Exactly. Places like DSG, Walmart, and the like order the reels in clamshell since they are harder to steal. Bigger sporting goods stores like BPS, Cabelas, and online shops order in boxes because they are easier to store large quantities of and they generally don't have problems with them walking out the door.
The only way to gain confidence is to catch some fish on them. Any place near you that is known for large numbers of small fish? City parks, county parks, places like that usually have large numbers of 10-13" fish. A day of catching a couple dozen of those will gain you some confidence.
Take a 5" stick bait (brand doesn't matter) in green pumpkin color (black flake) and put it on a 3/0 EWG gamakatsu hook, rigged weedless (texas style) with no weight. Throw it to where you think a bass would be hiding and watch your line on the fall. Let it fall to the bottom and sit for 20 seconds. If your line twitches or takes off, slowly lift your rod and if you feel anything on the end set the hook. If you did not get a bite on the initial fall, lift the bait about a foot off the bottom and let it fall again. Wait 10 seconds, then repeat. For line, use mono in the 10-14# range so you can see it easily on the surface.
For the u-tails, take a 6-8" u-tail and rig it on the same 3/0 EWG gama hook but this time put a bullet weight on it. 1/8-1/4oz depending on how deep of water you are fishing. Fish it the same way as the senko only a little bit faster, with less time between lifts. You can also drag these along the bottom, about a foot at a time.
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