The Rooster

Probably will forget this happened but never really understand why he doesn't like Chips Ahoy cookies. And the parent is truly sick.

Does this need to include rod and reel or just the rod only?? If I only had one, I'd get a medium powered rod with fast action tip as a "do all" rod. Length of rod is personal preference but for me it would be 6'6". This rod is soft enough to work ok with treble lures but sturdy enough to work with standard sized plastics rigs also. It will have its limitations though. Since this rod must do it all then get a spinning rod. It can cast light weight baits down to 1/8 oz., and up to moderate sized baits in the 3/4 oz. range. A rod that fits this description well would be the Pflueger President combo. $80 and money left over for line and some baits. Walmart usually has these.

Trilene XL and Stren original are going to be very similar. I've used both but I usually take Trilene first. I started out with it so it's just a habit, plus I'm probably subliminally attracted to that red box somehow. Both are very soft mono lines with low memory and work well on spinning rods. I use 8 pound line for spinning reels and 12 to 14 pound on bait casting reels. The line has a fair amount of stretch to it which actually helps with treble hook baits so you don't pull the bait out of the fish's mouth. Can hinder a solid hook set on single hook lures like spinnerbaits though. It also can fray or nick easier around rocky cover. Trilene XT is tougher line for something like that. I've heard good things about the Big Game line also.

I found it funny that in the September/October issue there is a story on page 10 about how it's still safe to take a bass fishing trip to Mexico and the author did so in order to prove it, but on page 58 there's a story entitled "Guide fishing trip from hell" where a different author went to a lake on the Texas/Mexico border and had to wear Kevlar vests, sneak into the Mexican territory of the lake, fish from a boat with inch thick armor plating equipped with twin 300 HP outboards to outrun the drug cartel boats, and ended up getting shot at while there and said that bullets ricocheted off the hull as they were escaping. Same magazine. That's a bit contradictory isn't it??

I'd use the St. Croix for heavy jigs primarily, and heavier spinnerbaits when those are needed. 3/8 rated and above for sure. I'd say that's where that rod will shine. Even for frog fishing too. Heck, even for heavy Texas rigs with large sinkers and big plastics of larger than average size. It's good and stiff, stout enough to haul a fish out of heavy cover as long as your line is up for it. The Powell will be good for lighter versions of all this same stuff.

I just think you will end up liking your higher quality rods best. You'll want to use them all the time so I'd get something versatile. You can keep the Powell max since its a good rod. It's a MH, right? Use it for spinnerbaits and jigs. You can get the new rod in a M power for lighter stuff. Or get another MH, since I actually find a need for two, use one for spinnerbaits and the other for jigs. With two MH rods you could even keep a jig on one and a Texas rig on the other all the time. A MH to me is good for jigs, Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, buzz baits, and things like that. I use these type baits often enough that one rod for all of them isn't really enough. I can use two identical rigs really. Gear ratio of the reel is about the only difference. 7.0 on one and a 6.4 on the other. That is perfect for me. Then a M rod is nice for lighter baits, and things like jerk baits, some crank baits, or even some plastics. I just know that once I started getting better rods the cheaper ones ended up laying in the boat floor while I tried to make the better ones work for things they weren't intended for. Rather than add something new to rods that you know will not get used much afterwards, it's best to just plan on upgrading, decide where you want to be with it all when done and then proceed towards that goal.

I'd get one that is versatile, even if it was a duplicate of the others, then sell the others and get a lighter version of the one you're getting now. Have great stuff all the way around.

Alright you guys inspired me. I'm gonna try it starting now. Weather won't get what I consider cold here until late October or even November but I'll still fish as long as its in the upper 30 degree range. When it gets down to freezing outside then I'm done. Most of our winter here in northern KY is tolerable but just not fun to be out in, especially when it is windy. And some of yall are real lucky b@st@rds to be livin' where yall are! Eternal summer?? I can only dream of places like that.

How many of you all fish all winter for bass, either from the bank or boat?? I've virtually missed the whole warm weather season for fishing this year due to work and I am not looking forward to winter coming in and destroying my chances of fishing again this year. I read all the time in Bassmaster about cold water fishing being some of the best times for catching bass. I catch and release though. I've heard this is hard on the fish since they don't eat a lot in cold weather and it causes them to use up energy that they don't get back and might die after being released.

I've weighed a lot of baits on a food scale here at home. My experience is that most jigs are at least 1/8 oz. heavier than rated, spinnerbaits are about double their rated weight, but crank baits and other hard baits with treble hooks are pretty accurate to their rated weights so 1/4 oz. crank bait is a true 1/4 oz. of weight. Plastics can be 1/8 to 3/16 oz. heavy for the average off the shelf sack of 7" worms or 3" craws. Take that into consideration when adding trailers or making up Texas Rigs with sinkers, hooks, and plastics. Sinkers weigh what they say, 1/4 oz. is 1/4 oz. there, and so on. Hooks are nearly negligible in added weight unless you are using super line hooks. A standard Gamakatsu 3/0 extra wide gap hook was around 1/16 oz. added if I remember right.

I think quality of materials mostly make a rod easier and more fun to use such as having comfortable grips and smooth line guides and solid reel seats. Also, quality materials can make a rod lighter weight since they could weigh less which also helps in the sensitivity area, but overall I think it comes down to how well a rod is constructed regardless of material used (read this as different graphite types or even fiberglass), and then how well you match the reel to it to create the proper balance. You can technically analyze this to death and you might know a little more about it when done, but I think ultimately it's going to take fishing with different types of rods, or at least pairing different rods and reels in the store to see how they feel in hand to understand the balance and sensitivity relationship best.

What makes a rod sensitive is how well it is balanced in hand. It needs to NOT be tip heavy. Therefore when you get a strike, the tip is able to move enough to let you feel it. Lightweight gear helps with this, but it can be heavy in hand and still achieve the same sensitivity as long as it is balanced. You balance a combo at the point where you grip it. For me it is at the reel on a casting rod, and at the reel or just in front of the reel on a spinning rod.

One thing to remember is that all spinnerbaits weigh in at about twice what they are rated at. So 1/4 oz. is closer to 1/2 oz., 3/8 oz. is closer to 3/4 oz., and I have some 1/2 oz. rated baits that actually weighed at 7/8 oz. They rate the weight by the amount of lead used to pour the head. When the skirt, wire frame, hook, and blades are added that's where the extra weight comes from. So, having said that, it's safe to assume most spinnerbaits you'd throw would actually weigh about 1/2 oz. or more. And this means that your average MH rod with a lure weight rating of 3/8 to 1 oz. can handle nearly all of your spinnerbaits needs. I use one rod for all spinnerbaits. It's a MH Shimano Compre, fast tip action, 6'6" long, with a Curado E7. Any normal, off the shelf spinnerbait is fine on it. I don't fish any larger than a 1/2 oz. rated so it's all I need.

6'6" MH/F Shimano Compre (full cork handle model) with a Curado E7 and 14 pound Trilene Sensations line. This rod is primarily my jig and plastics rod but it works well for spinnerbaits also.

BPS "makes" quality rods. They might not be as high up as G Loomis NRX but they are still good stuff in the upper end. Heck, I'd even fish a Tourney Special. The handles are the biggest gripe I have on those. Just don't like the Power Hump grip all that much. Otherwise I'd have no complaints.

South Bend is not usually high quality. It depends on what you want to do with it. Might be fine for panfish but I'm the type that even for that kind of fishing I still want a $100 combo to do it with.

I've had that experience before with new tackle. It could just be the kid in us. We never really grow up, we just get into more expensive toys.

Ok now you are resorting to insults since its obvious you already lost the argument along with some credibility as well. I'm done. I think the others who posted said all that needed to be said anyway.

You mean to tell me that you actually believe the D and E series Curado and the D series Chronarch had a plastic drag star?? How can you think that? Longevity of fishing Shimano products means nothing here. Observation of what's in your hand takes only a few seconds. Curado had a plastic star on the B series and hasn't had one since until the current G series. I don't know about the Chronarch before the D but I know the D model had a metal one too. You say you own them. Go look! I've got a Curado E right here to check for it myself. Wow.

Closing by hand also eliminates possible loops forming on the spool and making a mess on the following cast. If you find the line developing a loose wrap on the spool, make a maintenance cast every so often out behind the boat and reel it all back in again tightly. Then resume fishing. Works for me. It's annoying to need to do this at times but it's a necessary evil.

Curado E absolutely did have a metal drag star, as did the previous Chronarchs also. What planet did they not have this on? On earth, they did. Curado E and Chronarch E sure are the same except for the drag star and double anodized parts differences as well as gear ratios now being offered in more choices. Just minor differences though. Otherwise mechanically they are identical. Sorry, but you're just plain wrong there.

It's probably just the AR bearing gone out. Take apart to check first but this could just need a new bearing.

Ok, to me, below the Citica, Shimano's bait casters don't even count. With the Citica, it got a new frame that I like less than before with a $10 increase. Otherwise its pretty much the same as before in features but still not as nice. With the Curado, it was most definitely a downgrade. Price fell by $20 but I'd have rather paid the extra $20 instead. I can still get the same reel in the Chronarch, more or less because technically even that is below the Curado E with its plastic drag star, but that is now $20 higher than before now too, so they increased price there and slightly downgraded it and gave it a new name and paint. Otherwise it's still a great reel with the name of what used to be a $300 reel but we all know it's just a Curado. I don't like paying more to get not quite the same thing as last year that was less then. I think what people don't like is that the same reel is now higher than before. It wasn't a $200 reel last year. It was cheaper and slightly better than before with the metal drag star. To me, a $200 reel should not have a plastic drag star. Why not say Lew's?? If it's true, then how can you argue with it? To me, I'd put the Tournament model up against the Chronarch, even though it's only $150. The Chronarch is lighter weight but not even by a whole ounce. One could say its not lighter by $50 worth. LOL

I figured this same thing. After the release of the G series I noticed on another site that the Shimano product support forum went from December 2011 to August 2012 without so much as a single post asking anything about any product. Before this, it was active with people making plans for Shimano purchases

6.4:1 is a really good all around ratio. Fast enough to do most things well and you can just slow down cranking if you need to go slower as with deep diving baits.