Davis

Ah to each is own. Fishing is fishing. If the bite isn't on with big baits than I will downsize and maybe catch a 12" or so. But thats better than going home with nothing. Of coarse this is coming from a person that loves to catch pan fish, brookies, LMB, and SMB. I just love fishing. Something is better than nothing. ;D

You guys actually pay 199.99 for a bait? You serious? Man unless I knew a record holder was waiting for me, there is no way I pay that much.

Well I will have to give that a go seeing as you sent me some pearl sticks with my last order in my "freebie" bag. 8-) Thanks again!

I was thinking Brent was serious as well. Putting a senko on as a trailer? Sounds like it would work well IMO. I may just try that with some of my jigs and the one chatterbait that I own.

Don't care for them at all. Frankly there the last plastic that I will tie onto my line. Maybe I just haven't given them enough of a chance.

I have a pretty good sized tacklebag that I walk around with. Next year I'm going to do what your doing. Just pick up a backpack and throw the tackle that I need in there. There is no reason that I need to bring my whole tacklebag along when I know that I'm not going to be throwing my hard baits. Makes sense to just toss some bags of plastics, hooks, pliers, and some split shot in a knapsack and go from there. For some reason I have always tugged along my tackle for some stupid reason.

My Dicks Sporting Goods is useless. They acted like they had no clue what I was talking about when I called them to ask if they had any St Croix in stock. They said there website has a lot more product than they do in the store. I was like.........you have got to be kidding me.......the websites rod selection is HORRIBLE. Thats a heck of a good deal you got. I also have never fished an XF rod before so that will be new to me as well. Can't wait.

Definately can't wait to get out to the creek after those fall smallies. Hopefully now I will be able to feel the gravel/structure on the bottom with this new rod. That mitchell was useless in that regard. ;D

I want to give a special thanks to Infidel for pointing out that BPS sale to me. Picked up the AS68mxf Avid and I can't wait to fish it. For most that do not know this is the first year that I have really came back into fishing since I was 16 years old. Started fishing when I was around 3 years old. But women, booze, weed, and the wild life, put fishing on the backburner. I settled down around 22 with my new family. I'm now 27 and finally got back into the hobby that I once loved. So I restocked on my worms/lures this year along with a new tackle bag. Decided to go cheap on the rod and reel this past year since I wasn't sure how much I would fish. Never in my life have I fished a decent rod and reel. I picked up a cheap Mitchel Outback combo from walmart for 30 bucks and thats what I have been fishing with this past year. Sure I have pulled in some nice fish but I also have missed some from the rod sucking major butt. I have never fished a nice rod before so I'm anxious to try it out and see what the difference is. Now if I can talk my wife into giving me my Pflueger President before my birthday I will be set. Now the bad thing is, that if I ever want to fish another rod I probably will not be able to go back to the cheapies as easily. The Mitchel rod/reel treated me good this year but I have a feeling that it won't even be in the same ball park as the Avid. Listen to me! I'm rambling because I'm so pumped lol.

Don't live close to a BPS and I called around to the local dicks stores and they don't carry them. Trying to determine how long these will be in stock at Reeds before the new ones come in. I can pick mine up for 144 I believe from there. Just don't have the money sitting around yet. :'( edit: WOW nevermind its actually an online sale..........Now I do have some money in savings that is going towards a downpayment on a house. Do I dare ask the wife if I can borrow some of that money? She knows that I'm going to get this rod at some point. She also knows the price that I'm going to pay at Reeds. But you know women and there sales! She may go for it! Pray and pray hard for me lol. edit #2: Well talked to the wife this morning and she said "Well duh, if you plan on getting the rod anyway, go for the sale!". She is such an awesome wife. Picked up a couple of owner wide gaps while I was at it. Bait monkey is pulling hard the past couple of weeks.

For those of you wondering..... Here's what he is talking about.... St Croix Rod Selector Thanks David, a link is always useful. I was in a hurry yesterday so I forgot about it.

Gulp Shakey worm on a 3/16 giggy head produced my biggest small mouth of the year.

Ding....Ding. I'm mainy a shore fisherman and this is my go to wacky rig setup.

Now I have decided on the as68mxf for a day or so now. But I wanted to learn more about there warranty. When I stumbled upon the homepage they have a nice interactive menu that helps to give you the best rod for the way you like to fish. I put in a couple different situations and found that the ac68mxl was listed everytime for spinning rods (for the applications that I chose) . So when it doubt for so long like myself......they have a nice program that you can input data into like type of fish, type of area fished, and presentation. Thanks to the couple of members that threw out the as68mxf as an idea to me. You were right on with your selection as it fits pretty much all my needs and style. Even thought that rod was recommended I was still going back and forth with a few things. Just goes to show you why Bassresource.com is a top notch site. 8-)

I wouldn't say that it gets style points but I was intrigued by it as well. I could really use that when I walk the Catt Creek next spring for smallies. Better than dragging around my tackle bag or digging through a backpack.

lol duh.......... ;D Sometimes I think my mother dropped me on my head too often. Thanks man.

I hear a lot of people talking about Mattlures. Where do I find there stuff?

I fish from the shore mostly so vertical jigging is out for me. But I do have some Uncle Josh rinds that I will throw on the backs of it. Definately will give it a whirl at some point.

Whats not to believe? I have caught some nice 2lbers this year and even pulled in a nice 4lber for my PB. All on 7" power worms and shakey heads.

I have one but I really haven't given it a fair shake yet. Casts a mile I know that. What are you guys doing on your retrieves and whats the best way to set the hook when its WAY out there.

Amen to that!!!! 8-)

As a stepdad who has raised my son since he was 1 years old I probably could help a lot lol. Been through a ton with my boy. Its a tough road especially when there not "really" yours. They tend to throw that back at you sometimes. But it doesn't change nothing as far as raising them and loving them as your own. My prayers are with ya Red. Its a fun but rather interesting road.

I read that thread and others. For some reason I just couldn't understand it all as far as soft and firm tips went until the gentlemen above me explained it. That is a great thread though RW!!!

1) Okay so MH has nothing to do with a firm tip then? A firm tip would be XF? Man so much stuff to juggle around in my head. I keep going back and forth in what I want. But the rod that you have pointed out is one that I was looking at last night in the catalog. 2) So an extra fast tip means that you can set the hook easier and faster correct? Talk about information overload. I remember the days of fishing when I was 16 and not getting all technical. I still pulled in big fish and didn't have a care in the world. Sometimes I wish I could get back to that thinking. ;D 1) Correct. The two terms used to describe the rod between the reel seat and the tip are "action" and "power". Action is the first part of the rod, from the tip back. This is where casting, hookset, and jigging/lure "actions" are controlled. The faster the action, the faster the tip end of the rod transfers "power" to the "power" portion of the rod. There are 4 basic actions. Moderate, Moderate-fast, Fast, and Extra-fast. An Ugly stick has a Moderate action. A typical fiberglass rod has a Moderate-fast action. Most off the shelf production rods will either be Moderate fast, or Fast. It depends on what market they are targeting the rod for. This is where the "power/action" confusion comes from. A lot of low cost rods will have an action that matches the power. Say a $30 UL rod will have a Moderate-fast action, but the same line in a medium "power", might have a fast action. "Power" is more of a constant. Power refers to the "backbone" of the rod. The portion from where the tip transfers to the mid section of the rod, back to infront of the reel seat/handle. This is usually the same between a $30 rod, and a $300 rod. The "power" section is where the fish fighting takes place. 2) Extra fast action means the tip will transfer the leverage you put on the rod to the back bone faster than say a fast action. In simple terms, it's stiffer. The more work you want the tip of your rod to do in regards to lure action, including casting, topwater/underwater movement, and hookset, the faster the action of the tip needs to be. Thank you so much. No offense to anyone else....especially RW (has helped me a lot), but this explanation really helped me to understand it more. I will be purchasing the Avid that you recommended in the 6'8" Medium power Extra Fast model. Thanks again for helping my brain process all of this. I have been fishing for years but this is the first year where I'm really trying to get the right equipment for the right job. If I'm going to put all this money into my plastics, hooks and a new reel (Pflueger President). Than I want to make sure I have a rod that will suit me fine.

I was thinking of going MH but its not necessary in the waters that I fish. Most of my fish are caught on the brim of the junk and even when I get in the slop I have been doing just fine pulling them out this year with my medium action cheapy Bass pro rod that is 6 years old. I may get a MH in the future but for an all around rod with the conditions that I fish I think a medium action is still the way to go for me. Thanks for your input though! To answer your question I don't throw anything heavier than a 1/2" when it comes to plastics, jigs, or spinnerbaits. Most of the time I fish my plastics weightless. Haven't really got into the carolina riggin yet. Mostly wacky, weightless T-rigs, and some small tubes and 1/4 ounce bass jigs.