Reel

The only one I know of was from the Pradco Outdoor Brand. Maybe it came out before Booyah was born. It might be a Bomber lure or a Cotton Cordell or a Heddon. Following... I have a few, and yes they work well.

The colors you describe work well where we live. Be careful with the pikes !!!

Reading this, two things caught my eye. First, lakers are kinda special because they have a special air bladder and then can compensate as they go up in the water column. You can hear them BURP if you bring them up not to fast. They can be put back in deep water with practically no problem. (Nothing is always sure). Also, big smart bass are not always deep. The biggest ones I have caught, both largemouth and smallmouth were in inches of water ( even during the summer ). But I live north.

The one I like with all swimbaits ( Big EZ included) is the Mustad Power Lock Plus. It has a center spring and a very light weight. But most of all, the weight can be moved on the hook. You can put it at the back of the hook for more surface action or at the head of the hook to get more depth or anywhere in between.

Like the last poster said, weight and balance is important in dropshotting. You are going to be holding your rod horizontally and shaking it a lot so, get a reel this is light/heavy enough and that will work with your rod to let you do that comfortably ALL DAY. A really good drag helps a lot also.

Yes, I use Z-Man Turbo Fatty Z's. They were on sale for 2 bucks a package at the tackle store and fat enough for what I want to do. I cut them up into 3/4 inch pieces and thread some silicone into them. They are round but the fish don't seem to care. There are 4 baits (worm) in each package and I make four fuzzy baits with each worm... so that is 16 for 2 bucks. That's about 12 cents each. Don't throw away the tail. It makes a nice goby imitator on a jighead.

Anybody use these ?

What bulldog1935 said renforces what I think. A good cleaning and the right oil will give you more distance and performance than ceramic bearings. I tried ceramics with limited results. If the original bearings are not too good, the improvement is significant. If it's a high end reel, not that much.

My lightest baitcasting set-up is pretty old. It's a Shimano Cumulus seven foot rod paired with a Core 50 reel. Right at 10 onces. More than that, it's pretty well balanced.

I think in the Conquest BFS himano uses a combination of magnetic and mecanical breaking. I have a Curado with a similar system and to get the maximum distance and performance I leave a bit of side to side play in the spool compensating with the magnetic breaking system. I like a ''loose'' reel for BFS.

No, I don't buy older reels because I have them already. I never sell anything. If I were to be on the lookout for some Shimanos Curados they would be, in order of age from older to newer, the original Greenies 200B, the 100D, the little gray reels that are really light and keep on ticking, the 200E 5, the Holy Grail for crankbaiting and in the newer gen. the 70MGL, really nice and the Curado BFS. I also like the Chronarchs but ... that would make this comment a little to long.

I think that's Sunline Super natural in blue. Best mono there is right now. Very thin. If you can find some.

I've got 4 or 5 DC reels that I use regularly: from old to new- a Calais DC. a Calcutta DC, a Curado DC and an SLX DC. I use them for distance and windy conditions. I use tem for jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. The farthest casting is the Calcutta. I don't use them for bottom touching baits.

I got a nice northern bigmouth in september ... around 7 pounds, maybe a bit more. Got it in 2 feet of crystal clear water on a large ( 4.8) soft swimbait. Color: smallmouth magic.

The Hybrid Hunter is a good choice. I also like The Shimano Macbeth Shallow.

I go to a store. I don't order. I like to have the product in my hands.

You will be missed.

I also have a couple. Good to know ! Oops, I just checked. They are the six inch ones. Got to let them grow up!

Merry Christmas to you all!

I fish really clear water. Most of the big ones I caught were using some kind of cover and that gives them a sense of protection. I could get fairly close ( 20 feet) and there was no problem. Where I fish they like undercut banks (largemouth).

For ice fishing deadsticking wasn't the right choice. The largemouth would bite a lure that was worked with what I would call medium action or they would not bite at all.

Because it's through the ice, I use small lures like jigging Rapalas and tail spinners (Deracoup).

I fish for largemouth through the ice so it can't be colder than that. Most of the fish I catch are in little depressions on the bottom (sometimes just a couple of feet deeper than the bottom) in bays with no current. You also helps to have some vegetation that is decaying near that gives warmth to the water and draws baitfish.

Experience has been good. I wanted something to throw my spybaits with more control ( retrieve, striking force, fish control) than spinning tackle. I got a Curado BFS that I put on an older Compre rod (light). Casting distance is similar to spinning outfit. I'm using 8 pound fluoro. I have a bit less precision when using lighter lures ( under 1/8 oz). Good fight with all fish. The average size of the smallmouth bass I catch is fairly big so, yes it's fun. I like the sound of the drag going out. I don't use it for spybaits anymore but mostly for small hard swimbaits.

The only way you will really know is to try it. Use two outfits, one with a white spinnerbait ( classic) and another outfit with a spinnerbait of your chosen color. Cast them 100 times and switch to the other for 100 times. At the end of the day you will know.