MediumMouthBass

All my reels have either Yo Zuri Hybrid or braid, i fished with 100% fluoro setups only for years and it got expensive quick after breaking line on rocks or trees too often. I then switched to mono because of how cheap it was. I disliked fishing with mono quite a bit, just too much stretch and no sensitivity, but fluorocarbon being too expensive to go back to i didnt know what to do. Someone here was talking about Yo Zuri Hybrid so i did some research on it, and it sounded great. It takes everything i like about the 2 types of lines and combines it while not having what i dislike about them. I use it for almost everything from Finesse techniques, crankbaits, bottom fishing texas rigs and jigs, and bigger swimbaits too. It has just enough stretch for moving baits but stiff and sensitive enough for bottom baits. Abrasion resistance is amazing, i fish alot of pickerel and zebra muscle infested waters and it holds up better than what ive used so far. I only ever had this line break when i really wanted it to. Plus its really cheap and if you check the latest sale area on here i posted a place selling it for buy 1 get 1 free.

Ebay has a few used ones for sale if you want to go that route, not surprised by the Black Max not working tho.... I have around 10 different budget Abu casting reels and it seems they (Abu) really like changing designs from each of those series reels

My rod i fish texas rigged senkos the most with is either an Aird X MH or Dobyns Fury MH both are 7'3" and are excellent at it. 7'6" shouldnt be an issue, more or less what the rods made of and what its ratings are. But still a senkos a type of bait you can use on any rod and reel combo, casting, spinning, doesnt really matter. There are so many different ways to fish it, weightless, weighted etc.... And to add to you feeling like you are missing fish that can be fixed to a certain amount with line change or different hooks.

Quick add to this, i was able to salvage the line on the BB1 Pro took me an hour and i had to take the line down to the end of the spool (yes the birdsnest was that deep) but was able to reel it back on. Set the brakes this time i promise. Also last season at the lake my dad had one of these moments too but i forgot about it until today, we were unloading the jon boat at the lake and we have a rope clipped onto the front handle, he passes me the rope, im holding the rope and hes backing the truck and trailer into the water, the boat slides off the trailer and starts going out into the lake while the rope falls to the ground, so i had to swim out and got soaked almost up to my chest to get it. He always checks it but forgot this time or accidentally unclipped it and didnt realize.... (im in charge of the fishing gear, hes in charge of the boat, and all that stuff) Good thing it was summer and 80 degrees

spinnerbait - Strike King Night spinnerbait black and blue jerkbait - Lucky Craft pointer 100 ghost minnow lipless - Berkley Warpig 1/2oz either ghost red craw or brown craw jig - Siebert Grid Iron with my own custom skirt made to match Strike Kings okeechobee craw soft plastic trailers square bill - Strike King 2.5 crankbait - This ones a tie between the Strike King Hybrid Hunter and the 6th Sense Axis soft body swimbaits (not trailers) - Bass Mafia Daingerous hard body swimbait - 6th Sense Trace slow sinking in gold reactor color

Neko Leech on a ned rig, bring various weights. Wacky worm. Tube jig. Strike King Bitsy Bug/Flip finesse jig. 2-3" paddle tail swimbait on a ball head jig. 1.0, 1.5 Strike King square bills. Jerkbaits too. These will work year round in any conditions, some like natural colors but for smallies i like bright and unnatural (pinks, whites, chartreuse). And for the where, everywhere. Seriously these smallies could be anywhere.... If its muddy with high water conditions fish very close to the bank, like 3-8' in front of you. If not then cast far and work your way back.

Tons of really good info here, only thing i am going to add is for the medical side of things since numerous people have suggested tourniquets and med kits. Lots of people across America have tourniquets, what most dont know is that the ones they have are poorly made copies and or knockoffs that will barely work and are a serious danger. This is a very extremely important potentially life saving device, and there is a huge difference in its efficiency, quality, and ability to work properly. The North American Rescue CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet) is one of the best you can get, used by police, military (conventional and SOF units), medical emergency response personnel along with civilians. Its not expensive either its really cheap $23-30. Do some research into this and maybe some classes on how to use it too. (And please dont buy them off Amazon, they wont be made by them even if there names on it). Boats are very fun but can become dangerous very quickly.

@Eric 26 Thats what happened with this one, im just so used to the SLX and SLX A that i completely forgot about the external one too.

I was planning on starting to fish in the kayak next week, but yesterday we had surprisingly really good weather, very sunny almost no clouds, and warm enough to wear a fishing sun shirt/hoodie. I thought to myself i gotta go fishing on the kayak today. Loaded the kayak in the truck, switched some reels around on the rods, tied on different lures and organized some tackle, got the paddle and seat out and dusted them off. Went to load the truck with the fishing gear and realized the boat launch permit expired in December, i didnt even think about that. Had to go to Dicks Sporting Goods since they are the only place near me that sells those permits (in PA every lake, pond, and river boat launch is owned by the Fish and Boat Comission, well everywhere i fish atleast). Waited in line and got the new permit. When i got back to the car i realized i didnt take 2 minutes to walk to the fishing section to see if they had any sales going on (they have different sales instore than the ones on their website). But the sun was going down in an hour or 2 so i left and got home. Get everything loaded up and off to the lake i go, i get there and the weather goes from warm and sunny to feeling like its 45 degrees with quite a wind blowing, oh an yeah the suns going down and ive got around 45 minutes to an hour to fish... Im getting blown 10 feet over every other minute, kept having to put the rods down to paddle back to where i was. I started to feel so cold i had to put gloves on, and bothered by not being able to fish from the wind blowing me around so much i headed to the other side of the lake as fast as i could paddle, and the winds almost nonexistent on that side. I can hold my position in the kayak and start warming up slightly. I just spooled my 2 new reels the night before, (Lews BB1 Pro and Shimano SLX XT) and im very excited to try them out. Well not remembering at the time that when im not using my reels i back the drag and spool tension off (read somewhere years ago that it prevents them from being damaged while not in use) so i picked up the rod with the BB1 Pro and casted that Warpig as far as i could. Until i heard the line make a weird sound and watched my line tie itself into dozens of knots with one of the worst backlashes ive had. Tried for 10 minutes to get it undone and it only became worse to the point i couldnt even reel the line with the lure still tied onto it. 5 minutes later it finally can be reeled in but the backlash is still bad, going to have to cut the line off it completely. The wind picks up again and i see a sunken tree, i paddle over to it and slide the kayak onto it and park it there, i picked up the new SLX XT with a texas rig on it and learning from what happened with the BB1 Pro i adjusted the spool tension to where the bait slowly dropped and casted it. And there goes the line, into another mess and now part of its stuck in a groove in one of the trees branches. I remembered to adjust the spool tension but forgot about the brakes.... I gave myself a few new nicknames right there and then. On top of that i usually run my kayak very minimalistic but yesterday i was in such a rush and with the sun going down fast i just threw everything i had into the kayak and took off from the launch, it was so cramped my rods kept getting stuck and were in the way, i couldnt get to gear i needed either. My time on the water was short, stressful, and ruined the line on one of my spools but i still had a fun time. I also now know to set my kayak up the right way and check all my gear no matter how much or little time i have to fish. Plus right before the sun went down i found a few new spots that i really want to try the next time im there. Any of you do something like this while fishing?

@Eric 26 i didnt even think about ever using those as swim jigs, only used them so far for flipping jigs. Thanks for that idea!

Man, all you guys here talking about Big Game. Next time i go to buy it for my big swimbait and salmon reels (15-30lb) the tackle shops probably gonna charge twice the price due to its popularity here today. Keep it a secret, keep it cheap.

I dont have much experience with those cranking rods from Lews, but i have a David Fritts cranking rod and a KVD Composite cranking rod too (both from Lews). The Fritts i use fishing the river with square bills and the KVD is for 1oz chatterbaits and some 1.5oz-2oz swimbait use. But mainly for deep diving crankbaits, now im talking anywhere from 12-25 foot deep divers, some from Strike King, but mostly the ones Berkley makes (the Dredge, to me this thing just feels so heavy in the hand and casts like i have a tungsten weight tied at the end of the line) plus is doesnt pull the kayak while im fishing it). (The Fritts is rated from 1/2oz-1 1/4oz and KVD is 1/2-2oz) These rods are similar in lure ounce ratings to the ones you are looking at, but the XD go a bit lighter. The XD rods might be able to do both but i dont think it would be ideal. heres the thing my deep cranking rod would struggle a TON with throwing square bills, lets take the Strike King 1.0 1.5 and 2.5 these are very light lures and some of the most common square bills, even though its a bendy rod i dont think they would even be able to load up the tip of the rod, let alone the whole rod. Whereas that Fritts can cast those 1.0, 1.5, and 2.5's all day every day with distance and accuracy. Now you can use any rod or reel to fish crankbaits, but ill give you 2 options below depending on how deep you want to get into this rabbit hole. #1 If you want to take it seriously You need a reel specifically for cranking. The reels very important. I have 2 Lews BB1 Pro casting reels and they were made for crankbait fishing, they hold alot more line on the spool than most reels and let you cast extremely far, and i mean extremely far. Getting as much line out as possible is key when fishing these deep divers. Reason being say you cast out 100 feet, it might take 1/3 or even 1/2 of that cast reeling it in just to get it to its listed depth (give or take some distance). Its got a clicking drag too so you know when you hook a fish deep you dont miss it because you thought it was just a tree branch or a rock you felt the hook stick to for a second. And you would need 2 rods and 2 reels for different setups, not only is the rod important for throwing each type of crankbait but the line on the reel is very important. For square bills 15lb is recommended but for deep cranks its 10lb, because like i said before you need to get as deep as possible. You can get 2 good cranking rods from sales throughout the year really cheap, i bought three of those KVD rods for $60 each last season. #2 You want something multipurpose or just something to try to see if you like this type of fishing. Try to find a rod with some bend in it meant for cranking, but has ratings inbetween a square bill rod and a deep cranking rod. You will lose some ounces on the top rating so you wont be able to go as deep but it should create a balance where throwing each type is doable but not ideal. Get a cranking reel too, again the BB1 Pro is the ultimate do all cranking reel, put 15lb line on it for square bills and then buy a spare spool and fill it with 10lb for deep cranks, within minutes you can change your spool, retie and fish any crank you want. With only 1 rod and 1 reel, and you wont have to much invested in it. Also the BB1 Pro goes on sale quite a bit recently.

Truer words have never been spoken, this is how i ended up with several nice RH reels i dont use sitting on the work bench.... My main rods are Daiwa Aird X rods and even tho i can reel with either hand these rods have a curve where you rest your fingers (most rods are flat/straight) and when im holding it left handed it just starts cramping badly, and feels like its digging into my hand. Holding it right handed i dont even feel it tho.

I started with right handed casting reels but now use left handed ones, i was really good with RH years ago but now i can barely use it, feels too odd after using LH ones so much. Now im just talking about what hand im reeling with, but if you are actually able to cast with your non dominant hand thats really cool. Especially with accuracy. Although you should try to regain being able to cast with your dominant hand too, that way you can fish 2 rods at once, one in each hand.

DSG has Yo Zuri Hybrid line buy one get one free.

It sounds like you like what you are using already, if its working for you keep using it. But i also understand wanting to try something new, over the past few years i had a phase where i only bought and used fluorocarbon, and at a point i didnt even think what i was paying for was worth it anymore, i fished trout and bass about 50/50 with some panfish mixed in so i was breaking off line constantly and respooling monthly. I took the cheap route and bought monofilament for all my reels and i just didnt like it, for the panfish light rods its great but for the bass rods i only use it on one spinning rod for wacky rigs. Its just too stretchy and doesnt cast great for mea and got the line twisted constantly (spinning reels). Someone on here last year was talking about Yo Zuri Hybrid line and it sounded interesting, i did some research on it and i thought it would be great for my kind of fishing. It took everything i liked about fluoro and mono and combined it while getting rid of the things i disliked about both line types. I use Yo Zuri Hybrid on almost every single baitcasting reel i have (except the few that have braided line) and ive even put it on my spinning reels too. Its great for everything, it has just enough stretch for crankbaits while still having good sensitivity for texas rigs and football jigs, enough strength for throwing swimbaits hours a day, and today while fishing a t-rig on the bottom i was watching my line float on the surface waiting for a bass bite. And if you really want to watch your line it not only comes in clear but a bright green. I fish alot of places with pickerel and also zebra mussels (both shred line alot) and the lines abrasion resistance is amazing. But dont go by what lb line, but by its diameter (12lb from them is 15lb from other brands). Its also on sale at Dicks Sporting Goods now buy 1 get 1 free. Sorry for the long read. Edit. It also casts amazing.

In my part of PA our lakes/ponds range between 9-160 acres and are usually 10' deep but some have deep spots of 25' and in my experience catching fish and seeing others catching fish at these places it would seem that on average just a small part of the body of water (at least where im fishing) holds fish, the rest is as you said lifeless fishless water (and not just bass, panfish and other species too).... Theres 1 lake that comes to mind where you can spend all day with a pontoon boat full of a team of fishermen and if you are fishing in the middle, which makes up 70% of the lake you will only catch trout (its a bowl shaped lake and the bass only seem to be right off the bank and in the back with the submerged trees. Another one has a cove in the back that connects to a very narrow creek and it looks like it should be full of fish, the lakes 160 acres and the cove takes up probably 30 to 40 acres (its an odd shaped lake). Most of the people who fish here regularly know to avoid this large area because its almost as if theres no sign of life anytime of year for almost any species. But if you fish the edges of the lake and the middle theres tons of pike, bass, crappie, trout and bluegills. I fish the Susquehanna river from time to time and talk to people who also do, and it seems theres some spots where there are tons of smallies in a stretch but theres other parts where its a mile or 2 where there might just be one here or there.

@Koz i saw you had the autopilot, but i didnt think that and the motorized ones were so close in speed, i always thought the autopilots were slower. So my suggestion would be get a boat, if you think you need a boat then you probably do. And then if you find yourself missing fishing from a kayak get a cheaper one thats paddle powered. Best of both worlds, Now youve given me an idea.

It sure does, i have 3 kayaks and 1 boat, and even though its so much easier fishing in the boat, not getting blown around by the wind as much, fishing while standing is easier, lots of more room for moving around and extra storage too, plus getting from spot to spot within minutes rather than half an hour but 99 times out of 100 id rather be in the Kayak. Now my kayak setup is very minimalistic and i dont have electronics just 5-6 rods a few tackle trays and a dozen bags of soft plastic so i can just put it on the cart, load it in the truck and go. Once at the lake anywhere can be my boat launch, and it takes within 5 minutes or less to setup and im on the water. Whereas the boat takes quite a bit, fill up the gas, charge the battery, make sure everythings working before taking it out, making sure the lights on the trailer are working, moving vehicles around, waiting for awhile at the boat launch for the other people, taking 20 minutes setting everything up, trying not to fall in the water when getting in/out (my boats a big Jon boat) and also with the kayak even though i get blown around by wind i can paddle right up into a sunken tree and hold that position for hours, i cant take the boat into super shallow water either, i also cant go into the smaller creek channels with it either, but the kayak sure can. My boat can do laps around the lake while ive only paddled halfway but id rather be patient and enjoy the nature, take my time while also giving myself the exercise my body and all our bodies desperately need. Plus when going slow in a kayak it gives you time to find good spots that might hold your next PB bass that you might have just went 20mph over in a boat. Ive found tons of bluegills and bass on my way from spot to spot in the kayak, that i would usually just past by. My advice would be to either get a motorized fishing kayak (several companies are now making them as factory options, but theres also a few companies that sell them aftermarket that mount to most big name kayaks) or you can sell your current kayak and buy a more minimalistic kayak thats paddle powered for around $800-1600 and buy a boat as well. A kayak is not better than a boat, and a boat is not better than a kayak, they are both great options it just depends on what you want to do with it, and what fits your needs.

I cant belive no one yet has recommended a Strike King Bitsty Bug or Bitsty Flip finesse jig, these work amazing in shallow ponds (and rivers). Alot of the suggestions above are great and will get bass to bite year round but heres some additional lures and baits you should think about when pond fishing, some frogs, big curly/ribbon tail worms, creature baits on a texas rig, and lighter chatterbaits/spinnerbaits when the days have some wind.

Wait you caught 19 fish on it and then it broke? Id be going out an buying 10 more in that color, and weight.... Im glad if a spinnerbait lasts me between 5-10 decent fish, i always buy spinnerbaits from Strike King, Terminator, or Booyah when they are on sale for a great amount off. I realize that by fishing pike and pickerel infested waters, and in places with lots of submerged trees that the spinnerbait might only last one trip even if i dont catch any bass. Think about this, it costs 8 dollars and gets 15 fish thats paying .53 cents per bass. But a $5 bag of soft plastics get ruined just putting them over the hook keeper a few times, id say normal wear and tear on it.

Ive casted thousands of times for trout in my life, never had any bites from panfish, bass, or pickerel on the spinners i was throwing. (only because the smaller size) But if i had a big spinner and put something scented on the hook as a trailer i think it would do really well, especially in rivers or casted just outside the grass/lily pads in shallower water. But dont limit yourself to only spinners, spoons are amazing too. In my creek fishing the Mepps Aglia is the king for numbers and size, but for trout in lakes/ponds a Thomas Buoyant spoon (gold) has caught tons and tons of trout. I can cast it extremely far and its a good enough size a bass might want it. I was fishing it 2 seasons ago for trout in a lake and i hooked something big when i had it almost reeled in (about 6' in front of me) it was fighting hard but because i was originally going for trout and had the line, and drag set for that it popped off before i could figure out if it was a bass, pickerel, or turtle. Id be confident casting the spoon on casting gear aswell since it just flies through the air.

My Tatula SV TW 103's zero adjuster is the opposite of yours, mines so tight from the factory that i couldnt backlash it if i wanted too, i also cant cast most lures past 50' so next time im fishing ill be having to adjust it quite a lot. Just got to find a way to get my fingers to grip the dial with how recessed they made it.

The Tatula 150 would be a great reel for the whopper ploppers, i have one on my smaller swimbait setups (1-2oz). It feels like its a tank, giant reel compared to my regular Tatulas in the hands but it gives me confidence in how its built if i were to hook a big one. That being said frogs arent very heavy in weight and i think my 150 would struggle casting them (not that it couldnt but i would wear myself out doing it over and over again for while). I dont think you need a super super fast reel either, probably just an 8 would be good enough for most frog/whopper plopper fishing. For the Frog reel checkout the Shimano SLX XT, Daiwa Fuego CT, Lews LFS. All of these come in an 8 speed ratio, put some braid on it and these can all throw frogs great and handle fighting fish in weeds/lily pads. They arent too expensive either, but i probably would go with the Fuego CT for that purpose just because even though i have several Lews reels i just dont like any of them except the BB1 Pro, that things amazing. And the Shimano XT just looks to nice to beat it up fishing the lily pads. Fuego CT has alot of good reviews on here because its basically just a T-wingless Tatula with a different color. This Daiwa reel is also built like a tank and i just spooled mine up with 65lb braid last night for just this type of fishing. Reason i kept my suggestions way under your budget is because these reels will look destroyed at the end of each season (atleast around where i fish). Plus more money saved = more money for lures.

@MN Fisher scale modeling? thats pretty cool. The stuff im talking about is 300 Lights and 400 Optics, many many guys in the other forums im in shopping there keep getting knockoffs and have to send back a few times before getting one with a serial number that matches the companies records who makes it.