jdz197

I bought the only 20 lb red label I found last week. I also lucked up on 5 rolls of yozuri hybrid, one 8 and the rest 15 for 2.50 a piece. Now if only I could find some cheap braid......

I've never actually owned a fish scale but if I had to estimate the biggest has been 5-6 lbs.

Out of sheer curiosity, I bought a 5'6" shakespeare durango at walmart for $10 and put my silvermax with 10 lb fluoro on it. I've only used 7' rods for the past few years and I must say It's nice to have a short rod option to reach into tight spots with overhanging trees. That being said, it's flimsy as can be so I don't expect it to last forever.

Bought a roll for $5 at walmart, never tried this brand but I've got nothing to put it on right now.

If you're just starting off with braid I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it. Spiderwire EZ braid is normally under $10. If you decide you like it, move on up to powerpro 8 slick or sufix 832 or any other high strand amount braid aka 'round' braid that costs twice as much. Look up wind knots if you're not familiar with them, it'll save you some frustration.

I hit up 6 walmarts and some have had excellent clearances in the last month, some have had next to nothing and some have had great deals. Most of the good deals have been picked over, but I've also seen some "new" old stock on clearance in just the past week. Gotta hit them up often! Got a ton of zoom flukes in colors I like for $1.18 per bag.

Sufix 832 or power pro super 8 slick, but i've had good luck with spider wire 8 carrier as well. 40-65 lb on baitcasters. That being said I've bought enough cheap fluoro lately that I'm gonna spool up some reels with it. Always save and reuse your braided line, no point in throwing away perfectly good line. A drill and an empty line roll works wonders

It's not a problem, it's a solution! The only real downside is the extra effort you have to put in for carrying all that extra tackle. I have 7 rods/reels and 5 tackleboxes in my car. You can never be too prepared.

All my spinners have 30 or 40 lb braid all the way to the core. No real logic behind it aside from the fact that I'll never have to worry about running out of line, much less breaking it. All my headache now comes from fluorocarbon leader knots, but that's another thread.

It's a healthy addiction if it gets you outside. That's my justification

If you're new to baitcasters pick up some 15-20 lb CHEAP monofilament to learn on. Master the art of fixing a backlash before spooling on more expensive fluorocarbon or braid. Most backlashes can be untangled so resist the urge to cut the line, but if you do end up cutting out of frustration you're only out a few cents worth of cheap mono. Walmart has huge rolls of low end mono for under $2.

I'm assuming you mean snap swivels? I use them most of the time in most situations, but I'm starting to move away from them as everywhere I fish is overgrown with weeds and snap swivels do seem to catch a bit more pond weeds. Treble hooks on hardbaits have a tendency to snag swivels now and then. Reeling in the moment a hardbait hits seems to help mitigate this issue.

Still waiting for it to come back in stock on amazon, if I knew they were gonna sell out I'd have got one a month ago. I don't want one bad enough to pay $70 on ebay for it.

They're average rods for average prices. The price point should be 5-10 dollars lower MSRP and they would be a better value as you can get a better rod for $40. They don't really excel at anything aside from durability. The lite pro model on sale for 30 is acceptable. I have a 6' MH ugly stick for catfish which is the best application I can think of for one.

Berkely Cherrywood HD spinner with an old Abu Garcia cardinal spinner. Berkely Cherrywood HD casting rod with an Abu Garcia Silvermax. It's hard to beat that rod for $20, though the spinner version is a 2 piece and calling it 'medium heavy' is a joke, it's more medium-medium light.