tyrius.

I went with the 6'6" crankin stick because A) I'm short, I want it to fit easily in my car, and C) I think 6'6" is already long for casting from shore with trees, brush, and anything else in the way. As far as I know the main downside is distance but since you're not throwing deep divers distance isn't the primary concern.

Also, if you can wait the Crankin' Stick goes on sale regularly. I bought mine for like 30 bucks. So if you can wait a while you'll save some cash. Other than that, I've never held the shimano rod so I can't compare the two.

I LOVE the BPS XPS Stalker backpack. I use 3600 boxes in it. The large BPS Finesse Binders fit the same way as the 3600 boxes and a spinner bait binder fits on top of it all. The finesse binder has worms, senkos, and hooks. The outside pockets of the backpack has flukes, tubes, trailers, and creature baits along with my digital scale.

Most certainly!! It's quite difficult to carry a boat around the shoreline of the ponds that I fish. It's much easier to pack a backpack tacklebag full of gear and use that!

You're thinking about this ALL wrong. It should be buy 5 get 1 FREE. Can you really pass up free lures? I think the Fat Raps and Sub Walks are excluded from the sale. They didn't ring up at 20% off and when I asked the cashier called the fishing department and they said some weren't on sale, but gave them to me at the sale price (25% off!!!).

No doubt. Anyone looking to get rid of their blade dancers can send them to me. Those things clean house at my father in law's pond.

Just get a tivo/dvr and be done with commercials! Life is SO much more enjoyable with one that if I had to give up my DVR I'd probably stop watching tv completely!

I'll look into those, but Shelbyville is definately leading the race right now. There are ponds/spillway for thsoe who don't want to pay for a guide or a boat. It's got nearly all of the major fish species (my dad likes white bass fishing). Shelbyville is central IL!! I grew up fairly close to there (near Effingham). He's planning on having about 12 people come on this trip. All with a variety of fishing experience and addiction levels (mine probably being the highest!) Thanks for the offer though. How far south are you talking about?

Isn't there a selection to choose to only get one reply per thread?

There have been LOADS of threads here proving that this is simply just not true. Bass are VERY aggressive and will feed on anything that they can fit their mouth around. And they'll even strike lures that they can't even get in their mouth. You aren't going to intimidate many bass throwing a Mattlures bluegill. Try the baby bass swimbaits too.

Tell the IRS. Legally, they had to have it to you by now.

BPS doesn't have your color? http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_46139_100006002_100000000_100006000_100-6-2

Isn't ultralight tackle what Fish Chris uses to catch huge sturgeon? For some reason the site is VERY slow for me tonight. Maybe I'll be able to find his report on the MONSTER he caught with very light tackle. Needless to say, your rod is safe provided that the line you are using isn't too strong for it.

This http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_74352_100011010_100000000_100011000_100-11-10 is absolutely awesome as a tackle bag. You can carry anything you want with it. As far as lures, I fish shallow cranks (less than 6 ft), spinnerbaits, topwater, tons of soft plastics, jigs, etc etc. About the only things I don't do is deep cranking, drop shot, and C-rig (and that's just because I've never rigged up a C-rig).

That's where I thought it came from. However, it would appear that he was mistaken as the actual rebate form makes no mention of MSRP.

/ That seems to be one of the pluses of Shelbyville. We can rent our own boats with electronics and/or hire a guide. So the answer to your question is Yes.

Any time in July or August.

If I remember correctly (which I've been known not to do) it came from an interview with a shimano rep. I didn't say that because I'm not real sure and was looking for someone who was sure to let me know. You can keep on being a jerk about it though.

This is incorrect. You do NOT have to purchase the reel for a specific price. The only stipulation is that you have to purchase the reel from a Shimano authorized retailer. Where did this incorrect info come from? I've seen it here multiple times.

Why not both? ;D

They have worked well for my father in law and I. This is mainly pond fishing dragging them through weeds.

my brother is getting married and wants to take a fishing trip for his bachelor party. Sounds great to me!! Anyways, we fish from the shore, but would like to go to a lake that rents boats (preferably with electronics). Lake Shelbyville seems to have some available and there are other fish species there like muskie, white bass, etc for everyone to enjoy. We're from the Chicago 'burbs. Any other good options for us to look into? We'd be open to Wisconsin also. Thanks in advance.

Also, unleaded gasoline is another traded commodity which is why the price of gas does not always follow the price of oil.

Sorry, but was this supposed to be a joke? In the first section you say it is "a true fact" and then the next section you say that you "Cant confirm all of it". Which is it?

This seems to be a common misconception here. The actual purchase price has nothing to do with the eligibility of receiving the rebate. The only stipulation is that you purchase the reel from an authorized Shimano dealer. If you get 10% off at BPS you're ok, but if you pay full price from Joe Schmoe on eBay you're not.