The Rooster

When rods don't have a hook keeper, I just hook one of the trebles onto the frame behind the last line guide (the stripper guide) closest to the handle. I figure the guides are wrapped onto the blank the same way as a hook keeper would be too, so how can it hurt?? I make sure the hook is on the frame only and NOT through the ring insert on the guide. That is a big no no. But if you hook it to the frame part only and don't crank it down tight as a drum, it shouldn't hurt a thing. It never has for me and I've done it for years on a lot of rods.

Got a sales paper today from Cabela's, it has the Shimano Sahara spinning reels on sale for $49.99, Saturday only. Thought I'd give you a heads up if you're looking for a spinning reel. They have aluminum frames, 4 bearings, and are basically the same as a Symetre but minus one bearing, and the bail is a two piece design where the wire meets the line roller while the Symetre is one solid unbroken wire and molded into the line roller housing instead. Still, for $50, it's Shimano quality, and many have said it is a great reel.

Hmm. I'll look at them when I go to Cabela's, but if it needs a dip in the lake to cool it off, and is noticeably cold in cold weather then I'd pass on it. I'm finicky about such things. I want to just grab it and use it without hassles or special conditions that have to be met first. No opinions on the St. Croix rods I mentioned??

Does anyone use a M/F casting rod much anymore?? It just seems to me that for what I'd want a M/F casting rod for, that any MH would do it better instead. If I was using it for crankbaits or some other treble lure, then I'd want a cranking model instead. Maybe, I might want it for light plastics, or possibly topwater?? I use spinning gear for topwaters though. I used to buy M/F rods because they were lightweight and felt good in hand to fish with all day. Back then, MH were normally too heavy or too stiff, but that was before I tried more expensive rods. I was paying around $30 or $50 for a rod then. They're a whole new ball game when you go passed the $100 mark. So now, MH rods feel like M rods used to, but seem better suited for most of my fishing. I still bought a M/F rod in the $100 pricerange, and it's the lightest rod I've ever owned, but I find myself using it for nearly nothing anymore. It has a jerkbait tied on most of the time, but even that is limited since I'm starting to use larger jerkbaits that are heavier and the MH does better with those, too.

Yesterday a Cabela's had its grand opening in my (not so) near area. It's about 1 1/2 hours away from me, but much closer than the BPS that I had before that was about 3 hours away. So I'm planning a trip soon. They have a rod that I am thinking about getting for jigs and plastics, it's the Mag Touch in 6'6" length, MH power. That handle looks interesting to me since the whole entire rod is graphite, handle and all. I'm wondering how sensitive it might be over cork handled rods. I'm also wondering how slick it might be to try to hold onto with wet hands. Hate to get one and have it fly out in the lake on the 5th cast or something. Mostly I'm wondering how it will compare to my Shimano Compre. I'm happy with it's sensitivity. I use it for jigs, plastics, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits. I'd like to have another just like it so I could keep a spinnerbait tied on, and a jig also, but it's the full cork grip which they don't make anymore, and I'm not big on the new ones they have now. I'm looking for a rod in the $100 - $120 range, not more than that. The Mag Touch is normally $100 but the one I want is actually on sale for $60 right now on their site. Hope it is the same in the store. There is also a St. Croix Premier that I like as well with the same power rating, 6'6" MH, 3/8 to 1 oz. lure weight. These, I can get in full cork grip. Is it worth it?? I'd probably use it for the spinnerbait/buzzbait rig where sensitivity isn't as important as with jigs and plastics. How would it compare to the Triumph, which I've heard is just nearly identical (same blank) except for the guides?? I actually have one of the Triumph rods here, but in M power instead of MH. I like it a lot.

Well I know they're based on the Canean but there could be differences. Can't say I'm surprised that someone else doesn't like the G series. Knew this would happen when I saw one of the G reels for the first time. They just aren't as nice.

Funny you should say "a guy in northern Michigan" since they got a guy from Michigan to advertise it. LOL

Great information! Gotta say though, the inner workings of that reel are identical right down to the last part to my old BPS Extremes. Only difference is the carbon drag washers. Mine are teflon. Dawn told me they don't offer washers to replace them with. If you find them to fit your reel, I'd sure like to know about it. I'm also sure that the Lews might have some better parts like the gears maybe?? BPS reels are sometimes rougher than I'd like in that area.

So most of you all have more than one for this. I figured that's about how it would go. I can't really see having one for everything, though some say there are some rods that can probably do it all. I'd love to just have one rod for this since I have several others for different uses that also go along with me when I go fishing and they are all in the way at times. However, I also don't want to try to get by using one rod for more than it is supposed to be used for and not getting the best performance from it either. Up until now I've always just took all my gear when I went fishing but now I'm starting to get enough that that may be too hard to do anymore. I might need to get the rods I want for whatever technique I need it for and then just take only what I plan to use for the day when I go. The trouble with that is knowing what to take in advance. I know with my luck, I'd get out there and bring the shallow crank rod and find that they're hitting the deep cranks instead.

I keep thinking I need two crankbait rods. I have two now, but they are just Ugly Stiks that I'd like to see replaced. They're just too heavy. I used to have just one rod for crankbaits, and it had a 6.4:1 ratio reel on it, with 12 pound line, and was a M powered IM-7 graphite rod. It was a cheap rod from Dick's so it didn't say the action on the blank, but it felt softer in the tip than most fast action rods. It was perfect for most cranks that I use in the 1/4 oz. range, diving down to about 8 to 12 feet. These are the cranks that I use probably 90% of the time. But it seemed a bit underpowered and wrong in general for deeper diving baits, and also for lipless baits which can be heavy feeling on the lighter rod. So I keep thinking I need one with a lower geared reel and maybe in the MH range for getting down to the 15 foot depths and below. However, this rod would probably not be used except very few times so it seems a waste to get one. Also, even if I had it, the reel seems like it would be too slow for lipless baits that I'd want to burn back to the boat. So, now I can actually see a use for 3 rods based on that. What do you use for crankbaits, one rod to cover it all, two rods, or multiple rods?? I'm not a tournament fisherman, just weekends and whenever I can get out, which isn't even that much anymore due to work. I'd really like one "do all" crankbait rod, but I don't really think that exists without some sacrificing in some areas. Like for instance, using the 1/4 oz. baits I use most of the time, a MH rod would be overkill on those and not be so fun to use as the one I used to have.

Well, after using this line the very few times I've been out, I've found it to be every bit as sensitive as fluorocarbon was for me. I used it to jig fish and I could feel the little tap, tap, taps that the bass made when they picked the jig up. It wasn't any different than I recall using fluorocarbon. I haven't fished it enough to tell you a lot more than that, such as how well it holds up in heavy cover, and all that, but the sensitivity is definitely there.

It is for me and I agree about the 200E series. Others are just ok after fishing with those in terms of comfort. But i think they could have been smoother. And I havent compared them to a Lews yet either.

If that rod the OP has is anything like the Lite Pro from Walmart in the 6'6" MH then it won't flex like just a M Ugly Stik will. It really is pool cue stiff even out to the tip.

I'm not sure why but sometimes I notice this when the drag is not tightened down enough. Try tuning the drag star tighter and see if it still happens. Actually I think I just figured out why after all.With the star loose the main gearis free to turn in reverse. It takes a tight drag to hold it from moving in reverse. This is with any reel.

I especially like it when the rods and reels match with colors and brands, both. But colors are what I pay the most attention to. Brand is a bonus. I have two Shimano combos that are rod/reel together, and they match colorwise too. Then I have some rods that are different branded than the reel, but the colors look at least decent together (part of the rod is blue while the reel is green). I have one combo that doesn't match at all really, it's a Symetre reel on an old Quantum Dance Class rod. The rod is dark blue, the reel is a medium shade of green. They don't look good together at all, but I use it because I like the rod, love the reel, and they fish well together, and I haven't had the time or money to upgrade the rod. Well, I have had the money but I just keep spending it on other things. If I put it into a rod, I'd just have to turn around and buy another reel for the rod I have now. If I had gotten the Saros instead of the Symetre, I wouldn't have to do that, it's silver and would have went well with the blue rod. Oh well.

Some guys have wives that are a little different than the rest. Mine is not your typical wife. She doesn't care for fishing so much, but does occasionally do it (she fishes for panfish and uses live bait, and baits her own hooks). She likes the other outdoor activities though and I could get her anything related to that for a gift and she would like it. Doesn't have to be just "girly" gifts.

I just like to go in there and look to see what they have. Occasionally I buy a bait or two. Sometimes more than that. I do like the Ugly Stiks they have, and I am glad to see them moving in the direction of better tackle and equipment (again). They have a Pflueger President combo that I think would be nice. For $80, how would you beat it?? I think it would make a pretty fair cranking rod for people who like spinning gear since the rod feels so limber. I worked there in the 90's and early 2000's. In the 90's, they had a downright decent selection of reels and other stuff. By the time I quit in 2002 it had fallen way down, and in recent years it's just dried up completely. They don't even have a glass case anymore with the nicer reels inside of it. But it looks like they might be making a comeback now. Still not anywhere near as nice as it was once, but better than last year for sure.

That's not worse coming to worse, it's the first thing I think of. I do this all the time and it simplifies things. No need for explanations at the return desk about how you don't have the receipt because of this and that.

Awesome. Simply awesome.

Or edit the post to show the discovered mistake.

I would say get a spinning reel and rod if you will only have the one to start out with. I'd get a medium power rod with a fast action tip, and in either 1/8 - 1/2 oz., or 1/4 - 3/4 oz. for a lure weight range. When I started and got spinning gear 1/4 - 3/4 was all I found everywhere I went and I never had a problem throwing the baits I wanted to throw, even when I was throwing the 1/8 oz. baits, that rod still did a decent job of it. But otherwise, ask yourself what types of baits you will be throwing and what the average weight of them is to know what you need there. I don't want to cloud the water for you, but there are some considerations you may want to think on as you make this purchase. Some baits do weigh more than they say. Spinnerbaits for example, weigh nearly twice what they are rated at. The weight that is listed for them only accounts for the lead used in the head of the lure, so a 1/4 oz. spinnerbait has 1/4 oz. of lead, and then will weigh closer to 1/2 oz. total when you consider the added weight of the blades, hook, skirt, and wire frame. Buzzbaits and jigs are some others that are like this too, they weigh more than rated at. Still, other baits like crankbaits or jerkbaits will weight just what they say, with nothing more to consider, so a 1/4 oz. crankbait weighs a true 1/4 oz. So, not every bait will be easily able to cast on a 1/8 - 1/2, or a 1/4 - 3/4 spinning rod. Most will, but there will be a few that just don't do as well. Remember that. I only mention this because it sounds like you plan to get one rod to begin with, and that one rod would need to cover as broad a range as possible, so look at what sort of baits you plan to throw and then get a rod that will do that. Also, if you plan to get other rods later, then you could cover just the lower end of the lure weight range for now, with a 1/8 - 1/2 lure weight rated rod, and add another rod to this later to cover the heavier end of baits, maybe a baitcaster then. Myself, I use 8 pound line on spinning reels. I find it to cast the best while still retaining enough strength to not break so often. 10 pound is stronger, and might be the better choice for an "all around" line for "general" baits, especially since this might be your only rod for everything, but I use spinning gear for only my lighter baits now and prefer how 8 pound works over the heavier lines. Hope this helps get you started.

What about physically handling some of these reels hands on before making a purchase based on pricing and reviews?? You might hate the way it feels in hand after you see it up close if you just order one without ever seeing it first. Not to mention you might end up with one that has a roughness to it in the gears that could be avoided if you sampled several of the same model at a tackle shop first. If you only get one shot to get it right, basing the purchase mostly on reviews is the completely wrong approach to it then. Reading reviews is a decent way to avoid a common problem that a lot of people seem to have with the same reel or rod over and over but that's about it. A lot of people who give bad ratings to reels sometimes do so because they can't cast it so therefore it's junk, but baitcasters take practice so a review like that is a joke to me. When I read reviews I only take them seriously if they seem seriously written so if there's a reel with 500 reviews out there, you'd have to read all 500 to take the final score given by all the reviews even 1/2 seriously. Otherwise I like the chart for showing you what features one reel has over another. But one thing I'd do on there is eliminate any reel that doesn't have an aluminum frame completely off the list. You've got a big mix going based on price, but that allows good reels like the Lew's Speed Spool or Shimano Citica to be compared along side of stinkers like the Pflueger Echelon and BPS Bionic. On that Shimano Caenan, go to tackletour's website and read that review. That's more than a paragraph or two, it's several pages based on real world testing, and I'm sure what you read will be enough to get that one off the list totally. That's one that has a graphite frame. Once you've read that you'll know why I said aluminum frames only. Any baitcaster with a graphite frame is a paperweight.

That reel came out right behind Rick Clunn's model getting cancelled. It's on the same frame and body style, a bit oversized compared to some others, just like his was. I'd say it's the same reel basically.

Is it as sensitive as fluorocarbon??

Got new line last night. I wanted Vanish fluorocarbon, but they didn't have that so I went with Berkley Sensation instead. I think it's a copoly line. I plan to use it on 2 rods for jigs, T-rigs, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, and the occasional crankbait or jerkbait. Will it sink or float?? I sort of need it to sink on the jerkbaits to help get the depth I want. I got 12 and 14 pound tests. I'll put them on M/F and MH/F rods.