J Francho

For penetrating heavy, matted milfoil with coontail below, I like a RI Sweet Beaver, Rage Craw, or a jig with a Rage Chunk - skewered, not threaded. For hitting open pockets, Gambler's Ugly Otter or Rage Recon Worm glide nicely. In all cases I lube these baits with Megastrike, which helps them come through the weeds cleaner. On stained, or during algea blooms, JJ's Magic chartreuse is the ticket for setting your bait apart.

So you haven't actually used one?

I use this and an AZ4 for my "non boater" trips.

There's a Curado 51e for sale int he Flea Market for $140.

One stop and shop....drag upgrades, ABEC 5 and 7 Ceramic Hybrids, Grease, Oil, and any tools you need: http://www.smoothdrag.com/price.html

7' MH/Fast.

Not if they're rigged "weightless." Personally, I echo the Al frame as a must. Maybe I have sensitive hands, but I've been able to sense bites on budget rods. They are usually a little bit heavier, have cheaper guides, but for the most part, any fast action graphite rod will work. For years, I used Bionic Blades and Team All Stars that I bought on the cheap. Keep your eyes peeled to the Flea Market here, and eBay. When you see something that interests you, ask us about it.

Gamo makes a decent CO2 pistol for around $100 that would work. 8 round clip, semi-auto.

Any soft plastic that I'd cast or pitch, I'd flip with. It's just a casting style.

I actually prefer a fast taper for square bills and lipless vibe baits - especially in grass and wood cover. It helps me react quicker when the bait contacts cover. By dropping to a medium power, you get plenty of flex when a fish is on to keep it pinned. Just about all other cranking I prefer a moderate taper.

AVC70MHM

Most often in tournaments, I'm throwing a crankbait. For fun fishing, I force feed what I want to throw. For trophies, a swimbait or a jig.

The dealer should give you a refund. Failing that, you'd be surprised what Pinnacle has in their parts dept.

Most JDM handles are around $120 - $150, and don't come with knobs, let alone cork knobs.

Over the summer, I ordered a Hawgtech Hawg Handler to try out. I paid retail, $79 if I recall. I really didn't set my expectations too high, but I had already seen several positive reviews. My skepticism came from dealing with handles made by Bassart, ZPI, and other JDM sources. I got my Hawgtech Hawg Handler, and my initial impressions were, man this handle is big. I immediately had an application for it. I fish for salmon and trout in the fall with spoons and bass tackle. It's a blast, but they can really put the screws to your gear. This year, I was going to step it up to something that I could put some pressure on them with. I picked my Dobyns Champion Extreme 745 saddled with a Chronarch 200e7 spooled with 50# Power Pro. This worked well, but once I swapped the stock handle out with the Hawgtech, man that was powerful. I really expected some flex, but I feel it made the system stronger. I set the drag pretty high, pushing 5 power rod to it's limit, and was horsing big fish in, literally able to winch them with the longer, stronger handle. Toss in some super smooth, comfortable, oversize bearing supported cork knobs, and well you get the picture. Any application where you need power - deep cranking, punching, Carolina rigging - this is a valuable upgrade that isn't just "bling." In fact, that it looks so good is just a bonus. Again, I have been literally abusing my setup and after dozens of fish in 15-25 lb. range, I see no signs of wear or failure. I've beat up some stamped steel handles, from some "pretty popular brand names" here, but this one is holding strong. If you are looking for a functional, relatively value priced, good looking upgrade for your reel - I highly recommend a look at Hawgtech. https://www.hawgtech.com Some "Hawgs"

Drop shot.

On lake Ontario, tournaments are held in the warmer bays. Often, anglers will make a run to another bay, where they are more familiar - weather permitting. The bass taken from say Port Bay, and weighed in on Irondequoit Bay are not going to leave I-bay, go into the main lake where it can be as much as 20° cooler, to get back to their home water. I've always felt fishing in Sodus Bay was so good because so many tournaments are based out of there. That's not to say that fishing has declined in the other, smaller bays - to the contrary - it's still very good. Sodus just seems to have numbers of large fish not seen elsewhere.

I have two of those boats, lol. Nice presentation, very down to earth, and really cool detail of the baits in the water.

I like black on my Chronarch E, but I prefer the silver on the Curado E. It matches the star knob.

This might help..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Star

No Daiwa....that would have taken a large percentage as well.