MyKeyBe

Could an average joe compete and dominate on their home lake? Absolutely. Could they do it in their home area? Sure. Nationwide? Maybe. Nationwide for years on end? Not likely. Nationwide for years on end at the top levels? Probably not. Could it be done? Sure but it is very unlikely. I think most everyone is overlooking the pure grit and determination it takes to fish at the pro level. Money aside, it's an extremely taxing and demanding lifestyle to live. These guys eat, sleep, and live to fish. Everyday. They want it. The average joe doesn't have "that" in them. I believe an above average joe could certainly tour across the country and catch fish at a pro level. I just think most people don't have what it takes in them to live that lifestyle nonstop for a year yet alone multiple years in a row.

Going to be hard to find a better rod for $32.00! I don't have any Evo's but my wife has an HD and I have one as well because Amazon sent the wrong rod the first time I ordered hers. I haven't used either of them a whole lot but they both seem like nice rods for what they are. One of my local Walmarts has Evo rods, if they mark them down that much I will for sure pick up at least one or two. Hopefully you picked up a 7'3" heavy casting rod. A $32.00 Evo Amistad would be a very good deal. 😆

Your not going to find a better reel at that price. Probably be hard to find a better reel for $120.00. At $75.00 I'd buy 2 for sure if I could afford it and needed a reel or two. They are really nice reels. You won't be disappointed.

Your off by about 20 years from what I understand, just about everything after around 1980 was mastered digitally. I collect CDs myself and have close to 700 now. A lot cheaper than vinyl, still easy to find in thrift stores but they are getting harder, and easy to transfer to a computer or flash drive. I have nothing against vinyl it's just too expensive for me. I can find good CDs for $1.50 or less and I really do like the fact that I own it. I rip it to a computer used for nothing but music and into storage they go. I have a bunch of CDs that I've technically never even listened to. 😆 😆

I've been actively bass fishing for about 25 years now. I've never fished for bass from the water other than ankle or knee deep. No boat, kayak, canoe, float tube... 100% bank beater bunch 😂

The Abu suggestion is pretty good. I have an older vendetta 6'6" and it has a fairly stiff tip. My lews hank parker casting rod has a fairly stiff tip as well. Not sure if the spinning rods are similar. Walmart could have both rods and may be on sale as well depending on your area. Check a few and see what you can find. Biggest problem might be the use of eva or winn type grips instead of cork. My vendetta has Eva and a metal lock ring as well but I don't think they still use the metal rings. Flea markets in my area seem to have a lot of the older Berkeley rods in the summer if you can find someone that has a fishing stand. Might be an option as well.

15-20 pound braid is not that hard to break and it almost always breaks or slips at the knot just like any other line unless it's compromised just like any other line. It can also straighten a hook and you get everything back just like any other line. I think 20 pound braid might actually be easier to break than 12 pound mono because it doesn't stretch. You don't have to walk it back 10 feet before it breaks. If you want to use a leader because abrasion is an issue or it gives you confidence, just know it's another knot/failure point and if you do have to break off there's a good chance it will break at the leader knot leaving the whole leader in the water. Get 15-20# name brand braid. Get a spool of cheap 8-12# mono to use for a leader. Pull 80-100 yards of line off your reel and cut it off. Tie the braid to the old line still on the reel and fill the reel with the new braid. 4 carrier braid will be noisier and cut through vegetation better than an 8 or more carrier line. The fish don't seem to care one way or the other, you might. Fluorocarbon is certainly an option as well but it is more expensive and can have knot issues. It's generally going to be more abrasion resistant and sensitive but for a short length like a leader I don't think it makes any difference for sensitivity. Fluoro also sinks and mono and braid both float. I have never fished for bass from anything but the bank. No boat, no kayak, no canoe, no float tube, not floating on my back, on an elephants back... 😆

The Ohio largemouth record goes back to 1976 and is 13 pounds and an ounce or two. I don't see this record being broken in my lifetime. It's an almost unobtainable record. The smallmouth record is 10 pounds and a few ounces and I can see that being broken anytime. Erie grows some big smallmouth. On a side note my wife caught a giant green sunfish a few years back. If it was infact a green sunfish it would of easily broken the state record but who cares about a state record green sunfish? We sure didn't and back in the water she went. I do believe I have a picture of two somewhere though.

They all exploded, everyone stopped using them, they couldn't afford to replace a million rods, boyd left to start his own exploding rod company, they went out of business. Or something like that. 🫤

Even a worm that was brand new when this thread was started is old school now. 😆

I have super braid on a reel. I haven't had any problems with it but I'm not real picky when it comes to braid. I believe 40# and lower is 4 carrier and 50# and up is 8 carrier.

I tried it a couple of years ago in 12 lb for a month or so, I really liked it as well. I actually tried a bunch of mono/copolymer lines that year on a bait cast reel. Pro mix was one of the better ones for me. Then again almost all of the lines were pretty good.

A really extreme version of majong! 😂 The most intense version of solitaire ever! 😆 I don't have an answer for you just wise guy replies. casts_by_fly's suggestion would probably work.

Always. Trim the skirt like a jig, and 98% of the time a curly tail grub trailer. 1% split tail trailer and the other 1% a boot tail of some sort. Never a trailer hook. A spinner bait is a good bait by it self and a curly tail is a good bait by it self. Good lure plus good lure equals GREAT lure! Maybe? Probably. 😂

Small grub.

There you go. One of the Walmart's in my area carries the Evo's. 7'3 heavy fast Falcon = Amistad. 7'3 Amistad from Walmart = Walstad??? 😆 I may have been $10.00 off on the price. Now that I think of it I believe they are $79.95 in store. I fondled a couple in store when they first started carrying them. When my eyes glazed over and I started drooling, my wife yelled at me and we got the hell out of the fishing isle before I did something stupid. 😂 They seem really nice for the money. It looks like Walmart's site is showing out of stock but is showing them locally at the store I knew about and a store not to far away that I had no idea carried them. Walmart's site is also giving me this for in stock: Debary Neighborhood Market 185 N Charles Richard Beall Blvd, Debary, FL 32713

I doubt you "need" a new frog rod. Don't you have a small tackle shop of rods already? 😂 I believe at least at some point you did. I know you moved and some of your rods got stolen so maybe not anymore. If you "want" a new frog rod, I'm sure a $70.00 Amistad from Walmart would be a very good choice. A 1/2 ounce frog is an easy lure to cast. Most rods will cast one no problem. The trick will be finding one of your existing rods that has the power you need and a tip action you like. I'd definitely give the money maker a shot. As far as length goes, you don't have to have a long rod and a 7' or 6'10 can work. I used to use a Head Turner before I bought a dedicated frog rod and my frog rod now is a 7'. A stout MH could work especially if your not in super thick stuff. Try a few you already have, you might find something you like. If not, Walmart shouldn't be very far away, go get that Evo!

I prefer purplish soft plastics therefore the fish I catch prefer purplish soft plastics and if they don't, I'll never know. 😆 That's not entirely true, I have and use a lot of different colors but day in and day out I do lean purplish.

As a bank beater that never brings more than 5 rods and almost always 3 or less, I love the versatility. Is it a jack of all trades, master of none? Yeah, probably, but a 3/8 spinnerbait is just about my favourite lure and I really do like the way it handles them. It handles a lot of baits well. It's also one of the reasons I really like my Head Turner. They're both very versatile. It gives me the ability to fish a lot of baits relatively well with as few rods as possible. Different strokes for different folks.👍 And I still like my Falcon spinning rod as well. Lol 😛

Sounds pretty much how I hold a reel as well. With my little baby mitts I'd need both hands to even hold A-Jays round reel! 😆

I run the line over my finger. It certainly doesn't hurt detecting strikes and the way I palm a reel it's almost natural to do so.

Might not be much help but I have the All 'Round mod fast and it's a great rod but I use braid on it and I knew I would be when I bought it. Kind of a longer weightless worm and the braid pretty much makes up for the slower tip. It really is my all around, only bringing one, do anything rod. It's a great 3/8 spinnerbait rod. Does well with just about anything though. T rigs, rattletraps, senkos, square bills, top water... You name it, as long as the rod can handle the weight, I've probably fished it on this rod. I've even frogged with it in light cover. Worked surprisingly well. If you plan on using/use nylon/fluorocarbon lines I would probably lean toward the fast rods like the all around fast or the head turner unless you fish a lot of treble hook lures. Then I would look at the mod fast rods. If you use braid the mod fast rods are really good and extremely versatile. If all that didn't confuse you more, I hear those Intenzas are pretty nice. 🙂 Lol

Maybe look at the Cashion Icon 7ft heavy worm and jig rod. It's a pretty stout rod with good sensitivity and 100% American made. The glue on the wraps aren't fantastic looking if that concerns you but after 2 years mine have held up fine. Another option might be the Falcon Bucoo Dragger 2. Your going to lose some sensitivity vs. a Cara or Expert but it's a 7ft 7 series rod. It has a lot of backbone. I bought mine as a poor man's eye crosser. Lol I use it for frogs and it will launch a 1/2 oz. 🐸 no problem. I've also fished 1/2 oz. spinnerbaits with a trailer and it handles them just fine as well.

4 is a medium, 5 is a lightish medium heavy, 6 is a light heavy, 7 is a stouter heavy. The actions run pretty true to what Falcon rates them. A mod fast is a mod fast and a fast is a fast. The Lowriders are very nice rods. Definitely one of, if not the best 130.00 rods on the market today as far as I'm concerned.

Also glad to hear things are starting to come back together for you and your family. I don't post as often as I used to either but it would be nice see you around a little more. I actually just broke out an old Fenwick venture for a reel I found. If memory serves me correctly, you used to speak well of them back in the day.