PondHunter

I must be old school 'cause I still like to use a 6" Gulp black nightcrawler Texas rigged.

+1

I dangled a 1/2oz. black/blue jig in front of a bullfrog and he took it. Doesn't surprise me it ate a frog lure.

I use Power Pro as well. The only other braid I have tried was fireline and was really dissappointed in how stiff it was, and knots just wouldn't hold. Like others have stated already, it is easily available, works well, and I have no reason to change. Backlash is easily removed if it does occur. The color fades. So what?

I have 2, a 201B and a 400. They are heavier than low profile reels, but are very durable and will likely last a lifetime of normal usage.

+1 on the circle hooks and cut-bait. FRESH cutbait, not frozen.

Black Pumpkinseed Green Watermelon

My favorite is a black/yellow eye jig with either a smoke or pumpkinseed 3" grub.

I have a Gander Mtn UL rod that is 7' and it is a really nice rod. One of the most important things in achieving good hooksets is sharp hooks. Light wire hooks penetrate easily, and when touched up with a diamond file are insanely sharp.

I started using 30lb Suffix Neon Tangerine just for the visibility, and put a 30lb clear mono leader on it. I like braid, and if this mono takes on a coil too easily, then I will go back to Power Pro, but I will get the bright yellow instead of green.

I recommend a book entitled "Troubleshooting The Cast" by Ed Jaworowski. I got my copy at Barnes & Noble. There are small tips in this book that will really help your casting ability, like positioning of your thumb and the pressure it puts on the rod, hauling in some line to remove slack at the start of the backcast, and for me personally, practice casting over water instead of a lawn since it adds drag to the line to help load the rod on the backcast.

On the braid I use a Double Surgeon's Knot to form a loop. Then I tie a loop into the end of the flourocarbon line, and interlock the two loops by running the tag end of the flouro through the braid loop 8 times and then tighten. It makes a Cats Paw Splice which is small diameter, flows through the guides, and does not break.

A regular black jighead w/ yellow eye with either a smoke/fleck or pumpkinseed 3"grub. This simple lure has caught a ton of fish for me when almost nothing else would work. 1/8th oz is the size I use the most.

I have 2 2500's and a 4000 Symetre reels with the fightin' drag and really like them. I set it tight to set the hook, then dial it back to land them.

Crankbaits. I fish from the bank, and a crankbait just begs to get hung up on every weed and twig in the water.

I use mainly clear mono on all my spinning tackle and use a bloodknot to tie on a 3' leader of the same material just to get rid of the "light piping" effect that illuminates the line underwater. The light cant pass through a knot and if you are fishing shallow, a shorter section of only 6"-18" may be necessary. I believe that is part of the reason flouro leaders are so sucessful is because the light doesnt absorb into braid. Supposedly, Blue line becomes invisible before any other color tint.

I also like to use 3' of flouro leader for all the reasons that others have already mentioned. You can retie a few times without putting a new leader on, and its enough to keep the braid out of the line of sight of the fish.

Slug-go

Sounds like you have made up your mind already.

??? The ipt stays the same the whole way... unless you are stating that the difference in line depth adds ipt after reeling but i hardly beleive that 20 yards or so of line will make a difference in ipt. The diameter of the spool with line out versus the diameter of a full spool is where the difference comes from. After a cast, the dia is much smaller, so for 1 turn, it will bring in less line than it would if it was near full.

Thanks Goose!

I have become accustomed to, and prefer, centrifugal brakes. I have owned 3 reels with magnetic brakes and wasn't impressed with any of them, but in all fairness, they weren't exactly the best reels on the market either. I would like to see what a new reel that has both is capable of.

My spinning tackle is set up with 6, 8, and 10lb. test lines, and I use a flouro leader with mono main line. Mono has worked so well for me on spinning tackle that I dont want to give up how it casts and its low memory in those line sizes. I feel that flouro is too expensive to use a bunch of it just to fill the reel.

As long as you use a mono or flouro leader, it doesnt matter what color the line is.

Slug-go in silver ghost, I think its called, and rainbow trout. I use a 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG.