jeb2

Agreed. I think BM is the best of the ones I get, and I've gotten all of the major ones at one time or another. FLW can be good too, but they are often so crammed with tourney results/articles, which I generally don't care about, that they have no room for how-to articles.

My wife's family has 20 acres on a lake near Tomahawk. I spent the 2 summers before this one up there fishing and hanging out for about 2 months each time. Bass fishing has been outstanding on their small lake, and the weather was FAR better than summers here in Arkansas. Didn't work out this year because of family issues, but looking forward to getting up there next summer. Best LM bass was just over 5lbs according to some official scales (released her after weighing). If it wasn't for those darn bait stealing northerns, it'd be almost perfect up there. I lived in MN for 35 years before moving south, and fished the Mississippi for the most part, pools 4, 5 and 6. Decent bass fishing in the backwaters. It sure is nice to be able to fish out of my boat all year down here, though. I think I still have an ice auger up in the attic, but I don't know why I keep it around.

I've been using them all summer. Great hooks. They really do eliminate the dreaded spinning reel line twist you get a ton of with normal DS hooks. You need to position the worm a little closer to the barb to get it to stand straight out because the hook does sag a little.

I also agree with this. I like PP, but they do not have any of my bank info. I use my regular Bass Pro Visa to make purchases. So that is the only info PP has from me. They can not directly access any of my bank or checking accounts. PP forced me to get one of the CC's after I'd spent my limit of introductory allowed money, and the darn site defaults to that card even though I never activated the card. So I have to make sure to always take an extra step of choosing my BPS card instead. A little bit of a hassle, but worth it to me so that I don't have to give PP access to my bank accounts.

Agreed. I've found the best way to get fish to STOP biting a certain lure is to buy it in bulk.

LOL! So, so true! I've paid a lot of attention to this subject since I have a bunch of Loomis rods. As Quillback says, there has been constant changes to the warranty and service programs the last year or two. You have to seperate the things they offer into 2 buckets, Warranty and Service. The warranty is lifetime on all Loomis rods. It used to be free, but they recently added a $20 "surcharge" to it. Along with the cost of shipping. That is on discontinued rods and current rods. Service is something else entirely. Until the NRX's showed up, it was all about the Xpeditor. And it was always $50, no questions asked ($65 if you wanted 2nd day shipping). That price as gone up to $100 now with no 2nd day option, but ShimLoomis is working towards ending that service altogether. They're doing that by not offering Xpeditor on the new rods like the GL2's and newest GLX's. And they are calling the older models (full cork grips) "discontinued". So those will have no service program at all. Not grandfathered in, nothing. They are replacing that with the Wildcard. You apply for the Wildcard when you buy the rod, and they send you card. It's a free replacement, but for sure only one time. Xpeditor says one time only now too (another recent change), but it's impossible for them to track that. A guy could have any number of a given rod, and there's no registration process. It's nice it's a free replacement, but it sucks it's only once given G. Loomis's long time, pre-Shimano Xpeditor service. As to the original owner thing on the warranty service, even my 2009 printed Loomis catalog says that. But that has traditionally not been enforced that I'm aware of. And I don't see how they can do that as there is no registration requirement and you for sure do not have to provide proof of purchase for the warranty part. But that is what it says.

Abu STX and their Revo Store. Abu is just running away with the mid-price market. Also love that Humminbird listened to us owners and finally made the 800 and 900 series depth finders viewable in direct sunlight.

I've fished probably 6 or 8 different brands (including GY, SK Ocho, Zman, Gander Mt, Swamp something or other, Dingers, etc). I pretty much always fish them T-rigged weightless. I rarely find it makes any difference at all. Maybe if the fishing is really tough, the GM might get a bite or two more, but it's really hard to say for sure.

Another vote for the Boga. I bought the 15lb one a few months ago, and love it. Had fish up to 7lbs on it so far. Like someone else said, it's no harder than lipping the fish to pull it out of the water or putting it back in the water. Just make sure you buy some kind of bright colored floaty for it. Kind of pricey to kick overboard and not get back!

Outstanding post! I could not agree more. Have to see how many times I can press the "Like This" button.

Use the fact that the Xpeditor is going away to work a deal on a "discontinued" GLX with your local dealer.

True. But if you are going to pay, at least pay for the new model so you at least get the Wildcard. Not as good as the Xpeditor in many ways, but better than nothing. Or at least make sure you get a very good deal on the old models.

My info is accurate, I'm afraid. We discussed this topic at length over on TT with the Shimano rep there, Bantam1. Bantam1 has said over there "eventually, the Xpeditor will go away". This is how they're getting there. It's the same with the GL2's. The new split grip ones that came out at iCast last year are covered by the new "Wildcard" program, and not the Xpeditor. And the old GL2's only have the warranty, not the Xpeditor. You can call ShimLoomis and check on the GL2 info. That should confirm the GLX info for you, too. Sorry to deliver the bad news, but folks need to understand this change. Loomis sure isn't broadcasting it, as you can imagine.

Word is they will replace all the GLX's with the updated models over the next few months. BTW, that means the Xpeditor Service is no longer available on the older models as they get updated, even if you buy it brand new after the new model comes out. They will still have the warranty, but no coverage for that busting them in a hatch cover, car door, etc. So if you've been sitting on GLX's that need the $100 Xpeditor, I'd sure get it done right now.

I like longer rods. Makes casting with longer leaders easier. And better to set the hook with on long/deep hits. The action will depend on the weight size. ML would be up to 5/8, maybe 3/4. Heavy would be best over that, IMO.

Sorry, but no, they don't work together. Copilot does not work with Ipilot. It's one or the other, which is kind of dumb, IMO.

That sounds cool. But I wish they'd marry the co-pilot and I-Pilot system. Most of the time, at least on bigger lakes, most bass fishermen are not fishing one spot or the same course over and over. Most of the time, you're running it with the hand held remote. And on the I-Pilot, that means you can only have one hand on your rod. Not a very good way to actually catch fish. So it'd be cool to see them make the little rod mounted co-pilot remotes work with the entire system. It just can't be that tough to do.

How deep are you fishing? What kind of lake? Grass, pads or not? On the deep impoundments I fish, I've turned to the dropshot in this hot weather. Fishing about 20' deep. No weeds at all.

Another big change in the gen 2 was adding 2 more magnets to the braking system. That's what fixed a lot of the gen 1's reel tendency to very easily backlash. The extra magnets improved it quite a bit.

On the Coose Hollow side of the point between that cove and PC Marina.

No, too afraid I'd pull up a body.

Nobody was hurt too badly, it seems. Sure were lucky! http://5newsonline.com/2012/06/27/prairie-creek-boat-crash/

Saw this while out fishing this morning on Beaver Lake here in NW Ark. Must have happened last night. Looks like it drove it straight in. Notice the glass and parts on the ledge above it. Busted chairs, some blood, not a pretty scene. Nothing on the local news about it so far. The lake is full of huge rock bluffs like that, some tower 100's of feet over the water. Never seen anyone hit one before, though.

I fish Beaver Lake. The bass always act strange here. They are the most contrary fish here. They'll turn on after a cold front, turn off if the winds comes up, change patterns and locations entirely overnight even though the weather doesn't change a bit, etc, etc. Like the FLW tourney here this year. I went to the first day weigh in and the guy leading on day one was up on stage saying "Yeah, I caught at least 30 keepers. Actually, it was pretty easy. I expect my pattern to hold up.". Never made the weekend show. Beaver is just like that. She does not give up her fish easily.

I've used the 6 and 7 sizes of the fat free shad a fair amount. I'm not a big crankbait fisherman, but those are my favorites when I do throw them. I've caught a bunch of fish on them.