ww2farmer

I guess I am the oddball here, I have been using Reel Magic for years and never been dissatisfied with it. But you guys might be talking me in to KVD

Your request is pretty vague, we don't know if you want to fish in Idaho or Florida, from the bank or in a boat? A little more info would be nice. All levels of bass fisherman are helped here, but you have to help us help you.

Warsaw, about 35- 40 minutes south of Brockport, right on route 19. I regularly fish Conesus, Honeoye, and Silver Lakes, and have come up to fish I-Bay, Sodus Bay, Port Bay, and Ontario.

I am right handed, use LH casting reels, as well as having my spinning reel handles on the left side.

I fish several of both rods, if you palm your reel the hump is unnoticable. Legend Tournaments are nice looking, a little lighter than like powered/action Avids, also for instance, a Fast action LT seems a little "faster" than a fast action Avid if that makes sense. Senstivity wise..........boy I wish I had a good answer for you, I just don't see a huge upgrade in the LT over the Avids in this area, yeah they are a little more if I had to say so, but I thing the extra cost of the LT is for the looks. Don't get me wrong, I love my LT's and will buy more, but I wouldn't feel under equiped with all Avids, and when switching from one rod to the other I never feel like taking I am taking a step backwards. Now if you really want to try a few, look me up, we are both in WNY, I'll let you handle the ones I have and actually use them on the water so you can see for yourself.

My #1 fishing strength is plucking fish out of a spot others missed. You get to be good at that by having the slowest boat in the tournament, be having intimate knowledge of the areas I fish, and by having a good grip on many different techniques.

If that was the York Tournament in July on Honeoye, you fished against me and my partner. We won it with 15+ lb's. Honeoye has big fish in it, but they don't come easy. I might be lucky to see another 15lb bag from there in the next 5 years. Funny........on Conesus you won't even get in the $$ with 15, often you need 20 to win, year round. We had an 18lb bag in August at the York Tx, only good for 3rd, and an 18lb bag of SM in the ST BM open in Oct.........again only good for 3rd. I'll keep the info on Silver to myself.........thats my home lake and I fish 3 or more times per week, I love that people hate that lake and think it's tough........I do just fine there, took me a few years to get in tune with her, but putting in the time has paid off very well the last 2-3 years.

All is good then, I am not to savy on what all the winks/smilies, and such mean. Seneca........ouch...sorry to hear that LOL. When you make it tout my way, give a shout, I can be found on Conesus, Silver and Honeoye.

I am an Erie guy, but I am going to go with Tennessee. For shear numbers of 3-6lb fish Erie is unbeatable, but I can't consider Erie "world record" water untill I see AT LEAST a 10lber come from her depths. It is a big jump from the 9-8 to the 11+ the world record is, one that given our growing season might be too much to overcome. Tuckman.........if you were joking, pay no attention to this. But your statement of "My vote goes for Lake Erie if for no other reason than because the fisherman are better up in this neck of the woods." is total garbage. I was born, raised, and lived in WNY almost my entire life, so I am biased on my "feelings" for the area, but fishing Erie is not that big of a challange, the weather throws you a curveball way more than the fish do. It's not that difficult to find a rock pile in Erie and drag a tube over it and catch SM. On the other hand those guys on the Tennessee River system have SM fishing that is MUCH tougher than what it is on Erie, have many more challanges other than rough water, and have alot more pressure on fewer fish in less water. It's easy to claim your a good fisherman when the fishing is easy.

There are alot of fish in my area that I do not target and have not caught but would like to someday. High on the list are Muskies, and Steelhead.

In clear water and lite cover I do not use a rattle, and actually think a rattle in those conditions will turn fish away. I do use a rattle when I am fishing heavy weeds, reguardless of water clarity, I think it helps the fish locate the bait easier in the thick stuff, and it's also pretty dark under and in those weeds so visability may be lowerd. Same for Stained water, I use a rattle. I even add rattles to soft plastics in those situations as well. When I do use a rattle though, I like a subtle one. For instance if the jig I am using has two rattles on it, I always take one off, there fore I only buy jigs with removeable rattles. When I add a rattle to a tube, I like the ones with only one ball in them, and when I add one to any other plastics I use the smallest I can find.

When flipping Paca craws, I use a 4/0 EWG Gamakatsu Superline on the Paca Craw, and a 3/0 EWG Gamakatsu Superline on the Baby Paca Craw, you'll be fine with the 3/0.

I fish both alot, I always start with the beaver, and if they bite it once, it seems they bite it all day. If the beaver is not producing I try the tube, and often the switch works. I think the tube is a little more finesse, and can coax fish on a really tough day.

A Legend Elite for $80????????? What color is the blank? Anyways if it is a Legend Elite, $80 is robbery, I would buy it at that price fast.

I like the Yum baby crawbugs in cold water, and the tiny paca chunk in warm water.

This is exactly the way I am fishing them now,same hook and all. I just have this problem with the bait working its way down and bunching up. Really? Weird, I don't have this problem at all.

In my case I couldn't afford not to upgrade my rods all at once. When the stores around here last year started clearing out St Croix Avids for $90-$100, and Legend Tournaments for $125-$150, I bought the farm. Replaced all my BPS, and lower end rods for a fraction of what it would of cost me in the long run by buying one at a time at full price. But I also had the $$ for it too, I didn't, and more importantly wouldn't have gone into debt to do it. I like to keep the plastic in my pocket. I still have 7 rods I want to up grade, these will be done one at a time over a period of time, and when I can afford it.

I have the S, the SX, and the STX, as well as most of the Daiwa, Shimano, and Quantum's in that ballpark. The Revo's are the most touchy, more specificly the SX and STX. The S is actually pretty consistant and IMHO is easier to get set. I find I am always playing with the other two. They are nowhere near as consistant and effective as Daiwa's mag brakes, and actually the same can be said for the S's 6 pin cent. brake, it seems the Shimano VBS just works better. Don't get me wrong I love my Revo's and they ain't going any where, IMHO they just need an attentive operator, where as with Shimano's and Daiwa's you can "fall asleep" at the wheel some times and the brake system will typicly bail you out.

There are no muskies in my lake, but plenty of pike. I rarely target them, but catch tons. since I began using fluorocarbon line my bites offs from pike have been almost nonexistant. I know the serious pike guys around here all use fluoro now insted of steel.

When I first satrted fishing beavers I bought the BMF hooks from reaction inovations, I was not impressed. I have better results just using a 4/0 EWG superline Gamakatsu. I never got the straight shank deal for flipping, my hook up and landing rates are fantastic with the EWG. As for pegging, I peg when I am fishing heavy cover, as probably most everyone else. I also use beavers as jig trailers and they are great for that too.

Every one I know that has used this line thinks it's crap, so I have stayed away. Must be alot of 'bad runs" of this line out there. I know it's a few bucks cheaper, but line is the last thing i want to get "cheap" with.

I am a St Croix guy, I have however owned one G. Loomis rod in the past, and it was the exact rod your talking about. I was not impressed. Save your money, there are much better rods in that price range, and even for $85 I think it's no bargin.

Revo Winch's can be had fro $170 ish NIB on e-bay. There are also still alot of Curado 200DPV/201DPV's NIB out there that can be had at a discount. I went with a Citica 200DPV to go on my new St Croix Mojo cranking rod (my only RH reel,so it may be for sale if I don't like it) got it NIB for $80 shipped off e-bay.

Yup, the craw papi is pretty dissapointing, the claws DO NOT flap and flutter on the way down like the paca craws, and on the bottom the nose of the craw papi floats (it's hollow) while the claws lay lifeless flopped over in front of it. Those baits look great in the package, but are turds in the water. I replaced them with paca craws and am glad I did. Yum does make a good "finesse" craw in the craw bug, but the craw papi is not there best effort.

Middle of the day, middle of the summer, hot, bluebird skies. Thick matted weeds, and flipping stick in hand.