Angry John

I like 40 for contact baits and 30 for cranking. I currently run 65 for frogs but plan to step down to 50. If I had to choose one for everything it would be 40.

I got smoked on tourney day. First time in the state to catch nothing. Partner had no keepers but got two. Saw one fiver did not hang out for weigh ins. Rough

What a perfect day to be out. Spending the day getting ready for the tourney tomarrow and helping around the house.

I have an older zillion and fishing combat is what it does best. Punching with heavy weight and frogging are where this reel shines.

You can trim any jig to a finesse cut but I feel 1/4 and less is finesse. A light wire hook is part of the approach and lighter line like 10 lb flouro. If your bending out hooks your not getting good hooks or your horsing them in.

the larger baits 4.8 last the longest on the beast hook. For some reason the keeper is larger and the bait will last multiple fish and go threw cover including hangups and not self destruct. The smaller 3.8 fat work well on the back of a swim jig i like serbert or a standard owner weighted hook. The keitech swim jigs are amazing and they dont hang up hardly ever but unfortunately when you get a fish, which you will, the keeper on the keitech swimjig tears up the nose of the bait. I have used the keitech hook with a owner screw lock in the large size and that works wonders.

is the px 68 worth the price i say no and this is why. The pixy and the alphas share all the same parts except the spool, and a few other minor parts. If you get an older one you would want to install the new 7.2 gears from an alphas sv. You mentioned that your son loves tiny crank baits, they made a special pixy for this called the spr. If he is big into cranks that might be the ticket but it is very specialized.

serbert outdoors swim jig in 1/4 oz. I run this or the owner weighted hook.

the pixy and alphas are the same size so there are a ton of them that will work. Currently getting a used alphas will run you around 150 shipped from japan and a brand new alphas sv will be around 220 shipped. I have herd dirty rumors that pixy's are being sold at the 100 dollar mark but have not seen it. The ease of the sv spool will help your son prevent backlashes and for the price difference a new one might be the better choice. The sol is the American version of the reel and will run around a hundred dollars. I love the orange color so its one of my favorite. Parts are everywhere so you can just pick the color you want and get that one. The original purple seems to keep its value the best so that may cost you more than a brand new one. The core 50 is supposed to be very small as well so that my be worth a look but I don't fish shimano so I cant help there.

I would look at an alphas or core and a 2 power or ml rod. No need for a z pride or even a zonda spool. Run 6lb line or braid to flouro and go. Brand new your looking 400ish

I love st croix but cranking is not where i like them. Cranking i choose the dobyns graphite series or even a phoenix X series The X-10 got a raving review on TT and i would have one had i not found my steez flex-light for such a good deal.

you dont want it to load uneven, the shims are there to allow you to make an adjustment so it will load even. add if the load is on top and remove if to much at the bottom!

http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/ http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/Finesse-Jig-423.htm

And there I was thinking he had a 400 dollar budget each. Seems everyone has vastly different ideas on what an expensive setup is.

I use the serbert 1/4 and 1/8ths ball heads and they work really well in rivers for me. I would like if they offered the same jig with a slightly shorter hook for smaller trailers. I have some hand pours that I ordered and the hook is a little long for those.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Team-Diawa-Tierra-2000-Spinning-Reel-W-Box-Spare-Spool-Nice-Condition-/252814762081?hash=item3adcef2061:g:70MAAOSw2gxYybem I would grab a reel like that listed above and a rod like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fenwick-HMG-7-Medium-Light-1-8-5-8-oz-Spinning-Rod-GS-70ML-MF-2-/282389912753?hash=item41bfc01cb1:g:2kEAAOSwfVpYwhjy

YES you can, but not for less money. Be prepared to spend double for the same quality of setup.

I love the higher end blanks but the reel seat on the LTB spinning is just not my thing. The avid is so so but the avid-x feels good. All three are good for diffrent reasons, and i would choose the x for my application because small guides are not a problem for me. People further north that deal with ice it can be a real issue. The decision depends on if you like the LTB reel seat then go with that.

sniper for light spinning, shooter for heavy cover its like army men terminology.

Not to mention a rod that would be twenty dollars more but the xx perfect pitch would be an inch shorter and have all the power you would want!!!!

I like high end gear so my answer is loaded. I would rather have the best setup and work only 3 than have 20. I think you could work with 3, A dropshot/shakey/tube spinning rod, a rattle trap/spinnerbait/light jig and a heavy frog/heavy jig/swimbait/swimjig rod. How you accomplish this is up for great debate but here is what I would do. 1.dobyns dx 742 certate spinning reel with 6 lb flouro or braid to leader 2. St Croix lec70mf steez sv with 15 lb p-line 100% 3. MB XX perfect pitch with daiwa zillion j dream with 40 lb braid

spro frogs duo pencil topwaters rapala shadraps for spring size 5 and 7

some soft mono would be great to learn on as it will not backlash as bad or as easy with an over run. Set the brakes to max and put on a 3/8ths weight and practice in the yard. The old line would be good for this as it will go in the trash before you hit the water. Your first major over run will be free... I would put some 14 lb berkely XL as it is very kind to the user and will be fine for your crank-baits. After a few months respool with YHB or CXX and your good to go.

2500 is the most common but i love and use the 2000 size. They seem to be easier to find for a great deal and i have never had any drag issues that would push me to the larger size. I dont go above 6lb flouro so that may be a major factor to upsize. I picked up a NIB certate for around 200 dollars.

I use the alberto. I add more wraps for lighter line and take one or two away on heavy line. Five both directions works well on 65 to 20lb flouro and keeps the knot small. On 20 to 10 or 6 i use 8 each way maybe more if i loose track.