Djman72

Not a lot of info to go on here, BUT i'll give it a shot: I would get a Pflueger President in whatever size you need for your fishing metho and what size line you need. I think I have a 6925 & 6935 but i'm not sure. Should run you around 35-50 bucks depending on where and when you get it. GREAT reels that are durable yet smooth. I've caught bass, pike, catfish, and steelhead on mine with no issues. I've also had mine for 4-5 years without any issues minus a little cleaning / upkeep. As for a rod, this is where things can go ANY direction. Not sure what type of fishing you're doing but I would suggest a Fenwick Silverhawk. I got mine for $50.00 @ Cabelas awhile back and I think they still run the sales regularly - they're normally 79 or 100. For general fishing I would suggest either Medium or MH with a fast tip. This setup is solid (I have 2 of them myself) and should cover a lot of fishing scenarios. You can cast a bunch of different lures and catch panfish up to big bass/pike/catfish. You can PM me if you have any questions. You can build a very nice spinning combo for under $120.00. You really can't go wrong with the major brands. Also, Cabelas used to sell a nice little combo: Pflueger President Reel / Cabelas Tourney trail rod for 70 or 80 bucks. It was a great deal - my buddy bought one and that is how I got started with Pflueger spinning reels. If you are going to shop @ a cabelas, I'd suggest you ask an employee if they have this combo still, or something similar. Good Luck!

Experimenting. I consider myself very proficient in a handful of techniques and i'm always rotating between them depending on the conditions/lake/etc. I very rarely try new baits or techniques when I'm out. If I force myself to try something new, I often give up quickly and tie on a "GO TO" lure to catch the fish. I'm a patient person, and I'm patient out on the water fishing techniques I'm familiar with. When it's something knew, I can't last more than 30 minutes. Cheer's to character flaws!

This might get my BassResource account revoked but...... I've never caught a bass on a jig, and I don't even like the thought of tying one on (although I have 3-5 in my Tbox). Please have mercy....

SEN - ko.

I use a 110 and haven't had any issues with it. It performs very well for me so far. I usually shy away from the "hot bait of the year" but I am starting to love me some whopper plopper.

0-2 depth (I think storm subwart?) in baby bass. Fish was just over 7 LBS. Thought i hit a stump as I was bouncing the crank all day off it. The stump started moving.

100% this. Fish are looking up at the bait. White belly, black belly, and if you are really getting into it you can to a translucent / see through although I don't notice a difference. Top water is one of my more confident presentations. The only real factors for the belly color for me is water clarity / light conditions. Pop-r, Stick baits, Frogs, newly added whopper plopper.

I primarily fish shallow ponds/lakes from shore. Weeds are usually an issue, which limits my presentation options especially in the summer. I fish weightless/light weight T-Rigs over 50% of the time. It just produces fish for me, and its something im confident in. Trick worms, senkos, craws, creatures, flukes, curlytail worms, ETC..... Water clarity is usually good - i think this presentation helps that. Next, and my favorite way, is top water fishing. When the conditions are right, this is what i'm doing. Poppers and hollow body frogs are my go to depending on surface veg. I bought a whopper plopper, but haven't used it yet. In the fall, spring i love jerk baits & flukes. That does well for me.

Golf Course fishing is close to my heart. A couple courses hold some of the best bass in the area. One i'm allowed to fish, and one i'm kind of sort of allowed to fish. The "kind of sort of" pond is far superior in quantity and quality bass. I've made friends with the Golf Pro while golfing and told him that i sneak in to fish the property regularly. This was after a few beers and he laughed and didn't care one bit. He went into some long story about how the owner of the course hates fishing because he was accidentally hooked as a little kid. As long as he isn't around, I had permission to fish freely. I was only asked to leave by the pro one time, and he was very cool about it. He actually asked to use one of my poles and wet a line himself for about 15 minutes. I was a sad camper when the pro was no longer there.

Caught a huffy racer as a kid (the bicycles). in a shallow lake near a park. Looked pretty new so I took it home and my dad fixed it up for me. Rode that thing for most of my childhood. Was a d**n good bike. My thanks to the kid who was trying to impress his friends and lost control of his Huffy. I benefited greatly.

If the fish is running left near the surface, quickly change the pressure to the right and vice versa. Keeping the rod tip low helps too. A lot of times, it doesn't matter too much. If i had a hook in my mouth attached to a line you bet i'd be going crazy to get off it too.

I get the spiderwire glasses from walmart. I'm really rough on them and they work great for me. I usually lose them, but they work well with seeing in the shallows.

I've never caught a fish on a jig - to put this in context, I fish for LMB almost exclusively. Never even had a bite.

Always at the tungsten weight on top. Never on the bait itself unless I missed a fish and the bait slipped from it's holding spot. I'll lighten the weight first next time out. That seems to be a consensus throughout the posts. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Fishing is, to me, like drinking. I never count.