want pictures just let me know.

Silly question, but what is a TN handle? I googled it and saw pictures of reels that look like they are attatched with electrical tape.

A fan of the FG knot here. I think where most people get it wrong is the step when you add tension just before you finish it off with the square knots. You have to pull hard, really really hard. I tie off my leader to a heavy object, and then wrap the braid around a screwdriver handle and give a solid pull. None of the videos I've watched about this knot take it to this level and in my opinion it is absolutely critical to the strength of the knot. I have absolute confidence in the strength of the FG, and use the same knot for 4-5 fishing trips( minimum) before I retie.

I used to be paranoid about EBay, but have really come around. I have ordered 3 reels from Sportsman Outfitters via EBay and had a great experience every time. They almost always have the best prices.

Lots of rods. I use less than half the tackle I have, and hate stopping to re-tie just to change lures, then regret changing lures and re-tie the original lure back on.