Sonik

If you do some hunting, the Tournament Speed Spool is on sale/clearance for what the MG sells for. I bought one off of Academy for $120 that had a $30 mail in rebate. Lew's got my rebate back real quick.

I love how people buy $200 Curados, Chronarchs, and other reels and then go buy a Lew's LFS or Laser for $99 and under. Then say how bad the Lew's is. Well, I tell you what. I own $200 Lew's Tournament Pros and BB1 Pros. I think I'll go out and buy me a $75 Abu Black Max and a Shimano Caenan and do apples to apples comparison. Then come back here and say "Shimanos and Abu Garcia are junk. They felt like a gravel polisher next to my Pro model Lew's. I'll NEVER buy their products again." A man aught to have more common sense than to do an apples to apples comparison of any brand's $75 reel to another's $200 reel.

Real men use log chain. Gets them baits deep, son. Almost zero stretch.

When I get up tomorrow morning, I'm going to start a new topic asking what the best $100 rod is.

I have a 7'3" H/F rod that is spooled with heavy braid. I love my P-Line Floroclear but sometimes the only thing that's appropriate is braid.

I kind of liked the old gold reels. They worked better than the last iteration that was dark colored also. I'm not big on the white blank but I do hear that some people like them to be able to watch their rod tip and see bites. I'm partial to Lew's Custom style tods where they start white at the bottom and transition to black. I can read the text on the rod better where they will say "crankbait" or "jig/worm" where it's white but then don't have to stare at a white rod all day. Cabela's Tournament ZX had this look as well and they have Winn grips.

Lew's Super Duty baitcaster is about $140 I think. I see people recommend them for throwing Alabama rigs, massive swimbaits, cranking 10xd, and flipping/pitching super heavy cover. They're built to be durable, hence the name. Has top reviews everywhere I've seen it.

In the past I used flouro for cranks. No problem. When it was time to respool, I tried some clear Big Game mono to save some money. I for sure got fewer strikes but didn't lose any fewer fish than what flouro lost. So, fewer fish. So, I went over and tried 12# P-Line Floroclear. Got even more strikes on it than I did with flourocarbon. It did feel a tiny bit stretchier than flouro but not a rubber band by any means. And it handles way better than flouro and the Big Game. 600yds for like $7.

I have an old BPS Tourney Special casting combo from when it was a red reel and a cork grip rod. I think it was like $50 on sale. I have some 14lbs Big Game on it. Works ok for when I just want something I can bang around or throw in the back of the truck.

I know that the post/pedestal that my seat snd seat bracket fits into screws/threads into the base on my decks. I have my boat covered over at the moment. When I get in tonight, I'll see if I can get a picture.

I am looking at a stand-up seat for my 2012 Alumacraft Pro 175. I have read through the manual and maybe I'm missing something but I don't see where it says anything about the post. Right now it has about an 18" post that screws into the base. Then the seats have a black insert of about 6-8" that fits in that post and allows the seats to swivel. I dont really see any configuration that looks like this or, I simply don't know what I'm looking at or for. Which is probably it. I've got some back issues so I'd like to be able sit and lean this coming season. Sitting in a traditional seat kills me and straight up standing with no support is worse. Some post/seat combos I've seen seem to look similar to the black insert but they are way too tall and I'm 6'2". Or I have seen some screw in but they're maybe 24". Anyone have any ideas? I feel so dumb asking. This is my first bass boat and I know so little about stuff like this.

15# PLine Voltage (testing) 12# PLine Floroclear 14# PLine Floroclear 65# PowerPro braid 10# PLine Floroclear

House brands are, well, in-store brands. For example, Academy sells stuff calledal H20. Bass Pro is Bass Pro, Redhead, etc.

I feel like the benefits are minimal, if any, over the copoly I use, especially for double the costs. I use mainly PLine Floroclear and have experimented with CXX and I have a reel spooled with Voltage right now. I haven't had any issues with breakage or knot strength. If you wet your knot like you should, retie as appropriate, and respool as needed, you shouldn't have a problem. But those rules apply to flourocarbon as well. It's a cost-benefit choice for me.

My favorites for under a hundred dollar bill would be a Cabela's Tournament ZX (cranking) or a Lew's David Fritts Palmer cranking rod. But for the money, it's hard to be the old Vertas cranking rods while they're available or the Bass Pro Cranking Rod.

I have a reel spooled up with PLine Voltage copoly right now. It is on my jig/spinnerbait/wormin rod so it will get a workout. I have been extremely happy with Floroclear. Just trying out some new stuff. Had to respool and for $8 why not. The Voltage is supposed to be impervious to UV.

$70 - BPS Tourney Special combo $8 - P-Line Copoly $7 - Zoom Speed Craws $8 - VMC hooks $6 - Booyeah jigs $99 - total The combo is good. You can get a 7:1 reel with dual braking and a 7' MH/F rod. I used to have one before I thought I needed a $350 setup to catch fish. Spend the rest of the money on line and lures to use with it.

You're probably coming out ahead with paying more for tackle than paying tuition. Unless you were scholarship or you're buying an unbelievable amount of tackle.

Wooo! Murray State! As a 2009 alumni I am extremely proud to see them doing so well with the bass team.

Which ZX's do you have, tcbass? I'm looking at the Spinnerbait/Swim Jig, Topwater Frog, Topwater/Jerkbait, Worm/Jig,and Shakey Head rods while they're on sale. I currently have 4 *** Blacks that are new and I hate to turn that into such a waste but the ZX Crankbait rod is so sweet.

If I had to pick one line it would be P-Line CXX Crystal Clear. It's inexpensive and works well. I'm kind of moving that way now as I work through a miscellaneous supplies. P-Line Floroclear has never failed me but I'm getting into cranking more and more and I feel like the CXX has a little more stretch. Anywho... P-Line CXX Crystal Clear in 20, 14, and 10lbs.

I am now an avid fan of the Cabela's Tournament ZX line. Don't knock it until you try it. I feel they are better than my *** Blacks and on far with the Lew's Custom Speed Sticks. I have all Lew's reels and looked at the Customs and liked them. I saw the ZX looked similar (which doesn't mean squat) and then that they had Winn grips, not standard EVA. I tried their crankbait rod and have been in love with it. They also sell a jerkbait/topwater rod that's 6'9" medium/fast. They go on sale for $69 a lot. You can do 2 ZX to 1 Custom for that and that's what sold me.

I went on short notice with a friend and borrowed a 7' MH Moderate-Fast Cabela's Tourney Trail and had a blast with it on a swimbait bite. Was pretty versitile. I could feel it working well for spinnerbaits, topwaters, big cranks, lipless cranks, and if I stuck braid on it, I may even be ok to try worming. He said $35 for it new too. I should have offered him $40 and took it home.

I have fallen in love with these rods. I started with the crankbait rod and put a Lew's BB1 Pro on it. Holy crap it's awesome. I am going to sell all of my *** Blacks and replace them with ZX rods. For $70 each too. I may come out money ahead with the sale price on the ZX. I kind of wish they would add a 7'3" MH/MF for really deep crankbaits. But I haven't tried the standard crankbait rod with that. It may work fine and it wouldn't surprise me if it was even perfect for that too.

These are back on sale. I have GOT to sell my *** Blacks. They're good but I'm in live with the ZX's. Anyone need a 6'10" M, 7'1" MH and 7'3" H casting and a 7'1" M spinning *** Black?