Micro

Anyone else love fishing for bluegills and shellcrackers? Not to mention the occasional yellow perch or crappie that comes with them? For bluegills I use a 6' light action Bionic Blade rod and BPS Enticer reel with 6# test. My favorite lure is the Strike King Bitsy Pond Minnow in just about any color cranked over beds in spring. Man, that little crank kills them. Little gold bladed, plain hook Mepps Aglias in #0 is another killer bait for me. Little Beetle Spins in black/yellow, or white knocks them dead, too. For fishing live baits under a bobber, I use my Browning Medallion GT 6' medium with my Abumatic reel. Crickets or red wigglers on a #4 or 6 Eagle Claw Aberdeen or baitholder. Man, it doesn't get much better than that. My fishin' buddy showing me how to use a Bitsy Pond minner (the clip's almost as big as the bait ;D)

No. And well said.

I've got some older Penns, and they are (like you said) rock solid. I just wondered about this reel because in the store it seems very nicely made and is about as smooth as any reel I've ever tried.

There are, or were, three different kinds of Cajun Red - "Cast," "Lightning" and the co-poly stuff. Cast is considered by many that use it a very good mono. Just about everyone hated Lightning. The co-poly stuff was good, tough line, but had memory problems. Red line is supposed to be less visible the deeper it goes. Use it for anyway you want, but that's how it's marketed.

Only occassionally has that been an issue. But a wider mesh net cures that problem with no weight increase.

It doesn't get any better!

Sweet. I love bluegill fishing.

OK, Hulk. But some of us normal guys think holding a rod with a fish-on in one hand and a big rubber net in the other while leaning over the edge of a boat gets a little dicey. You got a partner doing the netting, that's another story.

I'm think I'm going to get a new spinning outfit for schoolie stripers and trout. It may pull double duty for brackish water LMB. Does anyone have any experience with the Penn AF series? I've messed around with them in the store and feel reely nice and super smooth. Just wondering how well they hold up since its a relatively new design for Penn. http://www.pennreels.com/01_products/reels/spinning/07_af/af_series.htm

I mainly fish Zoom Horny Toads, but I'm looking forward to trying Strike King Rages this summer.

I used a rubber net for awhile and they are HEAVY. I switched to a similar sized net with a smelt-bag (much finer mesh). It will net the biggest LMB, and it will not tangle, and it's a fraction of the weight. On those occassions small shad are schooling near my boat, I've even been able to use it to dip them. I still have my rubber net for stripers and cats.

Is there such a thing as a really nice net?

I think it's a Gizzard Shad, too. The thread on the dorsal fin is probably laying on the other side of the fish. The nose is blocked from view. The spot is not necessary. Looks just like this fish: http://www.tnfish.org/PhotoGalleryFish_TWRA/FishPhotoGallery_TWRA/images/GizzardShadDouglasNegus_jpg.jpg

Fenwick makes great rods. The Fenwick HMG is a very sensitive and tough rods. About $120. The Fenwick HMX is another great rod. Also very sensitive, and very tough. My favorites, though, is also All Star. Thse are some of the best rods going, and alos the some of the toughest. I own several IM10s and several American Classics. The IM10s are great and run about $100. The American Classics are just a little (almost unnoticable) less sentsitive, but are extremely tough. On top of that, they are the prettiest in the line-up. These are my favorites. They run $90 or less.

Not according to the literature shrink-wrapped onto the handle. http://www.fenwickfishing.com/warranty.php They'd better do a little QC on what they've got going out of the factory. Local shop has three of the ET's, all of them show a 5 yr. warranty on the handle. AFAIK the lifetime warranty is new (within last year or so).

Not according to the literature shrink-wrapped onto the handle. http://www.fenwickfishing.com/warranty.php

It has a lifetime warranty.

First of all, set your spool tension knob so that you lure falls slowly when you wiggle/lightly bounce the rod tip - just like the instuction book says. Then I like to set the brake to the 1/2 mark and adjust from there. I usually end up eaving it there, or a few clicks either way. The magnetic brake is not super-powerful. Casting a Revo well will take practice. Make sure you learn to use your thumb to slow the brake (see Reelmech's page on casting a bait caster). The Revos are a little tempermental with respect to overruns so decent thumb discipline will be needed. Like Reel mech says - practice x 3.

I have 2 200 DHSVs and they are awesome reels. Better than 100 D? I dunno, but they were worth every penny.

Abu Garcia Cardinals. The sleeper is the 600 ALB. Powerful, smooth, great bearings and an ultra-good drag. About $75. If you want to spend up to $120, then I highly recommend the Cardinal 800 series. Best spinning reel I've ever held.

And you can adjust the brakes w/o opening the side plate.... Yes. But it is a magnetic brake versus a mechanical/centrifugal brake on the Curado.

My big rebel Crawfish have circles molded into the lips on the underside. Are these for weights? I've seen little round weights at BPS that look like they could be glued in these. Do you think I might get even better performance out of my Crawfish by doing that? I'd like to slow my cranking down even more if I could.

Morris Creek and the upper Chick River are my cold water places to fish (now that Little Creek Res is closed). It took forever for the weeds to die off in Chick Lake this year, and the dam situation made Chick Lake a real drag most of the year. I haven't been out in weeks. I didn't catch anything last time I was out (hence the reason I asked about drop shotting). Time before that was respectable on Morris Creek. My biggest this fall was 4+ lbs in Morris Creek. My biggest this year was 5+ lbs out of Chick Lake. I'm probably going to hang it up until March. I've got to take some on-line classes for my insurance license. I hate taking those in the spring when I'd rather be fishing.

Here's the problem I had with my Explorer 4.0.

People that walk behind your car AFTER you've begun backing out of a parking space. Cell phone talkers/drivers in a parking garage. PWC riders who jump in line at the loading ramp.