Simp

**Updated** Ok so I got the new rod in a few hours ago (The 7'3 MH model). A few things struck me about it. First this rod balanced almost perfectly with a Curado 200e. I was very happy and impressed by that. Second the Micro guides are fantastic! I was so happy to see how nice they are compared to the crappy ones on the other Carrots. My friend was shocked at just how "Micro" they truly are as well. The stiffness and action was also exactly what I was hoping for. The tip will be perfect for walking a spro frog and load up well on buzz frogs. I haven't had a chance to test sensitivity yet besides "the voice test". It did well but I'm not certain yet because it's been a while since I tested my Gold Carrot Six with that test. However I'm leaning toward to Gold on sensitivity. I think this a whole new blank they used and so I'm not sure if it's as sensitive as the gold. I'll do some more tests and hopefully I'll be able to get it on the water very soon. For now I'm a happy camper!

The Mojo's haven't been out three years.

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks so I'm finally getting around to post about the Pickwick extravaganza! My old man and I arrived late Monday night to our Cabin to a tall shadowy figure who I swear to god said "How ya doing Pilgrim" . I was just about jumped out of boots with "Oh **** it's John Wayne!". Of course it wasn't but rather the long lanky figure of Long Mike. It wasn't long as we got settled in and we were impressed. Guys I'm not kidding this place is beautiful. The cabins were absolutely amazing and I didn't hear a peep of snoring from Long Mike and RW. The next morning my dad and I hit the lake with my new GPS and spots loaded up! Our fist stop was Panther and man was it fun! We moved off the bank some because there were some serious rain the day before but we didn't feel the fish had moved up into it yet. So we did some work with some electronics found some nice breaks in 10-15ft of water that had some brush on it. Well my dad busted out a shacky work for the fist time in is life I do believe and I threw a tube. Well we weren't there 5 min and he had a 4-1 fish ratio on me so I switched to a shacky head and didn't take it off the entire trip! Here are some picks from that spot. We must have caugh 20 or more fish on that spot before we moved. We then North to some rock ledge that the river channel ran up against. It got deep really quick and the key was to throw that worm right up against the the rock an you would get bit. I will always remember this area because it's where I caught my first Small Mouth. I"ll pos1 part 2 soon!!

**Updated** Ok so I got the new rod in a few hours ago (The 7'3 MH model). A few things struck me about it. First this rod balanced almost perfectly with a Curado 200e. I was very happy and impressed by that. Second the Micro guides are fantastic! I was so happy to see how nice they are compared to the crappy ones on the other Carrots. My friend was shocked at just how "Micro" they truly are as well. The stiffness and action was also exactly what I was hoping for. The tip will be perfect for walking a spro frog and load up well on buzz frogs. I haven't had a chance to test sensitivity yet besides "the voice test". It did well but I'm not certain yet because it's been a while since I tested my Gold Carrot Six with that test. However I'm leaning toward to Gold on sensitivity. I think this a whole new blank they used and so I'm not sure if it's as sensitive as the gold. I'll do some more tests and hopefully I'll be able to get it on the water very soon. For now I'm a happy camper! Well earlier this week I broke down and ordered a 7'3 Micro Carrot stix. The Carrots have gotten a crap load of bad PR with Duckett, the early broken rods, and horrible guides. These three things had kept me from ordering any more Carrots. I love my 7'9 heavy that I have but the tip guide grooved like I've never seen a guide grooved before. So I replaced the tip and it's been great since. Then I saw they switched to Fuji for their micro guides and the guide issue went away for me. Then of course Duckett came out with his own rods and I realize IMHO he's a ........ well lets just say I don't have much respect for the guy. Also while down in Pickwick I ran into a Pro who was using the Duckett rods and I asked about them. He flat out told me that they have a serious breakage issue. I thought hmm any chance Kent W leaving carrots and coming over to ducket to design their rods have anything to do with this? I'm betting it does. A couple days later I'm at a local tackle shop by Pickwick and a guys bringing in a Skeete Resse rod in with the tip broken. He told me it was his third rod that had done it. I thought wow this dude must be a little rough on these things, but when I got back I talked to a little local bait shop owner who sold some. He told me of the dozen he sold 5 of them came back broken. So basically I've come to the opinion that new rods designs often have a higher breakage issue. This could be by a faulty design or by a lack of quality control on the manufacturing side. So all of this made me realize E21 was just dealing with the same things allot of these guys are when coming out with new rods. Heck this was their entire first go around with rods there were bound to be some issues. So IMO all three issues were addressed to my satisfaction to warrant a purchase again. I love my flipping carrot to death. The guides were horrible no doubt but the replaced tip has helped, and the micro Fuji guides should be pretty sweet on the new rod. I've also had the opportunity to fish with some other quality rods as well, but I still favor the carrots. They are much lighter and IMHO a fair amount more sensitive then most other rods in there price range. So for those of you interested in a review of the rod I'll post some info and early experiences of it after it arrives on Monday. It seems there is hardly spec of customer reviews about the new rod. I'll make sure to post some pics of the new guides as well.

I nominate this thread for best conversation between Vinny Chase, Vinny Chase, and again Vinny Chase.

Phew that's tough my friend. It's hard to recommend anything of quality that will get you a rod and reel for 125$. You would be best served by keeping a close eye on the Flea Market thread and buying some quality parts on here. In that price range I'd try to pick up a Vendetta (Rod)and Shimano Citica 200 or 201E used. You ight be able to get both of those for somewhere close to you price range. Otherwise you might be able to pick up a low end BPS branded combo for that price.

Honestly this is really simple to do and while it make take a few tries of putting it together and breaking it down again. I honestly have no doubt you can do it.

I honestly don't think you have a dude. This is one of the few things I don't like about the Citica. Try loosing your spool tension knob so ths spool is seated deaper in the real. When I first got mine I had the same issue and I finally figured it out but now and again the issue pops up still.

So Glen what's going on here are you wanting us to condense and post all our stuff about Pickwick here or something?

Honestly the new Pro Qualifier and Carbonlites are very impressive. I own two curado's a Citica and a couple carbonlites. What I love about the BPS reels is the Dual breaking. I'm threw and threw a Centifuage brake man and so I leave the break off on the magnetic most of the time. However with really light baits and when I have wind it's great to just turn up the external brake and be set. My only concern is how well they will hold up over the long haul. I've broken down my shimano's several times and can really tell they are made to last. I used a buddies Citica the other day for a second and I could tell that thing hadn't seen a drop of oil since he bought it yet there it was just a ticking along. I practically begged him to oil it LOL.

Glad y'all had a great time Simp and safe travels home....Wished I would've had a chance to sit down with you and your Dad for a visit. The Soldier Boys kept me burned down every day ;D Big O www.ragetail.com Same here Big O my pops was really looking forward to meeting you, but I know being a celebrity and all it can be tough! ;D We both want to thank you for your generosity as well. We plan to put everything to good use. BassinSoldier we missed you friday morning but I thought that might happen with as many racoons ...I mean beers as you guys drank . It worked out for the better though the lake friday got REALLY REALLY rough. We shot across to panther and it looked like we had went swimming we were so wet. It paid off though we charted some deep structure and caught several keeper fish. All while BASS Federation Nation boats ran in and our of the cove flipping close to the bank. ;D We ended up turning in early from the lake. I'll post more stories and pick on a separate thread later tonight or in the morning.

Just a FYI most of us checked out at around 11am friday. My dad and I were going to stay a extra day but VERY strong winds changed our minds and so we headed back. All I can say is many fish were caught tells will be told of this trip for a very long time.

OK well I'm taking off right now so if anybody sees RW or Mike Let them know we will be showing up around 9-10pm.

That's what I told Blaine last night when we talked. Are you guys still going to KY instead?

Just a FYI my dad and I have decided to wait until a little later Monday to take off. Our rout would take us right threw the bad weather and flooding. We don't think it would be smart to tackle that half asleep and in the dark. So with any luck we'll down that by Monday afternoon.

Can anybody recommend a decent low cost handheld GPS that I could buy for pickwick? This will just be a stop gap until I get a Side image with GPS but I'd like to be able to load some gps spots and maybe just have a very basic map so I know where I'm at.

Well I have to work until 11:30pm Central on Sunday so I won't make it down until monday morning. > BTW I guess I need to find a good map now this is a "scaled" back roadtrip. Any idea where I'll be able to find one as good as last years KY lake map? BTW locals (cough,cough RW) I'll need some input on where to locate some smallies by the wilson dam section or any good smallie section.

Sounds like a party to me!! Great job on the update Mike. I've been working so hard recently getting a week off to do nothing, but fish and sleep sounds like pure heaven.

Long Mike, RW my dad and I will be showing up in the wee hours of the morning Monday. You will probably be getting up to hit the watter as we are showing up. As of right now I'm working the 3-11:30pm shift Sunday night and we will leave as soon as I'm done. I'll have to google the drive time. Again as of right now we have a open seat all week. My pops broke his collar bone last week and will still be recovering but he's dieing to fish and I can barely hold him back now let alone Pickwick. So anybody with us may have to listen to a grown man scream some expletives. Were hoping by Pickwick he's made some decent progress though.

You need to plan a little earlier? This thread has only been running for six months or so. How much planning do you need? Oh come on Long Mike we all got our responsibilities, and we all prioritize. I think he's just thinking he needs to put it on his list earlier so he might be able to to go next year.

i plan on taking my reel apart for a relube/grease whenever i grow the stones to do it myself. do you have a link to the upgrade process? btw , i have the 'D' model , is it any different? Yes the E and D models are different. The Citica E and the new Curado E are almost identical reels except for a couple small exceptions. One of those exceptions is the drive shaft bushing the Citica E has and the Curado E has a bearing. So you just order that bearing part from shimano or from another bearing store that is online, and replace the bushing and boom you have a smoother reel.

I can't tell ya how mad I was at a partner for killing one of my big fish in a tourney. First he used Rejuvenate, then when we had a split weigh in he refused to weigh her because he didn't like the concept of a split weight in (we do this to prevent killing a big fish in summer) and didn't want others to know what we had. We go back out and fish and it freaking hot like 100 degree day hot. I suggest we should put in some ice but oh know these Ranger life wells he has never let fish die blah blah blah. Next thing you know a perfectly healthy 5 pound plus fish is dead. Sure the pound penalty sucked but this was a beautiful female bass that would probably hit close to seven in winter and spring. Now it was dead. So now that got my new boat and built in live well Hydrogen peroxide, Sure Life, and Ice will be close by on hot days.

Caught this guy on a crank with 8lb test and he fought a long timmmeee.

Glenn no doubt your best vid yet. Garly Klein is one of my favorite anglers. My only suggestion for ya is a IRON!

I did the drive shaft upgrade a couple months ago. It's cheap and simple really. Just lay everything out and have your manual handy. I'd advise some tweezers and some decent small screw drivers. Take your time and it shouldn't be a problem. I think it took me a hour or two and it was fun to break down all the parts and build them up again. It certainly taught me allot about reels. Also if you buy two Citica's it's advantages to have the other handy in case your not sure about something. Now in terms of performance I find it certainly is smoother but you don't notice to much until you put under a good crankbait load. Personally I can't see going from 4 reels to just one curado. I'd advise you just slowly add Citica's one at a time to your inventory. Then slowly upgrade them if you wanted to. What's nice about the Citica's is they hold there value well because they are a quality reel. So if you wanted to go to Curado's at a later time you could and come out well on the financial side still.