Micro

Browning has a tendancy to name their rods after their guns (or gun grades) - Midas, Citori, Medallion, and apparently HP. I've Googled for info and can't find any. If you like it, then you got a good rod.

You can catch schoolie sized stripers year round there in the York.

Can't comment on the rods, but the reel is an excellent choice.

Never heard of one. But I've got a couple of Browning Citori and Medallion GT rods and they are great. Matrix... Is that the name of the rod? Must be an older model because it's not in Browning's current line up.

You're kidding, right? :-? Striper season has been over since December 31. Any fish you catch now must be immediately returned to the water. Striper season doesn't open up again until spring. It's OK to fish for stripers, but you can't keep any.

Good deal! And welcome to the forums!

BF Goodrich Long Trail T/As. I got over 60,000 miles out of the tires on my 1996 Explorer. Compare the traction and temperature ratings to the Michelins, as well as the treadwear number. Then compare price. Bet the BFG will come out on top.

Over the last year or so, I've converted over to almost all Fenwick (6) and All Star (7), excepting a few BPS/Browning rods. I bought my second HMX this last weekend. I wanted another 6'6" medium spinning rod. My intent was to buy a Team All Star IM10. I went to Gander Mountain and looked at All Stars. I found one with a loose guide, one with a deep gouge in the blank, and one with a guide eye completely glued over. It sorta ticked me off. So I went to Green Top and looked at Fenwick and decided on another HMX. The finish was perfect, guides were solid, and the rod is just darned good looking. I plan on adding another HMX or two, and two more HMGs. HMGs are just fantastic.

Yes, they put a floating extension on their dock beside the ramp. It reaches out almost to the island of vegatation that you have to steer around as you back your boat out. Ed's is always an adventure. These drifting islands of vegatation on the lake are really cool. One drifted into the inlet where the ramp was and made navigation nearly impossible. The guy that was running the shop put his huge saltwater boat in and used it to tow the island back out into the lake. Once you manage to get out, though, the Chick is an awesome lake.

Where? I might come down and check on you guys.

It's my favorite, too. Hard to beat this stuff.

I can read my posts a dozen times before I actually post them and not even see my typographical errors or misspellings. It's only after I post my comments that I see my them. But I agree with LongMike and hope his cause never fades away. Using shortcuts, as in "texting," diminshes the content of a message. Often times I simply stop reading or immediately form an opinion that the writer is lazy. Then again, maybe we're wrong, and Mark Twain is right...

Neal Schon

Bah! I don't even have any oil in my Chevy and it loves it that way!

I overdid it on mine. I have a 55# thrust motor on a 15' aluminum jon. But it moves the boat with authority and definately handles wind. I recommend exactly what Tucson said - over do it a little.

Since you already bought 6 gauge wire, by all means use it. But according to various AWG load carrying charts, 8 AWG gauge will handle 73 AMPs, and 6 gauge 101 amps. The 10 gauge lead Minn Kota installs on the motor is rated for 55 amps. (There's also probably a safety factor built into these ratings.) It seems it wouldn't make sense for Minn Kota to recommend a breaker that could handle more amps than the power lead they put on the motor. I've actually tripped my breaker before - got the prop tangled in an old t-shirt which stopped it cold. I didn't realize it had even stopped until I heard the breaker pop. None of the wires were even warm to the touch.

I like the handles on the spinning rods. But I was wondering about how that composite cork on the handle on baitcasters would affect sensitivity (with no exposed blank). Anyone have any comments/opinions on that? On the flip side, I've checked out some medium power baitcasting HMXs and they seem to have moderate or moderate-fast actions. Seems to me that they would excel as crankbait rods.

No problem, brutha!

I have 2 spinning rods- a 6'6" M and 6'6" ML. I like them a lot and may get more. They are light, sensitive and tough. The Pacific Bay SS304 guides are very nice. I've been adding more Fenwicks to my collection. I have 4 HMGs and 2 HMXs. Fenwicks appear to take quality control seriously. I haven't found a flaw in one I've looked at yet.

I like the Abu Garcia Cardinal 800 series. Super tough and super smooth. No graphite on this reel - all aluminum (body, sideplate, rotor, bail arms, spool). Although I really like the Shimano Saros, too. This reel is impressive. Very, very smooth. Frankly, I don't see the real advantage of the Stradic over the Saros.

I haven't had to use Abu's customer service department much (which is a good testimony itself), but when I have it's been excellent. I've never had to pay for a part to repair a reel - even if it was out of warranty. (Albeit I've never had anything serious or expensive break.)

Sunglasses lenses should be polarized, 100% UVA/UVB resistant, and be optically perfect. The optically perfect thing is an industry lense standard that actually means something - not a marketing phrase. As long as your glasses meet these criteria, they are good glasses. Really expensive glasses will meet this criteria, while cheaper ones usually don't. Although, Cabelas used to sell a house brand for around $45 that met this criteria. They are great glasses but I haven't shopped for any in awhile so I don't know if they have them anymore. (Editted for typos)

The stock lead is 10 gauge, not 6. You will not be able to use 6 gauge as the power lead because... 1) There is a screw down clamp under the cover on the motor base that is designed to hold down 10 gauge bonded wire. I don't think 6 gauge would even begin to fit. Use of this clamp is necessary to keep the wire from putting too much stress on the motor control board where they connect under the cover. 2) Once the wires enter the cover of the motor base they make a 90 degree bend and connect to plugs on the control board. I don't think 6 gauge will be able to make that bed under that cover, and I don't think you will be able to find any 6 gauge slide-on plugs that fit the little prongs on the control board. That control board just isn't designed for a 6 gauge power lead. 3) Additionally, I don't think there are any male plugs (for the battery end of the lead) out there that take 6 gauge - just 8 gauge and smaller. There are 8 gauge female receptables (for the battery wires themselves) that can use 6 gauge with the use of an adapter. Using 6 gauge in your set up anywhere is a pain in the butt and is totally unnecessary. The recommendation to use 6 gauge is for the wiring leading from the battery to the power lead from the motor. Again, even this is unnecessary for a 12v 55lb thrust motor. Using 8 gauge (but not smaller) from the battery to your motor's power lead is perfectly fine. Additionally, using the recommended 60 amp breaker is unnecessary. 50 amp is just fine and will give you extra protection. A 55lb thrust 12v motor is going to draw close to 50 amps at full power - but not quite 50 amps. If there is a power surge, say, due to getting your prop tangled in a net or an old t-shirt (like has happened to me), the 50 amp breaker will pop open sooner than 60 amp breaker which will save your motor unnecessary stress. 60 amp will stay closed longer and will allow your motor to heat up more before it pops open. I've used 50 amps for years. It allows the use of continuous full power on my motor, but a surge over that will cause the breaker to pop and that's what you really want. 60 amp breaker and 6 gauge is overkill for a 55lb thrust 12v motor. 8 gauge and a 50 amp is just fine. (Just don't mix and match gauge and breaker amps - either use 6 gauge/60 amp or 8 gauge/50amp, NOT 6 gauge/50 amp or 8 gauge/60 amp) My set up is this. ...12v battery ...8 gauge wires leading from battery to receptacle (with a 50 amp breaker in the red (+) line. ...10 gauge from plug to motor. This has worked perfectly for years, allows the continous use of full power, does not heat up anything, and has protection the instant power surges over 50 amps.

I've tried it. There are 3 different types: Red Lightning, Red Advantage, and Red Cast. It seems Red Lightning is universally hated (high memory, lines breaks). Red Advantage is co-polymer line and is decent for awhile, but has alot of memory and I changed it quite often. Red Cast is fairly well regarded. My personal opinion is that starting with a decent monfilament line - like Stren Original or Berkley Trilene XL - is the way to go. It's good line (always has been), and it's cheap so you can replace it more frequently.

These are actually pretty good baits (I agree with you). But those hooks suck. I replaced the hooks on mine. They aren't as great a deal once you start putting decent hooks on them. Mine are dwindling down and Ii won't be buying anymore. (I got many of mine as gifts from my kids.)