brophog

Me too. Tom x3 Right handed, cast left on all setups, reel right on all setups.

Versus is expanding, but they're still chopped liver compared to FOX's stable of sports networks. FOX is not only ESPN's chief competitor, but they win their fair share of contracts against ESPN, and for some of the really big events, too. They've shown that they'll outbid ESPN on desirables, just to gain market share. Not necessarily the smartest choice, but a very real thorn in ESPN's side. There's more fishing shows than one can shake a stick at, and on a huge number of networks as well. Soccer, domestically, is only shown on a few networks and has a growing fanbase in a highly desirable demographic. I miss some of ESPN's Outdoors programming, too, but this is a very easy to understand business decision. ESPN sees the competition out there, and is re-focusing on the bigger events. Outdoors programming made nice filler for them, but the future of sports programming is global and those early morning time slots can be better filled with popular global programming.

I had a situation a few years ago where I made the mistake of fishing a Saturday morning (which I try to avoid). I was on a good run of fish, from the shore, and a boater came in so close that his bait actually hit me in the foot. That pretty much ruined that spot. I never did see that boater catch anything that morning, though, so at least I got some joy out of that. That guy took the term 'bank beater' a little too literally.

Agreed, and the people that were on the water were more tolerant of each other.

I agree with much of the consensus: XT is good line, but not for spinning reels. It's great on a baitcaster, though. In general, I'm still a big fan of mono, and my mono of choice is generally Trilene XL. It doesn't give me any issues, it casts good, it's cost effective, and it's widely available.

Never caught one either, though taking it out of the package first might help.

Anything dense and compact works great.

First thing on a new body of water is find the side the wind is blowing on and start there. From there, I find areas that have deeper water adjacent to shallow and to isolate the "highways" of the lake. I like to throw a bottom bait of some kind immediately to get a good idea of the bottom contour and structure available on an area I've never been in. Above all else I try to be neighborly and courteous to the other fishermen I see and share information with them. The greatest resource any body has is its fishermen.

You could try just not taking those things in the water. Though I've never tried to see if a bass will take VISA, so you may be onto something.........

I know they once did (at least the skirt) but I haven't seen a purple Terminator in several years.

I hear ya. It's my absolute favorite spinnerbait color, which is a shame since virtually no one makes a nice solid purple spinnerbait.

I fish ambidextrous, though I wouldn't say I'm naturally ambidextrous. Some things I just do with my left hand out of habit and others with my right.

Someone mentioned a 1/2 oz lipless as a lure choice, and that's a great suggestion. Most people won't fish in the wind, and more to the point they wont throw into the wind.......and most of that is due to casting difficulties. Density of the bait is key in these conditions. Where I might throw a spinnerbait I move to a lipless, or maybe I just move from a big double willow to a compact short armed version. Where I might throw hollow crankbait I throw a large jig and grub or swimbait. Dense, compact baits will cut through the wind, especially with a low angle cast. For that reason, I actually use more baitcasters in windy conditions than spinning reels, and that's just a personal thing. I'm much better at throwing low angles with a casting setup.

Agreed. I don't have problem seeing my line, but I know others that do, and a green line helps them significantly.

It's all about what you deem acceptable. For me, I have two price points for reels: $100 on most name brand baitcasters. $50 on most name brand spinning reels. I don't go under those retail price points because over the years I've found that's about where the line between acceptable performance and cost cutting tends to lie. I'll tend to pay more for performance from a baitcaster than a spinning reel as well, simply because casting performance is more affected by the reel on a baitcaster than a spinning reel, and spinning reels at about that price point are generally well made by the more prominent manufacturers. Also, never forget (especially with baitcasters) that many reels in this price range tend to be well constructed, but have relatively poor bearings. That's an easy replacement part that can greatly aid in the performance of reels at this price point, and you can upgrade that as your budget allows. Manufacturers have more modification choices than ever before, especially for things like bearings and drags, so you're not always limited to buying the high end to get a lot of features you won't use, such as the next superlight frame material to come around. If you just want a well made reel with good components, much of the cost of a reel whose principle selling point is its weight is wasted on you. For rods, BPS house rods are good, but I personally feel they aren't worth the retail price. However, they put most of their lines on sale several times a year, and have great closeout sales when the product lines turn over. For most applications, they can suit one well, and money can be therefore spent on more specialty applications that fall out of the relatively limited range of a house brand rod. I feel one of the advantages we're currently enjoying in manufacturing processes is that the mid grade stuff is extremely good and has really narrowed the performance gap between itself and the far more expensive high end. For each small performance upgrade from the mid grade to high grade lines, the cost is very much disproportional to the benefit. Low grade is low grade, that that likely will never change, but we're no longer forced to the high grade lines simply to feel like we have an effective tool. An end around to the question, but the question is a false dichotomy. You can have quality AND quantity without breaking the bank. Plus, this is fishing, and any man that says he has everything he needs is either a liar, or talking to his wife. ;D

My favorite UL rod is definitely Shimano's Compre in the 7ft model. Very few manufacturers tend to want to sell rods in the 6'6"-7' range, which I find a shame. I much prefer a longer (but not ungainly long) rod for casting the tiny stuff. For me, it definitely outperforms the far more common small UL rod offerings.

I do the same, except I don't leave them in the original packages. I tend to pull what I need and put them in snack sized ziplocs to save space. Works well though, and with the binder being a 3700 size it fits into existing tackle storage solutions. Some days I'm feeling in a particular plastics mood so I throw in a 3600 in the front pocket filled with terminal gear and just carry the TUB.

My fish have.......disco fever! Get down, you funky LMB!

Out of purchasing curiosity, which scale is that?

Hula Grub

Depth Bottom Contour Vegetation Speed Action Baitfish Season Water Temperature All kinds of various factors that will tempt me to pick one up over another. Sometimes one factor suggests one or the other, and sometimes a given set of conditions doesn't preclude me from trying both if I feel that's what will trigger strikes on that day, at that time.

Yeah, don't feel bad......that screw gets a lot of people on Quantum reels!

That's where the tricky part comes in, isn't it? In every industry and every field you're going to run into professionals with differing opinions. Sometimes those opinions are radically different, and yet often times those people propagate excellent, long lasting products. In terms of reel lubricants this is extremely common. I'll use Hot Sauce as an example because it tends to have the widest range of opinions. Some professionals both in manufacturing and service praise the stuff. Some despise it. You'll find local service guys that swear at it, and you'll find others that swear by it. Either way you go in a case like that, you tend to be listening to a professional with years of experience backing up his opinion. It really comes down to which opinion you value the most, and how those opinions match your own personal experience.

I've kinda thought that, too, but it is so hard to tell because they like to mash the rods and reels sections together. Makes it a lot harder to navigate, imo.

Push the release lever towards the center of the reel. The sideplate will then rotate down (counterclockwise), exposing the spool. http://www.quantumfishing.com/bps/zebco/tackleservice/knowledge/e100hpt%20schematic.pdf