Heartland

I have 25-30 setups that I rotate through depending on what and where I am fishing. Are they all necessary, no. I can tell what kind of day I am typically going to have by the number of rods I have on the deck, more than 5 generally equals a long day. A MH/F a M/F casting and ML/XF spinning rod will cover a bunch of stuff.

5" senko, 1/2oz jig with trailer, t-rigged creature bait - catching a lot of nice fish between 2.5 and 3.5 lbs.

walleye, crappie, and big bluegill. Of the catfish variety I prefer blue cat.

MH/F for me

I can't believe anyone pays 15-20 dollars for a vibrating jig in the first place. The marketing power behind this one deserves an A+.

Save yourself the trouble and the money of pouring a jig head that is already mass produced. Just buy the unpainted heads from Boss. You can then make them your own by choosing your powder paint, skirt colors, brush guards, eyes and how you tie them.

I prefer the Jackal Iobee frog. Great hookup ratio, and walks like a champ.

It's just a number, keep living your life and enjoying it, that is what we are suppose to do. Throw away the rule book and enjoy being and feeling young while you can, and who knows one day you may be lucky enough to be considered an old fart.

I use the same reels that I have owned for the last 10-12 years. 5.4:1 gear ratio, won the editor's choice at another very popular fishing related site.

3/8th of an oz is right in the wheelhouse of most modern day bass fishing equipment barring the rigs for especially heavy or light baits. If you are having trouble casting a weightless 5 inch senko, you still have work to do on the education of your thumb. Good news is that it is inexpensive, just cost you a little bit of your time.

I have fished a lot of different brands of FC line. None of it was enjoyable to fish so I always felt like I was looking for the most tolerable. FC was replaced with other main lines and used as leader material, once it was used I never looked back. I have yet to find a reason to spool any of my setups with FC. Of all the the FC lines that I did fish I would say that TATSU was the most tolerable, but certainly not without its issues. FC has a long ways to go before it will ever be spooled as a mainline on my setups.

Love to catch them bigger but a 3lb fish is always nice.....

Hard to beat a Pflueger spinning reel for under a hundred in my experience.

This is a great example of a First Order Lever, and accurately describes/portrays how a first order lever operates. Problem is this does not apply to a fishing reel handle, where is your fulcrum? If you want to understand how leverage works on a fishing reel handle take a minute of two to study a second order lever and how it applies its mechanical advantage, think wheelbarrow.

Cool, put a name to the mechanical advantage that is gained by increasing the distance from the pivot point while applying force and I think we will be there.

The extension of the handle is not accurately described as torque, as torque is a rotational force, the extended length of the handle allows you to provide more torque to the shaft by increasing and using the advantage of leverage.

Leverage yes, torque no.

An 8' rod with 65lb braid and and 20lb leader to fish a senko on a 100 yard stretch in a pond with two small patches of grass. Interesting choices.

Why?

Finally something new to talk about....

moderate action rods, longer distances and large single hooks is a recipe for failure.

Go ask Alice.....

I have a bunch of the 130 size and enjoy fishing with them. My buddies fish mostly with the smaller version and do well. All said I do not see a significant difference in numbers either way.

I target 12 FOW or less

Hooksets at distance are typically the result of the hookset style and the rod moving line. Reel IPT would only be a factor if you are using the reel to set the hook or possibly slack line mgt.