The Rooster

And also the President XT is not fully aluminum framed either. Only the neck and the sideplate are. The rest of it is still graphite. Personally I'd think that making the neck a detachable portion of the reel's body would weaken it at the point of attachment instead of making it stronger. I was all about getting one of these when I first saw them but after learning how the body was made I'd sooner opt for the traditional all graphite framed President ($60) or go on up to the Medalist which is an all aluminum frame and only another $10 higher in price over the XT ($80 vs. $90).

Hmmm........I made mine entirely out of aluminum foil. Thought it wasn't working cause I could feel the heat building up from the mind rays but then I realized it was just the aluminum holding in the heat from all the smoking going on inside my head.

Not sure if you just suggested those other reels besides the Citica as just reels to look into, or that they also might have centrifugal brakes, but either way I just want to say that this year's BPS Extreme has magnetic brakes only now. Last year's had the ITB system, which was magnetic and centrifugal together, though not the traditional pinned centrifugal brakes. If you're interested in the Extreme, I highly recommend it. I've got 5 of them I love them so much. You can get them on ebay now too, last year's models brand new in box for about $50 or so and they have the dual braking, some even have free shipping. If you get one, watch out for the models with the 05 in the model number. They are the finesse sized ones, meaning less line capacity and a smaller than normal frame too. The ones with the 10 in the model number are the common sized ones. Such as ETX10HD, that's a good all around one, has a 6.4:1 gear ratio. Not pushing you in that direction but if you have questions about any Extreme reel, PM me or post it here and I'll be glad to answer them for you. I know a good bit about those, inside and out.

Wow, I never cease to be amazed by the quality and amount of information given out freely here on this site. I want to thank you guys for just an interesting read, and for this information as it may come in handy in the future.

Well this won't be for this particular rod due to it's short stature now, but I read in Bassmaster, or Field and Stream, can't remember which cause I get so many of those.........anyway, I read to use a broken rod that still has a couple of guides left on it with an old reel you don't use anymore lined with some heavy line to make a lure retriever for deep water. You could line it with some heavy cheap line, or recycle your old braided line when it's time to change it out on this. There was a picture of a weight of some type rigged with 3 or 4 pieces of chain about 6 inches long each and the links were tight and small but still large enough to snag in treble hooks and pull free the bait. Keep it tied onto the short rod and reel, just use it like normal lure retrievers, hook it on the line and let it slide down to the lure and get caught and then pull with the rod until the lure comes free. Having braided line on would allow for a lot of line stored along with tremendous pulling power, no risk to the rod the bait is currently tied to, and best of all, it can reach baits in DEEP water. I'll leave it to you guys to work out the details on making the components necessary to use for this. All I am suggesting is the idea I read about. I did not do this for myself though as I do not have any old rods to use for it, though I do have a baitcast reel I no longer use.

I'm not even remotely sure about this but I would guess............that the max line rating would also have something to do with the lineguide sizes too, meaning that heavy line would hinder the cast length due to smaller lineguides used and too much friction from non free flowing line. I would also imagine that the minimum line size suggestion is to prevent loss of a quality fish from the rod being too stiff for the lesser line and snapping it off on the hookset, just as flechero said.

NOTHING!!! ;D Had no success with the spinning gear I used them with and have not tried them on my baitcasting gear yet. But my brother-in-law uses a 7' medium Compre spinning rod, CPS70MB, with a Shimano Symetre reel and Berkley Vanish Transitions fluorocarbon line, not sure of pound test. I watch him load the boat with quality bass, as many as 15 in a single trip with just that outfit on shakeyheads only so he must be doing something right with it. I figure the rod's sensitivity has to be helping so his rod choice I plan to copy but I'll probably use a Pflueger Medalist spinning reel instead and will be hitting this board for specific line recommendations since I heard that Yozuri was the shizz-nit!

For the same price as the Cabela's Prodigy you can get a Shimano Compre. I know nothing about the Cabela's rod, it may be great, but I do know the Compre is one awesome rod for $100 in the 6'6" length.

Most tend to think of spinning reels for throwing light weight baits that a casting reel won't do well on. I'm here to tell you though, get a good baitcaster, match it to the right rod, and then casting light weight baits becomes a reality. But to achieve that same level of casting distance with a baitcaster will probably require a lot more money than a spinning reel with the same ability. A spinning reel's cast is purely dictated by the rod action (how well it loads up under the lure's weight), free flow of the line through the guides (meaning how well the guides eliminate friction with proper spacing and guide material used in construction) and the type and size of line you use. A casting reel's cast distance is influenced by all those same factors but also the spool turning during the cast comes into play so having good, no...GREAT spool shaft bearings come into play there as well. But getting GREAT bearings in a reel requires you spending some decent money. You can use any old cheap spinning reel though, a $20 reel will cast as well as a $100 reel. Now......how well they handle the retrieve, drag paying out during a fight, how long they will last.......that's a different story and that's why you want to give a bit more for a spinning reel as well. I think some people though, in order to get a baitcaster and save money they go cheap and that limits how well it casts light baits cause cheap reels contain cheap components, so they still need spinning reels too for throwing light stuff. I'm not 100% sure you can get by without a spinning reel at all but since I started using better equipment in terms of rods and casting reels, I've noticed I need my spinning rod less and less. I go whole trips now and never touch them sometimes. And then there's some people who simply are not able to use a baitcaster so they HAVE to fish with a spinning reel. Otherwise I use a baitcaster for control of the lure, especially heavier lures, I can cast the bait more accurately with a casting rod due to the way I throw it, and I can use my thumb to feather the cast down so that the bait lands in the water quietly instead of the big SPLOOSH that the lure makes when throwing with a spinning rod. Only use I still have for a spinning rod is for lures that I simply cannot cast with a baitcaster, such as a plain ol' 7" Zoom worm on a 3/0 EWG hook and no weight. My baitcast reels cast this, but not over 40 feet so until I upgrade that far then I still need my spinning rods. Of course some others will also say that there are maybe some techniques that simply work better with spinning rods/reels, and I'll let them tell you about those cause I don't know specifically what those might be. This is my take on it though.

That last comment is dead on correct. I could not agree more. Also I use only the Bass Pro Extreme reels, 5 in all and have no problems casting light weight baits, even lighter than 1/4 ounce such as a Rapala Original floating minnow #9, and even though that cast is not as far as with a 1/4 oz. bait it will throw just fine still. I have the reels on medium and medium heavy rods, both. 6' and 6'6". For medium rods I have one of each, one is a 6' Quest rod, previously sold at Dick's and they no longer sell it, the closest thing you'll find to it now is the Field and Stream rod they have, the IM-7 model that's blue in color. It's basically the same rod with a different name and color though. I use this rod to cast 1/4 oz. cranks and have done so straight into the wind with it blowing so severely that the water was choppy and the bait was only hitting 40 feet in cast distance. I did not backlash at all, however the magnetic brakes were set on 9 out of 10 but the cast control knob was only moderately tight. But if you press the cast button the bait would freely drop still. Normally with no wind I can loosen this knob even more and back the brakes off to about 6 or even 5 and cast as much as 70+ feet with a 1/4 oz. cranks (Bandit 100 series). That's with a 6' rod. You definitely have to keep your thumb on it for that though or it will backlash. I also have one of those reels on a 6'6" Shimano Compre medium rod with a fast tip and cast the same cranks on it and also throw Rapala X-rap jerkbaits with it too, and this rod will send them 80+ feet in cast length. That's with just a roll of the wrist, no serious whipping of the rod at all. Longer rods = longer casts. The other rod I use them with is a medium heavy Shimano Compre with fast tip, also 6'6" and I use it for heavier baits of 3/8 and up. It casts virtually identically to the medium with ease but on baits of 1/2 oz. and more I can hit over 100 feet in cast. I can use this rod for 1/4 oz. baits but not as well as the medium does. 3/8 oz. is where it's lure range starts at, and I guess they mean it. Basically though, match the lure with the correct rod and the reel problems will likely disappear. Wind has never been a problem either as long as the reel is on the proper rod. When I first got one of these reels I had it on a Quantum Torsion rod from Walmart, a 6' medium model but it was overly stiff for a medium and casting 1/4 oz. baits was nearly impossible. Backlash city!!! It was also a very windy day as I described earlier and I got so frustrated that I took the Extreme off that Torsion rod and swapped out an old Quantum reel off of that Dick's rod that I had on it and put my Extreme on on that rod instead and it was like magic then (I already knew that Dick's Quest rod was better than the Torsion was, should have used it to start with)!!! Simply switching the rods made a dramatic difference. Ultimately I think it was more matching the bait I throw with that rod that made the difference though. With the Extreme on the Quantum rod and a 1/4 oz. bait, it was not the right combination. I was trying to throw a 1/4 oz. bait on a rod made for heavier baits (even though it says it can cast 1/4 oz. it was not good at it). I use the Quantum rod with an Extreme on it for spinnerbaits now, when I use it at all that is, and it does fine on 3/8 baits, just not 1/4. But the Dick's rod is wonderful with 1/4 oz. In short, try the reel on a different rod, preferably a medium rod with a fast tip that compares to the Compre in action, or that Field and Stream rod, either one, a Shimano Clarus would be another decent one to put it on too. With the right rod, you can make that Extreme reel really come alive on 1/4 oz. baits!! Also keep the spool bearings oiled well enough so they freely spin. This requires less effort to cast then and therefore you won't whip the rod so hard and cause a backlast. I can tell you from experience when you get that Extreme reel paired up with the right rod, on a calm day you'll be able to set your brakes on 9, loosen the cast control knob to only a medium tightness and then cast that 1/4 oz. bait and not hardly even touch the spool with your thumb until it spashes down in the water. Not saying that's a good practice to not use your thumb, but I've done it numerous times with no trouble, I've always said that this reel virtually casts itself with 1/4 oz. Bandit cranks and the proper settings. I've spoiled myself with not having to really try to cast this reel so that I now have to practice to make myself get used to thumbing the spool better in order to use less brakes and try to gain yet more distance. I don't need it but I just want it. And just as an FYI.....the longest cast I ever measured was 125 feet, in my back yard, and that day I actually was only using the 6' medium rod but had a 1/2 oz. (actually measured 7/8 oz.) spinnerbait on. These reels are really good reels and when paired with the right rod I really think they will perform well above the $100 price range of reels, even though they only cost $80 and I only paid $50 - $65 for each of mine since I always bought on sale. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you what line I'm using. All this doesn't even matter if you can't get that little detail. If I use mono then it's Berkley Trilene XL, 12 lb. test, or Stren original, either one. Then I also use Berkley Vanish Transitions fluorocarbon in 12 and 14 lb. test. Never had any casting problems with any of these lines, and I've never used any line conditioner yet either. Just spooled up straight out of the box and go. I'm planning on trying some Yozuri Hybrid and some KVD conditioner this coming spring though when I spool up again cause I've heard a lot of good things but I have no complaints with the lines I've used so far on these reels. And another thing, you know it's funny that we'd be talking about 1/4 oz. cranks on the Extreme reel. My avatar pic is me holding up a nice one, about 2 1/2 pounds, caught on a 1/4 oz. Bandit 100 crank, casted off the Extreme reel in the pic, and it's on that 6' Quest rod I told you about. That rod does sooooo well for those cranks that I nearly exclusively use it for just that purpose.

So are you guys saying they're LYING about it?? :-? Or is there a misunderstanding between what's being said, how it got edited, what actually got published or made public for viewing??

6'6" Quantum Dance Class (Bill Dance signature series) IM-6 graphite rod with Pflueger President 6735 spinning reel spooled with 8 lb. Berkley Trilene XL mono. Until recently it was a 6' Shakespeare Ugly Stik Lite Pro with a Mitchell Avocet rear drag spinning reel on it, but I gave that one to my brother so he'd actually own some bass equipment. He only had 8 to 12 foot long rods for salt water fishing and then he also had one 5' ultra light micro rod with sewing thread sized mono on it and that was it. Guess that's all he needed in Hawaii but when he came back home to Kentucky they're all too large to use. Now when we go he will have one he can't easily tear up but still be more sized to the fish we catch around here. Nobody touches my Shimano rods......ever!!! Not for any reason as I'm meticulous with my stuff and want zero scratches on it. Over the years I've loaned rods to people only to watch them swarp treelimbs as they make casts, get snags and yank on the rod like it's unbreakable trying to get it loose, lay then down in the rocks, even put rocks on top of the handles to keep fish from dragging them in (hello, we don't use nightcrawlers and bobbers with Compre rods). So now as I upgrade in gear, nobody ever uses them but me. No exceptions (unless dad ever asks but that's as unlikely as me winning the lottery).

I guess what we all really should say is "how do the bass like it"?? ;D If I were to pick one single reel speed for a spinnerbait rod it would be a 6.x speed, meaning any 6 and above speeds. That way I'm right in the middle for the most part on ratios. If I want to slow down then I can just crank slower, really there's no limit how slow you can crank unless you just can't make yourself go that slow, or until you see that the blade no longer turns anymore cause you went too slow. And if you want to speed up, or burn the bait back in, the 6.x reel is fast enough to allow this by just cranking at a fast pace but it won't wear your arm out doing it like it would if the reel was a slow speed naturally such as with a 5.x speed reel. The 6.4:1 I use is the best one for me, I only use the 5.4:1 if I want to slow down but not have to really concentrate on doing so, in other words cranking at a comfortable pace but let the reel do the work instead of me making myself slow down. Generally I fish a spinnerbait on the one rod I have made up for it, which is a medium heavy with the 6.4:1 reel. Only time my 5.4:1 can really be used is on lighter spinnerbaits cause it's on a medium rod so that pretty much leaves out me throwing my big 1/2 oz. baits (weighed them in at 7/8 oz. on a digital scale, exceeds rod's limits).

Duely noted. Thanks. Man this rod selection is going to take some time. Anybody here ever spend weeks or months contemplating it?? I'll likely not make this purchase before January, mostly due to Christmas coming and preparations for the holiday will take priority money wise. But also this purchase will require some serious thought. I looked at the Compre for 3 months before taking the plunge (gotta remember, previous rods only costed $50 or less, really I think the only $50 rods I ever owned prior were bought on sale cheaper than that).

I'm hearing a lot of feedback, thanks for it all by the way. However I'm pretty sure I won't be putting as much money into the rod as what an IMX or GLX will cost. Spent a long time last night and today looking at them online, in catalogs, and reviewing prices compared to rods. I've about decided that either a GL3 or GL2 would be as high as I would want to go, especially since I realized that the GL2 and GL3 I held yesterday were as light a rods as I had ever held to date. So even though they're not G-Loomis' top of the line, they're still worlds ahead of what I've ever owned so far. I hate to say they're better than my Compres cause I really love them, but they both did feel lighter, especially the GL3. But, I also have not looked real hard at the Crucial yet either, just passingly so far. And if I'm going to consider a GL3 then I'd also be looking at the Shimano Cumara too. $200 would be the top price range I'd want to look at, and I'd make a quick run outside of that to stretch for a Cumara or GL3 if I thought it would warrant the extra $20. But IMX's I've seen start at $255 and up, I think they're just too high for me at this point. That's a good jump for me considering that I only just now in the last year made it to the $100 range with the Compres and I was previously only looking at Clarus's for $70 as an upgrade. I'm getting sucked in quick with the upgrading of rods it seems but I don't want to do too much too fast (though I did just change my signature yesterday in response to this new "rod craze" ;D). So.........so far I have a working list of rods to look at and it's the..... GL2 GL3 Crucial Cumara Powell (models??) That's a pretty good amount for me to start with I think. Trouble is, around here I have no dealers of Powell rods.....that I know of. The two local shops don't keep them, and there is one more about 30 minutes away, small shop but does have a very few nicer rods so they might have one, but the one or two they have might not be enough to give me an overall idea. May be taking a trip to Bass Pro Shops soon to see what they have, which would be 3 1/2 hours away for me, same for Cabela's. Anybody know if Gander Mountain keeps the Powells?? They're a bit closer, maybe 1 1/2 hours away.

Exactly what he said is what I do too. 6.4:1 for most things and if I want to slow it down some I can crank it slower, or even go to a 5.4:1 ratio for the ultimate slow retrieve. I don't go any slower than that though because I find that it does not rotate the blade if I do.

On something like this the profit would have to be purely based on what you spent vs. what you made over and above that cash wise. If you counted your time invested as well then you'd go in the hole. The experience and enjoyment would have to be your payment for that, that's how I'd see it anyway. As an example, I have a friend who just recently bought an old boat (not sure of the year), it's basically a jon boat, modified V-hull with flat bottom, about 16 feet long. Someone had built up decks in the thing even with the side rails and it was extremely unstable to stand in. The wood was all rotten, carpet was nasty and the whole boat was just basically a floating garbage dump, except for the pretty nice looking motor hanging off the back of it. He took everything out of it down to the aluminum hull only, and stripped off 4 layers of paint at least, then buffed the shiny unpainted aluminum hull till it gleamed like new chrome and then left it that way as the finish (aiming at making it look similar to the Tracker boats). Afterwards he proceeded to replace all the wooded decks and flooring again, but this time he built them lower down across the tops of the seats. It's a lot more stable now, though based on it's hull design, it's still only moderately stable to stand in. He put all new carpet in it, new wiring, new seats, and then just reused the old trolling motor, which wasn't all that old, it was a Minn Kota All Terrain 40 lb. thrust. It also has a fairly new (mid 90's) 25 HP Mercury outboard that is ignition started and has a steering console, not a tiller control. And he put a stainless prop on the motor as well (not necessary but he wanted it). He did a lot of other minute inexpensive things to it as well, and a few that weren't that cheap either such as a new livewell with plumbing and all that was never there before, but the long and the short of it is he ended up with a brand new looking boat, professional quality looks and build, and only has $1800 in it counting purchase price. I'm not sure what he could sell it for but I'd think it would bring at least $2500 to even $3000 based on how nice it seems to be. He has a lot of time in it to get it looking like it does. He'd probably break even on time invested plus parts and purchase if he sold it for $3000, but he'd still be $1200 ahead cash wise no matter how you sliced it. He got a lot of stuff for it off ebay which helped cost wise I'm sure. Now he doesn't want to sell it but the way it looks he could easily sell it in a minute. We talked about getting into doing this just for fun cause that's the kind of thing we enjoy doing, and whatever money we made over the cost of purchase and remodeling would just be profit we didn't have before we started. Man this turned into a long post!!! ;D

Hey Raul, I just noticed that earlier you said there are nicer rods than the GL2 in that price range. What are some of those, if you don't mind??

I gotta do some more reading up on these rods. All these model numbers are confusing until I know what rods they refer to when I look at them. Only thing I could tell you at this moment is that after seeing a GL2 today, I plan on giving G Loomis more attention than what I have in the past. In the past my attitude on them was "aah, too expensive". Now they still might end up impressing me that way in the long run. I'd like to directly compare them to rods of roughly equal price ranges to see how they stack up, such as a G-Loomis GL2 ($165) compared to a Shimano Crucial ($150). Do those compare apples to apples or are they apples to oranges?? And how far above the Shimano Compre rod that I know are any of the G-Loomis rods, if they are?? Do G-Loomis rods and Shimano rods even compare in any category, high or low?? I need some advice like that. Granted, it's probably all just opinions I'll get. Otherwise I don't have anything to go on to tell me if they are worth the money or not. I kind of think I know what to expect from different Shimano rods and know next to nothing about a Loomis.

I believe he said for used hooks that go dull he just tosses them, not new out of the package. Me, I buy them and use them straight out of the package, but before I buy them sometimes I'll test them using a fingernail. Easy to do, the packages are not sealed. Also hooks (as well as knives) laying around will go dull because of oxidation, even with no usage at all. So before I use one I will again test it. If it's dull I choose another but there's times when I get down to the nitty gritty and only have a few left so then if it needs sharpened then I'll hit it with the stone because in that case I'm out on the boat and have to use what I have available. For the record, I buy Gamakatsu hooks. It's very rare that I ever have to sharpen one, usually it's due to me using it and scraping a rock or getting it snagged that it needs sharpened again.

I had my hands on one of these today at the store and thought about this post then. I was thinkin' about picking one up. I fish crankbaits some, getting more and more, not sure if I need a specific rod for it yet though. Maybe....just maybe....

Wow, that is so nice, thank you very much for that explanation. I like the idea of being able to read fish minds though , so you think the IMX would be about the best for what I'd be looking at?? $230 for a single rod, that's more than I've ever paid. I just in the last year made the jump up to the $100 range from previously $50 and below. What a difference that made though. Fortunately for me I still need a worm/jig rod. Got a 7.1 reel earlier this year and it's still in the box cause I never got the rod for it. I first got a Shimano Compre 6'6" MH/F for this, put a 6.4 reel on it and I do use it for worm/jigging, as well as spinnerbaits. I could see it staying as my spinnerbait only rod though. Especially since I have that other 7.1 I intended to use for a worm/jig only rod when I got it. Would you see anything wrong in putting a $80 reel (that I got for $50) on a $230 rod?? ;D Already got the reel, it's a BPS Extreme and I really do like those.

I've always thought of glass rods being heavier in weight than a graphite rod. I personally do what Raul said to do second, which is use a graphite rod with fast tips on everything and change the power according to the baits. Medium for crankbaits, jerkbaits, anything with trebles, along with a somewhat loosened drag to cushion the hooksets (cause I have a tendency to overswing, which I'm working on stopping). Medium heavy for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, jigs, any single hooked baits. I think this works....to a point. Eventually I may want a big fat heavy crankbait and it'll weigh more than a medium rod will handle so I'd have to then get a medium heavy for the proper lure range to cast it right and not damage my rod, but opt for a slower tip then such as the MF instead of F.

I was at a local tackle store today, just killing some time and looking to see anything I've never seen before. While there I picked up a G Loomis rod, a GL2, and this thing was so impressive holding it that I was nearly sold the minute I grabbed it. Then I saw a GL3 and it felt about 1/3 lighter weight still over the GL2. The thing that impressed me the most was that the GL2 was a 6'6" Heavy, with a lure weight range of 1/4 to 1. Felt nice and stout but also felt like it would still load up right for a 1/4 oz bait to cast well from it, which is a combination I've looked for in the past but never really found. While I love my Shimano Compre, it's a medium heavy and only rated for 3/8 oz. baits minimum and it definitely does not feel like a 1/4 bait would cast very far off of it. I can cast one but it's clearly not the distance I'm able to hit with a medium rod that will handle 1/4 oz baits. But this Loomis felt as though it truly might do it (as much as I'm able to judge just standing there anyway). And to beat it all, even though it felt like it might do this well, it also felt stout enough for a heavy 1 oz. bait (like it says it will), and did it all while feeling featherweight in overall weight. So that got me thinking seriously about a Loomis rod. I'd like to know how far up the line the GL2 and GL3 are, near the bottom, middle, or what?? Based on prices I'd say they might be Loomis' entry level cause the GL2 was $165 which I think that's about the cheapest I've ever seen a Loomis. The GL3 was $215. Then I know there's the IMX and GLX and probably a few more. What order do they rank in as far as one being better than another?? I know this part doesn't make any difference to the fish, but I did like the GL2 better than the GL3 just cause of colors and overall appearance, to say nothing of it being $50 cheaper. I have a couple more rods still to get and if I went with a Loomis GL2, that would be more affordable than a GL3 and still be a lot better than I've ever been used to, even over the Compre I think, and I dearly love my Compres.

I had the same thought and I already own a nice boat. Thought it would be a nice fun project to get one and renovate it out and try to resell it again. I enjoyed redoing mine so much when I did it.