So I finally went out and got my first baitcasting combo at BPShop Saturday night. I ended up getting the Bass Pro Shops® Extreme™ Baitcast Reel & Rod Combo (http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...rTarget=browse) - it was last year's model, so it was only $99. Drove home with the new combo, a bag full of stuff (including some practice plugs) happy as can be. Got home and began spooling line into the reel (took me a little to figure out how - and am not sure I did a great job), and went to bed with the outlook of a fun day at the Ohio River practicing casting.

Well, eventually it was a fun day the next day, but only after spending about 30 - 45 mins. working out birds nests after every cast!

Honestly, I had a blast and am excited about gettin' out there and gettin' it down better and gettin' to actually fish (not just practice casting). Can't overhand cast to save my life (get major hang ups inside the reel every time I tried) but I could side arm it just fine... I'll definately learn to overhand better.

Thanks for everyone's input here on my previous post about getting one!