fishballer06

I picked one up about 2 weeks ago. Haven't really fished topwater lately, but I guess I should try it out before the water turns to ice...

8 casting combos, 4 spinning combos. Plus a few spare sticks for special applications. My reels are all in the $2-300 range, and my rods are all in the $100-250 range, so do the math.

So, what exactly happened that has her hooked?

Up here in the north, I like the slower gear ratios in the colder water as well. A 5:1 reel is also great for getting that perfect Jitterbug action.

I musky fish from time to time with a few friends who are big musky fishermen. They all use Suffix 832 in 65 and 80 pound braid on their reels, with 100-120 pound fluro leaders.

Mosquito Bay - a large bay in a lake we fish in Canada that is full of stumps, and is also full of mosquitos and largemouth that are always biting 24/7/365 Perch Haven - a large inlet in that same Canadian lake that is shallow and full of timber and weeds, and is chock full of some of the biggest perch you'll ever see in your life Stanleys Cut - an inlet where the river flows into a large lake. My family was good friends with this old man named Stanley who lived on the lake, right beside this inlet. Stanley lived to be 95 years old, and he would fish and cut firewood every single day up until the day he died. You can troll that little cut and pull out more walleyes than the livewell will hold. The Honey Hole - a little hole we discovered on some private property this fall up in New York for salmon The Bridge and Dales Willow Tree - there was a stream not far from my parents house. This stream was fed by a freshwater spring that pumped out water year round, even in the dead of winter, and it was full of native and stocked trout, as well as some big suckers. My friend and I would fish it almost every day in the spring all throughout middle and high school. There was a open grate singing bridge on my friends Grandparents farm that was always full of beautiful trout. Further down the stream, there was a large willow tree on the waters edge at a man named Dale's property. This tree was over a large hole that was always full of trout. We still joke to this day about that spot, because one night while fishing, I caught a nice Rainbow on a rooster tail. I removed the hooks from the fish and walked to the water to release the fish. When I had turned around, my friends dog (with very long,shaggy hair) had laid down on my rooster tail and gotten the lure completely tangled up and buried in his fur. We didn't have any scissors on us that night, so we had to walk up to Dale's house and ask to borrow his scissors so we could cut the lure out of the dogs fur. That story is still an ongoing joke between my friend and I about the night I "caught Coco".

You must have a lot of spare time on your hands to keep all of those stats. Very impressive.

You can't cast over 50 feet with your Curado?! You've got your settings all out of whack or something. I can pitch 50 feet with my Curado. Casting, you should be able to easily launch well over 100 feet. On the SVS, set it to 2 on, 2 off. Set the dial knob to around 2. Set your spool tension knob so that a 1/4 oz. lure will slowly fall under it's own weight. You should be able to easily sling with those settings. And put some 40 pound test on your reel. 20 pound braid is way too thin for any baitcaster.

I don't know how big this golf course pond is, but more than likely, it's not big enough that the wind would affect the baitfish at all.

The BPS Extreme rods are nice and retail for $100, and sometimes go on sale for $70-80. I also recommend the Fenwick HMG rods.

I own 3 ci4's and 2 Curado I's. The ci4 is definitely a nicer reel. If you're super tight on cash, the Curado will be good. If you can afford the Chronarch, do it. It's one heck of a nice reel.

So they're interested, but note quite enticed. Try a different color (chartruese, black, whatever). If that doesn't work, try something that moves a little slower on top, like a popper.

St. Croix Premier and Avid's come to mind. They're in the $130 - $190 range.

It's safe to say mono needs changed out more often than any other line out there.

I've practiced flipping into buckets. Also, whenever I'm trying out a new knot, I'll practice tying it a bunch at home, so that I can tie it up quickly and properly when I'm out on the water.

I would get the Frabill series of raingear. I have the F3 set myself and I absolutely love it. I highly recommend it. If you're more on a budget, the F2 series set is only $200.

That's exactly why I changed them out

Let me know when you sell them.

2500 is my favorite spinning reel size.

I do most of my shopping online whenever I can find the best deals. If I do go to a store, I do most of my shopping at Field and Stream because they have the biggest selection of everything close to me. I'll also stop at Dicks and Gander because they're always have the randomnest of sales that lead to great deals.

Wow, awesome!

I've got one in the Perch color. I finally used it for the first time a few weeks on a day that was going really slow. Caught one on the very first cast with it. I used it like a jerkbait, but you can run it like a crank too. It has a nice tight wobble, and a slow rise. The hooks are sharp and tacky, but they're not the strongest. As mentioned above, I bent one out on a 2 pounder the first day I used it. I went ahead and replaced them with Gamy's. Other than the hooks, I'm very impressed.

Never caught any fish with a plug in/on them, but I have caught a few with a hook in them. I caught a salmon over the weekend with 3 different hooks in it. That was a new record for me.

Coming from a guy who owns the Sahara, Symetre, and the Saros, I will say that the Saros is definitely a decent step above the two lower models. I've messed with the Stradic ci4+ in the store and while it is pretty and super light, I don't see where it really outperforms the Saros in anything except for weight. To me, that extra ounce or so it shaves off isn't worth the extra $80-100 over the Saros. If you're using a 30 year old reel, I'm sure the Symetre or Saros will make you very happy.

It adds line twist. But worst of all, it's very hard on the bail spring. Over time, you'll wear that bail spring out and it will need replaced.