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I recommend and Boga Grip with built in scale. The scale is widely deemed to be very accurate. The quality of the tool is top-notch. It will last a lifetime. http://www.bogagrips.com/weigh/weigh.html

Great photos. Looks like a nice reel. If it beats the 200D, it must be a very good reel, indeed.

Try some smaller local shops. I found some left over Curado Ds for way under $100. There's still some left out there.

It's nuts. TS Hannah's track is right over my city. After 2003's Hurricane Isabel, I'm a little gunshy. These storms scare me, and we don't get them as bad as you guys do. Ike looks like it could be a real problem. Three times today the track was adjusted. Now it's headed towards the southeast Florida coast. Waiting it out... :-[

That's a great lure!! That's a lure with character.

Yes.

Everyone that owns an Okuma spinning reel seems to really like them. I've never really seen any complaints about their spinning reels. This isn't the reel you are talking about... http://www.tackletour.com/reviewokumavs20.html ...but it does go to show that Okuma impressed the TT folks. (9.05 is a phenominal score, even under their old scoring system.

Sweet pics. You're relatively new here, but I love your posts! What did you use to catch that?

I can vouch for Brian, he knows his sunfish.

Is a "cranking rod" the best rod for fishing bigger jerkbaits and wakebaits? I have a Fenwick Elite Tech Crankshaft rod (7'3" MH/MF) I use for big cranks. Is this also the appropriate rod for bigger jerkbaits like the LC Pointer 100 DD? What about wakebaits like the Ima Roumba, Deps Buzzjet and Jackall Dagored? These are baits that run from 1/2 oz to 1 oz. (My rod is rated to handle these weights.) These wakebaits have medium to large trebles on them. Is this rod appropriate or do I need something faster?

I think 5/0 is the perfect size for Horny Toads. If you have problem with the frog rolling over or on its size, Owner makes a 5/0 spiral lock hook that's weighted.

...so even us crappy fishermen wouldn't get skunked. ;D I swear, you can always count on pickerel. I went out today to the exact same spot I caught 5 bass and 1 crappie in under an hour the other day. Today, I couldn't buy a bass bite. All I got were pickerel. They'll eat anything. I love 'em!

The Toyota is a nice truck, no denying that. But I've seen too many with bent frame rails from even minor accidents. I think they have soft frames. (I'm an insurance adjuster, BTW, so I see a lot of damaged vehicles.) They don't (or didn't) score as well as Fords of Chevys in crash testing. 4 out of 5 stars sucks when the competitors all get 5 stars. It has been experiencing some reliability issues, also. This is the model, along with the V6 Camry, that started the buzz about Toyota reliability slipping. I'm not anti-Toyota, either. I own 2005 Corolla that has given stellar service. But I wouldn't buy their Tundra. I have a 2006 Silverado crewcab which has given equally stellar service, but I wouldn't buy Chevy's small cars.

I looked at St. Croix's website. The Avid uses Fuji Guides. The Premier uses Baston. All it says about the Triumph is that it uses Aluminum Oxide guides, but doesn't say what brand. I bet they're Fujis. That's why the problem is just with the Premier.

Boost your $ range $50 and you can step up to an All Star American Classic AC FRH 7'6" H/XF, and an Abu Garcia Revo S. That's my flipping set. The rod is fantastic, sensitive and tough. You can lift a big fish no problem. The Revo - what else can be said. 24lbs of drag pressure. $100 for rod, $109 for the reel.

They may be for different circumstances, but I use them the same way, with great results. I prefer soft plastic toads to hollow bodied frogs. That slow sink is a great advantage. I buzz them through pads, slop, jerk them once they sink, pause them on top of lilypads and "hop" them off, and on and on. You can do more with a soft plastic toad then with a hollow bodied frog. Hook ups are easier. I do use both, but IMO the soft plastic toad is more versatile and for me produce way more fish.

Why would there be a problem with Premiers? Don't they use Fuji Aluminum Oxide guides? Why wouldn't this problem exist with many brands, then? BTW, not trying to be a smart ***, just asking. I've heard this before about Premiers and wonder what's different about their guides.

I bought mine here. http://hookerbaitandtackle.net/store/category/119

Yes, it's getting hit hard by the city for the second year now. First, the breach in Walkers Dam on Chickahominy Lake caused low water levels in that river (and primary water source) so the city drew off Little Creek to compensate. The breach has been fixed but now the Chick has a super-low water flow due to drought in the Peidmont so the city is tapping Little Creek again. They always tap Little Creek first since it is the highest of the city's reservoirs. However, it should be back up in the spring. The lake is only 5 feet down now. Last year this time is was something like 7-8 feet down, and ended up 11 feet down by October. By March is was brimming full. The good part about the drawdowns at that as the water comes down the coontail grass becomes exposed and dies off leaving sandy beach. Then, upland grasses start growing in the exposed lakebed. When the water comes back up, these areas become perfect bedding areas. I was serious about the moonscape. All around the lake as nothing but old beds from the spring. The water has more visible fish than I've ever seen before. So, avoid it this fall, but make it a point to fish there this spring. Come prepared to fish a deep (60+ feet), ultra-clear, grass bottom lake. It's a fantastic lake.

No need to order hard-to-get Japanese baits from overseas. My local tackle store carries the complete line of Megabass lures (and offers their rods, too). Prices are great and shipping is lower. Megabass at Hooker Bait and Tackle It's probably better to call and ask if an item is in stock. The website is currently under construction and he just opened another store so inventory has been moved and/or split. Some of the stuff is in stock that says out of stock. And even if it's out of stock, he can get it quickly and get it too you sooner and cheaper than from Japan.

Yes, it's local. In New Kent Co., VA.

Why is it when you taste something that tastes like crap, the first thing you do is ask someone else to taste it?

LOL. He needed to be in a bunker a mile away when that went off.

I bought a couple of packs of 4" frogs by the Wright Bait Company. They are molded with garlic - and they do smell like garlic. This is a an awesome little frog. It's pretty slender and doesn't have a whole lot of action when buzzed. But giving it jerks in more open water and those little legs go to town. Man, it looks like like a real frog. I caught three bass on this frog this evening in in about 40 minutes (a Net Bait frog produced a 4th bass), the biggest going around 2 to 2 1/4 lbs. I rigged it with an Owner Spiral Lock 2/0 hook. It handles well in the slop, too. It sinks slowly, slightly nose-down. Even the slightest jerk and the legs flap wildly. It's a little light and I found it hard to cast on my 7' MH/F rod with 12# Yo-Zuri Hybrid. It handled better on my 7'M/F with 10# YZ Hybrid. Give 'em a whirl. http://www.thewrightbait.com/4__frogs.htm

Update - in case anyone is planning a trip. I went out this evening with my son. The lake is down about 5 feet. Due to a low flow in the Chickahominy River, the city is drawing water off Little Creek. If anyone is familiar with this lake, it's a deep lake with steep banks, very clear water, very little structure, with the bottom almost completely grown over with coontail grass. Lauching a boat is going to be very difficult since the water is below the bottom of the ramp. As a result, we bank fished. (I understand that if the water continues to be drawn off - and it will be - the lake may close to launching and/or fishing in October.) And as a result of the water drawdown, the water's edge is all slop. That's the good part. I fished the slop with toads and caught four in about 40 minutes. The biggest was about 2 - 2 1/4 lbs. You could see bass suspended in many of the the holes in the grass. It's really a frog fisherman's heaven. Lots of live frogs in the grass, and lots of bass (especially smaller ones) prowling for them. Then we fished the pier. I caught one more on my new Yo-Zuri 3D Flat Crank in golden shiner. Then I got a nice black crappie which was a pleasant surprise. So, the water's down but fishing is fantastic. LOTS of baby bass and bluegill around. The banks around the lake are all sandy as a result of last year's water drawdown, and the banks look like a moon-scape with all the fish beds that were created last spring once the water was pumped back in. I fished Wright Bait Garlic Injected 4" frogs in black on an Owner Spiral Lock 2/0 hook. I also fished Net Bait Frogs in watermelon/pearl with the same hook. Caught three on the Wright Baits and one on the Net Bait.