Fishingmickey

Shimano's in that 100-150 price range would be the Casitas or the Citica. I think that in the 6.3-1 or the 7.2-1 ratios would serve you well if your serious about the smaller sized crank baits I'd go with the 6.3 if you want more versitility the 7.2 would serve better. I have both and they are both very nice reels. Fishingmickey

My Sis, brother-in-law and boss are all die hard Aggie's. I'm in south central Texas, New Braunfels area. Been fishing the KATS series out of Austin. www.fishkats.com if your interested in kayak tournament bass fishing. FM

Garmin 93sv w/ram mount transducer arm. FM

How far south in south Texas are ya and your true feelings about burnt orange?

https://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=2651030&type=product&WT.z_btnclk=YMAL-2651030&WT.z_pg_ref=prd2646072 https://www.cabelas.com/product/boating/marine-electronics/sonars-sonar-gps-combos/pc/104794380/c/104707080/sc/104588280/garmin-striker-plus/2646072.uts?slotId=7 I think either one of these units would fill the bill. Good luck, Fishingmickey

Learn how to fish a Texas rigged plastic worm. FM

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I have a MH Denali Lithium that I love. Using in with a Shimano Scorpion. FM

Name's Mike, had some work friends that used to call me Mickey. I love to fish so Fishingmickey it is. FM

Might be a reason why there is a lot of Shimano fan boys....

Kistler Helium 3 light medium heavy 7'.

For a all purpose rod you might find that a little light power (medium) and whippy with the moderate action. My recommendation would be a Shimano Casitas (99.00) or the Citica (149.00) reel. Either a Mojo Bass 7' MH (130.00) or Dobyn's Fury in the med. heavy or heavy 7'-7'3" (110.00). Fishingmickey

Outdoor's & Josh, I've got both the Daiwa JDM 103SV and a Shimano Scorpion DC. I've had both less then a year. Six months on the Daiwa and three months on the Scorpion. I've been very impressed by the Scorpion. Love that sound it makes when casting. I've been mainly using it to throw 5" Texas rigged finesse worms on 12# flouro w/1/8 oz weight. I've played with the thumbs free casting and if I tighten up the controls a little, I can do it. I haven't chunked any of the heavier weight lures with it yet. The Diawa does very well too. I have been using it to long cast crankbaits in the DD22, 6XD size range. I'm using 30# PP SS braid. It does well but does require some thumb usage when banging out long casts. All in all very pleased with the Scorpion. The Daiwa compares well as it should I think with my other mid to high end Shimano's like the Curado 70, Curado K, Chronarch and Metanium's. Educated thumb is required. Hope that helps, Fishingmickey

Here ya go Mossy, Kinda looks like this fills the bill. Recommended for salt water too. Might want the 4000 size if your going to target bull redfish, But for speckled trout or red's under thirty should do just fine. FM Shimano Nexave Spinning Reels FD Delivering precision performance and excellent corrosion resistance, the Shimano Nexave FD Spinning Reels are designed to excel at both freshwater bassing and inshore saltwater fishing. $59.99 - $69.99

Is it compatible with the Elaz-tec? Or will you really have a bowl of skirt soup? FM

Welcome A.O.!

Bottom contact baits are Texas rigged worm, craw or creature bait. Another would be a jig/w trailer or shakey head worm. Carolina rig too. FM

Red, Match your line size to match lure size. I'd go with monofilament because it floats. Sizes for the normal mid-sized floating #7 & #9 Original floating Rapala 8-10# mono, largest size 11 10#-14# mono, smallest size 5 4#-6# mono. This technique really needs to use a spinning combo because the lures are so light. With a twitch bait retrieve that has worked well for me in the past is make your cast. Lure hits the water. Let the rings disappear (15-30 second pause). Pick up the slack, twitch the lure, pause, twitch and repeat. This is best done in shallow flat calm water. expect to get a lot of bluegill to hit it too. Good luck! FM

Dunno if this advice will help you or not NHbull. I kayak tournament fish. Probably the biggest thing I can stress is preparation. Have all your gear sorted, rods and reels maintained w/fresh line & lubed etc. etc. etc. Study the lake your going to fish. How much pre-fishing can you get in? Think about how you want to fish it etc. based on time of year. You and your bud figure out a game plan. who's going to run the troller who decides which spots to fish. When to move. Like we're going to throw squaredbilled topwaters, spinnerworms, hollowbodied crankin frogs and dropshotting chatterbaits the first hour then flip bushes and work dropoffs (old fashion for ledges) as the sun comes out. Then figure out plan "B" in case the weather turns or the wind blows your plan out the window. Prior planning prevents tick poor performance. Good performance makes it much more fun when you're successfully pulling off your game plan. Be very observant of your surroundings. If your seeing flocks of coots along the edges or in a particular spot. There is likely fresh grass under them. Herons wading, Loons fishing, Shad flipping. Color changes in the water usually indicate a change in bottom composition or depth. Last but not least maintain a positive attitude and enjoy the time on the water with your bud. FM

LMB, I have this same rod and it is excellent for multiple presentations. As others stated excellent for bottom contact baits. It is very sensitive. I also use it to throw "larger not huge" 5" & 6" weightless (weightless swim baits probably weighing between a 1/4 and 1/2 oz). Does very well with swim jig and underspins too! Normally spooled with 12#-16# flourocarbon. FM

+2

I checked the Tranx and the Lexa... Tranx comes in a 7.6:1 model and the Lexa 7.1:1. I think the Curado300E has been discontinued. It was or is a 6.3:1 if I remember correctly.

A couple of possible reel selections for you might be: Shimano Tranx 300 Shimano Curado 300E Abu Garcia Revo Winch Diawa Lexa They are larger and of course heavier reels but have higher drag ratings. They are more capable of winching those big girls out of their lairs. Hope that helps! FM

The problem I've encountered in the past when fishing closed loop type spinner baits was when casting the bait would flip around the line and it would get caught in the pinch point where the wires are either twisted or looped. This would damage my line causing me to re-tie. Other then that the Mann's Hank Parker "classic" is one hell of a fish catching spinner bait. FM

Another trick I like to do is "Bite the head off". I'll usually shorten a 10" power worm an inch to a inch and a half. Terminal tackle is Texas rigged, a 1/4 oz weight on a 5/0 straight shank hook. If the lake your fishing is shallow ( less then 10' you might scale back the weight to 3/16 oz.