Teal

Good stuff man!

WOW!! Thats is a deal. What gear ratio did u get?

I dont know. The first Lews I bought before i started buy the Tourney Pro, was the speed spool. I still use it and it will cast 1/4 oz texas rigs a LONG WAYS. It is a good reel. Smooth for its price. It may have been the reel, it may have been inexperience or operator error. But i encourage you to give ANY of the Lews reels a chance.

Hijack alert I want to try the Chigger Quad. Its got the curly claws. I had alot of success on the Case Plastics curly craw..and twin tail grubs... i think its the action that it gives off.

Good stuff!!! That makes life convienent,

Daiwa Zillion

This thread has fallen to sleep. Yall wake up!! Traveler, have you had any time up there on the Potomac yet? If its anything like down here, im guessing cold and murkey.

I wouldnt worry too much about that.. if they are good for one or two fish then thats ok as long as you feel like you are catching more fish WITH it than WITHOUT it. Love the action of the worm. It should be good to go!

I bought a few packs of the Recons and havent used them yet. I cant wait. Im pretty excited. Ive also bought some Rage Menace and Eeliminator. I have used the Menace as a jig trailer and havent caught a fish on it yet, but then again, the fishing conditions down here arent the best.

Disclaimer. Not a cowboys fan. I do not think Romo is a "bad" qb, i think his number over the past few years speak for themself, he is in the top 16. I think that is Romo has not not been the main issue in Dallas. At times he has been brilliant and other times he has been the goat. To make this short, i do believe that some QBs 33 or older are worth what hes getting. I just do not beleive that he is. If it was a 6 year 70mil deal, with 25 guaranteed or some where in those lines then i can agree. I can agree that there is a slim market for Qb this year and that this was a move to clear cap space. I hope they use the space to get him some good help in the second wave of free agency and the draft.

I accidently got some water in my squarebill box and collected some rust. The bellys of half a dozen on my squarebills now have a light rust orange belly. One particular crank, a Spro Fat Jon in nasty shad with "rust belly" is still catchng fish...maybe better than before.

I didnt even think of the Powell Diesel. I dont own one, but i own serveral Powell Endurance and Max rods and Powell is a darned good rod company. Thats another good option. Especially if you can find one for 50. Thanks for your kind words

Look on E Bay for the Lews Tournament Speed Spool. Not the Tournment MG.. you should be able to find one for 120. Also, Rippin Lips (adam) has a seller that you can get Lews BB1 for 110. Thats if the seller still has any. Send adam a pm for the info and im sure he'll send you a message back soon. The Tournament speed spool is about 20 bucks more than the MG and has dual brakes and is a great reel. I dont have a BB1 yet, (due to spending that money on boat repairs, but they are being touted as great crankin reels) Hope all that helps.

I think they sell Shakesphere UL and L spinning rods and you can get them from 5'6-7' in length. You can also find serveral value priced 1000 sized spinning reels.

A big fish contest is not going to change your game at all. #big swimmers everydayMaybe yalls ice will melt before the competition starts.

To add to that, someone mentioned "youngsters" and "curious/ ignorant" .... i love helping those guys....that why im on this site daily. I normally bend over backwards to help the local young guys And yes you do get more bees with honey... i love talking about fishing.

Absolutely not. I think there is a time, place, and manner to ask. If im fishing in the tourney, I would not unless it is a trusted person that is in my everyday life. I dont mind talking to folks at the ramp before or after im going, if its a fun fishing day. I dont mind talking areas and lures and techniques about my waters to guys here on this site. If im not super specific with some of the guys on this site, its because i really dont want them to hang their hopes on exact specifics and change "their game" or get in their head. Ill talk about specific lures and techniques at the tackle shop. Do i keep a few things secret...absolutely...we all do. What i dont like, tourney anglers that follow my boat because they see my rod bent. Then as we cross they slow and start asking questions... not cool. I dont like to be bothered while im in the act of fishing... unless its someone standing on a dock that im fishing...then ill speak and talk fish with them. I am wary of people who are really generous in the info and super specif department. Sorry for the rant, but i dont think its bad ... main thing is, dont bother folks while they fish. To be honest tho, ive never thought that telling lures was a big deal, because all people fish differently. The best way, i can help folks to catch fish is by telling them what i beleive the fish are doing and what type of area/depth/and things to key in on.

My opinion is base line stuff is good when you are starting until you figure out what YOU like and what works for YOU. Because on most technique specific rods are based on opinions and research of the builders and their pro staff. Notice i said opinions. A good example is spinner bait rods, i personally like an XF tip on a spinner bait rod... but alot of the technique specific rods are Mod fast or Fast. I guess what im trying to say is, YOU BE THE PRO THAT IS TESTING THE RODS. Use the base line knowledge and figure it out... that said, there are some EXTREMELY GOOD tech spef rods out there. Remember when lookingthe at rodsthe not all powers and actions are created equal. Try to get your hands on the yourself and handle it. Good luck.

Id bring the shakey heads.. you may want to make beef it up or use a good dirty water color. But you will be able to pitch it to dock poles and catch a fish. Lake Gaston Bass love shakey heads.

John thats a nice smallie!! I love that big grin on your face, it reminds us that fishing is fun!!

If i had one cranking rod to cover all depths and one reel it would be something in the middle. Reels, i like to work my squarebills a bit faster than my med/deep and deep divers. And i like a faster reel with my lipless cranks. You didnt mention that you like to throw realy deep divers like 16-25 so the power to get the bait down10lbsa. and less IPT may not be needed since most of what you described is less than 6' depth. (Except for the 10'that divers you discribed) i would go for a 6.3:1 reel for now and later buy a 5.4 -4.7 for deep divers when you budget permits. As for the 10' divers, just make sure you get a long cast, slow down a bit and you can use line size to help with the diving depth. Rods - i personally use a Powell 6'9 length rod for shallow squarebills. Because mostt of the time its not a super long cast, rather a shorter more accurate cast. 6'9 makes that easier. But since you are looking at also throwing 10' divers and lipless cranks, i would look for something a little longer to give you a longer cast. 7'-7'3 is a good range and you still will be able to get an accurate cast. As for rod power, id go with a MH because of the ise of shallow squarebills and Lipless cranks alot of the time are in and around some type of thick cover. This is also good if you decide to throw a Deep diver. I dont know your budget, or what you plan to spend on each item. But there were suggestions above for the BPS Crankin sticks and Pro Qualifier reels aznd i think that is a good start. For squarebills and lipless cranks i use Powell 695 and Lews Tournamnet Pro 641

Nail on the head. I dont mind helping anybody or talking fishing, but condesending or aggravting or untrustworthy people get the spinnerbait line or the cold shoulder. I have been BURNED really bad by someone who i thought was a respectful friend...i wont talk anything fishing related with that person at all now.

Wow!!! That is a huge fish!!! Kudos to him.

Oh lord! Wow. What a negligent guy!!!! How *&%$#&* careless can you be!!! He better go hide under a rock.

You got a photo of it?