ulynch

Exactly the sort of advice I'm looking for. Thanks Ned. Oh, and Go Pack! :-) Open to other thoughts too folks. - D

New to bassing, and looking for some general advice on how to "assign" which rod to what techniques. I own three rods: - Shimano 7' MH/F baitcaster - Fenwick 7' MH/F baitcaster (this one has a noticeably stouter action than the Shimano) - Shimano 6' 6" M/F spinning rod My two baitcasting reels are a Daiwa Trillionaire 6.3:1 and a yet-to-be-named 7:1. I'm guessing I should spool one baitcaster with braid and one with either fluoro or mono. My goal is to be as flexible as possible with these rods. So my questions are what lines (not specific brands, but type and test please) should I put on each reel? Which rod should I pair with each baitcaster? And what techniques should I concentrate on for each of the three? I'm fishing NorCal reservoirs and small ponds. TIA! - D

Greets all! Here's my newbie story: I'm going on 50 and have fished a bunch, but not regularly since high school or so, back in Wisconsin. My sister-in-law bought a house with a small pond in a rural area of NorCal near me a few years back. I kept asking her husband if there were fish in it, but he never bothered throwing a line in to find out. A month or so back though he told me some kid rode up to his house on an ATV: "I'm visiting my grandparents down the road for the summer ... can I fish in your pond?" Ten minutes later he'd pulled 6 nice bass out. Released them all. I was there with my pole the next morning, and pulled out another half dozen smallies up to about 4 pounds, all caught on big Mepps I had around for occasional pike fishing trips to Canada with my dad. Knowing next to nothing about bass-specific baits, equipment and techniques, I started reading a bit a bunch (thanks Bassresource!) ... hmmm, soft baits? Hit Big 5, bought a few Senkos and others, and it turns out these guys love weightless Texas rigged stickbaits in chartreuse. Now I've got the bug. Problem is, I'm short on baits, gear, and I'm boatless. For now I'll stick to bank fishing some local ponds. I've picked up a decent spinning rig to go with my larger baitcaster, and I'm looking for a lighter-weight baitcaster with a palmable reel. That should do me fine for now. So I'm thinking about posting in the marketplace forum here, asking someone to put together a grab bag of essential baits out of their used stuff ... a half-dozen crank baits, some topwaters and buzzbaits, some spinners, and a small pile of useful plastics. I'd pay maybe $100 for a nice batch, especially if it included boxes. What do you think? Great idea? Or dumb idea? (It wouldn't be my first ). Better yet, any takers? Thanks folks! - D