Cgolf

Well said and my wife has taught me to be a bargain shopper and all of my gear that trends towards the higher end was bought on deals. Getting the previous years models on baitcasters can save a ton of money and 4 - 10 years down the road the fact you got last years model is irrelevant. Same with rods, between the dobyns discount and other sales, I have built up a comfortable lineup. Once the supply chain issues are gone post covid, I think we will see these kinds of deals again.

I am glad to hear that many are like me. My most expensive retail combo, got both on sale, would be the Viento Champ XP topping out over 450 bucks, but that isn't my favorite combo. It is a bit to soft for what I had it in mind for, but will ultimately make a great jerkbait rod. In the next year I am going to be shopping for another medium moderate casting rod that has a similar action to the MH moderate St. Croix Premier that I have. I am hoping once St. Croix is caught up they will add more back to the premier line and it will show up there. If not I will have to do some searching and ask you all for advice.

This is why I have hated Shimano for years. When I replaced the rear derailleur on my bike the price difference between STX, XT, and XTR was eye popping back in the early 90s. I think the XTR would have set me back 1/2 the price I paid for the bike, Trek. They seem to over price their products IMO.

The ugly Carbons are interesting, I saw an elite pro is using them now and he did pretty well at the classic. I just haven't pulled the trigger on one. I do like the more parabolic action of ugly sticks.

Last year I got a Dobyns Champ XP when Gary had the 40% sale, and that and the Avid are really nice but not that much nicer for the price. For me it comes down to the right action. The only rods I have seen a higher end rod make a difference is spinning rods, the Sierra's are better for detecting bites which really helps some days. Not sure if more expensive would be enough better to justify the extra money. Most of my baitcasters are for cranks and stuff so the extra sensitivity isn't as important as the right action. As far as reels go the fit and finish on the Viento are top notch and they are really nice reels. Right now though may favorites are the Quantum Icons and the Lews Crush. The Icon is an amazing reel and wish I had bought more when they were 40$.

I have an ancient medium lightning rod, that landed a 45" musky and never snapped despite the musky trying. It was a very nice stick, just couldn't get used to the short butt on the rod.

I could really scare you and post my baits list too, heck I will;) I even have a sheet that documents what boxes go where in the boat that goes down to where the boat key is. I really look forward to this trip lol.

I started a process a couple of years ago of upgrading all of my rods and reels. Well oddly I found that I am coming to a premature end because there are some lower end rods and reels I really don’t want to take out of my rotation. I carry a medium ugly spinning rod that has the perfect action for small jerkbaits and spy baits. My medium ugly bait caster works very well with spinnerbaits. Other rods like my prodigy and the blue clunn pair very well to my fishing style and the techniques I use them for. I prefer moderate action rods, so that may be why I am struggling with the new trend toward faster actions. As far as reels go, I am happy with my reels down to the Daiwa Laguna baitcaster to the new Quantum Icons I got this year that are amazing reels. Spinning reels I have always had good luck with low end to mid range spinning reels. I have had some cheap reels last a long time even with heavy use. I attached my go to combos that I take on vacation which is a majority of my combos. I will say I was bummed with the St. Croix Victory series. My favorite rod is my MH moderate Premier casting rod, and I had hoped they would have a Victory M moderate, but from what I see that isn’t happening.

Catching fish in a crowd when that crowd is blanking is a lot of fun too:)

I have always had a rough time on my local lake that receives both a lot of fishing pressure and recreational pressure. We went out last Friday with the boat and I saw some big bass cruising a shallow flat that I ended up not being able to fish because someone cut me off and anchored, so we moved elsewhere and stumbled on a pike fest getting hits on almost every cast. We then took the kayaks out Sunday and no bass cruising the shallows, and no hits back where the pike fest happened. Did get some hits in the thick slop no boats could get in but none landed. I honestly other than maybe night fishing, weekends are kind of out on this lake, just amazing what a difference two days made.

The ten below are what I will start with on vacation. As the week progresses I have other combos I can switch in or out. Yes there are two ugly sticks in there, but they suit those techniques well. I do have an Avid X that I like for squarebills that may make the rotation and the Dobyns champion may become more of a jerkbait rod, time will tell.

Got it. Yeh the resellers are really making out good on this book. I never thought to look for it that way.

I will let you all know what I think. From what I have read on different forums that there is some good info in there, but not enough to justify the high cost and there is some that I disagree with. I would agree a reprint would be great like the slider fishin book I paid like 7 bucks for and that has a lot of good info. Now I am curious what flyfisher posted lol.

Well I was complaining one day about not being able to afford the book and my wife reminded me that libraries do outer library loans often. So I searched and saw there were multiple copies in Illinois and a couple of weeks ago I put in the request. Well now till the middle of July I have my very own copy to read and take notes on. If I really like it maybe some day I will find a reasonable copy to keep permanently on the bookshelf. Just glad I have the opportunity to read it at all.

Not sure I have one. Depending on conditions, Rage Menace, Arsenal Assault Bug, Spinnerbait, Bandit 100, Yum Crawbug, Ned Rig, and a Tube. All have had their days where they catch fish like crazy and days when they get ignored. The 2 most consistent though probably are the Yum Crawbug and Bandit 100 over the years.

I have a 2006 Alumacraft Lunker that is a bit more narrow beamed than the classic and it has been great. The only issue I fought was space for rods on deck, but have two vertical holders now that will hold six and short rods can go on the floor. I also made a custom removable casting deck next to the console that covers up where the front seat goes to give me more room to move around on the front deck. Like someone else said I upgraded to an 80 lb terrova with a longer shaft because I fish a windy lake that regularly sees fairly large waves tightly spaced. This boat handles that water well and I no longer have to run TM at near 100% to move forward during windy conditions. Great boat and has been very solid for me. If interested I can post some pictures of my setup. Just read all the way down and hope your wife gets better soon.

I generally fish plastics that average say 10 fish a bait, but many of them can get me up to 20 fish. If I buy a plastic that is not durable, I won't purchase it again. One thing I have an issue with is the shelf life comment form the OP. I have plastics that are over 20 years old and they fish the same and hold up just as well as when I bought them. If stored properly, I don't think modern plastics have a shelf life.

Both I guess would be the answer. I use a gel scent that if you look at the water as you pull it out you can see a slight sheen on the surface, so it is coming off the bait at a slower pace than say Bang or Berkley liquid scents. I do agree fish will likely hold on longer as well. I do believe it gets more bites though. The father in law and I fished and in an hour I had landed multiple fish and he never got a hit. I got him to put scent on without changing baits, and he had his first hit in 5 casts and landed his first fish in 5 minutes. He was a skeptic at that point, but all he changed was adding scent. Also if bass can hold off on baits that smell like gas, nicotine, etc, you would think they more willingly strike a lure that smells like a craw or shad than an unscented lure. The thing we will never know is just what percentage more that is. All I know is for me I have witnessed it make enough of a difference especially during a tough bite or pressured fish to be a lifetime user. Berkley crappie nibbles were my starting point to pick your favorite gel scent now.

Well apparently Farm and fleet got the Penzoil synthetic blend in that I have been using and is cheaper than what I bought. I think it was cheaper the last time I bought it too. Will return the Mystic and pick up the other tomorrow.

So below is what I picked up. Based on your comments I assume it is crap. Their quicksilver options at farm and fleet aren’t synthetic either. So essentially there are zero options at the farm that I should use. Since I really don’t need it for vacation, I can look around. Even with that I might have enough to get through next year sinc I rarely fire up the big motor on the water. In a week vaca I might use 15 gallons. https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/1344963-mystik-1-gal-jt-4-2-cycle-premium-outboard-motor-oil.html Why, because I barely run the motor at all where I fish so I have a low hour 50 HP Merc that runs great so not worth the money to replace it. When I get the next boat it will have a 4 stroke or electric if they are mainstream then.

Wow, I can usually pick mine in 30 seconds. It is rare I have to stop the trolling motor to unpick them. Could be our casting styles differ. I use moderate action rods with all my baitcasters, so it is possible that the load up properly for a good cast. I found most of my backlashes come on a rushed cast where the rod doesn't load properly or I slightly screw up the release point. I have fly fished as well, where loading the rod is super important. It is amazing how much distance and accuracy is lost if you don't allow the fly rod to load properly, might be something like that with baitcasters too, just a thought, no idea if it is true.

Possibly, but I know when I get them I can usually just start grabbing and lifting sections of line and then pull line out once it is free. The worse the backlash the more you have to hunt to pull the right strand. I don't run free spool a lot either. I generally adjust the brakes to prevent this.

You make me feel better about my choices knowing you fish a ton. I probably fish 5 to 6 days a week but it is mostly 3 rods that are used on my local river or creek for 20 -30 minutes or so on the way to work or after work. My good bass rods see less time so that is part of the reason I can stretch those out for so long.

I use braid on Bait casters and fireline on spinning rods and I think some of it is going on 10 seasons, and no i don't break off fish. I only change it when it gets too short. The stuff is fairly bullet proof. I am curious why a birds nest results in a respool with braid? Generally when it happens to me, hero cast, they are really easy to pick out, so curious if yours get so bad you need to cut some line. The big bonus with braid and fireline is when one side looks worn, just take it off and respool it the opposite way and you have like new line on the other end.

So I am currently running Penzoil XLF synthetic blend in my boat. It is a 50 hp merc with oil injection. Well the Penzoil is sold out, common theme these days, and I picked up some Mystic 2 cycle outboard oil, non synthetic. Here is my question, it’s ok to mix the two right? I know when I started using the Penzoil I mixed synthetic with non synthetic so this is probably a dumb question.