Preytorien

I bought mine on eBay - the Caballito's for about $89 and they're the real thing, and work great. Check the seller reputation and recent reviews, that'll tell you what kind of operation they've got and if they're trustworthy. Also, usually the ones around $100 and lower are the plastic "580P" lenses, not glass "580G" lenses, but you can commonly find the "400G" series lenses under that price point.

Original Slather that stuff on a Ned Rig and you'll usually do alright

I've been wondering this. I have an ultralight rig with YGK Soul line in 14lb, which is .005in thin.....crazy thin. Would I be able to use, and effectively cast, say a #6 or #8 popping fly on this rig for shallow river smallmouth?

I'd say this is probably accurate. And being a guy who currently has both rods in my lineup, the Exage is every bit of the stick the Clarus is/was. I love both of mine. If you can't find a Clarus, I'll bet you'll like the Exage as well.

This pretty much sums up any advice I’d have, especially pulling unbelievably tight before trimming As much as I love this knot, I haven’t yet had it effectively work for Gliss or YGK

That’s going to be a tough call. Ask any guy on here which one and they’ll likely pick the Antares first, after all it’s their flagship. The differences between their top end reels, while documented, aren’t massive differences, life-changing improvements. If I were in the market, like it sounds like you are, and you know what kinds of lures you’ll likely be throwing the most, pick your preferred gear ratio, then buy the best reel you can within your budget. Hopefully you don’t have a budget and you can just pull the trigger on an Antares!

I went to BPS 3 times, bought something twice. Seems to be more of a destination attraction to me at best. If I need something specific or unique that I know my local tackle shop doesn't have I'll hop on TW. We have one of those small Cabela's "outposts" or whatever about 15 minutes from me, and aside from taking the kids in there to see the fish tank and mounted game I seem to always leave saying I didn't really find anything I need or that caught my eye.

Very helpful - thank you. I can relate to your conditions since the majority of my very early season fishing is usually ponds / small lakes, so I presume the earliest warming banks will still be my best bet, even when the water is cold than I'd typically target.

I would second fishballer, I have both Zodias and Crucial rods and I would rather use the Zodias for things like that. It's a great stick.

I'd like to chime in with some kind of "mine have never broken in the winter on the water" but that's just not the case for me. Mine have the reel seats, drag stars, and tension knobs loosened sometime in late November and usually stay that way, sitting in the rack, until sometime in usually Mid-March.

I've got it on my topwater reaction setup and I have to say of all the monos I've ever used, I've been blown away at it's qualities. I've not noticed much memory, it's strong, and seems to be very smooth. I would highly recommend it. I happened to buy 2 spools at a local mom-n-pop tackle shop around here that had some on closeout. I think it was $6 a spool, I feel like I've gotten my money's worth and then some. I'd say buy some, let us know your experience, but I'd be really shocked if you didn't like it.

I know I'm jumping the gun here, it's only mid-January in Indiana, and most of our waters aren't warm enough for ice-out yet, but do the bass' behaviors change immediately after ice out? What I mean is, once they observe that there's no longer ice above them, do they kick into any kind of feeding mode or become more active? Or is their activity level solely based on water temps, regardless of if the ice is gone?

I have fallen in love with YGK G-Soul X8 Upgrade. I use the 14lb and it’s like casting with spider silk

I always think the same thing about bicycles. I ride some oh-my-god expensive race bikes, and every year I'm like, what can they possibly improve, but they do somehow. Something stiffer, lighter, more responsive, prettier, I dunno. I don't know about rods, but I think in general a lot of composite materials, such as carbon fiber, graphite, and even to an extent fiberglass, will see a lot of replacement by the up-and-coming graphene composites.

YGK Soul X-8 Upgrade

Intel

I can swim excellent. Scuba diver and triathlete, but I don’t take chances and wear my Mustang 100% of the time. Oddly enough a guy I fish with can’t swim a lick and won’t ever wear a PFD. Can’t wrap my head around that one and I’ve tried convincing him but it seems he won’t listen, but I’ll keep pestering him, might save his life one day

I know in times past I haven't been able split payments on TW. Maybe they've changed it, but I know a couple times that happened to me, kind of irritating when I had a couple gift cards burning a hole in my pocket. I'd just give them a call to see what the preventing issue is - they're pretty helpful on the phone

I'm glad your experience was good, I like hearing stories about great support. On another note, it's also refreshing to see a bit of honesty about how a rod got broke, even if it wasn't directly related to a mistake you made. Mistakes happen and good stuff gets broken, but trying to slick up the story for your call to the manufacturer isn't needed. Seems like we all see that on here from time to time, and it's easy to spot. Looks like you handled it great, and got a sweet stick out of the deal. This season's gonna be just that much nicer for you!

Given that I would definitely recommend a braid + flouro, or in my case I go with straight braid......at 2500 reel should be fine for using on a Ned Rig setup.

I've used it before, never had a single problem. I liked it. It seemed to me just a thinner version of the regular power pro, same strength, just smaller diameter. I used it on a couple jig rods and even a frog setup, never had a single issue. I only stopped using it because I wore off the color, like most braids do, and continued with my testing of other lines. I kinda like jumping around and trying new ones pretty often. To sum it up - Would recommend. Never had issues. Thinness is noticable. Price-to-value opinion is all up to you.

I like watching some now and then, and definitely only the informative types, like Glenn or Gene. One other thing that I noticed, and really only about myself, is how the editing and cutting affected my mentality when fishing. I had watched so many videos of guys pulling up on "fishy" looking spots and hauling them out, that I started getting frustrated in my own fishing. The videos, even TV programs, of course usually only show footage of the guys getting bites, all the boring stuff in between doesn't sell. It started causing my mentality to change and be more impatient. Once I stopped watching so much, and focused on techniques and applications that I learned both on here and Glenn/Gene's videos, I not only caught more, but enjoyed the hunt a little more than I did. That said, if nothing else is on I might watch Bill Dance or someone, I might watch a lure review video on YT now and then, but the majority of the time I try to watch something more informative and educational.

I've used it for a season now and I'm impressed. As one person mentioned, it's very thin, so tying knots with gloves on is nearly impossible, but with bare fingers it's no problem. I don't usually fish in high winds so I can't speak to that, but I didn't notice any more line bowing with this than any other braid. Overall I've had great success with it, it's incredibly thin and I have yet to have a line related breakoff.

I like Shimano rods pretty well. I've used others, but I always find myself selling them and buying Shimano. I feel like its a good stick for an either average or slightly below average pricepoint for what you get. Plus even after discontinuing their lifetime warranty, I've always had excellent service from them - actually in both their rod but especially their reel services. All my rigs are Shimano Rods + Shimano Reels

I can agree with the folks that say "it's never over" however, I have to admit that in cases like those I tend to fish with the thought in mind that I don't want my efforts to be wasted, but it's far from enjoyable. Aside from Tom's advice on the Rapala Ice jigs, I've tried all the techniques listed, lipless, blades, jigs, jerkbaits, ultra-finesse rigs, all of it. It's a rare day where I hook into one anything past late November/Thanksgiving. My waters just don't produce. I'm usually shore bound in the winter/early spring, so maybe that's some of my issues, especially not having electronics, but my ponds aren't that large. Maybe it's also a depth thing. The waters never really get too deep, maybe there's no layer of "warmer water" and simply said, all the bass are in cold water that slows them down to nigh-uncatchable states. I've even tried the God-awful 10-20 minute casts, still nothing. I get colder than usual doing those slow casts since I'm not constantly moving/keeping blood circulating. At that point, when I'm sitting/standing still on the bank, fingers going numb, cold wind freezing my nose, and most importantly NOT catching any fish, I have to ask myself...."Is this fun?" - if I can't answer that with a "yes" then I call it quits. I fish for fun, not for food or for money, so I don't prefer to never catch AND freeze my fingernails off. That's not fun. Then I go home, clean the gear, re-organize tackle, and scout out new spots until the warm weather returns. So yes, you can catch them year 'round, given your waters will produce that kind of activity. But if your waters don't, like mine, you might get one bite in six hours, and that ain't no fun!