deep

Yes sir, they're that good. A Gunfish caught the biggest ever "documented" bass I landed: a 7-11 northern strain LM.

Maybe try one of Matt's bluegills then?

The one below. Bass like it too. The red paint is actually nail polish; bait got a little beat up after a lot of fishing and catching.

I want to play too. Okuma 7'11" heavy, Cardiff 401A, 25 lb Big Game or Yo Zuri hybrid, and a few ROF5 hudds. Powell Max 7'3" Spinning, Shimano Symetre 2500, 30 lb Samurai, and a few 1/4 oz jigs with a bag of Rage Craws. If I ain't catching them on swimbaits or jigs, guess I ain't gonna catch them on any other baits.

I usually fish alone, and I don't switch baits a lot. It's actually very usual for me to hit a lake with one rod, one reel and one bait. I change locations though.

Casting or spinning?

Not any more!

I haven't tried any of those reels, but I'd get an used Curado B5 or B38. They go for around $60.

^^ Hey Mike, I love your show. Unfortunately, I can only watch the episodes that are on the website. So.... I was wondering, could you put up a few new ones on the site? Thanks.

G1 punker I guess? Since the molded ones are called G2 punkers.. It's "punker" by the way, not a "plunker".

When I had a kayak, I used to walk the dog with a 7'8" rod. Just saying. Love me some long rods.

I set my drag as high as I can- without damaging the washers- for no-give hooksets. I feel I can always loosen the drag later on if I hook up with bigger bass, which I do with lower frequency than I'd like.

I used 15 lb Yo-Zuri hybrid (20 lb test) most of last season for my small swimbaits (1.5 oz to 3 oz). I loved it and see no reason to change. I'm probably going to use 25 lb for bigger baits (8" hudds and 8" BBZs) this season; or when I run out of 25# Big Game, whichever is earlier lol. No idea about the lower test YoZuri lines.

I'd do away with the snap (I don't like snaps or swivels in general), and tie it on without the leader. A leader is not worth bothering with if abrasion resistance is not an issue IMO. Btw, I use 80 lb braid when I throw punkers. I like the wood punkers way better than the plastic ones too.. EDIT: 80 lb braid with 25 lb mono leader: my weedless hudd setup

What sort of punkers?

I agree. No disrespect was implied btw.

There's a Powell on the flea market...

huh?

Good deal! Let us know how you like those "swimbaits"..

That's what I try to do; or thicker. I was talking about a spinning set-up there by the way. The mainline I have is 30 lb Samurai (6 lb diameter)

Sounds good so far. Try first without the leader. Or with the leader. Doesn't matter one way or the other. You'll develop your own preferences after a while. I moved from 6 lb fluoro leader with an uni-to-uni knot, to a 10 lb fluoro leader with the same knot, then started to use an albright knot, and then started using mono or copoly for the leader. This combination has been stable for the last 6 months or so.

Go on to the *** website and pull up your favorite mono on one tab, the braid you want to buy on another tab; and compare the line diameters. 55lb Samurai has thickness comparable to 12 lb Sufix mono.

Assuming you're spooling this braid on your PQ baitcaster, buy yourself a 150 yards of 55 lb test Daiwa Samurai. Should cost you less than $30. Use backing and spool on half of that braid. That should last you one whole year. At the end of 2012, throw those 75 yards away, and spool on the remaining 75 yards. That would take you to the end of 2013. $30 for two years worth of line seems like a bargain to me, considering what we spend much more on lures and stuff.

300 yards of braid?

Good deal. Just don't go about boat-flipping big bass again