ILfisherman

Went out for a couple of trips this weekend and 3 times on hooksets had my Palomar knot slip leaving 3 fish with 4/0 gammys swimming around in the lake. I truly love how this line performs in terms of strength, abrasion resistance, and stretch. The only problem is that after a few fish, the knot slips. I wet my knots before snugging down and never had this problem w/ berkly big game mono or PP braid. Is this slippage due to the knot or line? Or my laziness to not re-tie after each fish? I'm currently using 12lb on baitcasting gear btw.

LOL, fish for musky much? They don't call it the "fish of 1,000 casts" for nothing. To the OP, check out www.spinnerbait.org. This guy has Shab dialed in.

Do you take care of your gear? Yearly cleaning etc.? I own several of the reels mentioned, Shimano's included... I'd take the BPS PQ any day of the week for the money. Take one apart and you will see why. When you get a good quality reel and take care of it, you won't need parts because it won't break.

It's a decent reel. Not the smoothest, nor the most well made. If you have $100 or less to spend, go to BPS and pick up the Pro Qualifier instead and thank me later. I bought my exceler (7.1:1) last year, took it apart for some cleaning today and GOOD GOD did they pack that thing full of grease. I felt like I changed the oil out of my truck when I got done.

Next time you are out, think of the motion you would use to throw mashed potatoes off a fork. Use the same motion casting overhead. ^^^good advice. You gotta "whip" it.

I would definitely use mono backing for braid since it's pretty expensive(the braid, that is). I don't use braid for your aforementioned reasons....it binds up sometimes. Personally, I don't use it for that reason as well as the visibility issues in the waters I fish.

Looks awesome but i wish the Sol's came w/ swept handles.

Wow, talk about problems. Calm down dude. As for the second highlight, THIS IS A FORUM. People disagree, live with it. Personal remarks/attacks abound in your post. I'm sure Ike is cool enough to take some heat, you don't need to defend him. Afterall, he's "not a kid". :

BPS Tourney special.... should be around $30 during the sale.

Wow, beastly! Send a couple of those TN bass up north over here and I'll ship you guys some IL whitetails, deal? BTW, what were you using as bait? Nightcrawlers?

Ugh...if they're eating those bottomfeeding garbage fish, let them! I agree that they are fun to catch, but they are INVASIVE species. Don't worry, there will be plenty of them to catch for years to come. It's not worth getting beat/shot/stabbed over a stupid fish is it?

First things first.....casting a baitcaster is NOTHING like casting a spinning reel. Next, before you do anything, rig your bait up (ex. senko t-rigged). Then hold your rod tip at 10 'o clock in front of you. Tighten your cast control knob all the way. Hit the clutch. The lure should not move one bit. Then, slowly, un-tighten the cast control knob until the lure falls slowly to the ground. Now you're set to cast. Practice casting overhead first. If you have a RH reel, make sure the knobs and handle are facing up. Hit the clutch, hold your thumb firmly on the spool, move your rod tip back behind you to ten o' clock and load the rod tip up w/ the weight of your lure, then fling your rod tip to about 11-10 o'clock in front of you then let go of the spool w/ your thumb. Don't touch the spool with your thumb until the lure is about to hit the water, lightly put pressure on the spool just as it hits the water. Reel the lure back to you and repeat until you get the hang of it. Make sure that your reel handle is facing UP throughout the entire cast. Later on, when you get the hang of it, you can cast any which way you please. Hope that helped. Trust me, all the practice WILL BE WORTH IT IN THE END.

I use Ardent Reel Butter on my Shimanos and Daiwas. I find that it lasts longer and performs better than the Shimano stuff. As for grease, I just use regular old silicone grease.

I'm actually from the Lemont/Homer Glen area, even though I'm in Chicago most of the time due to school. I like to fish local area lakes and ponds just for fun but, like everything I do, I have to take it to the next level. Usually, I like to fish lakes like Shabbona, Heidecke, quarries etc. I bet anyone from this area thought I would say Tampier but nope, I hate that place!! Thanks alot for the replies and info guys!

lol. Cool. I'll have to check it out today at BPS. $84.99 w/ a reel trade in??? Thats awesome.