FishTank

One of the guys I fish with quit smoking 2 years ago. He would smoke about a pack a day. The money he usually spent on smoking went into a CD account every week. After 12 months he closed it. He had about $1100. He took that money and bought a Daiwa Steez Baitcaster, a G. Loomis MBR844 GLX, some new tackle, and new seats for his boat. Another 12 months are about up and he is looking at a Shimano Calais DC. The guy can't wipe the smile off his face. One other thing about his quitting smoking, he also saves money on his health, home and auto insurance. If you smoke, quit and equipment will be easy to afford. Another tip, if you have a boat don't use it for a month. Fish from the bank or use a john boat. If you fish once a week and fill the tank, that's about 20-30 gallons of gas. That's $60 a week, $240 for the month. Easy money.

I use to have an arowana in a 125gallon tank, not exactly a carp but close ;D. I wish I could find a pic but maybe I can post a pic of the lure sometime. I did find a pic of a puffer fish that had the same type tooth and mouth look that the carp I caught had.

I use kids scissors (Fiskars). They're cheap, come with a bright colored handle, and they do a fine job of cutting the line with out fraying it.

I do not own a GL2 or a GL3 but I will say that if you save your bucks the IMX line is definately worth it. But as RW has stated, the St. Croix Avid would be a fine rod if your looking for a bargain.

The AS66MF works fine for me with soft plastic but jigs are different story. I usually fish a baitcaster and a Loomis BCR803 or MBR844 when it comes to jigs. The tip on the AS66MF is softer than the AS68MXF and I prefer the extra fast tip when it comes to weightless Senkos and Dingers but for Brush Hogs, Kreatures, and Lizards the AS66MF works great. With that said, I have fished it with all sorts of soft plastics and never had an issue with the tip being to soft. I guess if I had to rethink it, I would get the AS68MXF if you fish a lot of soft plastic but if not then I would still pick the AS66MF.

Mepps Black Fury #3 has been my favorite for years.

I learned about the bait monkey. ;D All joking aside, I think I learned more about different techniques and how to apply them to the equipment that is available now a days than anything else. There are too many members and friends to thank for this, so a big "thank you" to all at Bass Resource.

Nope, my wife thinks fishing is a good way to read a book or get a tan. ;D

Fishing Equipment: Daiwa Zillion: best workhorse reel for the money Lucky Craft Lures: they flat out catch fish GYCB: I have yet to find an equal (And yes, I know that is subjective) Tru Tungsten: Expensive but worth it G. Loomis GLX rods: Makes fishing a true pleasure X-Point Hooks: Bone crushing sharp As for everything else the list is to long but here are a few favorites: Blue Ray DVDs, Crown Royal, Mortons Steak House, Plasma/HI-DEF TVs, and Canon L lenses

I have an AS68MXF, an AS66MHF, AS66MF and an AS60MLF and out of the four I would go with the AS66MF for a general purpose rod. It can handle just about anything. The extra fast tip (AS68MXF) I use just for soft plastic. I find it hard to cast some crankbaits accurately with this rod.

I may have been a little slow to notice but I saw that we have some new sponsors. Congrats Glenn. Hope they help.

Cool. Thanks for the tip. I go through tons of these things. I usually buy about 50-100 at a time in big bulk packages. My kids have a lot of electronic gizmos.

Manning had 6 interception and the Colts still had a chance to win. I would have preferred a blowout instead of the gut renching ending we recieved. Venatari maybe getting a visit from the executioner .

Under $7.00, I like Manns, Rapalas, and Normans DD22. I also like Mepps inline spinnerbaits. For softplastic I like Berkley,Yum and Zoom Lizards. I have yet to try *** but when spring rolls around I will place an order. I usually buy Senkos and Ikas but I wait untill Dicks has them 20% off and I use a $10 off a $50 purchase, which makes them about $3.90 a pack.

I basically nothing to my rods when they are new. As far as my reels go, I take them apart and see if anything needs a drop of oil. I have only had one reel that need some oil and it was a Daiwa Zillion. But other than that, the reels I have purchased have been fine as is.

I'd go for a Medium or Medium/Heavy power rod 6'6'' or 7' with a Moderate Action. Check out this thread on Rods. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1141187546;start=all

Spinning Reels: Shimano Sahara or a Flooger President Casting Reels: Don't know on this one. I have found some good deals (Shimano Curado BSF $40 new and a Shimano Calcutta 251 $35 new) but everything I have tried at that price range has had some issues (some of it user error and the rest was a quality problem). Rods: BPS Extreme, Bionic Blade, or the Falcon original series Sometimes it is better to wait for a sale. You don't always have to pay top dollar for your equipment if you keep your eyes open.

Scorpion fish and Croakers. Oh, and Gars. Nasty fish.

I have caught a few weird fish but I hooked a carp yesterday that I have not ever seen before. I was fishing a LC Slender Pointer near the bank when I saw a quick flash near the top of the water. An 8lb carp had just took a snap at a jerk bait and I hooked him. I have never caught a carp on a jerkbait. When I reeled this thing in, I thought it was a common grass carp but this fish had a large single mandible tooth like a salt water trigger fish. Needless to say my LC lure had a junk taken out of it and I had a tough time getting the hooks out. I did a little research online and found nothing. Have you guys seen a carp like this?

I used the Chatterbait alot last year but not much this year. Like most people I was excited when this bait became available and bought a couple. After fishing them, I found it was not all it was cracked up to be. I did catch fish with it but not any thing special or different from either a regular crankbait or spinner bait. Maybe when things feel slow and I am in the mood for something different I will tie one back on but until then I am going to stick with my old favorites.

The Sammy in American Shad was the first LC lure I purchased. I was an LC addict after that. For topwater fishing, I have yet to find its equal. It is just a fun lure to fish regardless of the $15 price tag.

I have not had much with crankbaits lately but most of the creature type baits (lizards, grubs, and GYCB Kreatures) and senkos have been great for me the past couple of weeks. They have been hitting on pumpkin colors with black flake.

I'd go for a G. Loomis BCR803 GLX. Sweet

My favorite is my G. Loomis BCR803 GLX. It sort feels like a magic wand. Just a great rod.

I love Gore-Tex stuff. I was not convinced that this stuff worked but after years of abuse on several different products (shoes, coats, rain gear, gloves, etc.) I'm a believer. It will keep you dry and it will keep the cold wind from getting in. IMHO, if it keeps the cold wind from getting in, it will keep you warmer but as stated it has no heat retaining properties. It is stowable. I have a rain suit in my glove box that I keep in the small bags they came in. Is it worth the money?> That's up to the user. In my opinion, I would not buy it unless it was on sale. It adds a couple of bucks to the bottomline of most products. One more thing, I will always buy Gore-Tex products instead of ones that claim to be waterproof, especially shoes. Often waterproof means waterwicking and not watersealed, so read the tags that come with it carefully. Here is a link to their website. http://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satellite/home Here is a shoe comparison that I had the experience of dealing with. One is "waterproof" (my feet got wet) and one with Gore-Tex that kept my feet dry even when I was standing in some mud puddles for hours. http://www.merrellboot.com/Product/NZGP/Mens-Active-Footwear/Winter/Mens/Radius-Mid-Waterproof.aspx?IgnorePDO=1 http://www.merrellboot.com/Product/NZSZZZZ/Mens-Active-Footwear/Hiking/21285/Mens/Sandstone/J86813/Chameleon-Wrap-Gore-Tex-XCR.aspx