lmbfisherman

Wow sweet congratulations! At first when I reading, I thought maybe the 9lb 13oz was how much was in your first tournament. Then I scrolled down and was literally LOL, good fish man. Wish I can land one of those babies this year.

I bought it when it was on sale two months ago. I like the reel, but the rod wasn't the greatest, but hey for 49.99 I think it's a good buy. Just have to take it out on the water.

Definitely let us know, would like to hear feedback.

2013 goals: 1. Get better at crankbait and drop shot. 2. Continue to be better locating bass. 3. Finish respectably in my first two casual tournaments. 4. Set new PBs - Current 3.1 lbs LMB - 3.0 SMB Most of all have fun and fish a lot.

Wise words, you must the Yoda of bass fishing! LOL

Yeah the play on words, it was like the BPS PQ Tournament combo I bought..it was on sale for 79.99 and I was like no brainer! It's a PQ and a rod to boot! I did put the PQ reel and PQT reel side by side and it seemed no different. Until I read that the standard PQ was made in Korea this one was made in China. Still it is basically a PQ but has lower quality bearings and other parts. Still works fine, hopefully it will be as good as my standard PQ. The rod that came with it is an IM8 Medium - Fast, but the way the tip acts it seems more like a moderate action. The rod is also light as heck too! For the price, I'm thinking this may not last long (break after a 2-3 lb bass) but I plan on giving it a test, as it does feel comfortable in my hands and the weight was awesome. So even though it's a stepped down from the standard version of the PQ, I think I got a great bargain ESPECIALLY if the Rod also is a keeper. If it breaks oh well, still was a good buy. So back to the original, it may still be a decent buy even with lower quality parts.

I started bass fishing last season too and the funny thing is I started off jig fishing. It just seemed comfortable/natural to me and it is the most confident way for me to bass fish. Here are some tips that I found that helped me when I started. 1. Number 1 thing to do is relax and take a breath. Sometimes I found myself over "thinking" in anticipation of a bite, your mind starts to second guess. If you do this, you start doubting yourself and lose confidence. Just calm down and enjoy the time on the water to fish. 2. Putting my finger on the line is another way that helped me to detect a bites, I found that placing my finger on the line helped me detect the vibration from a bass picking up the bait. 3. Make sure you watch the line at all times. You will eventually understand/learn how the line falls and acts when it is in the water. Any tick or odd movement reel up the slack and you set the hook. I sometimes will check to make sure when I reel up slack just a little and tug just a tad, when you feel pressure set the hook. I'm by no means an expert though and I'm still learning. Just giving you my .02 cents on how I started.

To add More casts can be done in a hour vs a spinning too. Hence more chances to catch fish.

TrapperJ, I asked someone this question a few weeks ago about the quality of the combo. The guy came back and said the reels suck on the spinning version. The rod is a good rod to have and has had no issues with it. He said to get the combo (rod is worth the price), but get a better reel. Like Symetere, Sahara or something that you can afford with a better reputation. I hear the baitcaster isn't bad, I did hold one of the baitcaster combos, but it felt pretty heavy compared to my other setups. I also remember commenting in a thread with others who went to BPS and held one of these rods. I can't remember the subject or thread. I remember a couple of others agreed it was slightly on the heavy side.

x2

Well you could do lots and it also depends on what you want to do with it. It is too general of a question. You can do things like add stabilizers on your canoe so you can stand and fish, put a trolling motor, add rod holders/racks...list is endless.

HAHA Yeah maybe for me too and you have more confidence than I do! Mine is basically at 0%! I also have a whole box of stick baits from BPS (Stik-O) I've tried every color from that stinking box! I hear they work well too. I definitely will keep trying if I continue to fail, maybe I should just let my kids use them and probably will out fish me after.

I use braid on a majority of my reels/techniques and if a situation calls for something different I use a leader on them. They aren't limited and like Jerzihogg says it's what feels right for you. I am still choosing what my default line will be, I'm testing out P-Line and Yo Zuri on the remainder of my reels and hope to make the call this season. So far I'm leaning towards all braid.

Welcome! Great to have you.

I love Jigs and am very confident in them. It sounds just like me, however I'm not sure about fishing too fast. I do have the patience to dead stick fishing, so I don't think that is the problem. I definitely will have to continue trying though as I must be an all around fisherman!

I know how you feel. Everyone states it's easy! Catches lots of fish! I have tried senkos and other stick baits and I have yet to catch anything with them. I have Texas Rigged them, wacky rigged, and even tried drop shots. I've tried to do it for a whole outing and got skunked. Forced myself to get better, it just steered me away from them even more. I have 4 bags of them too and also bought the Yum Dingers and BPS Stik-Os (using all types of colours). Still yet to catch anything with them. This will be a topic I'll be following. At least now I can take comfort that I'm not alone. Hello Jellyman, I TOO suck at Senkos.

I think you hit it right on the head. I think this reel is a foot in the door to compete against the Curado line. Especially the price point, just under the normal 159 usually asked for the Curado. You can actually get the Lexa 100 regular price if you look around below the 139 mark. Sail has the Lexa 100 at 119, it didn't say it was a sale price either. Good competition imo is good for us consumers. I'll probably get more of these reels if the ones I bought impress me on the water (I haven't tested mine on water, but feels well good in my hand). To replace my Quantum Energy PT and CU200. Good reels, but they just don't feel as comfortable with them as my other reels.

I agree, my canoe has the same thing..I use it to rest it on my neck/shoulder when I carry it to the lake.

I'd go with the Avid or Cumara. As for the reel, the Curado G isn't as bad as those reviews are, I own 3 of the G series and don't see an issue with any of them. I also own 3 Citica Gs, Bottom line they are good reels, what I think the biggest complaint have been that they have lowered the quality as compared to the E series. They are still smooth and frankly I don't see what the craziness is about (I own a E7). Either way, I don't see you going wrong with getting a G or SX.

I own two, but can't compare how good they are vs the Lew's you were looking at. I have been able to practice casting with it and it seems pretty smooth and it reels pretty well. I definitely think it's worth getting at that price, not sure if I'd pay full price (yet) as I haven't been able to use it on the water just purchased them last week. I also like the profile, as I don't have big hands..it was pretty comfortable palming it. There is one thing I noticed, I think it was posted by someone on the board already, but the Lexa has an issue with the latest Shimano reel seats. Basically, I wouldn't recommend using them on those rods. It wasn't just Shimano though, I was testing it on a St. Croix Triumph I have and it barely was able to fit, but it wasn't a big issue just had a adjust a little and it was ok. Did have a problem on my Avids though, on both rods it balanced very well. That is my only complaint about the reel so far. I bought both of mine at a very good price, one under 90 the other under 80.

Nice, sounds like it will be a blast!

x2 for me, that is what I got!

Go try it, as long as you aren't trespassing of course.

Congrats! What a way start off the season.

I just bought the same power/action Crucial last week, it did seem stiff enough for heavier. I used my Compre Heavy/F for the same application. Thanks for confirming!