Smokinal

Very helpful thread. I've been wanting to update 2 of my spinning reels and was wondering the same as op. Anyone have any experience with this reel? http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/fishing-reels/spinning-reels|/pc/104793480/c/104760180/sc/104837580/lew-s-reg-mach-i-speed-spinning-reel/2418578.uts?Ntk=AllProducts%2B&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fspinning-reels%2Flews%2F_%2FN-1102842%2B1000005836%2FNe-1000005836%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104837580%3FNtk%3DAllProducts%2B%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU I'm not against the Pflueger President, just never held one; and I know I love my Lews baitcasters and I tried this reel in the store=smooth as buttah. Any feedback? For $45 seems solid.

The lake survey maps provided by the state are ok if that's all you can find. No hazards are shown and the readings are taken very far apart so you don't get a lot of detail and a lot of things are missed. I've purchased quite a few maps from http://www.fishinghotspots.com/catalog/2015_Retail_Catalog.pdf and they are pretty good. main page http://www.fishinghotspots.com/Printed/index.html And, of course, I always love the simple Google maps overview to zoom in and see shoreline contour, sand bars etc...

Good for you Hoosier! I can't wait for my first bass of `17

Nice smallie! Man I'd love some 48 degree water right now. Mine is thick enough to drive an 18 wheeler across it...

Like some above, I used to pay attention to them but agree that weather outweighs moon scale in every instance. WDP said it very well in that, if everything lines up right, it can be the best day of the month for sure.

Good for you PolkFolk! It's a great feeling when you finally put things together to get some bites. And yes, Glenn and all the members here, have made this place a very welcoming, knowledgeable place. I've learned so much here myself.

Oh it's all good. I'm having fun with it. I was buzzed on when I posted that and can see how it may have come across as a little cocky. It takes a lot more than a comment from some random on a forum to rustle my jimmies. And you're right; I probably would like a light, sensitive rod if I ever tried one. Carry on bros; all good.

I guess we can't give opinions on forums anymore; my bad

Hope you are well Raider. Watch out for the ladle.

I didn't read all the responses but I catch as many fish, if not more, on my $40 rods as my buddy does on $300 rods. No way I'm spending more than $70-$80 on a rod; ever.

I keep 12 rods on my boat and all but one have a braid/leader setup on them. The one that doesn't is a frog setup for frogs in grass. All others are braid/leader setups. Reason=abrasion resistance. There is no argument here; just personal preference and needs. I'm in Maine and if any if any of you fished here with braid, you would have a leader. If not, you wouldn't land a fish. (slight exaggeration) All of our lakes are full of rock and braid has no abrasion resistance on rock. It all comes down to confidence in your setup and needs to your environment.

I'm a huge fan of the Ned rig with a TRD. I have had great success with the ZMan Hula Stickz as well; fished on the same tackle, same way. just fyi

Didn't you read the stickies?? Against the rules to make a thread like this without pics!! Newbies...geeesh Jk of course! Would love to see some pics right now though, as I look outside to 6" of fresh snow falling....

I have a business trip to Vegas Feb 22-25. I will have a free day Fri 24th and was wondering how to put a day trip together. Anyone know any guides in that area? I saw the other post a little ways down the page and have heard of Havasu; is that the best option in the area? Thanks for any tips/leads!

Pretty girl! Congrats!

I have the 2097 Sporting Lux and wouldn't call it any type of sport specific gun; just a plain old O/U shotgun.

I own a Lanber and have been very happy with it. It fits like a Beretta 686 and is just as attractive. I did a ton of homework before I bought it because I, too, was in the market for a low budget gun but still wanted the best quality I could get for the $. After months of reviews, I settled on the Lanber.

Sorry; I stop fishing when my boat rides on top of the water. I'll be in it when it's soft again.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/bargain-cave/fishing/rods|/pc/105591780/c/105740280/sc/105742080/cabela-s-tournament-zx-bass-spinning-rod/1620153.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Frods%2F_%2FN-1102769%2B4294389054%2FNe-4294389054%2FNs-MIN_SALE_PRICE%3FWTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU The middle one #TZXS-70M I had a ticked-off bass break my jerkbait rod last year so I need to replace it. I typically throw a hard bait, thrown on a spinning rod, 10lb braid to 10lb fluoro and I usually only throw them in spring and fall; cold water; from 38 to 48 degrees. I like a 1 piece rod and I know most like a shorter rod for jerk but I like the distance I get with the 7ft. How does this rod look and do see any others in that price area that would be better? I have Cabelas cards so I prefer to go there.

Look down about 15 threads to one titled "Signing Out".

A very talented musician passed today. Although not my usual genre, I always thought he was a great vocalist. I love this version he did:

I, too, cannot logout. I see where the username and drop down arrow are but the logo covers it so when I try to click it, it takes me to the home page. Using Firefox fwiw Anyone else have this issue?

I fished Falcon a few years ago for 5 days with a guide. I'll be honest with you, I thought about things like that the whole time. When we were waiting at the airport to fly back, I struck up some convo with a local female officer and told here why we were there. She literally said, "You fished Falcon!? And nothing happened to you?!" She told us of many other stories that could have ended really bad that never reach the public. One such story she told was a boat approached a guy in a bass boat and told him he had to board their boat, he was under investigation. This boat was lettered up and men were in official looking uniforms. Well the guy in the bass boat started to climb onto their boat when he noticed some misspelled words on their boat or uniforms. He shot back into his boat and took off; reported it and found there was no US boat in the area. They would have found his head if they found anything at all. Not sure I would go there again.

Went out today for the last trip of the year as the weather forecast looks to turn cold over the next week; not sure how much longer the water will be soft. Went to my home lake with my ususal fishing partner. Air wasn't too bad at 30 to start the day and it warmed up to 39 or so; water was at 39 in every spot we fished; wind was howling though. So I get one on and go to swing it as I have done thousands of times (maybe that's why this happened....) and my spinning rod breaks! It was one of my older rods that I hadn't upgraded in a while with a good number of fish caught on it so I'm sure it was stressed out a bit. Oh well; good excuse for a Cabelas run.

Good to see more cold weather fishermen out there!