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I'm looking to try out a left handed baitcaster before spending a couple hundred on a nice reel (I already have 5 right handers). Don't want to spend a ton, but also don't want a piece of junk laying around that I'm not going to use. Any good deals out there?

The video mentioned a 9 gram spool, which seems to be new information as far as I can tell.

The lake I fish most gets this slime/algae that covers every hook. It's pretty shallow, 1-4' for most of what I can reach from the bank. I don't have a problem getting snagged, even with open hooks like a Ned rig, but the slime catches everything and especially line ties. Has anyone found a setup that is resistant to this alone? I throw a Texas rig pretty often and sometimes I can keep a keitech high enough to not get slimed but I'm always looking for ways to be more efficient.

Anyone know where I can get a good deal on a Curado K rh 6.2:1?

I downloaded the honey coupon extension and it found the 25% off coupon. Coupon code is MARCUS

Definitely. That's why I use rods without guides. You can save a lot of money by just using sticks you find on the bank.

Thanks for the suggestion, sounds like it might work.

I bought a reel from Ali Express (Fishband GH100) and there is a gap between the spool and reel body that allows line to get stuck when it backlashes. The gap is between 0.012" and 0.015". I was thinking of adding some kind of material (epoxy, super glue, shim tape, scotch tape, etc.) to fill that gap. This seems like a daunting task to get just right as to fix the problem permanently and not ruin the reel. Does anyone have suggestions? I'm using this for BFS so I don't want to go to larger diameter line (quite the opposite in fact, I'd like to go down a size.) Since it came from China, any solution that would involve shipping it back to the seller wouldn't be worth it.

Crankbaits for me. Maybe because I fish from the bank a lot of the time. I hate when I have downtime, whether that is picking out a backlash or retying after a breakoff, treble hook baits just make me anxious. On the other end of the spectrum, I forced myself to learn frogs last year and wow am I glad I did, caught my PB on a rage toad from a kayak.

Lucky for me, these fish are not very pressured and I've had great success (well great for me) on this lake so far this year. My last trip out I caught 5 on a senko, 4 on a frog (with about 10 blowups total) and 1 on a swimbait. I usually average 1-2 fish on the other ponds around here. I really never thought of this. I will definitely give this a try! Unfortunately there are't many edges I can fish, the grass mat is pretty much a solid wall from 0-3' from the shore out to 20'. I can cast to the far side of the mat but anything with trebles (and really any exposed hook) is out of the question. Would a buzzbait drag over the top of the grass mat without picking up vegetables? Although, I hadn't thought of making my own edges as BassNJake suggested so maybe that could work.

They could do something with the biggest bass to give incentive to chase bigger fish. Maybe everyone's biggest bass is worth 2-3x the weight. Or maybe their biggest 5?

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, will give them a try!

I'd love your thoughts on what baits to throw for a new lake I've been fishing this year. The lake is pretty shallow, most of the bank fishing area is 1-4' deep. I was fishing it in early April and there was tons of sub-surface grass and I was killing it with swimbaits and ned rigs. Now that it is mid-spring, the grass has turned to grass mats and there is a ton of slimy algae. I've been catching fish on frogs and texas rigged stik-o worms but I'm looking for any other ideas of what to throw on this lake. Most of the bass are smallish, 1/2lb - 2lbs. I was wondering if punching would work in such shallow water, and if so, what plastic should I use? Thanks for any suggestions you have.

Agreed whole heartedly. I would add TRD Crawz to this list as they have been killer for me. Keep in mind that Z-Man plastic doesn't play nice with any other plastic, it will melt is, so keep them separate. I keep all my plastics in their original bags so it's never an issue for me.

I can't promise anything.... #thejourneycontinues

For the past year or more, I've been trying to find the ideal fishing backpack. I thought I'd share my journey here in case others found this useful. Step 1: Tackle Box 15-20 years ago I bought a huge monstrosity of a tackle box and at the time, as a kid, I loved it. I would STRONGLY recommend against this for bank fishing as it greatly hinders your mobility. Step 2: Jansport This was my leftover backpack from college. This was a huge step forward and served my needs for more than a year. Ultimately I got frustrated with the lack of organization since mine had a single large pouch. Step 3: Spiderwire Fishing Tackle Backpack and Cabelas Advanced Angler Backpack After realizing I needed an upgrade from the Jansport, I did hours and hours of research into backpacks and ultimately landed on these two. Luckily I was able to find both locally and could try them in person. My personal preference is for the Spiderwire as I feel it has better build quality and comfort than the Cabelas bag. I also did NOT like the waist strap / fanny pack on the Cabelas bag, I felt dumb wearing it - sure this is a stupid thing to say but ultimately I knew I wasn't going to be happy. As a side note, I gave the rod holders a shot and was pleasantly surprised that they worked great! I definitely look goofy with a 7' rod sticking straight out of my backpack but this allows me to bring a spinning rod/reel (Ned Rig for the win!) and a casting rod/reel to park lakes and stay mobile. You certainly can't walk through trees and brush with a rod in the rod holder so this will depend on the ponds you are fishing. I also found success with using this backpack instead of a crate in my kayak. It's probably not the best solution but it worked pretty well for me. Side Step! Spiderwire Sling Backpack You idiot! You already found your backpack, why did you buy another? Well let me tell you a story. The big Spiderwire bag carries a LOT of tackle and while it is very comfortable, it became very heavy on a particular August day in which I was walking miles around a series of lakes/ponds. I found this sling bag on sale at Dicks Sporting Goods for a great price ($20-$25) and decided it made sense to me to have a lightweight pond hopping bag. Step 4: Hiking Backpack You moron, you already have 2 bags, what more do you need? Great question! Over the winter I got some ants in my pants and really started prepping for the warmer weather. I realized that I wasn't happy with my tackle organization in my big Spiderwire bag. After hours and hours of research, I realized the problem wasn't the bag, it was that it only held 3600 sized boxes. Compared to various types of boxes available in the 3700 size, it's slim pickings when you are limited to 3600. I tried a hiking backpack and while I got a great deal on it (ultimately sold it for a profit on eBay), I realized I simply didn't like it. Part of this was how high it sat on my back (may limit casting while wearing it) and part of this was the waist belt. Step 5: Tackle Warehouse Backpack My current solution. This bag can fit 2-3 3700 boxes and has plenty of room for soft plastics. I would guess that the total capacity is similar to the Spiderwire bag but the difference is it happily fits 3700 boxes which allow me options. It's not as comfortable as the Spiderwire bag (mostly due to the padding in the straps and overall shape of the bag) but it's not bad. I like the rod holders better on the Spiderwire bag as the rod butts sit lower and therefore the rods don't stick up as far but again, this bag is decent. I still need to put this bag through it's paces and I still haven't 100% decided if I will stick with this or go back to the Spiderwire but for now this is my bag. Summary If you are a new angler, re-use an old backpack if you can or buy one on the cheap. Don't bring a tackle box if you are bass fishing from the bank as you need to be more mobile than that will allow. I do really like the Spiderwire Sling backpack and would recommend it to anyone. If you can wait, you may be able to find a deal and it will have it's niche uses. If you pack light, this may be large enough for you. The biggest reason this doesn't work for me is that I use my backpack whenever I rent a jon boat and I want to bring tackle for a full day trip, the sling back simply doesn't have enough room. When it comes to Spiderwire Tackle Backpack vs Tackle Warehouse Backpack - you cannot go wrong with either bag. I love both of these bags. I think the biggest difference is whether or not you must have 3700 Plano boxes. If you are happy with 3600 boxes, I would recommend the Spiderwire. If you must have 3700, go for the Tackle Warehouse bag.

You may have notifications turned off in the app. I got a popup on my phone lock screen the other day when the discount code started.

What sites/stores are you finding these deals? I saw some clearance stuff at Academy but I guess I went too late as there was nothing decent left.

Thanks! These seem exactly like what I'm looking for! And thanks to everyone else for their input.

I do a lot of bank and kayak fishing which means space is at a premium. I'm also constantly trying to expand my horizons to new baits while keeping some go to stuff in my bag. It also drives me nuts when I don't have color that I want to throw. For example, I just picked up some BPS stik-os in two sizes and 4 different colors which come in a 16 pack. I would like to take 4-5 of each color with me but taking the whole bags would be half my soft plastic space. I was wondering if anyone had a solution for storing partial bags of soft plastics. I don't want to use hard boxes and I read that Ziploc bags can leech oil into your baits (from the Strike King designer on this forum.) Does anyone sell smallish bags that I could use for this? Or have a better solution?

I emailed River2Sea about the 110 size and their response was "The only thing I can say is stay tuned this summer. ;)" Sounds like it's coming soon!

Hey guys, I want to buy a mid priced(100-200 for rod+ reel) rod/reel combo and was wanting to get some recommendations. I'll probably get it from BPS, one is about 15 minutes from my college so its easy to get to. I don't need anything too heavy duty, just a general all purpose baitcaster.

I was looking around and I found this http://www.huddlestondeluxe.com/generic48.html click on the top video. It looks amazingly realistic. He sells these $10.99 for 5 but he charges $6.50 in shipping. Let me know if anyone has experience with them.

Ok... so I bought a new Stradic today at BPS and got some 10 lb. Yo-Zuri Hybrid line for one spool. Now I am wondering what line to put on the other spool... I was thinking maybe some 6 lb. line. I live in St. Louis and probably won't be fishing for big bass very often.

I used to be pretty into fishing about 6-7 years ago... for some reason or another I stopped. Now that I have a better job and I get weekends off, I have decided to pick it back up. I have some tackle from when I stopped that I have kept in my garage for the past 6-7 years, its not much but I like some of the stuff and I was wondering if it was still good. It has been in my garage so it hasn't been wet or anything, but I live in St. Louis and the temperature can vary from about -5 to 110 and up during the year. The soft bait(and most of the hard) has been kept in those clear plastic boxes and in a tackle box. So whats the deal with this stuff? Throw it out and buy some new or try it out?