J Francho

"Awesome customer service" would be an exact replacement, lacking that store credit or a full refund.

Boat bag: Shore: And a milk crate for the kayak:

I've got two Incytes on my bench right now with rusted roller bearings. This should not happen when fishing freshwater for one summer. Very similar to what I experienced with another relatively inexpensive Quantum I tried out. I'm telling this customer to try and get a store credit for something else, as they should still be under warranty. TOTAL JUNK! I'll bet 90% OF Quantum's customers buy these $50 type of reels, and it makes no sense to me that they continually diss these people by using crap parts. The old saying, :"You get what you paid for," does not apply here. This is why I recommend Daiwa and Shimano.

Wrongs have to be righted and the guilty have to pay the price. The child is dead before his time and the people responsible must pay. I don't know, man - maybe you're right. Its a tough call. According to the article, its initially being ruled an accident. Was it questionable to let a 3rd grader shoot the weapon? Ummm, it seems pretty reckless to me, but according to Mass. gun law, "It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and they are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor." Perhaps there is no crime here. Perhaps the law should change. I don't know that that would have prevented this outcome, other than some common sense by the adults here. I guess I'm wondering who you'd send to jail? The father? Would he feel any more punished by sitting in jail? Probably not. Who would be punished in that scenario? The young boys mother and 6th grade brother, that's who. If it turns out that the instructor's certs, or something about the show wasn't kosher, then that would lead to a whole 'nother can of worms, with both criminal and civil litigation. None of which erases the stupidity of that tragedy. Nope, the whole story and any subsequent litigation will be used for stumping on both sides, the young victim and his family becoming martyrs for someone's political motives. None of which brings the boy back. A freaking nightmare, as I said in my first post. I don't know, the more I think about it, the more angry I get, and want make someone pay for it. I dislike those vindictive feelings.

Really? Who makes 16 lb test line? http://www.***.com/styleproducts.html?styleref=2920 All of these! Out of all of these, I've only tried Sunline Shooter. Way overpriced, and and totally unnecessary. I doubt that you've used any of these either. Don't bother. A few of my buddies swear by Yo-Zuri, and I like P-Line CXX. 12# works fine, but if you want super heavy mono, then go to 15#. I use 15#, but not for its strength, but to keep the bait high in the column. If you want higher break strength, switch to braid, and learn how to deal with the drawbacks. No one brand of line or line diameter is a silver bullet, do everything solution.

Bunny Strips.

I don't think the blame game is going to bring back that little boy, and I don't think it'll prevent more accidents. His father will probably be emotionally tortured for the rest of his life, which probably is punishment enough. Man, that story really gets to me. Nightmare.

That's just freaking awful. No comment on guns and gun control, but what a freaking living nightmare it must be to see your child die right in front of you.

Its pretty normal for a jazz or R&B performer to add their own twist to a commonly known melody. Look up B éla Fleck and listen to his version of The Star Spangled Banner played on an electric banjo. Or Jaco Pastoria's version of America, played on the bass. I can accept that some may not like changes to it, and take a purist stance, but to call it a "disgrace to the honor of the thousands of men and women that have given their lives fighting for our freedom" really is hyperbole. Francis Scott Key's poem was set to a British pub song, and 75% of it was cut out and made into our National Anthem. I wonder if he's ticked that 3/4 of his heartfelt outpouring was canned. Music is a personal and subjective artform, and those men and woman that fought and/or died for our freedom, did so for our freedom of expression and our freedom to have an opinion about it. So, you don't like it, big deal. Throw her in jail. I don't like your opinion of it, throw you in jail. Now that sounds absurd, doesn't it? ;D That said, I thought it more of a unnecessary display of her range, and didn't speak to me as anything other than a vocal athlete singing. The man that sang God Bless America at the 7th inning stretch made a much more heartfelt connection. My 9 year old son thought she sounded like a donkey. I told him that's what I thought about the Kenny Chesney album he's so fond of, LOL.

Find healthy weeds, find bass right now. Give them something big.

If you're looking for a specialist rod, then someof those are mutually exclusive. Any 7' MH/fast will throw all of those, but lumping frogging or swimbaits in with medium cranking is going to mean some compromise is in order.

Mike D, Doug Stange and the rest of In-Fisherman TV, The Lindners, and Babe Winkelman.

I have three Capricorn XTC spinning reels. Two have seen a full season of bass fishing and one has been through two salmon runs, two brown runs, and many winter and spring steelhead. That alone is testimony to the drag. There is an older version of Capricorn, upon which the last Cabela's Prodigy was based. A very nice reel, but hard to find since they were so well built. I also have two silver Super Tuned Capricorn baitcasters. There is a slightly lower end XTC model available at Dick's as well. They are built on the Procaster platform, which includes the Rojo. The silver Capricorns are also tough to find. They are a little heavy, but very smooth. I also own several other Daiwa products, and my preference for them is formed solely on my preference for a magnetic brake. Daiwa engineer the best mag brakes out there. My collection includes two TD-X HSDL flipping reels, a TD-Z, a Sol, a TD-A, a TD-A Black Widow II, two Capricorns, and soon another Sol and a Fuego. I have also owned several Shimano reels, both spinning and baitcasting gear. They are excellent as well, even their "entry level" stuff is very well made. It amazes me at how smooth my old Stradic is compared to lesser reels with twice as many bearings. I had an old Citica that looked as though it was used as a hammer, but was as smooth as it was when brand new. Either way, I think you cannot go wrong with Daiwa or Shimano.

As waters cool, I throw even bigger baits. Find healthy weeds, find bass. Give them a large, satisfying low effort meal. They don't want to have to work for a meal. Big cranks, jerk baits, spinnerbaits, jigs, all work.

Red breast sunfish, Lepomis auritus (Linnaeus, 1758) http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3370

I have some minikits and they are great.

I think it has more to do with location than actual baits, although I have a preference for traps and lipped cranks this time of year. If you can healthy weeds on good structure then you've got a good start. Despite a killing frost last week, air temps in the 30s at night, and water temps in the 50s, I've been able to find fish in deep weedbeds, primarily coontail. I'd much prefer to be fishing a jig in these areas, but its been hot and cold lately, not as consistent as the cranks. One thing to note, slashbaits, like Pointers and X-Raps have generally been only producing toothy types for me lately.

What's funny is that Raul is being conservative here. It really is silly strong.

You are now officially a smallie crackhead! They are very addicting. Smallies vary in coloration quite a bit. Here's two caught from the same spot just a few minutes apart: Contrast those with this one, caught from a different water:

Hopkins Shorty in hammered silver is all I've used.

I had been using 10# P-Line FC, but have switched to 10# CXX for no other reason than its what was in the line drawer when it came time to change out. I'll probably go back to FC when its time again.

After seeing Mike's replica smallie, I gotta say that's the way I'd go.

I have a 7' H and a 7'6" XH that I use for primarily for heavy cover. I would like to add a 7'11" or 8' rod, but it wouldn't be for everyday. Locally, we have some waters with huge, deep flats that are primarily coontail, and as the water level drops, it is just below the surface - great opportunity to work out a long, heavy rod. When you swing, half the swing is setting the hook, and then the second half is lifting the fish from the cover. I found the 7'6" took some adjustment time, but once you get used to it, its like any other specialty rod. I'm only 5'7", BTW.

A flipping contest? Is that a joke? Wow! Can you guys read? You are agreeing with me! Jeez. I said a longer rod helps with flipping. I've got a better proposition, GO FISHING. And perhaps take an Evelyn Woodhead course, LOL. By "flipping," I'll refer to these definitions:"Flipping - best for stained to muddy water or extremely heavy cover. This is more of a short line technique. It's quieter and more accurate than any of the other cast, but can not achieve the distance sometimes needed." -Ike "The Flip-Cast (Flippin') This is intended for pinpoint lure presentation to visible, thick cover between 10 and 20 feet away. Use a heavy-action 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 foot rod. Let out about 15 feet of line. With your free hand, grasp the line between the reel and the first rod guide and straighten your arm to the side. There should now be about 8 feet of line past the front tip. Raise the rod to make the lure swing back close to the body. Lower the rod top to make the lure swing forward. Use only your wrist, roll the butt of the rod to the inside of your arm. As it moves past the rod tip, continue raising the rod as you feed line with your free hand. As the lure nears the target, lower the rod top again and make the bait touch down softly and precisely on target by stopping the bait just before it enters the water. Let go of the line in your free hand and immediately place it on the reel. Make sure you're ready to strike before beginning your retrieve." -Anonymour BR Writer "Flipping. Flipping is a technique that I generally reserve for extremely heavy cover. You use the same rod and reel for flipping as for pitching...just at closer quarters. Flipping basically means to get right on top of the fish and drop the bait on their head." -*** You want more? Ming - Gya! If you can't pitch or flip with any rod you own, then you truly need to practice both.

I've got it on a Daiwa with no ill effect after a year. Just wanted to see what the deal was. From what I can tell, it has only stained some of the gears. Interesting, NO QUANTUM that I have serviced has hot sauce oil or grease in it. Maybe they use it now, but not in anything from the past year or so.