Raul

Yup: "Looky he got something in his mouth ! let 's go after him just in case he drops it and we get a free meal"

Zoom is one of my favorite brands of soft plastics, for some of the reasons you mentioned: they are vailable everywhere, they have lots of different baits from where to choose, they are cheap, they work, they come in a lot of colors. I have Zoom tubes and many other brands, like Marty pointed out, Zoom tubes are no better nor worse than other tubes, they simply work.

You can flip with practically any reel, so you don 't "need" a flipping reel, pitching is different than flipping, you 'll need a good reel with a spool that spools freely to achieve more distance, now if what you want is a multipurpose reel that allows you to flip, pitch and cast there 's such a beast ---> Shimano Castaic or if you got the extra dough then a Core 100MGFV.

My dad wasn 't a fisherman, even though raised in a ranch he was the least outdoorsy kind of guy you can imagine so the last thing he would consider purchasing was any kind of outdoor gear. Where I got the fishing bug is from one of his friends, he owned a huge ranch that had a small lake stocked with trout and from there I got this "illness" ( and I don 't want to get "cured" ) The tackle that means the most for me is my first good reel & rod which I purchased with my hard earned first cash money: Abu Garcia Ambassadeur XLT PLus + Berkley Lightning rod ( back then both were anything but cheap ). I still fish with both.

In my experience a fighting fish does not scare off other fish, on the contrary, you can see other fish swarming around and follwing the fighting fish as it 's reeled in.

CR721IMX + Daiwa Liberto Pixy + Yozuri Hybrid/PLine CXX 6lbs = the ultimate finesse fishing combo.

Exactly, that 's the point, as I said, there are other reels capable of doing finesse fishing for less money: Domestic: Daiwa Sol Shimano Chronarch 50 Mg Shimano Curado 100D Import: Daiwa Type F Scorpion 1000/1001 Scorpion 1000/1001 Mg All of those are in the 200 dollars price range, I don 't include the Alphas R edition nor the Alphas Itö because those cost well above $250. None of the list "needs" upgrades, the performance is right out of the box.

As I said and I s*t you not guys, I LOVE my Pixies, you gotta have one to really appreciate them BUT, the reel as stock is only good for what it 's made for, the spool is for 6-8 lbs test, try spooling it with 10 lbs and you 'll end up with a purty short string, you can do all the upgrades you want but there 's no deeper spool upgrade possible. Turn it into a Pixzilla ? let 's do the math: Basic Pixy, let 's say you purchase a used one in good condition, that pops 250 from your wallet, add the Pixzilla upgrade ( TDZ line guide, drag upgrade, worm drive, spool supporting bearings ) add another 100, now you want it to look cool, add the carbon handle upgrade, another 120, plus shippings and stuff, add another let 's say 50 bones: 250+100+120+50 = $520 That 's 40 dollars more than a Steez and you WON 'T HAVE: Corrosion resitant bearings the Steez has as stock Type R+ inductor Clicking drag star Clicking tension knob cap 4 extra inches in the IPT Deeper spool If what you are looking for is reel capable of casting light baits there are other better options for less money that will serve you well for doing so, leave the Pixy for the finesse aficionados that other reels to compensate the cost of owning a reel so bait/technique specific.

You did not get a bad batch of line, copoly line does indeed have a lot of memory in the higher diameters, the catch is: you don 't need the higher diameters for regular conditions, why ? because both lines ( Hybrid and CXX ) have an incredibly high resistance and high breaking point well above of what is printed on the label.

Add the cost of those upgrades to the price of the reel and you could have easily purchased a reel almost capable of doing what the Pixy does plus some other goodies you will not get in a Pixy and will still end up with a reel with limited line capacity. Don 't get me wrong, I 've got three Pixies and appreciate their qualities, but I 've got a bunch of reels so I can dedicate a reel specifically for lightweight baits, but, it 's not the kind of reel I would purchase if I were only to have a limited amount of reels. If I were you I would look into the Core 50 Mg or a Steez, those can cast light baits, not as well as a Pixy but you can use them for a lot of different things while the Pixy ..... unless you are finesse aficionado ....

In theory baits are identical, in the practice they are not, those fish magnets move in a different fashion that makes them more appealing to the fish in more circumstances than other "identical" baits, the Shad Rap example I gave is one, I do have a small bunch of baits ( of course if you purchase in bulk sooner or later you 'll be lucky to get some ) that have that magic touch, even in expensive baits ( that show the most consistent action between baits ) you 'll find one that stands above the others, I 've got a LC Moonassault 100 that catches fish like no other of the several I purchased, the rest are good but this one is special, originally it was painted Aurora Craw but now the finish is finished ( kaputt ).

Bassmasters Magazine is not one I would recomend, it has taken a nose dive from the ugly tree.

Well, haven 't you ever thought about it in detail ? An all beat up up lure is telling you something and it 's particularily true with crankbaits, that lure is one of those one in a million cranks that no matter how it 's painted will catch fish like no other. It 's got the "magic touch" and those magic touch lures are not easy to find. Let me put you an example, I 've got this very old Rapala Shad Rap I purchased 20 years ago or more, it 's all beat up, scratched, chewed, the lip is no longer clear but amber, I 've changed the hooks on it several times, I owe to that crank hundreds of fish including my PB. Some by looking at it would have trashed it away long time ago ( Shad Raps are not exactly hard to find ) for a new one, but not me, I know that lure is one of those "magic touch" lures. So think it twice when you are about to trash a lure and change it for a new "identical" one, I 've purchased over 50 new Shad Raps and none of them which in theory are identical catches fish like the oldie does. If you got a pretty beat up lure a refinish is worth every penny, so far I 've clear coated that lure 5-6 times.

My man, I 've been fishing for bass for more than two decades and in all kind of places you can imagine, what rubs your line is not the bass but the environment, if your line breaks then what it 's telling you is: 1.- Your line is not abrassion resistant 2.- You don 't check the line with enough frequency and cut and retie as needed. 3.- Drag too tight 4.- Bad batch of line Why I tell you this, because in those more than 25 years of fishing and literally thousands of fish caught the only times ( and they are very few ) I 've had a fish break my line was because of: 1.- The line was not the best type chosen for the tye of environment ( like choosing a line with little abrassion resistance and fishing it in a highly abrassive environment ) 2.- Not checking the line frequently for signs of wear 3.- Drag too tight 3 of those ( #1,2 and 3 ) were my fault and all of them had remedy. # 4 is a little bit tricky, it 's very easy to put the blame on the manufacturer ( or that 's the first thing we do ) but bad batches of line are not the rule but the exception ( sometimes it 's also our or the retailer 's fault for not storing the line properly ). If ou choose the right line type, if you check frequently the line condition ( cut/retie as needed ) and if your drag settings are correct you will seldomly loose a fish due to line breakeage. On normal use the only times I use a leader is when I fish a C-rig or braided line.

They ? who 's they ? You are from GA, then "they" must probably be either gar or a snapping turtle, they are the only ones that can grind a leader, bass can 't.

You don 't need a "flipping" reel to flip nor you need a reel with a flipping switch to flip, my old Abu XLT Plus and Black Max have the flipping switch feature and I can count with my fingers the times I 've used the flipping switch in more than 2 and a half decades of flipping and I do flip a lot in my everyday lake. What you need is a good quality reel with a good smooth drag and more importantly a good rod to practice the technique.

World #1.- the world where what the manufacturer labels is what the manufacturer guarantees you it 's the absolute minimum breaking strength, ex, manufacturer labels the line 8 lbs test, well the manufacturer is telling you that if you purchase his product the absolute minimum breaking strength you 'll get from his line is 8 lbs test, in reality the line breaks above 8 lbs test. World #2 .- the world where what the manufacturer labels is what it 's written on the label is the true breaking strength, the manufacturer labels his line for ex, at 8 lbs anf it 's going to break at 8 lbs or a little less. I don 't compete nor are in search for an IGFA line class record so I prefer living in World #1, if you are after a line class record then you 'll have to live in World #2. You can live in either of these two worlds, which one you choose it 's up entirely to you.

The only thing in direct contact with the fish is the hook ---> don 't "save" on cheap hooks. The only link between you and the fish is the line ---> don 't "save" on cheap line. At the price it 's got vs the performance you get Hybrid is dirt cheap if you ask me. I 've tried more expensive lines and they are nowhere near as good.

Well they were being clearanced at TW but I don 't see them anymore, too late !

If I were you I would give him a BPS gift card. Never ever my wife has purcahsed me any kind of fishing tackle I like/need/want. ( oh well, she got me a Helicopter Lure kit when we were dating many moons ago : ..... haven 't had the heart/courage to trash it :-/ ) .

Yeah thinning with a predator that can eat as much as 25% of it 's weight in fish, you do the math how much it eats in a week.

I s*t you not: Lipless cranks and soft plastic jerkbaits.

Mr Otter meet Mr 12 Ga.

Yo-zuri or P-Line Hybrid 6-8 lbs and you won 't need 12 lbs test .... unless you want to uproot stumps.

For my Shimano reels ---> Shimano neoprene reel covers For my Daiwa reels ---> Daiwa neoprene reel covers But a friend of mine just purchased these for his BCs and they are really nice: