BassThumb

I started fishing smallies because the Mississippi River flows through my home town, and I lived within biking distance of a nice stretch that is full of smallies, walleye, pike, crappie, channel cats, and carp. I started wading around the Beaver Islands at age 12, using crawler harnesses and looking to hook whatever wanted to bite. The rest is history.

They're both very good reels. I have them in the 2500 size, and the Sustain is a tiny bit smoother, but the Stradic is 3 oz lighter. It's a toss up, IMO. They're both going for about $200. http://compare.ebay.com/like/260754006119?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=222873633147&crlp=1_263602_304662&UA=M*S%3F&GUID=34da06af1260a026766292c2fff2f115&itemid=260754006119&ff4=263602_304662 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370494454877#ht_1654wt_1141

I like to use the Hula Grub on a 3/8 Strike King Tour Grade Football Shakey jig and drag it around just like a football jig.

Interesting looking lake. How deep is it around the docks? I like how the middle of the lake looks, right around the island. Is there any emergent vegetation on that island, like bulrushes, cattails? To the East of the island, it looks like a nice saddle that drops off into fairly deep water on each side. You might find aggressive fish feeding on the shallow part of the saddle at times, with them retreating to the deeper sides when they're less aggressive. Also, to the West of the island, there is a nice stretch of docks in close proximity to the dropoff. That area looks like it might hold some fish.

I like the Pointer 100 size better, and I'll almost always try a 100 before a 78. The 100 is easier to cast and I catch larger fish with them compared to the 78. The Rapala XRap is also an excellent jerkbait and costs quite a bit less than the Pointer.

Always in the water, even if it means getting my feet wet.

Some brands are shorter than others. I have a few different brands. One of them, I forgot which brand or where I got it, is about a foot shorter than the Stick Jackets, Rod Gloves, and the ones that I really like that they sell at Gander Mountain.

I spend more on the rod usually. I think that nice rods have more benefits than nice reels. I like to top out in the $100-200 range on reels and spent a little more on the rods.

Is this line similar to Invizx or Abrazx, or is it like an affordable, all-purpose cross? I like the price. I'm going to give it a shot at some point this year.

The Dobyns Champion 734c is a fantastic spinnerbait rod and works well with 5-6" Texas rigged Senkos, too. It's a very versatile rod that'll work well with a variety of lures. It is 7' 3" long though, a little longer than what you had in mind, but the extra length comes in handy for long casts and controlling a fish after it's hooked. I bought my second one this offseason because I wanted one for just buzzbaits/chatterbaits. This is a $240 dollar rod, but there will be some spring sales coming up where they will be 10-20% off. I would match that with a Shimano Curado 200E7 that can be found for around $150 on eBay. With a little luck, this combo can be had for around $350 and is an excellent value at that price.

That's what I would recommend, an eBay Saros for $100. I've always had good luck with Shimano reels. I have to admit, I take most online reviews from retailers with a grain of salt, especially on sites like Bass Pro, Cabelas, Amazon where they give products a star rating. The editors at TackleTour seem to know their tackle and I trust their opinions for the most part, and there are a lot of members on Bass Resource that really know what their talking about and tell it like it is. But that only counts for so much. If everybody felt that same about tackle, then there wouldn't be so much lightly used tackle being sold online or boxes of unused stuff sitting in people's basements. I like to get a product in my hands and fish with it for at least a few months before I can really form an opinion about it. Then if I don't like it, I'll try to sell it at a fair price on various online flea markets and chalk the loss up to experience. Gradually, after a few bad purchases, I figured out what brands I like and now I don't really deviate very often.

Everything looks great. I like the new look and that everything seems cleaner. The search function is also easier to use. Thanks for keeping the site free of charge. Changes like this couldn't have been cheap.

LOL

How durable are they?

The good old Beetle Spin gets tossed every year as a last, last resort.

Instead of using lynyrdsky1, try using Austin_Curland as your user name. Using BassThumb didn't work for me either, I had to use FIRST_LAST to sign in. I realized this after I changed my password and it told me my user name was Joe_Miller.

Good stuff!! One thing though, when it comes to parking around MLB stadiums, it doesn't get any worse than around Wrigley Field. There's next to nothing available, and what little there is costs $50-100 to park there. Even Boston has more available parking. When I go there every few years, I park in a garage in the city and take the Red Line 'L' Train to the park, for both Wrigley and The Cell.

1/2 oz buzzers have a larger blade which slows it down. The larger blade displaces more water and makes more splash and noise. They're also easier to toss in windy conditions without backlashing. Half ouncers have their place, but I mostly throw 3/8 Cavitrons, like RW said.

I broke off a 17# CXX leader twice last year with the Double Uni. I chalk it up to the abuse that the large knot took from going thru the guides. I use fewer loops than you because I want to keep the knot as small as possible. Maybe that could be the problem. I've only had issues with the Double Uni breaking when I'm using larger lines with larger knots.

Are you talking about stiffness and a little soreness, or a sharp pain? If you have sharp pain, go to the doctor. Fishing makes my back stiffen up a little. It's about the only activity that does. I stretch every few hours right on my casting deck, even though it might look silly. Sometimes I even lay down for a few minutes.

We have 12 that sell some form of equipment , how much effort would it take to ask each one ? I agree, Skunked. This is a public discussion forum. Making a thread lets everybody know what the deal is, and might push some business towards this board's sponsors.

That might look ugly though, a Curado on a Champion. How does it look? Yes, that actually matters to me ;D It doesn't look good, but that's no big deal to me. It feels great in the hand, and with pitching and bottom contact baits, that's more important than ever. A silver reel would look better. The STX looks excellent. The new Curado doesn't look good on an Extreme either, worse than on the Champ, IMO. I have a dark silver D Series Curado on a 734, and that's probably the nicest looking combo I have. I'd recommend that you buy something you know is quality, and learn to live with the looks. You'll get used to it. You already have a Curado, and having the same reel on a few combos is more comfortable, at least for me. It's nice not to have a bunch of different reels when it comes time to clean them, too. And at $150, the Curado is the best value there is.

What are roaches?

Great choice on the rod. It's very versatile and is extremely well balanced for such a powerful rod. I use one with a Revo STX-HS for frogging and one with a lefty Curado 201E7 for pitching/heavy jig fishing. I'm right handed, but I like a lefty reel for bottom contact baits and pitching/flipping. That's what I would recommend, a $150 201E7 from eBay. If you realize you don't like the lefty reels, you can always sell it on here for a $25-35 loss.