sal669

Wery good advice from all of you guys. I'd like to add some of my observations: 1-brand and type of line used (how much strech?)is important. 2- distance between the REEL and the fish at the moment of the bite. By this I meen how much line do you have between hook and reel. Some of you will say: "what does it matter?". Well, i think it matters a lot. Some fishing lines strech pretty much, even over 10%. Now, if you cast out a bait at 60-70 ft and you have a bite on the drop, and you hold the rod at say 45 degree angle , when setting the hook the tip of your rod will move about 5-6 feet, maybe a bit more. If the line beeing used has a 10% strech, your line will strech about 6-7ft on the hookset, that's MORE than the distance your rod tip is traveling. In this case the hook will barely penetrate the skin in the fishes' mouth, without penetrating the bones. The strech of the line is "progressive": more pressure , more strech. 3-Lenght of rod, power and action is VERY important. The farther away we fish (longer cast) the longer the rod should be( 7ft, or even more). We shoud use the most powerfull rods that will handle the bait (step up to MH, insted of medium). The faster the action the better for fishing soft plastics (in tis case), and a lot of other baits: go for X-fast or fast; mod fast is not so good! Hope it helps,Alex

Well said ! Lots of wisdom....

Fished for about 30 years with spinning reels only. Than I bought my first BC combo; the reel was a RH. Used it for about half hour and never touched it again. It felt terribely wrong .After 2 years I had a chance to fish with a friend's BC that was an LH. Now this felt ok. Went out and bought a lefty reel ( Daiwa TD-S) , it feels natural and I think I should've started using BCs earlier. This was about 10 years ago, and my first TD-S is still going strong.

Thanx for the input guys

If you would have to change all your reels or just buy some new ones , what gear ratio would you go for: 6.x:1(regular speed) or 7.x:1(high speed) ? I'm thinking about fishing plastics( T-rigs,Crigs, weightless,aso),jigs , spinnerbaits, top water, etc. Excluding the reels for crankbaiting ! Would you buy both kind of gearing, depending on the techique or bait you are using ?

Not to many things. Just 2 Zillions. ;D :

Check this out ! http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1141187546

Before you "pull the triger" go to a tackle store and play a little with a right hand and a left hand model (mounted on a rod) to determine wich hand you want to crank with. The typical baitcaster is right handed (you crank with your right hand while you hod the rod in your left hand). If you fished a lot with spinning reels you might find the a left hand reel is wat you preffer.That would be me. The disadvantage is that not all reel models come in LH. Would be nice to find a "coach"/ fishing buddy to show you the ropes. Besides this, you got some good advice allready. Before you get out on the water, practice in your backyard. You don't want to spend a good fishing day "fixin'" bird nests. Good luck, Alex

I am using Tectan Premium for a couple of years and I love it. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0030000119135a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=tectan&sort=all&Go.y=10&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&Go.x=12&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

Plastics rod. I would go with RW-s suggestion :Avid AVC68MXF. I own the spinning version, AVS68MXF .Most sensitive rod I owned and fished with. The AVC68 has the same taper blanc (action).

Great set-up. I own 2 Compre cranking rods(7ft M and MH power) and I absolutely love them. I use 10# line on the M and 12# on the MH. I'm not catching monsters here in MI. Go get them !!!

I wish Daiwa would make a BC reel "line" like the 153HSTL, in 5:1, 6:1 and 7:1 gearing in both RH and LH, in the same price range. : I would sell all my reels and get the same reel (different gears) for all the rods. Anybody from Daiwa reading this post ?????

"Paralysis of analysis"= You have to much info and you are affraid to make a mistake. You can't make a "life treatening mistake" by using a rod you allready have for a new technique. Gonna have to give it a try ! Of course it would work.

The Avid AVS68MXF is the most sensitive spinning rod I ever fished. I was actualy looking to buy a 7 footer MF (I like longer rods) but a guy shopping at BPS advised me to go for the 68MXF for the same kind of fishing you plan to do (sencos, light t-rigs, light jigs, tubes...). Boy am I happy I listened to him ! For a Stardic, I'd look into the Shimano Crucial line of rods. Geat rods for the money! And Gander Mountain carries them. I would also suggest Fenwick HMG or Techna AV: you could get a good deal on Amazon , if you have patience and check regularly. And yes, Daiwa and Shimano don't go together in my opinion.

I start with about 6-8ft and keep cutting and retying until it shortens to about 2-3ft. I don't want the knot on the reel when I'm casting.

At the time they came on the market they were top noch reels. Their drag is awsome, it's difficult to break because of it's simple engineering. Over all a solid reel. On the other hand, technologicaly, they can't compare with today's reels (if I remember corectly they don't even have infinite anti-revers). Daiwa still makes money on it...

If you donate it to a charity, you could get a tax deduction... :-?

DAIWA. Although I have and keep buying other brands, most of my reels are Daiwa.

MHO : 20lb braid with 4-8 ft of 10-15# fluoro. Except one Symetre, all my other "big fish" reels (not the trout, panfish) are Daiwa's for the "bigger diameter" reason. Tight lines

Fenwick would be my choice.

I'm with Spotaholic...

Thanks for the "Heads-up".

x100 take it back try the same reel brand if the next one does that get...... a garcia or shimano ...Or a DAIWA...?

Interestingly, none of you guys emphasyses the importance of ROD ACTION as decisive factor in how sensitive a rod actualy is. The Faster the action, the more sensitive the rod becomes ; power and all components being the same. For example : a med power rod with an extra fast taper/action will be more sensitive than a med power rod built on a moderate taper/action rod (both made of the same composition/graphite with the same handles and guides. Two rods with the same action should have the same degree of sensitivity (or very close). It is difficult to manufacture large quantities of perfectly identical rod blanks. The high end rods come very close, but of course at a higher price tag. If you compare a couple of identicaly rated rods in the low or mid price range you will notice slight differences between them as to how much will they bend into the blank under a certain ammount of presure. My opinion is that a med power rod can be as sensitive as a MH power rod if they have the same action, and a med power rod with an extra-fast actio will be way more sensitive than a med-heavy with a parabolic action. Just my $.02

Hi class job, Eddie ! Congrats to the builder and the owner !!! Now go out and catch some...