McAlpine

I bought Frogg Toggz in 2011 and they lasted until early last season, so 2 years of dry. Followed by 1 year of leaks and a jinky zipper. I said "never again" and picked up the 100MPH suit this winter. I'm with you, that suit is awesome!

Best shakeyhead worm out there!

Soft plastic Swimbaits. I've never caught a thing on them.

Dude, that first fish is gonna be so sweet after you earn it. Great advice above, read the senko article. Good luck!

At release I went to the local BPS with plans to purchase one. I thought it was a bit big, didn't palm well and the AR is loose. Not impressed, no orgasm.

It's a brand new rod, it should come to you in brand new condition. I would expect a replacement.

I have that exact same reel on that exact same rod. Your going to love it for drop shotting. Bought mine as a combo off of amazon at a smokin' price. Slick rig.

Currently, ***. I am always interested in what is the best deal per $ spent though. There are better rods, but I have not seen another that is better for the price points that 13 offers. My second favorite where I think you get alot of rod for the money is the BPS carbonlite. Picked up 2 Ghosts, so we will see how they perform next weekend on the first trip out after a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG winter.

Sorry guys but I have to chuckle a bit. Yeah, I agree $300 is alot for a production bass rod but it's interesting to me how different our views can be based upon experience. Go buy some high end fly rods. Or saltwater gear. Your Loomis rod and JDM reel will feel pretty inexpensive and look like a great deal. It's all relative.

Spinnerbait rod. Generally a bit shorter for closer in work, lots of backbone. Frog Rod which can do double duty for buzzbaits. Backbone but with a softer tip for casting and delaying the hook set a bit. Squarebill rod. I know you say you have a "trebels" rod but I am thinking something for the smaller cranks. I prefer a 6-7, 6-8ish up to 6-10 rod, medium action with a crisp action but not too firm. 13 makes what I think is the perfect rod for this. Flippin rod. Not sure about your worm/jig but you'll want a MH/H rod with lots of backbone, fast action but the ability to flex when you ram that hook home so you dont rip it out. Just suggestions. Have fun!

I'm probably going to be a bit different from the rest. I have found that a 7' ducket spinning rod is the bomb for tubes. It's a great combination of sensitivity but have some play in the tip for casting. Yet that tip quiets down nicely after flexing for the cast. Just works really well.

I am also a long time fly tier and I know what you mean. Sitting in my man cave at home, many times I will grab my "good" Dr. Slick's to snip some line I am working with. Always makes me cringe but they are handy when I'm by the bench. However; my experience with the boomerang snips has been completely different from yours. Fast, clean cut every time.

I was using rapala braid scissors and they worked ok. Usually a good cut, sometimes it would fray a bit. Last year I went to boomerang snips and they are the shizzle.

Everyone has their pain point when it comes to purchasing their gear and nobody is right or wrong. I've traditionally been a pretty cheap guy but in the last few years I've realized that after you sink money into a boat, a truck to pull the boat, the gas, insurance, maintenance, trolling motor, electronics, rods, reels, line, boxes...etc.. What's another $15-$25 for a bait? Or even for the guys that throw swimbaits, what's $300 or $500? If that is the last magic piece to put the puzzle together then it makes the other ~$50,000 - $100,000 you've already spent worthwhile. penny wise, pound foolish.

The BPS Carbonlite rod comes in a medium-moderate and for the money it is a really excellent rod.

FYI: For those of you that enjoy store bought fish: "Farm raised" catfish is not alwasy so. Some of it comes out of very poluted rivers, to be placed into farm ponds and then sold as farm raised. "Tilapia" Much of it comes from over seas where the fish are raised in cespools of human and animal waste. Store bought fish is mostly disgusting.

There is only buy or buy not. There is no need. :-P

I picked up a spool at the BPS 20% off sale. With cheap backer it will fill 2-3 spools. I'll let you know how it goes but just handing it coming off the spool, it's nice and slick and limp. I have the 20lb.

My goals: Largemouth - 7lb Smallmouth - 5lb Spot - 3lb Blue cat - 50 lb Flathead - 50lb Channel - 15lb Striper - 50lb Wiper - 20lb White - big? Sauger - 3lb Walleye - 7lb The Ohio River is awesome!

I only eat small ones caught after the ice goes off while the water is cold. Under these conditions that's some darn fine meat. I soak the filets overnight in salt water. Filets get a bath in a mixture of milk and egg, then dredged in flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and sometimes cornmeal mixture. Fry in peanut oil. Sometimes some Cajun seasoning in the flour is good too. Easy peasy and freakin delicious. Some hot sauce finishes it off.

So I sorted out my soft plastics this weekend to determine what would go in the boat and what would be "spares". Also, it was cold and crappy outside so we had a fire going and I did this in the living room floor. So there I am with piles of bags of soft plastics. Filled a large 18x16x5 plastic storage box with craw trailers and flipping craw/creature baits to go in the boat. Then proceeded to fill 3 of the double deep 3700's with senko's, tubes, shakey head worms. Then fill a normal 3700 with lizards. Then fill a small box with drop shot baits. Then fill another large 18x16x15 storage box with soft jerkbaits, grubs and a few ancillary baits. Felt like a million pounds. That left a large Bass Pro plastic bag full of "spares" that went back upstairs for storage. Ugh, really, I have this much? At the time I was thinking "wow, this is a bit rediculous". Then I see here...."thousands" and "about 3 thousand" and "a storage room full". Ok, thanks guys. Now I know the monkey isn't on my back as bad as he could be.

Yes, winter has been far too long and far too cold. I've been buying MB 110's and digging through ebay to buy old Poe's RC1's and RC3's. Momma would probably like me to slow down. D@mn bait monkey!

See bald eagles from time to time on some of the lakes around here which is pretty cool. Oddest for me though was a mink we found playing in the rocks on a small island in the middle of Barkley Lake. First I had ever seen, little guy must have swam all the way out there.

Beat up the sales and picked up a few things not on sale. (3) MB 110's. finally broke down and gave in. Suspending rogues Spro little john's Bps tungsten Inviz-x Smack down braid Nano-fil Rage craws SK flipping tubes SK Rodent's Bandit's in mistake color 1 SK spinnerbait in a bluegill color I liked Sinker stops Some of those storage boxes with the red seal and three latches ( nice boxes) Several boxes of the 12 flies for $6. Probably more but that's what comes to mind. Had fun.

Megabass 110 and whatever it takes to throw it. Although, we had a warm day on Saturday and I hit a local pond with a jointed rapala, pointer, spro little John and a black neon tube. One hit on the tube and zero fish. Still good to get out.