BNKrust

I have the 7'4" and it handles anything... anything from 1/2 lipless to DD22s. Love the rod, loads up nicely and has plenty of backbone. If you throw a bunch of deep divers I would suggest The Launcher - 7'10" MH...

4" Berkley Power Worm - pumpkin/chart 9.4 lbs on Joe Pool Lake, TX

Baitmonkey 1 Me 0 In a two day flurry, I bought: 2 Quantum Tour Edition PTs 2 Revo Winches 2 Cumaras 1 Crucial 20+ Red Eye Shads 12+ bags of Zoom Trick Worms I never stood a chance. In my defense, I got all of that for somewhere in the range of $1000, which was about 60% of retail. My wife would be proud. That is, if she ever finds out...

The Daiwa Exceler is a really nice reel for $70 or so. They were $69.99 last year at Cabelas, but I see they have kicked up the price $10. Comes in a 6.3 or 7.1 also.

Depending on when in March, I'd have to say Fork. If the temps stay above normal as they have been, the spawn should start in mid/late March and it's hard to beat Fork during that time. Only issue would be the tremendous amount of boats on the lake. Also, I'd start looking for some lodging now as rooms will be nearly impossible to find soon.

Revo S/All-Star IM10 - plastics Revo S/Falcon Lowrider - crankbaits Exceler/All-Star ASR - cranks/swimbaits KVD 5.1/Bionic Blade - spinnerbaits ProMax/All-Star Instinct - buzzbaits Every now and then I'll throw in a fairy wand if I'm gonna be drop-shotting or shooting docks and such. All but the ProMax have 12lb fluoro. My tourney partner takes no less than 12 usually, though he only uses about 5 or 6 on a given trip. He uses nothing but Carrot Stix. The front deck is just a sea of orange.

I have an IM10, ASR, and an Instinct and all have served me quite well. I really like the ASR and plan to buy a few more. For around $100, they're hard to beat. The only rod in that price range that I might rank higher would be the Falcon Lowrider, but it's negligible.

I haven' had any problems with mine (knock knock), drag or otherwise. I've pulled several Lake Fork fatties with it and no issues with the drag whatsoever. I like the reel myself and for $70, it's hard to beat. Much better than the Megaforce, though not near as good as the Revo.

It does have a lifetime warranty, but I'd like to know how setting the hook on a fish would be user error. You'd think that a heavy action rod would be able to withstand a decent hookset, especially on a 2 pounder. I'd hate to think what would have happened had he set the hook on the 8.4 he landed later that afternoon. Regardless, it still disturbing that a $150 rod would snap like a twig.

Sounds like mosty good experiences with the Carrot Stix, but I witnessed my fishing partner set the hook on a 2 pound bass on Lake Fork over the weekend and his BRAND NEW Stix snapped in half. It was a 7'6" Heavy action rod. I've also heard a few other stories about them snapping. Don't know much about the Cumara.

I use a 7' Team All Star medium with a Revo S and it's been a great setup for me. You can get some good deals when Academy has their Rod Riots and BPS always has one of their line on sale. I tend to stick with 15lb Big Game as I am usually throwing the SB in hydrilla and timber and I've yet to lose a fish with it due to line breakage, including a 9.04 that got caught in the thick-arse 'drilla.

I second the Falcons. Love my new Cara. BPS and Academy have the 2007 Caras on sale for $99 right now. Hard to beat at that price. Same with the Team All-Stars. Also $99 right now.

Just bought one myself and look forward to trying out that twitching bar. Seemed to work alright in my backyard, but I'll definitely find out tomorrow at the lake.