The Rooster

Technically, the phrase, "I could care less" could be correct. I've always viewed this as a way of being overly sarcastic in saying that one could possibly care even less than they do and that the other person is lucky that they even care as much as they do, even though it appears that they actually do not. I'm sure most people who say this aren't actually meaning it that way, but it is possible. It's also possible that I look too deeply into things for meaning that isn't really there. I give people too much credit for intelligence at times as well.

Let me be first to welcome you. It's great here. You'll love it as much as bass fishing I'm sure.

3 in 1 oil for reels?? I always thought this was too thick for spool bearings.

There's virtually no difference there between them. Swapping reels on the rods won't make a difference I would notice in terms of fishing anything better or worse, based on their specs alone. I'd keep the St. Croix with the Chronarch just because I would consider that combo the best reel and rod, both. I would use it for jigs, spinnerbaits, buzz bait's, plastics, and maybe the frogs. You're using braid, which I don't like, but it should do fine for all of this. The 6 foot rod would be better for close quarters casting such as around docks where a shorter rod can make it easier to skip a bait or cast under overhanging branches and other things. Otherwise if I had those two combos the Berkley rod would never see action. Some may disagree though.

Curado G is 7.2 oz. weight and Citica G is 7.5 oz. Curado has lighter spool and one more bearing, and has oversized grips. That's about it for differences.

What series are they, E or G?? The differences are more for one, less for the other. The Curado has at least one more bearing than the Citica in the G series, and 3 more in the E series. It also has a lighter weight spool, making it easier to cast lighter baits, or so they say. I have both, a Citica E and a Curado E. I've seen little to no difference between their casting abilities, but that could be my ability as a caster affecting it also. Some people who can cast with no brakes on at all may see a difference. For me, it's equal on every level. Otherwise, the other differences are negligible. For the E series, the Curado has metal brake pins while the Citica has plastic, the Curado also has a metal drag star while the Citica has plastic. Then, it also has a titanium line guide compared to the Citica having SiC instead. Curado E weighs in at 7.6 oz. while the Citica E is 7.8 oz. For a cranking reel, you may want to look at the Curado E5 since the gear ratio is lower for deeper diving cranks. Citica E is only available in 6.3 ratio, but that's a decent all around ratio for 1/4 oz. cranks, in my opinion. Now if it's the G series you're looking at, all ratios are available across the board for both reels. In both series of reels, E and G, the Curado has larger grips than the Citica. Some people like this really well. I like larger grips for resistive baits like crankbaits, but some people use the Citica for cranking even though it has smaller grips.

You're going to get a lot of varying opinions here. I go with medium heavy with fast tip to help set that large, heavy hook or rip the bait from grass. Same rod can be used for jigs and plastics also. Then reel ratio is variable as well. 6.x is an all around reel speed but some like slower or faster as with 5 and 7 speeds. I suggest a 6.x and then you can slow down for slow rolling, or speed up for burning. It's right in the middle so it's not that far away from either one. EDIT.....I just noticed you had lipless cranks on there also. I was primarily talking spinnerbaits on my suggestion. I do use mine for lipless baits sometimes when I want to rip through grass but most of the time I fish those on a rod with softer action.

I'm thinking about getting a handgun for concealed carry. I'm wondering what would be ideal for this?? What would be enough firepower, not too little, but still be controllable, and also the age old question of revolver or semi-auto?? I know today's autos are better than years past, but isn't a revolver still more dependable overall?? There's no way to jam a revolver. I've fired several different types of handguns, but mostly .40 cal semi-auto. That caliber in particular I find to have too much recoil to fire accurately when target shooting, much less in a situation where I have to just react instead. The ones I fired were the Glock (not sure of model, had extended pinky rest on magazine), and the Smith & Wesson M&P. The Smith was great but had as much recoil as ever. I hated the Glock. Both were inaccurate in my hand but I did better with the Smith. 9mm is accurate in my hand. Also I have fired a .38 special as well, which I liked. That's about all the handgun experience I've had other than .22's. I'm not a small guy, about 6'1" in height, and 275 pounds. You'd think I could handle most high calibers. I don't know if I need to stick with the lower calibers for accuracy I already have, or go with the higher calibers and learn to handle it. I notice some guns I look at are heavier than others in the same caliber and style, 16 oz. up to 24 oz. and more. I figure too light and recoil is worse, but too heavy and it will be clumsy in my hand and harder to aim with. Any recommendations??

KVD line conditioner is the real deal, especially on spinning gear. Line management and castibility have never been better since i started using it.

No idea what would be best but if I had that kind of money I'd just buy some of everything and find out what was best.

That's a different model they now offer, the BB-1. The other one the OP mentioned does have infinite anti reverse. Oh boy, we've opened up another entire subject for us fanatic fishermen to focus on now, sensitivity in reels with and without AR bearings, and for that matter, handle bearings as well. I actually could see a better connection with the bait through as little bearings as possible. More metal to metal contact that way. More surface areas internally making contact, providing better sensitivity. Faster wear though.

I don't have much experience with jigs but the local tackle places here sell one that seems pretty good for about $2 each. They are sold under the name D & L Tackle. I've stocked up on those. I use Netbait Baby Paca Craws and Paca chunks for trailers. What little I've thrown a jig, I've been successful every time using this.

Believe it or not, I understand the losing the feeling of your bait due to reel slickness. I've felt that before also. I used to think that was awesome to have a reel that slick but now I'm not so sure. I'd rather feel the bait's vibrations.

I use watermelon plastics in clear or slightly stained water. It's a translucent color for when I want a green but not solid like green pumpkin. Honestly don't know if that makes any real difference though. Never tried the jigs.

Shimano Symetre for $100 Pflueger President for $60

I emailed Pinnacle several months ago twice with questions about their reels. Never got a reply at all. Emailed Shimano and Abu Garcia and got responses within a day or so from each. Took that as a sign right there.

Dad told me some years ago from his experience in the military that aboard ships they use red lights below deck in different areas due to looking into it and then looking away and it not leaving a spot in your vision. I got from this that red light is less impressive on the eyes than other colors. It fades faster. I figure red will be one of the first colors to fade out below certain depths or in dark places, therefore I sort of understand the red line concept but still figure clear is better. There's no denying that red and white baits do work but I've never seen anything to support that they catch more or less fish than other baits from my experiences. I just buy the bait because I like it. If the red helps the bait, I believe it would only be near the top of the water column where it would show up the most. I don't change hooks out to be red, or use red hooks in plastics. If adding red to the bait with paint or markers isn't enough then hooks won't do it either.

I feel so limited by this question. I think for me It would be: 1/2 oz. football jig with Netbait baby paca craw trailer, green pumpkin colors 100 series Bandit crank bait in taco salad color 1/4 oz. white Roostertail with silver blade Did anybody else feel like you were being forced to do something against your will in order to choose the three you did?? It felt to me like I had to force the answer to pick my final three. So many greats that I left out. I think these would be more of what I'd choose to go onto a desert island and have to survive for a year instead. Thats the only way I'd ever choose only those three.

Could be availability in different areas. Here the pinnacle isnt even kept by local tackle shops. I can get their cheaper stuff at walmart but thats it. Lews.is offered at all three places i have here. Local shops i mean.

I think for a solid third rod, I'd want a spinning combo. You have the heavy weighted single hook baits well covered with the first two rods. Just about every size you'd ever want to use. A good spinning rod in a medium power/fast tip would provide the ability to toss weightless plastics, top waters, inline spinners, jerkbaits, handle some drop shot rigs, shakeyhead rigs, and even work with 1/4 oz. crank baits to some degree. For this, I like a nice, crisp feeling rod with decent flexibility. Not too stiff but not too whippy either. IM7 or IM8 graphite is an example of the type rod I mean. Spinning reels are generally cheaper than a comparable casting reel so cost could be kept down too. Ideally for me, crank baits belong on casting rods, but also ideally, the rod is a specificly dedicated cranking rod. That might be spending too much right now for a single purpose rod. So you could get by with them on the spinning rod in order to gain all those other functions. You might even try them on the Shock rod also. I've heard those rods have a fairly flexible tip that might function similarly to a more flexible cranking rod. Otherwise, if you aren't into the spinning rod idea, you may want to go with the same type rod, a medium with fast tip for a general purpose rod in a casting model. This rod can do cranks also, but easier (to me) since its casting gear, and can function for jerk baits well, and may do some of the other stuff that the spinning rod would do, but in my opinion it won't be as versatile. I see it as a "do all" rod, but only average in some areas, poorly in others, and maybe having two or three things it excels in, like jerk baits and light Texas rigs, and heavier inline spinners (a heavy inline spinner would be no more than 3/8 oz. on average). It's more like the first two rods you already have but weaker, in my opinion. I use no less than 12 pound line on casting gear, and go to spinning for less. It might be more versatile with the right reel and lighter line but if that reel is the Curado 50E then it might cost too much at the moment, like you said. The line size of 12 or more on casting gear that I use keeps me from seeing this rod in the same light as a spinning rod of the same ratings. Also, I find that to fish drop shots or shakeyhead rigs, I do much better with spinning gear. Lighter line plus the way I hold the rod work better for me too. Also the spinning rods rated as M/F seem slightly softer than casting rods rated the same. I feel this helps with things like treble hook jerk baits and inline spinners. Inline spinners also are normally small in size, 1/8,1/6, and 1/4 on average, and do better on light line spinning rods over heavier casting rods and line.

That's up to you. For light baits below 1/4 oz. I prefer spinning gear and to me that's the size baits I'd use on a ML rod. People say St. Croix rods are on the stiffer side of their power ratings so a ML might be a little tougher than I think it is in a casting rod. If I got it I'd probably use it for 1/4 oz. sized crank baits and other treble baits on casting gear. That's the only real use I'd have for it though.

I figured every pro out there either didn't bother with servicing reels since sponsorship would replace them regularly, or they'd all be super tuned and tricked out to maximum levels. It's news to me that there are some who just use them stock and then have no idea how to service them to even just maintain them out of the box.

For one bait cast rod only, to go with an already owned spinning rod AND provided that that spinning rod is as I described above in my first post, being a M/F spinning rod, then I'd get a MH/F casting rod to use for jigs and spinnerbaits, Texas rigs and plastics in general. The spinning rod can handle the lighter baits and treble hook lures. You might even go MH/XF instead if you want a stouter rod, depends on your needs. I'd use the two rods side by side, spinning and casting. For one do all bait cast rod without a spinning rod to accompany it, I'd get a M/F rod.

Wow! That's freakin crazy to punch straight through the screen that way! I don't think I could do it.

Probably will forget this happened but never really understand why he doesn't like Chips Ahoy cookies. And the parent is truly sick.