jeb2

It'd cost you double that if you did it today. It went up to $100 on 8/1/10, and you can only use it once per rod for life.

I think it's great that you're focused on your future. I hope the sponsorships come through for you, and that you're able to make a go of it. I wish I'd had that much direction when I was 12! I own several Shimano's, including Curado 200E7, Core 50mg7 and Calais DC. I also own some Abu, Revo S (last years model, not good) and Premier (this years model). Personally, I'd go Abu for the reels. The Premier's are just great, great reels, especially for the price. I'd put them ahead of my core for performance, smoothness, drag power and versatility. They do weigh slightly more, but I don't notice the difference. The Curado's are good reels for the money, but nothing special. Not overly smooth, but they do get the job done. I've never used Abu rods, and only one Shimano rod. So can't really compare those for you. Maybe try to get a sponsorship from Loomis, too? :-?

I have the SJR783 in both IMX and GLX and like them both quite a bit. I find anything longer than that gets in my way when fishing weightless jerkbaits when I'm trying to keep it deep. A longer rod is harder to keep from splashing in the water on the downward jerks.

Interesting setup, Crow. But why bother with the swivel and ring when they're not working anyway, being tucked up in side the fluke belly? why not just tie the line directly to the treble?

That may be true, but there are still advantages. For the guy who "knows what they're doing", the extra feel can mean more fish at the end of the day. And for the guy who does not know as much and/or does not get out as often, the dramatically better feel (at least in my experience) will shorten the learning curve to become someone who knows what he's doing. And they will likely catch more fish, which is what it's all about. I'm not saying you have to have all GLX rods or anything to catch fish or to be a great fisherman. But I think high end rods will help most fishermen catch more fish and improve their skills faster.

I mostly fish Beaver Lake in NW Ark. Same basic kind of lake as Table Rock, just a tiny ways upriver from it. So deep can be 200' or more, although I've never fished over that much water. The water is usually what I call semi-clear. Not gin clear, but visibility anywhere from 5-15 feet. Lots of standing trees, lots of rocks, lots of ledges, lots of structure. My favorite summer rig has to be a c-rig. I can cover a lot of ground with it and have great feel at different depths by varying the weight. For bait, I use worms, craws and lizards mostly. You have to work with the fish to figure out if they want the bait parallel to the structure, coming down a point, etc. I'll even drag it through tree tops. I do a lot of jigs, too, in the same general areas. Although I tend to throw them at rock walls more. If the bite is really tough, I'll slow down and go to shakey heads and drop shots. I agree that good depth finders are a must. Finding active fish sure makes the fishing more productive.

My Loomis GLX BCR803's are my favorite rods as I fish C-rigs and plastics quite a bit. I like my Calais 200DC on one of them a lot! Such a versatile reel/setup. But I have a 2010 Premier on one too, and that's a great setup as well. Hard to pick a favorite between them for baitcasting.

Boy, I hear that! I had a lot of trouble spending $200 on a rod the first time I did it. I bought a Loomis IMX spinning rod for fishing shakey heads 15'-25' deep. I'd been fishing them on a decent lower end rod and really wanted to see if the Loomis made a difference. Unfortunately, it made a huge difference in the feel using the same reel, line and lures. I was hooked. I've since bought pretty much nothing but GLX's (9 so far). I did let one Kistler LTA slip in there, but was/am disappointed in the lack of feel compared to my IMX and GLX rods. So back on the GLX bandwagon for me. Now, I don't think the GLX is the only good high end rod. But I know how incredibly sensitive they are and don't feel like wandering much anymore. I know I'm catching fish that some of my fishing buddies never even feel.

I have both pairs they're offering, the P17 and the Zak. I like the P17's as they fit my size XXL head well and stay put. Good polarized glasses that you'd pay over $100 for at a store. To me, they were an incentive to try the reels, but not THE reason I bought them (2 - 2010 Premiers). The reels are outstanding and are getting much deserved stellar reviews all over the 'net. Very light, not fussy like a lot of reels and very versatile.

Good luck on that one. I bought my 50mg7 a little over a month ago and put it right on my BCR852 GLX with 10# Invisix. Not a happy combo throwing light baits at all. Even with 4-5 pins engaged, it overran way too easily. Kind of disappointing as that's what I bought it for. Now it's on one of my BCR803 GLX's, and it's happy there throwing "normal" sized bass baits. Not nearly as versatile a reel as my 2010 Revo Premier's, one of which now happily lives on the 852 throwing my finesse baits. My Calais DC also throws small baits well, but I don't use it for that very often.

Used my net three times today. I just fish for fun, but anything over the size of a dink I grab the net. Makes no sense to me not to. But to each their own and all.

I have some of the new stuff. It all as the "new improved" (or something like that) sticker on the front. I spooled it onto my Core 50 MG7 in 10# and have been fishing it hard for a month. No issues with several big fish, fishing in the trees, in the rocks, etc. Seems as good as the Seguar Invisx that I normally use, at least so far.