kikstand454

i relate to this post. i too have just recently "stepped up my game" and decided to try tourney fishing. i got about 4 rigs, and then through knowing others, i ended up with around 27 rigs handed down to me. its amazing. however, i dont own a boat. so really, i only take 4-5 rods with me at any one time. and i find that its the same 5 or 6 TYPES of rigs...i just rotate similar ones. the moral is i think you will be fine.

pffft. be happy you can afford a st.croix. if you like everything else about it... who cares what color it is? noone will be givin you hell about it... they will all be going... wow... look at that st.croix...........

i dont fish alot of frogs so imma post up the question that is on topic. what about the scum frog pro? i mean... i had one and liked it... it cast well and never sank...but i never had a bronze eye or anything to compare it to. why are the bronzeeyes and bobbys frog twice the price as the scumfrog pro?

ive done so many stupid things just to catch fish.... it actually scares me sometimes when i think back to it. wading around waist deep in swamps miles from a phone comes to mind..... but just this past weekend, i had friday off. i had stuff to do in the morning but decided i was going to fish as soon as that was done. well i was ready to go @ 8am and was happy to be heading out so soon. i threw my rods and stuff in the car and took off. the place i was going is 32 miles one way from my house. but i was excited cause its a state park and canoe rentals are cheap there. plus i have never gone there and not caught any fish.... and with it being cold, i could factor reds and trout into my bass fishing dreams! so i get there, rent the canoe, drag it down to the river, and go to the car to get my gear.... and i had left my tackle at the house. all i had was what was tied on the four rods i took. a c-rig with one lure, a shaky head, a spinner bait and a jerk bait. i was like, well thats all i need right? just have to make sure to be careful with the worms.... lost both worms to bad casts,,,, didnt get a single bite all day.

sorry for your loss man. i cant even imagine it. not to make light of the situation... but its seems to me the real theives here are the insurance companies. you were alot more hurt by THEIR greed than those of the crackheads that stole your gear. its a d**n shame.

i think they are all good choices. maybe you should base your decision on which one would be more likely to prepare you for the second tourney?

i kinda wish shaws contract with strike king would expire so he could go and do other shows that are more informative and stuff. i mean, you hardly see him on that strike king show that van dam is on all the time. i think shaw is great and i too would love to spend a day fishing with him. esp during the spawn.... oh... and i think shaw mighta picked up wearing gloves from his inshore fishing life. i did. its hell on your hands spending that much time in the florida sun.

thats a tough one. lots of stuff to get and alot... or not enough...money to get it. you can get some good rods and reels for 300 bucks, esp if youre willing to wait for sales or buy slightly used. 300 dollars will buy you much more tackle than you ever need all at once. it wont go far buying sonars though. have you thought maybe of a gps? if i was in your situation... i think id be looking to get a gps/fishfinder combo to have at the helm so i could benifit from all the wonders of gps. you can get some cool units for that much... or preferably... keep saving and get a nice one that you can eventually take with you to a boat upgrade. thats mho, but then... i have 27 rods and reels and more tackle than bps. lol....

i cant say wheather or not a better spinnerbait catches more fish per se. but i will say they sometimes run truer and stay that way. in that aspect i have to say t-1 terminators. otherwise... ive caught plenty of fish on wal mart strike king spinners, and i catch bass and speckled trout and redfish on the cheap 1 dollar wal mart spinners just fine. im not throwing a 9 dollar spinnerbait at a redfish. ;D

x2. yo zuri will solve most of your issues. i agree though you may want to put some powerpro braid on your one rod there to work frogs and the like. paul roberts that was great reading thank you!!! while i cant seem to do it myself, i think that "invisibility" of your line is a very small factor in overall success. i think it only really really matters when in clear water using slow presentations, where the fish is negative or neutral and really inspects your lure.

stains reel parts? like i care if they are stained...im not looking at them. i wouldnt put the hot sauce on my daiwas... but it works just fine on all my quantums, and they are as good as new after 3-4 years of service. and thats 4 to five times a month year around. i understand not mixing lubes between makes and stuff, and i totally respect reelmechanics expertese on the subject and value his oppinion. however, i think its more that the hot sauce isnt THE BEST lube for your reels. not that its chloric acid and will melt your bearings into goo.

yes. except i think the balance point is better set on your finger that is farthest up the rod. i.e. i hold my spinning rod with my index finger ahead of the reel, and i balance my rod,reel (+1/4oz) on that. my ugly stick 7' saltwater rod with a quantum 40 size reel on it FEELS lighter than my 7'6 crucial with no reel on it. obviously it is not. esp. with spinning rigs, balance is more important than overall weight imho.

you probably got those matzuo baits at sports authority. thats the only place i ever see them. they have a topwater bait like a sammy that i kill speckled seatrout on in the summer. and it was like a dollar.

ive probably caught more fish on junebug trick worms and paddle tails than all other colors combined. black is catching up though.

you can do most anything with a beaver. i t-rig it with a 4/0 gammy skip gap and a 1/4 oz to 1/2oz bullet weight. i also carolina rig them often. they kill.

bill may fish in stocked or unpressured ponds mostly... but not always. ive seen shows where he was in the everglades and out fished his "guide" 2 to 1. bill still owns all of us. dont fool yourself. who cares if hes catching fish in a pond? hes still catching them. the technique hes trying to teach is the point of the program. the fish are just to show what the technique with the proper presentation can do. like catching all big fish is a bad thing!?

if you rinse and take care of it... it will be fine. im currently using three shimano curado d's for saltwater only. they are fine. i have a quantum spinning reel that is lasting like a champ mechanically, though cosmetically its a bit worn. i have a cardiff on a 6'7 ugly stick that i take out for big fish. (cobia,blues and "hopefully" a tarpon one day.) all of these reels are fresh water reels that were deemed "suitable" for saltwater use though not specifically made for saltwater. funny... now that i have the plastic curados, for free i might add..., the only saltwater specific reel i have- a quantum accurist pts, has been re-assigned to freshwater use. lol.

i think we can all agree that color matters more and more the clearer the water. in dark stained water...its more about profile than it is mimicry.

YES!!! thats it. those rods are GREAT!

ok. ive been meanign to bring this up..... there have to be two different ike rod models. theres the one with the flames and crap that sports authority sells.... and those are heavy junk. but then there is another line of ike rods... much much nicer and much much lighter. pro components and great action. i know this cause my buddy has one. i was with him when he got it. it is awesome. it is every bit as good as my compre. actually.. in some ways its better, because it has split grips and a really neat reel seat. these rods are similar... but not the same obviously ... to the zillion rods. i will be looking for THOSE rods to go on sale. meanwhile... hmmmm.... an ike revo huh???

didnt we just discuss this topic? hmmm... well anyway.... you dont really get a lower ratio reel in the effort to fish your bait slower.... you can just wind slower. you get a lower ratio reel in order to reduce fatigue on high resistance lures.... like deep cranks and ledgebustin spinnerbaits. its just like having a "towing" gear in your truck. moving a larger load at the same exertion force.

i personally have moved on from mono only because i feel that yozuri hybrid is better and at not much more cost. well.. ok it is more expensive. but... i feel its stronger and has less memory and more sensitivity (less stretch) than big game which is what i used before. the slight cost difference is worth it to me... while i feel the advantages/cost difference for flouro over hybrid is NOT worth my money. i did love berkley 100% flouro... and its still on my reel for what seems like 6 or 7 months to me. which is a small miracle as i switch line all the time. but its just not so much better compared to the money. im sure though if you wanted to.... you could use mono forever and catch just as many fish as the rest of us.

i meant "cant" be that much heavier of course. i see what your saying... but even for something as laboring as cranking deep....which i also do in the summer in 100 degree heat all day so i feel ya, i was just saying that the skeet isnt amazingly heavier than a crucial. that being said... id take a crucial anyday and love mine. just the skeet is 50 bucks cheaper or more... but then you get the shimano warranty..... so like i said.... i can get a skeet at cost and im thinking of getting one for worms/jigs. just to mix it up.

for what its worth, i have used a 1/16 oz. beetle spin in many a tough situation and it has never failed to produce bites. big and small, bream and bass. my personal best in fact was on a beetle spin. odd huh? throw a black and green one along the shoreline and stay low so they cant see you. foolproof.

im gonna go ahead and say that shimano has a spinning rod for you that you cant go wrong with in any price range your looking for. *shrug*