GetFishorDieTryin

I had a bulk spool of #10 BG my buddy left at my parent house when I was 10 years old. It was kept in a garage for a little more than 20 years, no heat or AC. I finished the spool a couple winters ago. Most of it was used as backing, but I winched a 7lb fish out a log jam with it a few summers back.

You don't need a legit waterproof reel to bass fish, like a Zeebass or VS to fish in the rain. Most quality reels will handle the occasional rainy day without issues, especially if you service them regularly. You can get reels that offer good water resistance within in your budget and are absolute blast to fish. You can get a Stradic FM from Japan for around 150$. Unless you get a rare dud, they are silky smooth and the AL body gives it a solid feel in hand. For such a nice reel they hold up great against SW, so rain won't be an issue. Stradic uses X protect, its like a combination of hydrophobic coatings and labyrinths on points of ingress along with physical seals in key places. Ultegra is essentially an older gen Stradic. You get the same water ingress protection, but the overall feel is a little less refined, still very nice though. Miravel wouldn't be bad choice either, but I have no experience with it. It uses core protect which isnt as effective as X protect, but still protects the reel well enough IMO. BIggest difference is that MIravel is made from a composite material instead of AL, which makes them about a half oz lighter than Stradic. Daiwas' Fuego @ 110$ is the best at its price point. Its lighter and smoother than the competing Shimanos at the same price or slightly more. Fuego uses a composite frame, which is light and strong. Some people say they can feel the frame "flex" under load, but fishing for LMB/SMB with a reasonably set drag you won't have any issues. Fuego uses a light seal at the handle as well. Its method for protecting the rotor from water ingress is different from Shimano. They use a proprietary magnetized oil, (ferrofluid) to fill areas of ingress. That fluid will keep unpressurized water and debris from getting to the AR clutch or deeper into the gear box. They call it MagSeal. It definitely works, but there are some drawbacks. It doesn't last forever and eventually needs to be replaced. It can also be compromised by dropping the reel into the water or assembling disassembling incorrectly. It sounds worse than it is. If you dont work on reels yourself, a certified dealer will replace the MagSeal when you get a the reel deep cleaned every few years. Daiwa basically offers Fuego without MagSeal and-1 spool support bearing which is Exceler (99$). Both reels are outstanding and the best in their respective price points.

The right MH F, like a 7'2 or 7'3 can do just about anything. You can use your spinning gear for the lighter stuff until you get a M power casting rod or MF MH.

I like FC for casting reels, and braid for spinning. If the water I fished was really clear, I would go to FC for my spinning JB outfit.

Most of the water around here is very shallow, most lakes average 2.5' depth, so they warm and cool fast. It takes 3 or 4 nights of considerably colder weather to set fish back at all IME. I've found that wind effects water temp more than just one night of cold. If you get a stiff enough wind consistently, the part of the lake opposite the wind direction warms up as the top layer (warmest water) blows into that corner. We had conditions like that few days ago. The water is averaging in about the mid 50s. The NNW got the SW side of the lake into the 60s,

No 2 days are ever the same. Its hard to draw a conclusive picture from just a couple of hours, even for a small pond, especially if its pressured. Go back and try being as stealthy as possible. Don't slam the car door, mind your footfalls and don't wear bright clothes. All of those bigger fish seem in tiny ponds didn't get so big being easy to catch.

I really lke the markers. You can get a subtle hue with just a few dabs or you can go darker. I have the Chart/Red marker, but dont sleep on orange.

I like the same speed reel for traps and chatterbaits, a 6 speed.

There are so many good ones. I really like GBs Rattlesnake, Gene Larews Tattle Tail, Zooms Mag Finesse, and Senko, but my favorite is a Zinker. I dont lose many worms and I dont have to use an O ring. Ive pulled senkos out of fish but not from their mouth. Since a zinker stays on the hook really well they don't wind up a fish's stomach. The only bad part about a zinker is the inconsistency. The weight of the worm changes as the salt content decreases. That changes the action and sink rate.

I saw a Hakai for 100$ the other day on what I think was AE.

I really like the 13 rods I have, especially the Muse. I've no experience with their casting reels, no one sells them around here. The spinning reels are junk. Their baits were really good, both hard plastic and soft baits. I think Rapala had them discontinued to get rid of another competitor. I think Rapala ruined one of the best customer service models ever, as far as their rods go.

A buddy of mine had issues with a Tatula 150 that would do something similar. He couldn't figure it out so he had a reel tech go over and fix it. The curado M is pretty small for a 200 and it felt really nice.

Ali express The prices can change everyday a little, the SV went up like 8$ its 150 for the high speed and a little more for the 6 and 8 speed for some reason.

Greenfish's chibi swim jig is my favorite. The lightest they come in 5\16 but with their full skirt and small size they stay up pretty well. You can trim the skirt and make the profile much smaller and orremove the entire inner layer to make it run deeper. The hook is what sets it apart. Its a an Oshaughnessy bend gamakatsu lightwire, custom made for the jig. Its stupid sharp, you dont even need to set the hook on most bites. I trim down the skirt and put a 4" swimming fluke jr on it and it does really well. Like any other finesse swim jig the guard is very light, so throwing it like a normal swimjig isnt going to workout well. Its best in moderate cover and open water. It works best on a Med power Fast action with 12lb line. The DJ finesse is ok but its pretty much the same size as standard swim jig. The hook and brushguard are much lighter and the skirt is only one layer. I just use greenfish's swim jig in its place now. The GF swim jig has a 1 layer skirt, so movement is great, but it had a heavier hook and full brushguard. That means I can throw it just in more places than the DJ finesse swim jig. I like the recessed eye on the GF more too, it stays cleaner. Both jigs fit the Dwalker 100mm and Swammer 4" perfectly. (Top DJ Finesse) (Bottom Greenfish SwimJig in Spot On) The last swimjig is compact, but built to fish in cover. Beast Coasts working mans swim jig has one of the best skirts in the bussiness and great colors. The jighead is great quality and has huge eyes. The hook is small, but 2x wire and the brushguard is full so it can run in cover well. You can use a 4" trailer down to 3" and even smaller if you want to trim up the skirt.

Isnt the brailist closer to a R than XF?