Micro

Revo is proven, and will handle light bait very easily. It's backed by a company that provides exception customer service. I vote Revo.

Admittedly, that song is good enough that I don't wretch much when I hear it.

Elton John. Everything EJ has ever produced has been garbage.

Jim Lehrer News Hour as much as I can. It is as balanced as can be had on TV. Too much opinion and commentary bandied as "news" on other networks. On top of that, all the self-appreciating, self-indulgent, self-righteous, self-appointed "political pundit" so-called journalist pr**ks, like... Wolf Blitzer Campbell Brown Anderson Cooper Lou Dobbs Jack Cafferty Chris Matthews Keith Olberman etc ..make me want to puke up my lunch. These turds aren't experts at ANYTHING except sitting on their high horses and passing judgement on people that do work. Nothing but a bunch of oxygen-stealing rubes.

Another sleeper store is Hooker Bait and Tackle in Williamsburg. That store carries a lot of high end stuff, including Megabass, Jackall, OSP, Ima, Deps, etc... Lots of hard to find Japanese baits. Full slection of Zoom, and some locally produced baits like the excellent baits from The Wright Bait Company. I recommend a looksy when in that area.

I don't. Even little bass have bigger mouths than this...

Of the new RTs, I've only tried the Anacondas and Space Monkey. I have, but haven't tried the others yet. The Anacondas have been been a little productive for me, but not much. But I attribute that more to the fact that I got them after many parts of my favorite lake weeded up and became inaccessible, and that I prefer different baits at this point. So I will probably wait until next season before putting them to full use (at which time I expect them to produce well). Though I do plan to try the 10" on stripers this fall. The Space Monkey has been very productive and I've caught several nice fish on them. Recently, they've become very effective in the late afternoon when worked through shallow water. Are they more effective than other baits? If you are fishing them at the right time, I think they are. The actions exceed that of any other soft plastic to date, IMO. You have to see the actions to appreciate them. They really are more animated than anything I've seen before. Because they act so nicely in the water, I have confidence in them and that is key as well. Pick up a pack(s) and try them.

I'm sure it will, but IMO it doesn't look very impressive up top. I think there are much better choices for top water. Like I said, the Rage tail Space Monkey is very easy to use on the surface and it produces a lot of action.

I rigged my first one that way on accident and tried it. I found there's not a lot of difference than when it's rigged correctly. IMO, it's a much better sub-surface lure.

It is, indeed. 'Bout time, too.

James River in Virginia? I've had luck on all sorts of lures. I've nailed them on Bomber Flat As, Rapala Originals, chartreuse/red spinnerbaits, marabou jigs, twisty tails grubs on plain jig heads. I've never caught them on plastic worms, but I've seen some nice one caught on the James on plastic worms.

I've fished both the 7" and 10" (I think those are the lengths without looking). I've fished them weightless and weighted. And they sure don't make much of a wake. The "fin" ungulates like that of an eel - it's not conducive to making much of a wake. It will make a little bit of wake retrieved on the surfce, but not much. Retrieved just under the surface, it doesn't make any wake that I've noticed. I definately don't like them on the surface. I think they loose some action. I like fishing them on 1/4 oz pegged bullet weight and texpose rigged on a Matzuo 5/0 long shank offset worm hook. On this rig on a slow retrieve I can keep them a foot or two under the surface. If you want a Rage tail that make a wake, fish a weightless Toad or Space Monkey. (BTW, the Space Monkey is my favorite Rage Tail. Weightless you can buzz is like a frog across weeds/slop. Weighted you can slow retrieve it under the surface. It makes a helluva racket up top, though. You can work it slower than the Toad. I think it's legs have much more action than the toad at slow retrieve speeds. I'll definately be loading up on more of these.)

Yeah, a few pounds of drag may do the trick. But the ones I looked at didn't appear up to par with the Ds I've owned/own. And no need to get bent out of shape, just making some observations (just like everyone else on this board). Lot's of plastic on the 200E for $180. Both sideplate, tension knob, etc. Hope it stands the test of time. Time will tell how this IPO reel turns out. And they did it for nearly twice the price.

I looked at the E7 and E5. They are very low profile, but they seem to have a lot of plastic on them. Plated plastic spool tension knob? Plastic-on-plastic level-wind guard and level wind. Also, I had trouble tightening the drag down to more than a few pounds. $180 seems incredibly high for those kind of "improvements." IMO, the best thing about the Es is that it has made the Ds very inexpensive. Hope it holds up well for you.

Greentop isn't small, it's cozy. It's tight inside, but well organized. It also has a unique smell. That kind of smell that tells you the good stuff is there.

Bang for your buck, IMO, are Bomber, Norman, and Bandit. I happen to like Bomber and Norman. I've never tried a Bandit, but I hear good things. I'm sure there's others (Strike King and Rebel comes to mind), but these are the ones I'm familiar with. Bagley's require too much tuning in my experience, and their finishes are delicate. Rapalas are great, but you'll eat up your money fast. Lucky Craft is out of your stated price range. I'd get the basic colors. For me, I think that's shad, fire tiger, red crawdad, and maybe bluegill. Anything else, IMO, is for fine tuning your collection. What's the main forage fish in your lakes? In my favorite lake it's shad and shad colored cranks work well. In another it's bluegill, and there bluegill works a little better. Firetiger and red crawdad work well under certain circumstances anywhere. I'd buy a few shallow, medium and deep divers. Whether you go with Norman, Bomber or Bandit it doesn't matter. They have pretty much equal quality. Selecting a a few in each diving category in the basic colors will serve you well. For shallow cranks, I like Bomber Square As. I also like Norman Thin Ns and Mad Ns. For medium divers, I like Bomber Model As, and Fat As. For deeper divers, I like Bomber Fat Free Shads, and Norman Deep Little Ns and DD22s. "Shallow," "medium" and "deep" are subjective. Just pay attention to the depth ratings - that's what matters. If you want a good crawdad crank, Rebel's Crawdad is awesome. It comes in various diving depths. Red, and chartreuse work well for me. They are inexpensive, too.

The HMG has Fuji Hardloy.

You could save $50 and step to the SX. There is no practical performance difference between it and the STX. You could save another $20 or so on the SX and buy an SC from Cabelas. The SC is essentially the S model with a magnetic brake. I have two SCs and they perform as well as any of the Revos. They are my "most used" Revos and they may represent the best value out there. With the money you save, you could buy a Fenwick HMG rod to put under it. The HMG is fully the equal of the St. Croix Avid performance wise, and cost much less. IMO, the HMG is also a "best value" rod.

Odd, the folks at Abu Garcia haven't heard that rumor.

You won't regret the STX. It doesn't take a backseat to any other LP reel.

David......heed my advice. Go into the lure making business. dsaavedra custom baits

Oh come on. Being a little rough, huh? The site was FILLED with insightful information you just can't get on BR. Like... The Best and Worst Bass Lures best...Rapala fire tiger worst....california jigs ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I tossed it up near shore and started an immediate steady retrieve. I saw a flash I knew has to be a bass so I threw it back and jerked it back and he hit it solid then. The other two I caught hit them on steady retrieve near a weed line.

No need to look any further.

Try a 4.5" straight tailed Roboworm. Robos float and they are the most flxible worms I've ever used. They're perfect for splitshotting.