Westcoast

Love myself a small profile finesse jig. Small trailers would be net bait tiny paca craw, a x- zone adrenaline bug jr, definitely the twin tailed grub, sometime a single tail grub, a baby menace or a reaction innovations baby beaver. The list goes on and on but number one is the baby or tiny paca craw.

I have a full box of siebert outdoors jigs. I really like the smaller jigs with the finesse cut skirt for trailers , I mix it up with a small craw, beaver, or double tailed grub depending on how much action I want.

I’m the same. I bought into the bright colours for smallmouth. But I always go back to naturals. Watched a couple things where they swore on yellows/chartreuse but when I threw them, I think the fish just laughed and swam away.

I would think that inserting a tube and leaving it free sliding above a weed less wacky hook or octopus style hook would be a good method of rigging . That way it slides up the line away from the fish avoiding loss and damage. You could put a bobber stop above and below so it doesn’t separate itself from the hook too much.

I fish a bunch of 15# on bait casting. The best I’ve found in my opinion is the daiwa alpha platform. They have tons of spool options out there so you can make your reel as specific as you’d like.

If you were bass fishing, I’d say no. But for what you’re doing, it’s the right rod. Has good power to set the hooks home and a strong butt section to horse them in when you need to.

For what you are describing 3/16 oz Texas rigged plastics would be a 2 power or 3 power loomis rod. If you are always in that 3/16th range I’d go with the two power. I like the longer length of an 892jwr for casting distance and the amount of line you can move on the hookset. I do fish an 802 on occasion but I use that for close quarters where I’m pitching into defined pockets around structure. The 893 fishes almost the same but with just that bit more strength for casting heavier baits or when you need the power to push a thicker hook through the plastic and into the fish. As for models pick your price. For the best, go with the nrx+. It’s lighter, has greater sensitivity and a bit quicker recovery on the blank. But I do have the 892jwr in the series one of the imx-pro and I love that one too.

The best casting reel for distanceand accuracy is still the reel with no brakes or electronics. The more brakes or the more active anti backlash devices that are active will always shorten your cast distance. Best thing is to train your thumb to be the best brakes out there. Your thumb knows exactly what you are trying to accomplish with every cast. That said there will always be backlashes, just part of the fun.

Dont get too obsessed with weight or balance. It may feel nice to balance it on your finger at home but on the water there are so many variables that you’ll never notice. With that i tend to like a lighter reel for an overall lighter set up. With smallmouth a heavy duty saltwater drag is not essential either so any middle of the road reel will suffice. But for me I do like a quality reel. A well made reel will last forever and hold value. I tend to like Ross reels and abel reels but can be pricy. May find a Ross animas in your price range which is an excellent reel for any purpose. Lots of guys like the lamsons, the danielsons, even orvis reels are good now days. So many to choose from so my advice would be to pick a known brand thats been around for a while, that is in your price range and you like the looks of. And bobs your uncle.

My jerkbaits rod’s all have braid to leader on them. 20# braid to 10# flouro leader. But like you if I’m trying to save space. I would either just swap leaders from flouro to mono. Or just load reel with #10 maxima ultra green and be done with it.

A 5/6 for smalls in a creek is great. Smallmouth in the streams fish just like trout a lot of the time. You can nymph stone flies, hellgrammites, craws and any generic nymph patterns. You can fish them under a bobber just like nymphing for trout too. The other way is to cast and strip streamers. You may not be able to throw the huge patterns but that doesn’t really matter most time. Try casting and stripping black or brown or olive or yellow or white or any combination of woolly buggers or leechy type flies and you’ll be set. Next ones are surface patterns, like trout again, you can match the hatch if you have hatches of stones or mays or caddis that the fish key on. Another thing is terrestrials like any insects that may fall in the water, hoppers are great, Beatles, frogs, mice and poppers are all good to try. Don’t over think it , take what you have and go fish. You don’t need specialized anything to start with.

I too can’t see the dark green braid at all. Most of my reels have switched to the yellow. I always fish a leader but will darken some of the braid with a black sharpie as well. Just gives me more confidence that the yellow is out of the fishes cone of view.

I went with the 2024 twin power 2500. It feels great in the hand and is smooth as ever. Can’t go wrong. Buy from Japan and price is great too.

I’ve tried them all as I like mono for my salmon and steelhead ,and bass. I’ve always wanted a line with the least stretch and greatest durability. Hands down I alway go back to maxima ultra green from 4# on bass dropshot to 40# on heavy chinook leaders, it never fails.

I find electrical tape works fine too. In fact , pretty much any tape works.