NavyVet1204

This. I too cannot stand the littering. I thoroughly enjoy bank fishing in areas where I know no one has been...or so I thought. I love strapping a backpack on with tackle, food, water etc and grabbing my baitcaster and blazing a path without having to worry about other people. Then I get a couple miles in to somewhere on the lake by foot only to have stumbled across beer bottles and condom wrappers(yes...it’s weird for the middle of nowhere) and food condiments. You cannot escape people and their bad habits for nothing.

I’m not sure about amazon, but I ordered rods of different calibers from basspro and all of them came packed in cylindrical cardboard tubes with plastic end caps and bubble wrapped. All has been well so far.

Thanks! I have noticed that tuning my baitcasters for fluorocarbon is harder to do than it is for braid. It took me almost a half hour of nothing but backlashing every-to almost every other cast until I finally hit the sweet spot and got it perfect. Power-Pro, Sufix, Jbraid...even spider wire braid tunes nearly instantly compared to fluorocarbon lol wow I gotta get used to it.

Thanks guys for the replies! I picked up a spool of Seaguar Red Label 15lb today and will be spooling it tonight.

Yeah the Berkley vanish even before covid 19 was always in stock year around here so I can imagine it wasn’t very hot in the market.

As per Covid 19, my local Walmart is still wiped out of nearly all types of fluorocarbon in nearly all weights. I did manage to snag one spool of Berkley Vanish in 12lb and one spool of P-Line Fluroclear(I think it was called) in the same 12lb weight a couple weeks ago. This is my first go’round with fluorocarbon so I’m not very well versed in what brands are good to go. I’ve had a lot of trouble with both of my bait casters getting tuned since I put those lines on them and I’ve been getting backlashes so bad that I’m ready to go back to braid. Anyway I think it’s mostly due to the Weight of the line being 12lb? I’m not sure. Ive read a lot of reviews online trying to get familiar with what brands seem to be really good and Seaguar as well as the Berkley Trilene Are always on top. What do you recommend? edit: what weight line do you recommend with T-Rigs And crankbaits being the primary tie ons?

Negative. I cast with my right and then retrieve with the left so I can use my right hand to dictate action. I’m same as you with a spinning setup also. Casting with right hand and then swapping so that I can retrieve right handed feels awkward for some reason.

I’m liking the responses here. If push comes to shove I can make do with a right handed bc setup. If I couldn’t find a particular combo in stock anywhere in a left handed setup for example, I wouldn’t hesitate to grab a right handed setup.

I’m naturally left handed at most things in life and fishing is no exception. Bait casting, spinning, and spin cast are just better with a left hand setup ammurite??? Lol I’m just joking guys I can fish with either hand dominantly, but I do exclusively prefer left handed setups with bait casting because it feels more fluid to me while fishing versus right handed. Wife and I both are naturally left handed and both of us fish lefty. The only downside to left handed fishing with bait casters is that most places don’t seem to carry left handed models of reels as much as the right handed models.

Thanks guys

What do you guys mean when you say “tuning a spinner bait”?

I myself have been wanting to try some flukes out because I have never tried them before. I may pick up some of those super flukes.

I can’t get a buzzbait to work for me to save my life. I have used so many different types of trailers it’s ridiculous. Haven’t even had a bite so far. I’ve tried just swimming them as well as adding a jerk of the rod to the retrieve.

That’s what I was going for. Normally life happens and my only available times to fish are mostly during the midday. I know that super windy days are pointless for top water as per my experience, but I do like to try them often because that top water bite is so addicting.

So I have been reading a lot that the best times for top water lure fishing is early morning and dusk time frames. Is it plausible that top water fishing can be successful at anytime? I ask because I caught my first “top water” bass with a hula popper this season and it was a clear sunny day around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. It wasn’t until I found this forum that I learned that that timeframe isn’t the norm for top water lures and I figured that my experience was maybe an exception. I do understand that fish eating habits aren’t certain for sure, but was curious to see what other types of top water lures could catch fish at non typical times? So far I have a few poppers and a whopper plopper as well as some frogs. What are your favorite types of top water lures for fishing a lake with mostly clear water?

I’m not exactly sure what you are asking friend. If anything I learned that a few more color variations may help in spinnerbaits? I’m definitely going to invest in some different colors especially trailers. I wasn’t sure going in what length or what color of trailer would work but I am definitely more invested for sure!

Thanks! I have spent the last month and a half trying to catch a fish on a spinner bait lol

Fishing a local pond today and already had the War Eagle white and chartreuse spinner bait tied on with a 3.25” rage swimmer trailer and got a small pounder on the fourth cast. The curse has lifted!

I do see what you mean...I didn’t pay very close attention to the trailer length before I put it on the jig. I will try a longer trailer next time.

Thanks friend and to all of you that have responded! Time is going to be my biggest obstacle I reckon lol

And this is what I’m worried about lol Ive always been the guy that would tie on whatever and see if it worked versus having an understanding of what may perform better/best at the time with conditions in mind.

Sorry about that lack of info. Big lake from a jon boat with stained water and a good amount of wind(today). Lately with a lot of rain it was badly stained/muddy. Some local ponds with similar water type on the bank. Also, catching the bass in weedy or fallen timber type structures by using googan lunker logs and various other craw type soft plastics from zoom and Yum anywhere from three to 12 foot deep. im basically trying to become more proficient in using other lure types I guess.

As someone with minimal bass fishing experience, what am I doing wrong? I cannot for the life of me catch a bass on anything except Texas rigs(best luck) and crank baits. Swim jigs, buzzbaits, chatterbaits, frogs, whopper ploppers...nothing. I understand that if I caught a fish every time I went fishing, it wouldn’t be called fishing, it would be shopping. Im not complaining about it like that lol, but I feel like I’m wasting my money on anything besides crank baits and Texas rig setups. I’ve watched video after video on YouTube on the baits that I have no luck with and I still can’t manage to catch a bass on that stuff when they are yanking PBs left and right in the same/similar weather patterns. Part of me says to just stick with what works until it stops working and then try the other stuff. I’m in southeast Alabama.

I was literally just about to post this as well. I still have an old matzuo spinner that was a Walmart special that I bought about ten years ago and it has done this from day one. It still functions fine so I still use but mostly for smaller fish.

The bearings situation makes more sense now and I can see how advertising more bearings in a reel could seem attractive to some one like myself who didn’t know any better.