Darren.

Welcome aboard, John!

A hearty CONGRATS!! Well done to you and your wife Especially your wife, LOL.

Happy b-day, Andy!

I'm just following @A-Jay here, 2 posts in 7 years! Welcome and good on ya, mate!

LOL... Dude, you are missing the wacky rig!

Great for the boys! Fun outing and as you say, it took them away from all the tech. Stuff of memories. Good on ya!

Agreed. K.I.S.S. it to start with, complicate it later, only if necessary.

Agree with John, though I am a braid + leader guy for all my soft plastics presentations. I prefer braid for line managing over a spool of fluoro, although stuff like Tatsu is supposed to be much better than other fluoros in that respect. Rod length is your call, but as John suggested 6'6" - 7' is a good starting point. Personally 5'9" to 6' is my sweet spot, and I use 1000 size reels. I also fish from a kayak and hate dealing with longer rods. Shorter, lighter setups for me, but that's not everyone's cup-o-tea. 2500 is a generally agreed upon size for bass fishing. Some go heavier, lighter, all personal choice.

I did the finger-feel test of several normal spools of heavy mono and in the same pound test, the leader material was thicker and better every time. So if it is Big Game mono leader, then yes. Regular, I'd think it too pliable. Another tip - if you look at my images above, you'll see I coated the thread where I tied the weed guard. The stuff local fly tiers told me about was simple stuff you can find at Walmart. Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails nail polish. Specifically Hard As Nails Extreme Wear in "Black Out" color (#629) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sally-Hansen-Hard-as-Nails-Xtreme-Wear-Nail-Color-Black-Out-0-4-FL-OZ/17219554?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227014497798&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=41079629072&wl4=pla-78656724872&wl5=9008585&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=17219554&wl13=&veh=sem I used to dab superglue first, then coat it, but you really don't need anything but the stuff above. Can coat it once or several times if you want. Works really well.

So I can't find the other threads I posted this info to... What I use are 40# mono leader material. BPS brand. I bought a fly tying kit from BPS, too, along with a couple spools of thread, a whip finisher, etc. The tutorials are from the awesome dude at "intheriffle" on YouTube. I tried all of these, found the 20# he was using was way too flimsy for my liking. I've also used #50, and it is a taaad stiff, but works fine. The more I tied, the more I learned and was able to modify to what you see above. I tie a lot of single guards, too. Freshwater Bass Weed Guard Fly Tying Instructions and How To Tie Tutorial Single Mono Weed Guard Fly Tying Instructions and How To Tie Tutorial V Shaped Mono Saltwater Weed Guard Bonefish Pemit Redfish

I've done a few posts on this and posted links to the videos of the guy who teaches how to do it. Let me do a search and see if I can find the links... stay tuned, meanwhile, here are some pix of my DIY...

I'm gonna throw wacky, drop, and Ned rigs to start with, perhaps ends with....:) I like rigs that "just work" Texas, other soft plastics afterward. Might throw some hard plastics (cranks, etc.) if I'm told they are go-to rigs for said body of water.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

I'd exchange it. That model is my absolute favorite of my 5 Stradics -- all 1000 models from FI to FJ to FK to CI4+. Something sounds wrong with it, potentially. Should be a buttery smooth reel out of the box. All of mine have been just that. And with braid, there's zero line-management issues with 1000 size - at least for me

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, Brian!

Welcome aboard, Wes!

Welcome aboard!

I make my own weedless wacky and drop shot (and Ned rig) hooks. So break out the fly tying vice! It's cheaper any how. Buy a bunch of hooks, some leader material, bada bing!

I suppose longer is better ... for some. Oh geez, I'm sorry, that statement can be misinterpreted badly... Surf rods, as @A-Jay mentioned, I can easily see it. Even long pole fishing w/o reels. Some like trucks jacked up so far they need a ladder to get in the driver's seat. Not practical, but some do it. I'm the wrong guy to even respond. I don't see the requirement for rods over 6'6", LOL. Whatevs! Go for it!

Hi Nick, welcome aboard!

This is my all time fav.

Considering bass eat live forage, it's not unusual or sad. What's unusual is that we use FAKE bait to catch them!! One need look no further than our own @Fish Chris (please come back, Chris!!) to see just how big a bass you can catch on live nightcrawlers. He was the master.

Welcome aboard, James!