retiredbosn

I followed the links provided and KATV who orginally did a story on this has a copy of the letter from the AGFC to the angler. Several hours past and the fish did regurgitate "a large quantity of shad" possibly up to five pounds of shad but the exact amount is uknown, and when weighed in was 58pounds 3 ounces. I know fish will dry out and loose weight, but is it possible to loose between 5-10lbs in a few hours?

For deep divers I use a BPS crankin stick and a Shimano E5, I also have a Convergence crankbait rod that I have used the E5 on as well. I really really like that reel. I have had in the past the David Frittz reels that BPS put out, and also an Abu Garcia EXT pro that I used for shallow runners and lipless, my main reels for cranks now are the E5 on medium and deep runners or when I want a slower presentation, and a BPS Pro Qualifier in 6.3 for lipless and shallow runners. Deep diving cranks give your reel quite the work out, the reel is more important than the rod imo on deep divers

R u going for the repeat from last year? Nice Deer, is the right beam on the one shorter than the left or is it the camera angle?

I use an E5. But any well made low power reel will work, ie Revo winch, bps pro qualifier, just make sure its an aluminum frame, a longer handle comes in handy too. The last time I checked Ebay there were a few E5 new for around 150

The best way to work a Mann 30 is to troll it! The e7 is way too fast, so slow way down on the retrieve or get a crankbait reel, something that brings in around 20 inches per turn. Fast retrieve isn't a big deal with shallow cranks but dd's are another beast entirely. One more thing if you decide to bring it in using the rod, crank it down then sweep the rod parallel to the water not vertical

I should have specified in my post that tying opposite of the actual split in the split ring only appiies to round split rings.

The trade values are based on what you are buying not what you are trading. I think the criterion for what you are trading in is that it works, BPS then donates the reels to various charities. Basically, IMO the trade sale is an excellent opportunity for ppl who are starting to fish seriously and buying better tackle. The in store sales during the Spring Classic can be great, my nearest BPS is 2 hours away I download the circular and make the drive on the days they are either doing a clinic that I want to see or a sale I can't miss.

What adding a clip to a split ring does is take a bait that supposed to wobble to a wiggle, additionally it takes out any roll out of the lure. It takes a bait that wiggles into a super tight wiggle. If you have never tied directly properly and then tune the bait you have no idea how the lure is supposed to work. If you tie directly to the split ring you should tie opposite of the split for the same reasons, tying onto the split changes the action of the bait. Crankbaits are more art than science, out of every 10 crankbaits purchased you are lucky to find 4 that are really good uns, all will catch fish but only a small portion really shine at it. Next time you go to buy a crank look them over really really close, you will see differences between the baits from package to package. Once you get them out run your finger along the leading edge of the lip and you will feel differences between the baits, the lip should be exact and crisp at the edge, no seam where the two halves of the bait meet, you can take a file and smooth it out some, also after fishing with a crank look at it, the lip will get banged up some if you are fishing rocks, smooth it out before using it again, because any change to the lip's edge affects the action.

The handle turning backwards is as solid indicator that the AR bearing is either missing or to fouled up with gunk or rust (fried) to work. If this is a low end Pflueger with graphite frames etc, then you probably should just count it as a loss. If it is an aluminum frame reel, send it DVT he can fix it clean it, whatever. I know from experience that the low end reels don't have the best components, I had an ar bearing go out on a cheapo reel, rusted, I put one in backwards, or more accurately upside down, the reel handle wouldn't turn forward, easy to know if that happened to your reel. Sorry about getting burned.

wow after reading my post I'm confused!!!! Get the best quality you can afford, quality is better than quantity. Reels aluminum frame, quality bearings and gears Rods quality guides, reel seats, like I said before don't get caught up in the graphite numbers, there is no industry standard to how much graphite a rod has to have to earn a particular rating. Example BPS advertises 80 million modulus rods, you can bet there is very little graphite in the rod at that strength/brittleness. Generally the higher the graphite number the less it bends or the more brittle it becomes.

Every spring Bass Pro Shops has what it calls the Spring Classic sale. It is a nationwide sale all the stores participate. I think its the last part of March through the first part of April, you need a circular from your store as they take trade ins on different days, they can't run that promotion for a month, you can find the circular online at basspro.

Sorry I took so long to post, I am far from any expert, but the advice roadwarrior gave is solid. As you gain experience you will know what technique you like best, if you like throwing any plastics you will want to get a better rod. On the rod side do not get all caught up in the graphite count, the glues, reel seat, guides are just as important as graphite count. Good values on rods can be found, the Convergence and Clarus lines are decent rods (and won't break the bank either) that will allow you to feel more what your lure is doing and what the bottom is made of and of course when a fish hits it. The BPS Extreme rods are good value too, but one thing they don't have that the Shimano does is an over the counter lifetime warranty, also the Field and stream rods at Dick's aren't bad, more sensitive than I thought they would be. Reels I personally feel that the BPS Pro Qualifier is the best 100 dollar reel on the market, shoot I would argue the best 150 reel. As you can see from my post, I hold to the middle ground on price, I have neuropathy in my hands and the most expensive G-loomis rod doesn't add any sensitivity for me nor any appeal. I would hold off before buying a lot though, as fishing season comes to a close and ppl start hunting the fishing tackle normally goes on sale and you can get more for your buck at that time. Also do some searching here on the forums there is no lack of rod recommendations and there are numerous articles on the site as well that will not only educate you but by the time your research is done you will be as confused as a breast fed baby in a topless bar. Good luck and tight lines

Just out of curiosity how much does the rod cost?? May be replacing one of mine and have more funds available than I did when I got the other ones.

Yeah it does, sounds like either the bearing is completely fried or not there at all.

Wow

I always fished left handed when using spinning tackle, I think most ppl do, but when I started using baitcasting reels I had to use a RH reel don't really know why. I tried to stay with the handle on the left hand side but in the end my left hand would stay stationary and my right hand would move the rod and reel around it!! Crazy I know, I think it has to do with the fact that in spinning gear your left hand is lower than your right, in B/C of course they are on the same plane. If you can figure it out let me know.

I have a KVD Quantum M/L reel is a Curado Bantum 100B I set it up for throwing small in line spinners for trout fishin, could throw 1/8 inline easily. With what you are describing you should have no problems, I don't throw a lot of shaky heads, but I can use my Convergence M/F rod to throw dropshots using 1/8 lead with the small flukes, of course the M/L is better suited but not necessary. Of course things like the full size flukes and senkos are heavy enough to throw on a MH rod

Would have to disagree with this, don't know where ya live but stocked trout size is gonna depend on a lot of different variables, I've seen trout as small as 4-5 inches come out of the stock truck. No I am not one who followed the stock truck and caught them right after being put in, I did however try to be at the lake when I knew the stock truck was coming, the poor trout never knew what hit them as the bass tore them up! Fish can easily eat anything that is 1 and 1/2 the width of their mouth, I would put money on smallies eating stocked trout.

When I read the title of this post I thought you might have found a picture of me and my brothers fishing, Very nice fish

If you are using clips or duo locks you should remove the split ring, the reasoning is that by keeping the split ring and attaching to that you have added an additonal pivot point which affects the action of the bait. I've used Norman speed clips they work but you need to keep an eye on them that the crank isn't working its way out,( you have to do the same with split rings) duo locks are good but bulkier. Each has its trade offs but allow for quick changing of the bait. Another thing to keep in mind is breaking strength of the duo locks you use, the smallest ones don't allow for proper action and have a breaking strength around 10lbs, the split rings from the factory aren't bullet proof, read somewhere around 17-20 pound breaking strength. The size 2 and 3 locks are fine

It could be as simple as the AR bearing being in backwards. Does the drag work? Does the handle turn?

I have owned BPS Crankin Sticks, Shimano Convergence cranking rod, and St Croix Mojo Bass crankster (which was a total turd). Of all of these that I have actual hands on experience with it would be the new crankin stick from BPS you can get them on sale for around 50bucks, then the Convergence and I wouldn't hit a dead dog in the butt with a Mojo. Do not buy the telescopic handle version of the Crankin Stick, fine for topwater but not very sensitive. I really like the Convergence for the price. I would rate the Convergence and Crankin stick close with the nod toward the newest version of the Crankin Stick, very very close second would be the Convergence.

Do the companies your represent actually downgrade the components in their generators and release it as the newest improved generator? That is where all the trouble lies, if you redesign the assumption is you are going to make it better. The fact is that this company downgraded a product and released it as a new design! Then the company took the old product gave it a different paint job, released it as an improved reel; not smart. Two years ago a consumer would assume that the Chronarch D was a better reel than the Curado E, it carried a higher price and was advertised by the company as a better reel. Now the Curado G is a downgraded redesign that has fewer bearings different drag etc than the E series it replaced. The "New" Chronarch E is the old Curado E, (the old Chronarch D should have been better than the Curado E to begin with) with a couple of minor cosmetic changes. It seems to me that Shimano succeeded in alienating both the Curado and Chronarch users. An to answer your orginal question I don't know if there are any better, what I would do is look for a Curado E somone is closing out, save some money that the bait monkey can take from you

I don't know what Diawa's next reel up the line is from the Zillion, the trouble is they downgrade the Curado and call it the G series charge the same for it as the E series, relabel the Curado E as their "new" Chronarch, nothing new about it the Chronarch E series is last years Curado E. That's the bottom line for most. If they wanted to raise the price fine, I can stomach a price increase better than a bait and switch.

Do you have any problem feeling the bottom using that rod fishing a different technique? If you bought the rod off of a shelf where it was handled a lot there is a chance there is a crack in it which will destroy the feel. I had a similar experience with a rod once, it was supposed to be very sensitive and it was dead, turned out the blank was cracked right before the reel seat but under the hood of it, couldn't see it. Took the rod back the guy at the store agreed something was wrong, he either found the crack or was told about it as he is the one who told me about it the next time I was at the store. The new rod was identical to the old with the exception that it was very sensitive. When I switched to a b/c setup it was like someone turned a switch on, I could tell what the bottom was at least hard, soft or grass on my first outing. If the rod has no sensitivity using cranks or spinnerbaits and doesn't have any when t-rig, etc then my money would be on a bad blank.