bilgerat

I'll throw this out there... Would you pay an extra $1.00 for a bait if it had premium hooks already on it ? I'm talking Owners or at the least, Gammies. Or would you rather save the dollar and change them out yourself ?

Agreed. Financing anything other than a house for 20 years is insanity. Like cars, boats depreciate the minute you pull out of the dealer. Find a good pre owned boat that someone else took the financial hit on. It's a buyers market now in this economy.

Don't forget about the 2 3/4" tubes. BPS has the Teaser Tube and Strike King's Bitsy Tube are examples. Sometimes the smaller ones are the ticket.

This makes me wonder if the obsession with cranks running 'true' is really that big of a deal after all ? If I'm wrong, pile on. I'm admittedly the worst crankbait fisherman I know of. I can count how many crank fish I caught last year on one hand and still have fingers left. Maybe mine run too straight :

Thanks Stasher. Wanna come clean the snot from my computer screen now ?

Jersey - $22.50 without a trout stamp. Don't know what a trout stamp costs, don't buy 'em.

Nope, gotta polish 'em. Fine sandpaper is a good first step to knock down the real high spots, but polishing is crucial.

http://www.vincelewis.net/bigengine.html One of the companies involved in this is Wartsila. A few years ago I was in Ft. Lauderdale for training and they had a facility in the same industrial park. We talked ourselves into a tour. This engine was not there, but we were actually walking around inside one of their other engines. If you've ever been on a large cruise ship, it likely had Wartsilas powering it.

We told you so....

If you own a rotary tool (dremel) you can hugely improve your drag. Take the stack out and polish the metal drag washers on both sides until they're slick and shiny. The best carbon drag washers in the world aren't worth squat if the metal ones are rough. Use the polishing wheel with some metal polish (Flitz, Brasso, etc) Wrap tape sticky side up around a block of wood and stick the washers on to hold them flat while you do this. Whether or not you grease the washers with drag grease is personal preference. Either way, doing this will do wonders.

Been fishing over 30 years and got my first baitcaster last winter. It's nice for fishing pads and slop when some of my waters turn to soup during the summer. It's a tool, nothing more. The ability to handle line above 8 lb test is what I like about it. I still prefer light line/light tackle spinning, but the baitcaster has it's place.

I found a local tech when ours crashed last year. It's him and one other guy working out of a small storefront. Reasonable rates, stands behind his work, doesn't speak technobabble and doesn't try to upsell everything. He's got my business. When it's time for a new computer for us or our daughters, I'm buying from him.

Speaking just for myself, I made fishing harder for myself the last few years by second guessing my bait choices and tying on new baits way too often. I lost focus on what I was doing. This winter I cleared out all of my tackle bags and retired a bunch of stuff. I have two tackle bags, each the size of a six pack cooler. One for ultra light and one for the rest. I have baits to cover all water levels in a few basic colors. I have three rigs - ultra light spinning, a 6' 6" MF spinning and a 6'8" MH baitcast. It seemed over the years as I crept away from the basics my success dwindled. I don't buy that nice gear = easier fishing. It makes it more fun. It's what's going on in your head that makes it easier or harder.

I would not want them on a spinning rod. I use braid with a leader and even with the lowest profile leader knot I think casting performance would suffer.

I got my Lowrider from TW for something like $89 (free shipping) a couple of years ago. It was $109, then subtract 20% for the holiday sale. You rarely see any make of nicer rods go on sale unless they're blowing out an older lineup. You just have to keep an eye out and be ready to jump on the deal. Cabela's Bargain Cave is one place to keep an eye on weekly. Most of the time there's nothing of interest there, but gems pop up every now and then and you have to be quick.

The Irish bartender with Tourette's at the beginning of The Boondock Saints...... hell, the whole cast of Boondock Saints was awsome.

^^^^^ This. A good agent is golden. You get what you pay for.

I'm no jig master, but it would be good to have smaller jigs. 1/4 is a decent size, especially for 6' of water. If you're using braid, that may slow the fall somewhat because of it's tendency to float.

Not sure about Pflueger baitcast, but my Revo has a knurled screw up near the top on the handle side. This must be backed out first. Then you grasp the opposite (mag brake side) sideplate and turn it counter clockwise about 1/4 of a turn and lift it off. Once that is removed, take the spool out and there is one more screw behind the spool which should allow you to remove the handle side sideplate. Make sure you note the orientation of every single thing you remove.

lol they do look bad Says the guy in women's sunglasses : They have determined that high tech running shoes actually cause more injuries. They studied runners from African Nations who grew up running barefoot and still dominate the sport without 'advanced' running shoes. The new style 'footie' shoes are supposed to alleviate most of the problems.

Illinois, huh ? You must work for Scaterpillar... just teasing you. I work at a Detroit Diesel distributor.

Rebel Pop - R's. Same thing, everyone turns their nose up at them because it says Rebel on the package and you can buy them at K Mart. They catch fish, that's all that matters. Yo - Zuri Pin's Minnow. The only mention I see of Yo - Zuri here is their line. They make some killer baits as well. A little pricey but not ridiculous.

Foam earplugs typically have a higher Noise Reduction Rating than lots of ear muff style hearing protection. You roll the foam ones up tightly between thumb and forefinger and insert them in your ears. As the foam relaxes it conforms to the shape of your ear canal.

How do you do a system cleanout after a major failure like that ? That's gotta be time consuming...

Have you seen these ? http://www.basspro.com/Fenwick-Elite-Tech-River-Runner-Spinning-Rods/product/10210426/-1743464 I just got the 6' 8" ultra light. Beautifully made rod. Lifetime warranty. It's still frozen out here, haven't had a chance to fish it yet >