Basswhippa

Why would anybody want to "rant: on the CI? I predict it will be very hard to beat as a best value reel. I am excited to have this option. I own 6 Citica E's and opted to do a bearing install to make it more similar to a Curado E. I won't have to do this with the CI. It looks outstanding and should last decades with regular maintenance.

Just use it. You'll never be a better flipper and catcher of huge fish than this guy. It is his reel of choice. PS, there are no faster gears. The only way to speed the reel up is with line diameter. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/129945-thanks-mike-delaware-valley-tackle/

Some folks doubt that the world record was really taken from GA. In my view, given the life span increase by moving into the northern range of it's habitat, and take away the millions of people who now live in the area that didn't almost 100 years ago, this 17.6 pounder indicates that a 22 pounder would have been very possible a century ago. Who knows, had this poor fellow not sucked in a Zoom, it might have been the next world record. LOL PS, it is being reported that this is a 4 year old fish, as it was a stocker 4 years ago, in a lake that had been drained 5 years ago. Chew on that implication. One fellow is suggesting they must have been stocked as adult bass by do gooders. I'd tend to agree. A great story.

20 minute fight would likely kill it. Not an expert.... just guessing.

20 minute battle. That fish is a tank! http://www.gon.com/article.php?id=4179&cid=158

It has been my experience that every now and then you get one like this. A set of imperfect gears is the blame. As has been mentioned, they are normally good enough to work fine. It is the problem with all makers. I one time had the KMart set out every 5500C3 they had and they all felt slightly different. I took the smoothest one. Two choices will solve it if you decide not to live with it. 1. Send the reel back. 2. Put a new set of gears in it. One time I bought a set of Calcutta gears. I saw a tiny nick. Sure enough, every time the real revolved to that area, it made a thump that I could feel. The tackle store probably dropped it, or it could have been like that from the factory. I held a Curado at BPS, and I could feel a set of bad gears. Every single reel is slightly different even if the same make and model. Makes for poor online shopping.

Next KVD x 2. I have 4 as well, some almost 20 years old. If that reel is in good shape, it is worth $60.00 to $80.00. It is comparable to $150 reels today in terms of durability. It won't palm as well, but if in excellent condition, it will outlast any Lews or Revo or BPS reel you get today. One of our most infamous posters, "Big-0" pretty much just uses these, and look at the giants he pulls out of Falcon every years. He stated that it is the only reel that would handle those big fish on a long term basis. Another infamous poster, RM, "rel mechanic" stated this is his favorite reel of all time. The guys saying $20.00 are not Shimano guys and don't know what they are talking about. I just cleaned a 20 year old Calcutta 100 today, and it is as smooth as the day I bought it. It has been used a lot. If it is in good shape, buy it. Maintain it, and it will last a very long time. They still last a long time when not maintained well. I bought one at a pawn shop that was full of sand. Cleaned it up, dropped a new gear set in it, and good to go for another decade or two.

About 25 years ago I had some Ray Ban Wayfarers that I wore briefly. Other than that I've never had a quality pair of sunglasses and I've made do fine. About two weeks ago, I found out Sams is clearing out Revo 4057 glasses. They are $99 glasses and were on sale for $24.99 nationwide. I got some. I will never go back to the cheap stuff, if I can help it. Was planning on buying S11's and I'm sure they are good glasses.

I'm pretty sure folks struggled on the Delta in 2014. Have conditions changed?

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/top-stories/stories/record-breaking-fish-caught-at-chickamauga-lake-15296.shtml

Sorry if this has already been posted. Big news from the Tennessee Valley. http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/28105648/pending-state-record-bass-caught-on-chickamauga-lake

The most over built and supposedly toughest of all Curados. Never owned one, but son has a couple of Citica D's. The battleship of low profile Shimanos.

Funny thing is, Lews it the same thing as a Revo internally. So get the Lews that compares to the winch and what Hank said will still be true.

First, good advice on guides. You can learn and catch more fish in two days than four or five days on your own, I would estimate, because it is your first time. Rolands is hard to beat. They do run out of shiners often because they sell them to the guides first. If you are shiner fishing with no guide, be prepared to go to Slims, 30 minutes south, or somewhere else. If you are lure fishing, you are close to good water at Rolands. Get a good map. Cross reference with Navionics online map and aerial maps. Start studying. You'll find fish within 5 minutes of Rolands, if you study. Went for the first time in over 20 years back in 2011. Fished for 5 days. Got my pb of 9.5 pounds. No guide.

Grey Spyderco Delica 4 Full Flat Grind, Japanese VG-10 steel. And of course a Leatherman Wave or Surge.

I mistakenly stocked some spots in a 3 acre farm pond one time. That said, they were out competed by the largemouth and died out. It may have been anomaly, but I got the feeling they weren't built for slow water with little if any current. Smallmouth in farm ponds around here do the same thing. They will live out their lives, but get out competed by largemouth when it comes to reproduction. They disappear as they die out. I did hear of a rock quarry around here that was stocked with smallmouth only. They did well.

Fish stories to people who come across as dismissive to the OP? Well, they are OK. LOL I am sure 10 pound Pickwick largemouth are jumping in Rogers boat though. He probably told Dead River. LOL Sure Pickwick had a run with the newly arrived ARig. That said, if you have a largemouth over 8 pounds there, you really have something. The OP is right. I'm sure DR can pull out plenty of double digits though. As mentioned, it is a big river, unless you are fishing on a weekend and every known structure has a tournament boat or fun fishing boat on it. LOL

Good feedback Roger. Maybe I got the second good one or you got a bad one. You do realize it has a 20 year warranty? And you just trashed it? Lol. In my view it is a solid product, or it seems to be.

PS, listen to the dude who's caught 19 pound bass. He is legit. I am grateful. My memory says it can even be certified. Amazing.

Scott, we tore through grandma's kitchen and found a half gallon tea container that was marked. We doubled it as carefully as we could and put it in any almost weightless Wal Mart bag. The trick was to calibrate you had to do it at 20 KG or 44.09 pounds. We went slow. We weighed it in a trash bag. We accounted for the trash bag which weighed 1.25 ounces.... When we were done it went 44.14 pounds. I was stunned at the instrument and even more stunned at our accomplishment. We first started with weight lifter weights but we discovered discrepancies between multiple 2.5, 5 and 7.5 weights. Each was different, some more than others so we selected water. Again, there was a line on the container and I tried to level it and full it accurately. I still am stunned. 1/100 of a pound on a common troohy bass threshhold.....8.35 pounds. Sheesh. Good enough for me. Thanks for the most excellent recommendation WRB

After a most prominent poster(WRB) recommended it, I got the Ultra sport for Christmas. I may have not needed to calibrate it but I did. I used water as weight. On my first try it weighed a gallon of water (8.35 pounds) at 8.34 pounds. I then weighed a half gallon of water and got 4.18 pounds. Technically it should have been 4.175 so it rounded. My son and I were stunned and you could have picked our jaws off the floor. Incredible accuracy for $30.00.

If Roger is talking 10 to 12 pounders, he was talking smallmouth. We've got moderators here that have seen 10 pounders and even seen world records on their line. There have been multiple world record smallmouth caught and released out of Pickwick. In one tournament last march a 12 pound 3 ounce bronzeback caught but was foul hooked, so it was released. That had to hurt, but he did the right thing. The OP is talking largemouth. They don't get as big as smallmouths typically, due to the stout current on Pickwick but it is full of 5-7 pounder largemouth. Over 8 is a super stout largemouth at Pickwick. 10 pounders are in there though, just like all the other Tennessee River lakes.

Guessing here...... 24.5 inches long with a 21 inch girth........ Please do tell! The coloration is so pretty. Lake Fork matched my sons up pretty well. FWIW

We want measurements too. How long. Girth. Man that is a drop dead gorgeous specimen. Lake Fork Taxidermy. Fish Scale Taxidermy. Very impressed with what I see on Facebook with Anglers Choice Replicas. Good luck. We want to see the replica when you get it back! Sorry to be a pain, but this is the time to brag and show off. LOL Massive increase in PB weights. PS, saw that Anglers Choice Replicas prices are going up Jan 1.

One way of looking at it, he'll be able to throw back all the 10, 11, 12, 13 and now even 14 pounders back. Hard to top that. Congrats on a great fish.