gulfcaptain

We all have our preferences and opinions. Mine, all mono stretches. The heavier you go the more you will get but takes more force to do so. Try and pull 30lb mono off the bottom in 50ft of water, well you're going to get quite a bit of stretch before you get to the breaking point. With that said, I fish topshots attached to braid so a little stretch doesn't hurt when you are only fishing 9-15ft of it. You have to find what works best for you. As for me, Big Game is affordable, good abrasion resistance, works great, and can strip it off after a few trips and respool without breaking the bank when I choose to fish straight mono on my reels.

The Energy should be nice. Used the 2 models below it and both work great. (Accurist and Kinetic), never heard about the other. Sorry had to edit this because I read the question wrong.

When I was a jr in HS, joined a Wednesday night bass club team tournaments on the lake I lived on in Okla. First tournament, well I got grouded for something stupid which I don't remember at this point, my Dad fished with my partner, I got to go to the weigh in that evening. They won, I watched. Got to fish the next week, but of course we didn't catch any that night. But that was my intro into any kind of bass tournament.

I've watched many a nice fish get lost, if I loose one its normally "Dam" followed by a quick sarcastic laugh with a few hops(not in a boat though). The best reponses I always enjoyed on the charterboats is when someone would loose a nice fish, then give the guy next to them the "look what you did" look, lower their head and walk away. Guess it was easier to blame the other guy fishing that had nothing to do with it then accept that it was their fault. But it always made me laugh inside.

Not sure how the steering cable will run to replace pending wiring and everything, but if you can get a straight pull, I have had to replace throttle cables on a crewboat I worked on when they would break and that 100ft run would have been a pain but an easy trick we used was to get some shrink tube and connect the two cables. Sometimes would double the shrink tube then put a wrap of electric tape over the tubing and use the old cable to pull the new one all the way back to the engine room. Not sure if that will work on a bassboat, but if you can it shouldn't take very long at all if it's just the steering cable and nothing ziptied or bundled with it.

I have the 8.0 and have it on my 7'6" BPS Crankin Rod with 15lb mono to 30lb braid. Will be looking to use them up the the Sac. Delta next month, but overall they don't feel that much different then cranking a 5XD which isn't that bad either and they are the same rough size as the SK Wake Shad, as well as the Live Target Bluegill wake baits, so I'm thinking fish in the 3lb range shouldn't have any problems eating one, although I'm sure there will be some smaller fish that think they can too.

Agree with with you, was a reference to possibly looking into a longer rod....but yes in order to get any good hookset at 90ft you have to use proper technique and that would require taking the steps you stated. My suggestion for the longer rod will not be a fix all. Just a adding to the discussion.

That's what I do....but agree, not trying to start the which line is better. A longer rod might help as will move more line quicker.

But that is a nice swimbait set up.

Bass are bass. They need cover and food. So look for areas that have ample cover with some structure and has some forage. You say you came from a panfishing family, find the bluegills, you will likely find the bass just outside of them.

Maybe pick up a spinning set up to fish lighter baits.

Hold the reel between my pinky and ring finger. A-Jay, spinning rod, not swimbait stick.

Just remember, this rig does work great when the conditions are right for it. Right now you have the rght conditions but from my experiences summer it tends to slow and not be nearly as productive. Fall it will pick back up when the shad school and the bass go on their feed. Enjoy it while it lasts. Congrats on the PB as well.

Fish their Bio Tubes, Kriet Tail Worm, use their 3" shad bodies for my Umbrella Rigs, and caught fish on all of them.

Coontail, or hornwart does form dense growth, but under that top layer that blocks the light the bottom areas thin out and become hollow...you just have to find them. And this stuff doesn't produce dense roots, it kinda just grabs the bottom but can also be free floating so if there are mixed aquatic plants, the edges are great places to look......I new working in the aquarium field and cleaning fishtanks that useless useful information I learned would come into play sometime. If bait can get into it the bass will too. Some of the places I fish have this stuff and it's full of grass shrimp, smaller baitfish, the bluegills make their beds in it and the bass hide in it as well. It will grow up and float creating holes and channels below that those fish will use.

My opinion, I'd go with the Lowrider 20 series myself in the MH Mod Fast or the M Mod action although both are 7ft rods and not 6'8". But then like I said, that would be my opinion.

20lb for baits under 8" and then 25lb if I'm throwing anything 8" or better.

I prefer tungsten, but if you can't afford it or can't see spending the money on them, lead is fine. Looking to jika rig fish this year and that will probably be lead.

Go ahead and drop it thru.....Agree if they can hide in it they will. Go in and get them.

Make sure you don't loose any of the pieces.

Thanks. Tried to give general guidelines. Abu Garcia's are fine just look into the details and the IPT on the reels and pick Rod brand you're opening up to all kinds of opinions. Bottom line is YOU are the one that is going to be fishing it and not knowing your price range then it's hard to give you any suggestions.

Here is a quick guideline. Don't fish any Abu products so I can't advise anything except basics to look for. Reels: Jig/worm reel look for a reel that picks up somewhere between 26-30" IPT. Don't get hung up on gear ratio's look into the details. Cranking reel look for something in the range of 21-24" IPT. If you're not going to do any deep cranking and mainly fishing squarebill style baits, then 24-26" IPT will suffice nicely and not wear you out. Rods: Jig/Worm, I'd say something in the range of 7'-7'3" in a MH say in the range around 1/4oz to 3/4oz or 3/8 to 1oz range will cover most of your needs. I'd go with a fast action(my preference). Cranking look for something in the 7'-7'4" in a moderate action. Depending on the baits you're going to use will dictate what rating. 1/4oz 5/8oz I'd say a Med, if you're gonna be fishing bigger baits say 1/2oz to1oz I would opt for a MH. Action of the rod states where the rod will bend and shut off. XF normally about 12-18" from the tip. Usually have a softer tip. Fast normally about a third of the way down the rod before it shuts off. Then you have Moderate which basically means it's quite parabolic and will bend about two thirds down the blank which is great for cranking and helps absorb the impact and help keep from pulling hooks.

Comparing your fishing equipment to her shoes didn't work very well did it? IT NEVER WILL. Only thing that will get you is a night on the couch. I suggested you go buy her shoes(with your money). That way she feels like you're spending some money on her too, not just your fishing equipment.

easy......ask her this "would you rather have me spending it every night in the bar or out fishing?" There are much worse ways to spend your money then on fishing gear. And if that fails, take her shopping and buy her some shoes.

I still use a dropper loop when I fish a floating worm on a small hook with I dropshot as I feel it gives it more action. Was using a dropper loop to with a Porko longer then 15yrs ago to catch calico's and sandbass off of S.Cal.