ChrisD46

Hattrick7 : I normally drag and hop on the bottom just enough to achieve that seductive ribbon tail action of the big worm (3/16th oz ~ 1/4oz. bullet weight ) . By all means try swimming the big worm too with a short pause every now and then ...A Zoom 'Ol Monster is hard to fish wrong .

That's a cool deal ! What about a Biffle Head also ?

My bait monkey went to law school - learned how to launder money , set up shell corporations , etc. in order to buy fishing tackle and have it shipped to a safe house !!! Alas , my wife caught on pretty quickly so I had to let the bait monkey go back into the wild - but not before he promised me he would be back with a new fool proof scheme ... We shall see .

+1 ...The Skitter Walk is easy to get started with - good colors , action and construction .

Zoom 'Ole Monster 10" worm - Plum , Red Bug or Gren Pumpkin in the daytime and Black & Blue at night .

+1 ...Sunline FC Sniper 7lb. on a spinning rod for : drop shot and shakey head - just about perfect !

In the Summer a Zoom 10" 'Ol Monster ribbon tail worm in Plum / Plum Apple , Green Pumpkin or Junebug colors (depending on conditions) , 3/16th oz. tungsten bullet weight (unpegged) , 5/0 round bend offset hook of your choice and 12lb. fluorocarbon with baitcast outfit of your choice ... Slow down and drag / hop for best results - now that's living

Thanks - I will look into these options !

Thanks for the new replies !

Thanks for the replies to date (LMB King & others) : So far I have found a decent reel in the Okuma Large Arbor SLV series for $45. Next a TFO , Cabelas or *Redington would make the short list to consider . What brand of fly line are you using ? *Redington RS3 gets a lot of praise as a "best value" #7/8 rod but it appears to be discontinued ?

Back in the day , Cortland floating weight forward fly line was all I knew and threw ...Time to ask for updates !! * What are good , easy care floating fly lines with good ratings today in a #7 or #8 weight ? * Suggestions for a good , two piece , bass action fly rod (approx. 8 ft.) that will be in the $100 ~ $150 range ? * Suggestion for a decent fly reel in the $50 ~ $75 range * What to use for backing ? Braid , mono or some special backing just for fly reels ? Thanks in advance ...

Thanks for the replies !! Yes , a 7 or 8 weight line is what I was expecting . Would love to hear line , rod and reel opinions as a : "best value / best buy" under $200 ~ $250 as I am on a budget and can't afford the really nice $450 - $500 outfits . Lastly , where you buy your supplies online ?

Anyone fly fish for bass - poppers , or streamers ? Years ago living in Florida I used a heavy fly outfit to throw deer hair poppers and streamers with success for bass - then got away from it due to work , relocation , etc. Providing you have room for a back cast and not too windy - could DEFINATELY be a little used tactic for bass they never see ! Back in the day fly fish pros like : Joe Brooks , Stu Apt and Lefty Kreh were pioneers of fly fishing for salt water game fish with GREAT success mainly due to the fish never seeing such lures before presented in that fashion ... I'm just saying .

Ardent reel oil , reel oil for bearings and BPS grease in a syringe .

Depends ...For something in the super fluke a #1 or 1/0 Owner Mosquito would work ...For a super fluke jr. I would drop down to #2 or even a #4.

All good advice , however do not over look Academy Sports H20 Xpress Mettle bait cast reel for under $60 . This is a solid all aluminum little reel I started out with - and with regular care it still is in use today !

Jrob78 & iabass8 : If you use braid for frogs & punching - what line do you use for top water - braid OR mono ?

Didn't they name a Trick Worm color after Mike ? ...I have good success on that thing during the spawn * All in good fun - I'm sure Mike feels you can spell his last name how ever you want , as long as you remember him first when it comes to buying jigs and what not .

Good deal - I now believe I got nothing to lose by going to WM and picking up a 150 yrd spool of PP 50lb. braid to try (along with mono backing) . * I like that WM carries it and I don't have to go order from TW or BPS and risk (yet again) getting served with divorce papers

alee17 : Did you notice much loss of casting distance going from 40lb. to 50lb. braid ?

I appreciate the supplier / price direction !

Wow ! - TW has the type R for $199 I believe ...never seen the typr R for $130 when the regular Tatula 100 goes for $149 .

For spinning reels (2500 series) - here are my set ups : * Drop Shot / Shakey Head : 6lb. ~ 8lb. flouro * Small Hard Jerk Bait : 8lb. mono * Small Top Water Poppers : 8lb. ~ 10lb. mono * Super Fluke Jr. 15lb. braid + 8lb. fluoro leader Everything else I use a baitcast reel for ...

14lb. ~ 17lb fluoro or 40lb. ~ 50lb. braid with a 12lb. leader of mono or fluoro should most likely not require a large spool ... 7:1 gear ratio preferred as you use the rod to move the C-Rig and need a high speed reel to recover line ... 6:3 to 1 gear ratio reel would also work in a pinch .

Depending on the size of the worm , I have used Gamakatsu 2/0 ~ 5/0 EWG because they were very easy to rig straight and then skin hooked texposed on top. I have since been in the process of switching to Gamakatsu offset round bend worm hooks as this hook acts more like a keel on a worm and the hook ups tend to be better on a worm due to the hook point being higher than the hook eye . The only down side is that rigging the worm straight is slightly more difficult as you have to measure where the hook point goes in the worm more precisely and the hook point stays embedded in the worm .