Raul

A grosso modo without entering into much technicism: Drag relation to spool mechanism is none, drag is related to gearing and to spool mechanism via the gearing but does not have any relation to spool mechanism when it comes to spool rotation during the cast. Casting knob or what we call down here mechanical brake is indeed a mechanical brake, this one is directly connected to the spool rotation mechanism, releases or stops the rotation of the spool when the thumbar is released, therefore it controls the inertia of the spool. You set it by tightening or loosening the cap which in theory should be done when setting and changing the lure weight. VBS is the centrifugal braking system that controls the speed at which the spool is rotating while it rotates during the cast, more weights set on the slower the spool spins. It gets tricky because you have to experiment on your own with both ( casting knob and VBS ) to control the spool rotation until you gain control over the beast and it doesn 't overrun. Braking mechanisms are an aid to control the spool rotation but in the final run Mr Thumb is the KING.

TDZ Custom. Now back to the subject, there 's one thing I have to say 'bout Kut Tails, just one word: LETHAL in every size, I prefer the larger sizes ( 5 - 6.5 " ), those wiggle the tail like mad when you twitch them ...... kinda like a stripper dancer trying to drive you crazy ( notice that I don 't visit those places of sin and perdition )

I 'd say stick to what: you know, I 've got the SJR723 in IMX and I love it, stiff enough to handle power baits ( 3/8 oz =< ) but forgiving enough to handle smaller baits, if you want to go lighter ( more finesse ) then go for the SJR722, it 's more forgiving than the 723 and a really fun rod to fish with, even a dink feels like a 10 pounder , I like the rod so much that I even have it in it 's trigger sibling ( CR722 ) paired to one of my Pixys.

First of all: Welcome to the forum ! As time goes by you will begin to know me but ( don 't konow if that 's good or bad :-? ) so far tell your friend Raul says: To that statement. His personal preferences have little or nothing to do with what you can use for what and in the final run, it 's your pesonal preferences what makes the differences, you are comfortable with spinning, you know how to use spinning gear correctly then use spinning gear. What are the advantages of baitcasting over spinning, in the final run and that do not depend on you: 1.- You can use heavier or stiffer line without having to worry the line jumps from the spool when you open the bail, if the spool is made for 8-10-12 lb test that what you should use. 2.- Line twist is minimal or non existing Some are going to say that you are more accurate with baitcasting ....... it 's obvious that they have never seen me cast pin point accurate with spinning , that you get more casting distance with baitcasters ..... if we were in a casting distance contest I have to say they are right, but for the average Joe that don 't count, you cast equally far with both. That baitcasters are more powerful than spinning reels ....... they haven 't seen me pull hawgs with spinning gear through cover ( as a matter of fact and now that I 'm thinking about it ...... they haven 't seen Fish Chris, our local big bass champion, ketching them Cali big mommas with spinning gear either : ). Spinning gear can be used for any application, it 's a problem of you not knowing how to exploit the full potential of it.

Don 't know if you are trying to be funny or what, but your suggestion is absurd and ridiculous. Tipptruck: "Excuse me sir , Mr judge, your honor, ya see, them kids were playing with me tools so I decided to beat them" Mr Judge: "well sir Mr Tipptruck you are accused of beating & assault " And Mr Tipptruck ends up paying a fine and goes to jail for listening to The Captain 's advice. RW 's advice is worthy of be taken in consideration, put a stop before it starts.

Salt on the outside of the bait serves no purpose at all, part of it flies away from the bait when you cast, another part dissapears the moment it touches the water, the rest dissolves as the bait sinks so by the time it reaches the bottom you got yourself an unsalted bait. Salt dissolved and cooked in the plastic not only adds salt flavor but also adds weight to the bait which also determines the sink rate of the bait.

I 'm very far from being a well seasoned tournament angler, the only pot I fish for has green scales and hopefully with God 's will and a little luck plus some skills it will be a double digit, that pot alone is worth every penny I spend in tackle. I 'm an average Joe who fishes once or twice week and that saves in order to purchase his tackle. Basic 4 for me are: 1 Medium Heavy rods for jig, worm & spinnerbaits. 1 Medium rod for crankbait fishing. 1 Heavy rod for flipping, pitching & lately, for swimbaiting. 1 Medium light rod for finesse fishing.

Look at it on the bright side, 5 days short of two months is not bad at all considering they were shipped by snail ........ arthritic snail.

If I were the United States of America government and after having a very bad experience with UPS delivering my GPS unit to the WRONG adress I would seriously think twice 'bout shipping them nukes by UPS, who knows they may deliver them to Iran ........ FEDEX gets my vote, never had any problems with FEDEX.

Mann 's Jelly Worms KICK ARSE !!!!, they kicked arse back then, they kick arse now and will keep on kicking arse for the next couple of milennia or 'til hell freezes over. NUFF SAID !!!

Don 't know why you get so scared, there are thousands of people living with nuclear missile silos literally on their backyard or a stone cast from an Air Force base stuffed with those munster sized firecrackers.

He 's busy with al them Angelina Jolie pictures he requested.

The scent/ no scent debate is pretty much like the rod/ black, blue, gold, silver hook debate, you feel confident that by using scent you get more bites by all means use it, just don 't put all your faith in it.

He can still be called Low Budget; Megabass, Evergreen, Daiko have "budget" rods too, $300+ budget rods.

There 's an old proverb: Never say: I will NOT drink water from this well ....... you are going to drown in it Rolo said it quite clearly, I 'm in the same school of tought, if you don 't own or have owned you can 't have an educated opinion because you have no experience with it until you tried, only then your opinion has some value. After never before. Welcome to the world of upper end gear. My signature: The only difference between men and boyz is the prize of their toyz. Got spoiled with Japanese stuff

I agree but not entirely, the shad die off may be correct for places where there 's shad and shad die off but down here in the really deep south where water temps will seldomly drop to 45° shad die off has little or nothing to do with the bass exhibiting "fall" behavior because there 's no shad to die off or the shad doesn 't die off. So why do bass, Northern and Southern strain exhibit such behavior ? not really because the water cools or freezes over, they are gathering all the energy they can because they need it not to "hibernate" and survive the winter like fish in colder climates but because their spawning season starts much earlier than in the colder regions, as early as February starts down here ( in the lakes located at the coast ), in my neck of the woods late March is the spawn in most lakes and in late April - early May in the lakes located high above in the sierras.

TRIGGER SPINNING

I don 't know the name of it T-rig but it 's one of the most common water plants around in my neck of the woods specially in ponds, bass do hang around it, can 't say if they hang around it because it 's the only one around or because they can 't choose other types of aquatic plants.

I voted Stradic not only because I own one but also because there was a time when I used to have a tackle store, sold 20 or 25 Regals and they are not 100 dollars reels, they are 50 dollars reels, good reels for the money I add, but not as good as a Stradic. The Capricorn was in the same level of the Stradic and it was difficult to say which one was better, one thing is for shure, the Capricorn was smoother than the Stradic.

Methods of casting are the same, methods of holding the rod is what Taliesin is refering to, how do you hold the rod after you cast, by the handle or at the reel seat palming rod & reel ?

Been doing that for the past two and a half decades. It makes perfect sense to me. : Just like having your vehicle with the wheel on the left side and your boat with the wheel on the right side.

Can 't drop my subscription, paid life time membership ages ago but from being an outstanding magazine through the years it has gone into the sewer.

More math: Curado 200 ( 120 )/ GLoomis GL2 ( 125 ) + shipping = 260 / 12 years = 13 dollars per year. And I still have both and use them a lot.

Go to Tackleunderground and enter in the soft plastics section, there 's huge bunch of custom pourers that can do it for you, there 's a guy with the nick Bassb8 ( if I remember well ) that makes wonderful and beautiful pours. Also check the gallery most of them upload pics of their creations and many of them sell baits.

Purchased an Abu Ambassadeur XLT 521 Plus reel back in 1984 or 1985, it cost me the whopping ammount of $89.99 plus tax, not only one of the best reels around those days but also one of the most expensive, back in those days 95 bones for a reel was an obscene ammount of money, all my buddies thought I was absolutely insane and the fact that I paired it to one of the most expensive rods practically confirmed their opinion, I paired it to a Berkley Lightning Rod, in those days they were top of the line rods, I almost spend 200 dollars in those puppies. Well, it 's been over a little bit of two decades since I purchased them, 60% of all my 10+ pounders I 've caught over the years were caught on that rig. Let 's do some math: 200 dollars / 22 years = 9 dollars per year of use and abuse Since I take good care of my gear I bet I can take another 10 years of use out of that rig which btw is still in use, can there be better justification than that ? I spend more than 9 dollars a year just in chewing gum. What 's the point ? Purchase quality gear and it will last a lifetime.