Kevin22

If it broke on a hook-set I'm sure BPS would take it back. You could also email Abu and they will fix you up. Not an uncommon occurrence with that rod. But when you get a good one, they are great.

22" 8lb fish? Wowser! My last 22.5 weighed 4.25.

If you do not trust them, I bet TW would match the sale price if you call and ask. Yes they are legit.

Improvements. Progression. Change. Should I go on?

Head to walmart and look at the lews laser mg reel (not the laser lzr). Its $79.99 retail. I think it would be right about what you are looking for, better quality than your black max yet it wont break the bank. For the rod, abu garcia makes some nice sub $100 rods. Vendetta and veritas. I just put together that same combo for a topwater rod, after looking at the various rods and reels for the last 2 weeks. I wanted to stay cheap, but get medium quality at the same time. Lews laser mg 7.1:1 on a veritas 6'6M is what I put together. Both of those are $79.99 at tackle warehouse (they have all rod lengths/powers and all of the laser reels for the same price), and they are having a 10% off sale right now so you can get the combo for 143.98 ($179.99 retail). That leaves you with some gas money and should be a good combo for you.

Okeechobee Fats. I have one in the garage with no zippers. It lost a zipper a week until there was no way to close it. Not worth trying to fix. Terrible bag.

If you hit them with a hammer to make them flat, then cut out the shape with a dremel it would work just fine. I've made them out of sheet aluminum before. They bent too easily but the vibration was amazing. Sheet steel and a dremel would get the job done nicely!

You really do not want 10# PP on a baitcaster, it will dig in on itself and cause you some real headaches! Its a fantastic line for spinning reels though. I prefer 30# for baitcasters, its more than sensitive enough for anything you want to do and casts a mile. Take your rod to a park or a big backyard. Put a stick in the ground and tie the end of your line to it. Walk off the entire spool. Now put 50 yards of 10-12# cheap mono on your spool. Now tie on your braid to the mono using a uni-uni knot. And spool up 75 yards of braid and cut it. Look at the reel, is it to the level you want? If not, tie it and walk it off again and put more mono backing on. Keep doing this until the reel is where you like it. Once you do it once you should be able to visually see how much backing you will need for future reels. You should never need more than 75 yards of braid, its plenty for any casting you plan to do and will leave room for a years worth of breakoffs and reties. I good way to get exactly 75 yards is to tie it off to the stick and walk it all off. Then grab the other end and tie it to the same stick. Now grab the line and walk until its tight. If you cut it there, it will be exactly half of your spool (75yds).

I'm speaking of the pack of tips people buy from walmart for $1.99. They are nothing more than plastic inserts inside of an cheap frame.

Hit it again tomorrow with the twintail and let us know.

If it lands hook down often then you need to work on your casting. Its a target presentation, not a "launch it as far as I can" lure. Make short accurate casts and you should have no problems... I never have. Maybe 1 out of 20 land upside down.

Match the frogs usually. We have a lot of bullfrogs and greenfrogs here, as well as a lot of toads. So greens and browns tend to do best. When going for a reaction strike, bright colors on bright days and dark colors on dark days.

Did some digging and found on their website where you cannot use a pro staff plus a sale. Oh well. Still a good deal at ebay prices with warranty, cant be that.

Cheap swimbaits- http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Closeout-Tru-Life-Swimbaits/SF-5-Tru-Life-Swimbait-Fast-Slow-Sink.html

I replaced one on that rod for a buddy. Its not wrapped on, but wrapped up to it. You can simply lay the rod across your work bench and heat the eye of the tip with a lighter until it gets hot enough to melt the adhesive. Then pull the tip straight off with a pair of pliers and drop into a glass of water. Be cautious though, those tip repair kits (the cheap ones) have cheap guides that will not handle braid.

You'll have to copy and past the link, admins here won't let us link to TW since BPS is a sponsor.

http://www.***.com/index.html?coup=2014REFUND

I used the tax sale and a 10% pro staff promo code. I really don't think it will work, but we'll see. Might be until Monday before they allow/deny the transaction. If they deny it and its past the tax sale, I'm going to call them and complain that they made me miss the sale and see what happens. I saw NOWHERE where it said you cannot combine them.

I got the tax sale from their facebook page. When you click on it, it ads the tax sale to your cart. I added what I wanted and then just for the heck of it I thought I'd try the cmalone and see if it added as well (I've never used it). It did. Now, they have to accept it for it to go through completely, so we'll wait and see. Here is the link to add cmalone. It only works once, so if you have used ANY pro staff 10% code in the past they will reject it. And they may reject it again for using it with the tax sale, dont know. http://www.***.com/promo/?from=fishd

Just placed my TW order. I put in the cmalone code and the tax stimulus discount and it gave me 20% off. Lets see if their CS will allow it, they have to approve it first. If so, it saved me $70 on my order.

Heck of a deal! Congrats on the purchase

Just browsed through BTD and they don't have much! Shimano is not included it appears. A few rods and reels, but none that I was interested in. Tried to make a $50 order of baits/lures and could not. Everything is either very expensive or sold out of the good colors. Ended up giving up after $17 added to the cart. Back to TW and hoping for a good sale next week!

Pm sent!

I don't see anything on BTD site about the sale. Is it email list only?

Its a weedless spoon. You throw it over the thick weeds, pads, or just open water and slowly crank it back so it wobbles back and forth. If its the cheap kind that won't wobble on its own, you'll have to use your rod to "walk" it. Can't pause it though unless you stop it on top of a pad.