backcast88

My favorite setup is my finesse TX rig setup. Mainly b/c I use it the most and have tons of success using it. 6'8" M XF BPS Carbonlite Daiwa Aird 2500 8 lb BPS Carbon Gold Fluoro (sadly no longer made) Usually paired with a 1/8-3/16 tungsten bullet weight and 1/0 Gamakatsu or Owner offset round bend hook. Its deadly on Spotted Bass using a Zoom 4" Dead Ringer or lately a Big Bite Baits Squirrel Tail worm. This setup is very successful on my local lakes. This is a ~4.5 lb spot (way thicker then the picture shows) and the next picture is ~2 lbs. 2nd would have to be my squarebill/lipeless/shallow crank setup. 6'6" M M BPS Crankin Stick BPS Extreme 6.3:1 12 lb Sunline Super Natural Mono

I had a Veritas for all of a week and returned it. It was light and sensitive but the 6'6" MF spinning rod I had was a lot stiffer then I was looking for. On a personal note, I didn't care for the white color. I have 2 Carbonlites (6'8" MXF spinning rod and 6'6"MF micro casting), 1 Carbon Black in 6'6" MF (discontinued rod, same blank as the Carbonlite but with cork grips), and my dad has a 6'6" MF spinning Carbonlite. Its safe to say that I like Carbolite rods. They are very light and sensitive with a soft tip and plenty of backbone. I am a broke masters student so $100 is about my max for rods and handled nearly every rod in the $75-$100 range and found the Carbonlite to be the best.

I like 8# XPS. Pick a reputabel brand like Sunline, Seaguar, XPS, etc. Another rod you might want to check out is the BPS Carbonlite in either a 6'8" M XF or 6'9" ML F. I use the 6'8" M XF for finesse TX rigs with great success. The rod is very lite and sensitive. Plus if I break it within a year they will replace it no questions asked.

I use a 6'6" MF BPS Johnny Morris Signature with the full cork grip. Its a little on the heavier side but since I don't drop shot a lot it doesn't bother me. It is sensitive and I got it on clearance for $60 3 years ago.

I use the San Diego Jam for fluoro, and mono. I stopped using braid 3 or 4 years ago and would use the SDJ for that as well if I still used braid.

I tried it and didn't care for it. It was cheap and impossible to break but I didn't find it very sensitive and it had a lot of memory even after being treated with KVD line & lure. I used the remaining bit to snell small hooks for fishing off piers at the outer banks but won't buy another spool. I'll stick with 100% FC or mono.

I used Seaguar InvixZ for the first half of 2012. Initially I like it b/c it was very managable but found it lacked abrasion resistance and had a lot of stretch. Then I had issues with Seaguar Senshi mono so I am done with Seaguar for a while. Right now I have BPS XPS fluoro and have not had a single issue. It is a lot better then InvizX in nearly every catagory except InvizX is a little more managable but XPS is not bad. I want to try Sunline Sniper but haven't felt the need to pay the extra cost over XPS since its on sale rather often and its pretty cheap.

I use the San Diego Jam Knot. It doesn't matter if its mono, braid, or fluoro and have yet to have a knot fail.

I used Senshi and loved it at first. The first 2 or 3 trips it perfromed very good. Then after that I started having unexplained break offs in open water and couldn't explain it. I took some of the line off the reel and switched rods to see if there were nicks in the line or a bad eye cutting the line but the problem continued. At this point I was even more confused and was able to break 8lb easily with my hands. I took all the Senshi off and threw out the spool. Maybe I got a bad spool but I don't think I will buy any more in the future. Trilene XL is what I grew up fishing. Nothing special but tends to do very well. It has good knot strength and abrasion resistence and handles very well. I don't fish with a lot of mono anymore but when I do I use Sunline Super Natural. I started using it a couple months ago and prefer it to any mono I have tired. Very small diameter, good knot strenth, abrasion resitant, and it handles very well.

For my soft plastics I prefer my 6'8" M XF Carbonlite. Plenty of backbone, light weight, and its sensitive.

Like other have said, a TX catches more fish and a jig catches bigger fish. For me its all about confidence. I use a TX rig more b/c I have better success and more confidence with it. I use a TX rig around every type of structure and water depth. I find I have a better hook up ratio with a TX rig but that is probably due to the fact I use it 10 times more then a jig. This year I am trying to spend more time fishing a jig to get more confidence but I will always have a TX ready to go as backup.

Spyderco Delica. Keep it razor sharp and it cuts braid easily.

I swing my fish into the boat all the time and have never broken a rod. Like other have said, use the momentum from the fish and keep the rod as horizontal as possible and don't go past 90 degrees.

I tried several different brands and find Bass Pro XPS to be the best bang for the buck. I use 8 lb on my spinning reels and 12 lb for my casting reels and find it very managable and abrasion resitant. I broke more fish off with Seaguar then XPS and since XPS is cheaper, its a no brainer for me to use it. I also have a spool of the Carbon Gold they made a couple years ago and really like it. It has a little more memory but isn't that bad. Too bad they stopped making it.

For me its all about confidence. I have more confidence in a texas rigged worm then anything I have caught fish on followed by a square bill/ shallow crankbait. It does seem that worms have become less desirable with the new baits available these days but I will always have at least one rod rigged for a texas worm/creature (baby brush hog) and it always produces.

I looked at the Crankin' Sticks the other day and the 7' will work. I didn't know go into the store that the 7'6" is a telescoping rod and it will shrnk down to 6'8" or so and that works even better in the rod box. So I will be getting the 7'6" MH and I will most likely pair it with 12 lb fluoro.

I would look at the Carbonlite or the Duckett Micro Magic.

Sounds like somebody might have pulled a switch. The Tournment Pro has the carbon handle and clicking star drag. The Tournament and Tournament MG has the clicking star drag but not a carbon handle. If the one you looked at didn't have a clicking star drag and no carbon handle it sounds like it could have been a regular Speed Spool somebody put in the expensive box to buy the Tournament Pro at the cheaper price.

XPS FC is .27mm for 10 lb and .3mm for 12 lb Sunline Super Natural Mono is .26mm for 10 lb and .285mm for 12 lb. It seems like the diameter difference could make a difference and in the long run not make a big difference.

I'll look into getting a 7'. My boat has a small rod locker and I don't know if it would fit anything over 6'8". I would put it on the deck but I lke to keep other rods on deck and don't crank a whole lot and don't know how much I will use this setup. It seems fluoro is the choice. 10 or 12 lb?

I am looking to create a new cranking setup for the summer. I will be using it for deeper jerkbaits, medium and deep cranks (10 feet or more) since I throw squarebills and other shallow runners on spinning gear. I am trying to decide on which line would be best and the lb test. The lakes I fish have very little grass and are usually hard bottoms if that matters any. 1. The two lines I am looking at are Sunline Super Natural Mono and Bass Pro XPS fluoro. I read that line diameter affects diving depth more then line material. Any truth to that? Also, how much will mono affect deep crank depth? 2. Should I get 10 lb or 12 lb? The rod will be a 6'6" MH Crankin Stick with a Lews Speed Spool or BPS PQ. The deep cranks I want to throw are Spro Little John DD and Baby DD, Bomber Fat Free Shad 7, and Rapala Crankin Rap 14.

Just curious, what makes the PQ better then the regual Speed Spool (besides the gear ratio options)?

I will not be able to get to BPS during the reel trade in. I can get the Lews for about $10-15 more then the PQ. I like the big paddles on the Lews but I like the option of getting a different gear ratio on the PQ (6.4:1 only opiton as a lefty with the Speed Spool). I guess I will have to flip a coin to decide.

I know I will take a hit for saying this since its a brand/product a lot of people on here really like. I would avoid Seaguar. InvizX is soft and easy to handle on spinning gear but had terrible abrasion resistance and had more stretch then I really cared for. Red Label was ok. Nothing to write home about. It was a marginal improvement over InvizX but not much. AbraizX was better as far as abrasion resistance goes but I still felt it had more stretch and I still wouldn't recommend it. You can spend a lot of money on fluoro but I don't see that as being very cost effective from most people. I prefer BPS XPS fluoro. Its fairly inexpensive and has a lot better abrasion resistance and seems to have less stretch. Its soft enough that it works well on both spinning and casting reels which makes it good for somebody that doesn't have a lot of experience with fluoro. Since switching to XPS fluoro I have been much happier then when I used Seaguar.

I am looking to get a new reel by the summer to throw crankbaits with. The reel that I currently use for it is starting to fail me and needs to be replaced. I already have a Tournament Speed Spool and really like it and have messed around with the Pro Qualifiers at Bass Pro. I am having a hard time deciding. They both cost the same and have equal amounts of good reviews. Any advice on which I should get?