hooah212002

This is the importance of learning on a quality reel. You could have easily had the exact opposite experience if you cheaped out and you would be cursing baitcast gear right now instead of singing it's praises. Nice fish, too.

There's only one wrong way to reel: spinning reel on top. Everything else is just preference and person comfort.

H2O Mettle from Academy paired with a Veritas = ~$120

Just an FYI: a Veritas is EASILY found for ~$60 now. Pretty sure DSG essentially dropped the price to $70 and always on clearance, so add another 25-50% off of that most of the time. Gander Mountain has them on sale for $50 after a $10 MIR.

I lost 3 fish this weekend with a brand new spinner bait that had a trailer hook and both hooks had barbs, so I doubt I would lose more due to going barbless. However, what WOULD happen if you were to go barbless is a much easier time getting hooks out and less wrenching on the fishes face. Good hookset and taught line on retrieval ought to do you just fine.

You only need whichever most comfortable. MOST people cast right and retrieve right (for casting reels), but that only due to the simple fact that left hand retrieve reels are a relatively new invention. It's up to you if you want to switch hands before you start reeling or if you want to not have to do that. There is no right or wrong way to do it for casting reels.

*** *** Black

The main thing I have noticed with cheap-o's is that the arms bend too easy. especially if you have to hoist the fish onto the shore or into the boat by the line if you can't grab the fish. The higher quality spinnerbaits will return to form. The other thing you gain with higher quality spinner baits is blades that spin better (even when fouled with weeds) and most times, beads to clack along with spinning. Lastly is the skirt quality. use one cheap spinner bait all day and chances are the skirt is toast. This is not to say there is anything wrong with cheapo's; they catch fish just fine and I use them too. But higher price baits more often than not equal confidence and we all know too well how much confidence means when it comes to fishing.

Take the best of both worlds, skip the leaders and get some 12# Yo Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft

FYI: my local Gander Mountain has Veritas' on sale right now for $50 after a $10 MIR. Not sure if it shows up on the website or not though.

I love it! I ended up using an extra Mechanix glove I had laying around for my U/L reel. Yours is way more classy though.

Another option is just using cheap line as spool filler so you don't have to fill the whole thing up with the Invizx.

I certainly need to do this more often because all too frequently, I forget to vary my retrieve and end up switching baits after only one type of retrieve, chalking the lack of production up to the bait alone. for example: sometimes when fishing an inline spinner, the only way to get bit is when I pop it a few times (reel - pop - reel). I only do that because I use them so often. Other baits I use less frequently, I give up on before trying different ways. Good tip.

One thing I learned very late in life about spinning reels that everyone else treats as common knowledge (in no particular order): make sure your line is tight before beginning your retrieve close the bail by hand DO NOT over fill the spool use casting gear for lures that create line twist (soft jerk baits, spoons and inline spinners (unless you use swivels)) because even with braid, you WILL get line twist use braided line. The first two are very important and can be the difference in hating life or having no problems at all. Not only does closing the bail by hand extend the life of the reel, it also ensures that you will take the time to pick up the slack in the line before reeling in.

Ever since I got my Citica paired with a Veritas, I am on a quest to find the lightest gear possible because throwing heavy stuff around is a chore and I don't want fishing to be a chore (this is why I don't musky fish lol). My Citica/Veritas makes my Pro Qualifier/Vendetta feel like a frakkin tank even though it's actually still pretty light. So, my personal opinion (limited as my experience may be compared to most others here) is to get as light as possible without sacrificing quality. Casting a heavy setup all day, or even a few hours, will most often lead to sore wrists which, in turn, leads to less fun on the water.

I hadn't actually considered that it was simply not balanced well because I do agree with most of you that it shouldn't be as heavy as it feels. But it does feel uncomfortably heavy nonetheless and I would like to fix that if possible. Perhaps I will just try the reel on a different rod and see if that be where the problem lies. Also, I know lighter is not always better. That is not the goal. I just want similar in value AND lighter. I understand that the President is pretty much the best bang for your buck spinning reel under $100, but there are others in this price range that are nearly as good.

Those are precisely the sort of things I plan on doing with it because, as I said, I can throw most anything (and prefer to) with my Citica because, well, that can throw anything I want this side of 1/16oz.

It doesn't seem like it should be that heavy, but something about it makes it feel like a tank. I've weighed it against similarly sized reels and it does feel substantially heavier. I am fine dropping down a bit in reel size. I am looking now at the 25 series Trion (the second smallest) which is 7.1 oz. I work on computers and have been for some time and I think I am beginning to get carpal tunnel, so saving my wrists/thumbs for as long as I can is important. At the same time, I can't afford to plunk down $100+ on every reel I buy and I am currently without a regular size spinning reel (the one I have now belongs to my dad).

That appears to be heavier than a President. According to Bass Pro, the Sahara is 9.2 oz and the President is 8.3 oz.

My U/L reel is a Trion but I never considered just getting another larger one. Thanks.

I had the 6935 and decided it was way too big, so I recently acquired a 6930 and I still find it rather heavy. I stopped at DSG and handled some random Okuma (I want to say the Stratus CS since that is the cheap model listed on the website, but I am not positive) that seemed nice and light (cheap, too), but I am unsure of the different models of those reels. I like how smooth the President is and it appreciate the quality build, but I want/need something far lighter and in similar price range. Even a tad smaller in actual size would be acceptable since the 6930 still feels a bit large for my taste. However, since there is no conformity between reel manufacturers in regards to reel sizing, this task is rather difficult. I don't need my spinning reel to do all that much: the occasional drop shot, shaky head and small spinnerbaits is really about all I use my full size spinning reel for (as opposed to my U/L which gets A LOT of use). My BC reels get all the heavy lifting, leaving either spinning rig for light finesse work (I currently have a 7' St. Croix Eyecon, but am considering something lighter in weight as well as action because even that is rather stiff). $60 is the most I am currently willing to shell out unless I can manage to find a $300 reel for a $80 or something. "just spend a little more" has gotten me to $60 and I am confident I can get a sufficient reel for this price because this reel will get relatively little use.

My U/L reel is a Pflueger Trion and I love it. At $30, it's a great deal.

Spend 8 more bucks and get Invizx.

You've convinced me. The next crank/spook I throw will have barbless hooks.

Twitch, twitch, pause. Twitch twitch, pause. Some version of this depending on what the fish tell you. Finnicky fish will hit on the pause and need slower/softer twitches. Ticked off fish will hit hard jerks at any point, maybe even try 3 hard twitches.