TNBassin'

My wife fishes with me nearly every time I go out. She even fishes tourneys. She's yet to win one, but did win the lunker award once. She can flat out use a bait caster. Puts me to shame MOST of the time.

It's a very good rod.

Every year we stock up our freezer with bass, as we have big family fish fries. We don't keep them when we have enough in the freezer though. You guys that don't like the taste of bass must not know how to cook it lol. It's amazing.

I'm looking forward to getting some more KVD LnL, some 6XD cranks, a few packs of Rage Craws, and maybe a new scale. I'm set pretty much on everything else.

Veritas is a better rod than the vendetta. Plus the veritas looks and feels great paired with the S. Great, great combo.

Veritas micros at walmart.com for $70 all day. Great paired up with the S.

The STX is more versatile with it's dual braking system so probably the stx just because you could flip and pitch with it easier. You can't go wrong either way though.

My two are a black neon yum ribbon tail, and a SK RES.

I fish nothing but open water, so it's either mono or Yo Zuri Hybrid for me.

The Black Max 2 isn't a bad, or junky reel. LgMouthRambler just doesn't like it because it's not a Shimano. That reel will hold up just fine.

The REVO S is the best $129 you could spend. I have both the gen 3 S and the STX, and both are amazing reels.

Not sure how some say the hooks are flimsy. They come with some nice VMC hooks that are SHARP and sturdy. Never lost a fish on them, nor have I ever bent any. The H20 Xpress baits are very good quality.

Great lures, and I use them alot, but I've caught more fish and better quality fish on the SK Red Eye Shad.

I've never caught anything on chatterbaits. I had some Zmans, but recently bought some Booyah boogees so hopefully I have better luck.

1. Chartreuese 2. Shad 3. Wounded Red Craw-This is an Xcalibur XR50 color I believe was discontinued.

I'd go 3/8 for shallow. Better castability. Use black and blue at night, with a black trailer.

Lipless I say SK RES, or Xcalibur XR/XRK50. With a bill, gotta go with the XD series from SK.

Don't waste your time with the smokin roosters. No one I know has caught a thing on them, and neither have I. The space monkeys, however, are a different story. Great bait.

Keep only two of the spring loaded brakes engaged and set your spool tension as you see fit. Mine works great this way. You don't have to have any of the pitch brakes engaged using this set up.

The whole max line are good budget reels. People bag on them all the time because they aren't high dollar reels, but they work and fish great.

It's junk. Even if you baby sit that line inspecting it for dings and nicks, you'll still break off like crazy. Like fishing with teflon tape. Stay away.

Vendetta for sure. Most of the "old" vendettas are marked down now, so that's a plus.

Wow. How in the world did that pass QC??? Oh, what QC? That's pathetic. Send them a pic of the rod and the guides and ask them that question. Ask them for a free Revo too.

I clean the drum with some isopropyl alcohol after heavy use, and then put a dab of oil on a q tip and lightly coat the drum. Abu garcia recommends this for the new S and STX.

The new S is the best $129 I've ever spent on a piece of fishing gear. I have a new STX and I honestly can't seem to find a noticeable/$70 difference performance wise. The STX has dual brakes and foam grips, but I love the S maybe a tad more. Great, great reel. Keep a coat of oil on that brake drum after heavy use.