TheBigLebowski

While I had always fished with my dad when I was younger I had taken about a 35 year hiatus from the sport. Career, family and other things just seemed to get in the way. About 5 years ago my work brought me to Bloomington, IN. Long story short, I don't do a real good job meeting people and what not so I have spent quite a bit of time sitting around the house basically doing nothing. Wife works a lot, kids are grown, golf kinda sucks when you play by yourself just basically spending my time putzing around the house. About 6 weeks ago, an old friend called and said they were going to Linton to fish what he called strip pits and asked if I wanted to come along, so I did. I had a great time fishing these electric only lakes, we caught a ton of bluegill, I learned how to fillet little pan fish (the fact I didn't know how to fillet wasn't getting me out of cleaning) and later we had a fish fry at the camp. All in all one of the better days I've had since picking up and moving to the new town. When I got home, I happened to be looking at Craiglist and I happened to see someone here in town selling a Bass Raider 10E with trolling motor, life vests and anchor for $350 so I ended up buying it. I can load it by myself in the truck, fish a lot of spots I normally couldn't get to and it is near perfect for a little 130 acre electric only lake close by my house. Since I have modified a little 5x8 trailer I have so that I can just pull the boat on with no lifting. Since that fishing trip with my buddy, I took my boat and fished small ponds and lakes with my dad in Kentucky for a couple of days. Didn't take my boat but went back to my previous town and spent three days fishing for crappie and bass on a larger reservoir with my buddy and I use my little boat and probably fish 3 or 4 evenings a week at the little lake down the road. I have spent a bunch of time reading this site and it has been a great time for me. I learn a lot every time I log in and using some of the techniques I've learned here I even catch a few bass..........and I've been having a ton of fun. So, thank you to all that post and respond. Honestly, it's pretty cheap therapy......lol.

Well, I decided to give the lefty a try. Decided on a Lew's SS1 model. And, I decided to buy it from Dick's sporting goods.......here's why. I got a $20 online coupon in the email from Dick's today. So, they have the reel listed at $99......$20 off from Dick's and free shipping then a $20 rebate from Lew's. So bottom line $59 and tax. Plus, dicks does 90day returns for any reason......so if I work with it in the back yard and don't like it then I can take it back to the store here in town. Thank you all for the responses and input. Very informative and very helpfu!

Well, I was down south today with a couple of hours to kill so I went by a Cabella's then by a Bass Pro Shop. Both of these stores are a couple of hours from my home. There's a Dick's here in town and a Gander Mountain about 30 miles away but both of these places were pretty useless for me. Both Cabella's and BPS were great! There was a gentleman at BPS that was great to work with and when I told him that I was investigating whether I wanted a lefty or a righty, he said let's set a couple up and go outside and give it a go. So we spent some time looking at baitcasters and picked two identical rod and reels and outside we went. I got a lesson in how to set them up and how to cast them. Turns out I think I like the right handed model better. It felt better "palming" the reel in my left hand than my right. In fact I kept my left hand on the reel when I was casting. For you golfers out there I had almost a Vardon overlap thing going on with my index and little finger. I know I had a lot more accuracy when I was doing it this way. So, anyway I spent close to 2 hours with this guy and when I described my price range etc, he tells me he could sell me several reels there........but for my money he suggested a Lew's Speedcaster SS1.......that normally is out of the price range I wanted to spend but he tells me that Lew's has a $20 rebate right now. So, here's the catch.........BPS doesn't sell Lew's. He said they are normally a $100 reel but the rebate was a really good deal. He said if you need it today, go back to Cabelas and pay $99.........if not then go online to tackle warehouse......that they have them for $89 and with a $20 rebate I was at my number of $70 for a reel. I told him this didn't seem right, he said don't worry about it........it's not like I work on commission. He said just stop in the next time I was on my way to my parents house and let him know how it's working out. You gotta be kidding me! So i bought $20 worth of plastics.......I bought him a pop....I got a BPS customer rewards card and I was out of there. Anyway, that's my story.

So, again having never owned or even casted a baitcasting rig, I know there is a pretty good learning curve on using these. I intended to buy one and a practice plug (and some cheap line) and spend time in the yard learning how to operate it properly before I take it on the water. Is there a decent store where I could try one out and if I didn't like it take it back to trade in on another rig? I have fished my whole life with spinners so I can make it just fine until I learn.........I just thought I would try one since everyone talks about how much better they are for certain applications. Thanks again for all the input!

I'm very right handed, but am considering buying my first baitcaster in a LH model. I grew up fishing spinning set ups with the rod in my right and cranking with my left. In fact as a kid I would fish a spincast by flipping it upside down (reel down) and cranking backwards (clockwise). Now I have a couple of spincast set up with the crank on the left side. I cast right handed......Palm the reel in my right hand and crank with my left. Anyone else heard of this before? Or am I just so screwed up I should forget it and learn to switch hands?

So, I've read all 88 pages of this topic......and I'm in the market for a bass raider 10. I've looked at a few off craigslist but haven't found any where the price of the used ones lines up with what I'm prepared to offer at this time. For instance today I saw one today, he was asking $550. It was 4 years old and was in fair shape. It came with an older Minn Kota 36# TM that wasn't in very good shape, had a broken prop and a 4 year old deep cell battery. So the motor and battery would need replaced. Ultimately he wanted 550 for the used boat.....and he wouldn't budge on price. When you compare that with the fact that I could pick up a new one at dick's for 599 and get a 10% discount so 550 plus tax it just doesn't seem worth it. What is the price point that a used one would need to be priced at to make it worthwhile........or what extras make it a good deal. I will say after reading all of the posts, I sure was an informed consumer when I showed to see the boat......and for that I say thank you.

Tfultz......you're a Delaware County boy?