Micro

If the action isn't listed, and you can't find it listed on the manufacturer's or retailer's site, you will have to try and determine it yourself. You can gauge it quickly by holding the rod where you hold it when you fish, putting the tip on the floor, and then pushing the tip down. You can see how the rod flexes.

I've got a few Porter Cable and Makita power tools. They are rock solid.

Here's a decent guide. http://www.allstarrods.com/as_actiontaper.html

Here's to you, brutha. I know how herniated disks hurt. I had 2 in my lower back that went and had to have microdiscectomies on both. Until my surgery, it was the worst pain of my life.

Best photo post on the web!!!!! Thanks Glenn! That Premier on that new Abu rod is amazing looking. 2012, huh? Maybe I can afford to buy a few by then. Maybe they'll ighten it up by making the thread section a bit shorter.

You can't avoid buying Chinese. Take your automobile. Everything from lightbulbs, windshield wiper motors, wiper blades, ignition modules, and wires are made in China. Ford alone buys some $3 billion worth of auto parts per year to put in their "Made in USA" vehicles. Honda, widely accepted by many as the most reliable brand of automobile, has plants in China turning out parts for their cars. You just cannot get around it. The notion that everything that comes out of China is junk is absurd. If you have an ideological aversion to China and avoid its products on that basis, that's one thing. But to assert they only produce junk is simply nonsense.

If you are going after stripers of any size, then it's hard to beat an Ugly Stick Tiger Lite. You can buy more expensive, you can buy a cooler name brand, but you cannot get a better striper stick. This is one type of fishing where Ugly Sticks really excel. These rods do really well casting big-arse plugs and heavy treble hook baits.

"Buy American?' Indeed. Steel from Brazil. Rubber and resins from Malaysia. Aluminum from Australia and China. The list goes on and on and on. Wherever the sticker says your products is made, you can bet your bippie that most of the crap in it came from somewhere else.

Does it really matter where equipment is made? If the parent company outsources manufacture to different countries, and keeps quality control tight, any country can produce fantastic products. Abu produces reels in Sweden, Korea and China. The reels I've seen that come out of China are as good as any. Frankly, the reels that come out of Sweden that I've seen have looser tolerances than the reels I've seen from Korea and China. Japan doesn't have a lock on quality control, either. With a young population that doesn't want to work as hard as their parents, and with countries like China and Korea wanting to take the top spots in manufacture, you're going to continue to see better and better products come out of Korea and China that are as good or better than Japanese products. And given that wages American workers demand, the effects of Unions, higher taxes on businesses, the immense burdens the new administration wants to place on companies to provide health care, I think the zenith of American manufacture is over. And it's all good. There is no way I would give business to an American manufacturer that produces crap solely becasue the product sports a "Made in the USA" sticker. If a Chinese or Korean company turns out a quality product to suit my needs, they get my dollars.

$20 more than the standard Core, yes. $20 more than $349, well.

Any reason Shimano put a $369 msrp on it? I mean, I know magnesium costs a little more than aluminum. But is there something else about it? From the pictures I've seen, it looks extraordinarily ordinary. Just wondering why this isn't priced, say, $100 less.

micro, how does the size of the jackall compare to a mann's -1?

Jackall Cherry Zero Footer in any color. But I do best with Sunfish and Ghost. The OSP Buzz-N-Crank is quickly becoming a favorite. I have a few in clear minnow and crystal blue shiner.

BPS has the Viento on clearance. They told me it was "discontinued."

I'm betting the new Revo S is going to be one spectacular reel.

Looks like the Fuego is gone. But the Viento is still listed. The Anniversary Zillion is gone, but there is a new 7.3:1 Inshore Zillion. http://www.daiwa.com/Reel/baitcasting.aspx

yeah, I was expecting some new stuff to replace the recently discontinued reels. It doesn't look like the Sol is going anywhere, at least not yet. It's still listed on Daiwa's newly updated website. So is the Viento. The Fuego is gone.

You got it.

I agree 110s are over rated. But they sure are pretty.

Some on this board would have you believe that, wouldn't they? As the sunscreen speech goes, so goes advice. "Be careful whose advice you buy. But be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth." I think it's reasonable to take some advice to task. As often as not, I find that the advice was wrong and find myself enjoying something some expert told me wasn't worth the effort.

That shad is an excellent bait. It runs true, has an outstanding action at slow to fast speeds, suspends in the position it stops, has very good hooks, and a durable finish. It is very loud. Pick up a few. They are an exceptional value at that price.

My wife snapped these photos today...

These are good heads fro fishing Zoom Finesse worms. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_98308_100010006_100000000_100010000?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

Jackall Squad Minnows are my favorites. Side by side, they are nearly indistiguishable from LC Pointers. But inside, there are differences. The LC has a shifting weight and will cast further. The Jackall does not have a shifting weight. But the Jackall is designed so that it will come to an almost immediate stop when you stop jerking it. The LC will more or less coast to a stop. Side by side, the difference is very noticeable. I can get a more erratic looking action out of the Jackall. As far as quality of components go, they are equal. Another great jerk is the Ima Flit. It has a very nice action. Jerk it, rip it, it will catch fish. It also dives pretty deep for a jerk with a small bill. For a cheap jerk, it's had to beat the Bomber Long A, either floating or suspending.

Braid has severe downsides as well. A lot of people tout its "cutting" ability. Given that it seems to find any nook and cranny that exsists between you and your frog, it needs great cutting power. Often times, it will cut into things on a retrieve that you didn't really want to cut into. There's rarely a cast that I've made into water lilies that braid did not cut into the "V" at the top of a heart-shaped lily leaf. Next thing you know, your retrieve has come to a stop while you pull your frog, and half the leaf, free. Mono, and a good copoly won't do that. I use Yo-Zuri Hybrid 15lb test (breaks at 21.5lbs). This line slides through pads and vegetation without sawing into it. It has less stretch than mono - so you can get solid hooksets, but more than braid - so you can use it on stiff rod without having to back your drag down. I like it much better than braid.