.dsaavedra.

YAY! ;D my new reel came in today. i mounted it on my berkley lightnin rod Ken Cook professional series M action 6'6" rod. cant wait to try this baby out!!!!!

these are great cranks. whats best about them is they go to the exact depth right out of the box. so you can load up on the ones for the depths you fish. i really like the shad color, but match your local forage.

hey buddy that coloring is perfectly normal. alot of my fish are that colored. i find that fish change color to adapt to their environment. i'll bet that fish came out of a pond w/ alot of thick hyrdilla weeds or similar...am i correct? i find that if im fishing in cold, deep, or murky waters, the fish are washed out in color and are just a solid silvery pale green. if im fishing in normal conditions, well the fish look normal, if im fishing in weedy conditions, the fish adapt to sorta match the color of the weeds. if its thick bushy hydrilla, they are usually that yellowish color. i've also caught fish out of weeds that were so rich in color they almost looked black!

yea how do you choose who gets the giveaways?

mines gotta be junebug.

x2!!! its tough at first but once you get it down its so much better than spinning gear. and you are absolutely correct, you do have to release the spool much earlier than on spinning gear!

depends...what do you want, spinning gear or baitcasting gear? for spinning gear, i'd reccomend something like an okuma stratus or abu garcia cardinal 500 for the reel. for the rod get a shakespeare ugly stick lite series. for baitcasting gear, the daiwa procaster is a nice beginners reel. you could get an ugly stick rod for this too. that spinning combo should only cost about 80-100 dollars and the baitcasting combo should cost about 100-120 dollars. not too bad of a price for the combo.

which ones do you have?

i voted reel for multiple reasons. i really dont care about the rod. i'd like for it to not break under normal circumstances but also not cost me upwards of 100 dollars. this is why i employ an ugly stick lite series, and a berkley lightning rod professional series. each in my pricerange, work just fine, and are durable. now, about the reel. if your reel craps out, you cant fish. if the handles snap, you cant fish. if the gears fail, you cant fish, if the drag sucks, you cant fight a fish. however, if an eye pops off your rod, sure performance might decrease, but you can still use the rod. if the tip snaps off, then you could either cut off down to the next guide and accept a shorter rod, or you could even get a repair kit. anyway, its not that big of a deal. also, i know when anything is bighting my lure. sure you might not feel it as well on a medium class rod, but, i can still feel it's there and set the hook.

ok thanks.

i just read alot of real bad reviews for the maxx saying that it has a bunch of memory. i think i'll stick to the XL.

thanks guys. ive tried trilene XL and i liked that. but then i saw an ad for maxx and i think i'll try that. ive always liked trilene so i think i'll stick w/ it. thanks for all the suggestions guys!

i would say its about 7lbs. way to go on the new PB man! thast a big fish.

big problem there. now, if youre fishing open water, making random long casts, sometimes side arm is the way to go, but for accuracy, overhand is the only way (for me at least...) overhand didnt feel right to me either at first, but then i took some advice here and now im equally skilled at each method. the two key points of advice that really helped me out are 1) release your thumb from the spool much earlier than you'd think you need too. i like to let go when the rod is in about the 2 or 1 o'clock position behind me. if you let go practically anything past 12 o'clock infornt of you, your lure will smack the water a few feet away from you. so let go early. 2) hold your reel so the handles face the sky. i dont know why but this seems to work very well. also, after your release the spool, dont stop, follow all the way through till your rod is parallel to the ground. by the time you are done w/ you follow thru, your reel handles should also be level, not pointing up. hope i didnt make that too long. thats about the best advice i can give.....besides PRACTICE!

PA pretty much nailed all the important parts. it is quite difficult getting to know your baitcaster and how to set it up. my first caster was a daiwa procaster 100h, its an OK reel, good for a beginner. but what you might want to do is, since they are pricy, just accept the sticker shock and go ahead and buy a nice reel. this might be anywhere from 100 to 300 dollars. i have the 120 dollar citica. but before you get a pricy reel, make sure its really what you want to do, cuz it can be frustrating to start and might make you wanna quit, but set up your reel properly and it becomes quite fast at learning it. i gave up baitcasters for a while then decided to pick em up again now im hooked on em and cant put em down! as for 4lb test...dont use it....unless for trout and panfish. for bass i'd say 8lb minimum. anything below 10 for me really isnt comfortable. i like 14lb test.

anyone know what the line guide is made out of on the citica? reelmech, you specialize in shimanos, whats it made out of? ;D

What do ya'll think of this lure? looks like a great bang for your buck. i like the available options and the price is right. i'd really like to get one.

i want some good 14 pound mono to put on my new reel. i dont wanna spend too much money though. im looking for something between 5-10 dollars. any ideas?

three words: "fast moving stuff" but really, spinerbaits, buzzbaits(especially), crankbaits, plastics if you work em real slow.

i just bought a $120 reel (citica) for $100 brand new at www.deloscustomtackleshack.com

bass_awkwards, BY far the most durable and soft senko style worm ive found is the strike king zero. it used to be 3x, but then they did away w/ that and now its elaztech. anyway, you'll know it cuz its a bag w/ yellow at the top and it says "ZERO"in big letters. those things strech to about 3ft. never had one rip due to fishing...EVER. the down side is they arent very easy to come by...at least not for me. i havent tried *** yet, but i would like to...

man roadwarrior and raul hit it right on the head. the nibbles are most likely bluegill...happens to me also. but like raul said.....HOOKSETS ARE FREE!!!!!! just slam it if you feel the need for it. slot of times where i fish there are thick weeds but in isolated clumps, and i'll feel it tighten up so i rip it, and turns out its weeds, but hey, i got thru the weeds, and sometimms i'll get bit after the rip too!

i just use a length of 6lb test mono for my leader (cuz i use some panfish flies too). i dont have any kind of tapered tippet or leader.

yea also, the bps reel, if you need it serviced, the ONLY place you can get it serviced is bps, and im not sure, but i think they arent the best reel mechanics.... :-/ if the viento wasnt smooth then like flech said, it might just have been a bad one, or since it was your friends reel or whoever it was, then they might not have kept it in the best shape or well lubricated.

6'6" ROD in medium or medium heavy action.