Jrob78

I spray my line pretty heavily when I spool up and then coat it good the night before a trip.

I put size 6 KVD's on mine.

Check out the River2Sea S Waver in the 168 size also. It's a proven bait for not a lot of money.

Those hooks will work fine, you just can't run the entire weight through the plastic. You have to rig the bait before you tie on the hook. Use the hook point to make the hole in the bait, like you normally would. Then, run the eye of the hook into the belly of the bait and out through the head. That way you don't risk tearing the bait by running the weight through it.

Are the stock hooks still on the bait?

Be sure and check out the Okuma Guide Select swimbait rods. They come very highly recommended and won't break the bank.

If the bait wasn't in the package, it was probably damaged. That's why it ended up on ebay. Ok, just looked at my 78's and they are different. Mine have 2 brass weights in the front, one on either side of the front hook post and they don't have any balls, except for a small one in the head. The pictures on TW are of the 100's, the weighting is different than the 78's. Also, the color on your bait doesn't look right, if it's ghost minnow. It should have brown in the head and a white belly that you can't see through without holding it up to the light.

If you're having trouble keeping contact with a jig, use a heavier one, switch to fluoro and slow down.

I use either 16-20lb fluoro or 50lb braid, I see no reason for leaders.

I get way more stickers from tackle shops than I do companies who make products. You generally have to place a decent order to get them though.

I will be on the look out. I think the Tackle Trap has them and Southwestern might too. I want to get a 50MG spool for one of my 100D's also.

Might want to try the Flea Market, you know, where people buy and sell stuff.

Ok, you meant our furthest casting reels, not the furthest casting reel ever made, sorry about that. Mine would probably be either my Fuego or Zillion, throwing 3/8- 1/2oz. Both have Orange Seals but otherwise stock. I think a lot of it has to do with the rod and bait in conjunction with the reel.

How could anybody possibly know that?

I think you're a couple of years late, the kid is in college now

Yep, I feel very confident my bases would be covered with my 5 rods.

I start with fat end and switch it around when the head gets torn. The benefit of rigging from the tail end, like Raul mentioned, is the bait falls away from you, back toward any fish following. It casts better backward too.

I was in the exact same position, I was originally going to buy the Elite 7 HDI but decided on the 798 instead. I've been using the 798 for about 6 months now and haven't regretted my decision once. The 5" screen does have some limitations that the bigger screens don't have but side imaging beats no side imaging every time. I would look hard for an 898 or 998 on sale.

I generally shift from dawn-afternoon to mid morning-dark this time of year and through the winter. It works out perfectly for me as I hate waking up at 4:00 to fish in the cold.

7'-7'3" MH/fast for general purpose, t-rigs, senkos, flukes, spinnerbaits, swim jigs, buzz baits...etc 7'-7'6" MH/Moderate glass rod for cranks 6'10" M/XF for topwater, jerkbaits, small cranks, darter heads 7'3" H/F for frogs, c-rigs, jigs, pitching/flipping heavy cover 7' M/F spinning for drop shot, shaky head, finesse This would be stretching it pretty thin but for a general purpose 5 rod line up, this would work for me.

Fishing and hunting are the original sports. That's where the term "sport" came from.

I've got a rod with almost those exact same specs, only difference is mine is 7'3". It's a very versatile rod. I bought it primarily for 5" hollow belly swimbaits and heavy spinnerbaits but I've used it for jigs, t-rigs, heavy swim jigs, bladed jigs, frogs and even my Bull Shad. It isn't perfect for all those techniques but it can handle more than just spinnerbaits. Space is at a premium on my kayak, rods have to be able to pull double duty or I'm wasting space.

Just smash the barb down with your needle nose pliers.

The quicker new bass fishermen learn this, the better off they'll be.

I've dealt with several Japanese sellers on reels and baits. I've never had any trouble. As long as you go through ebay and paypal, you should be covered if something goes wrong.