Stasher1

I see "Hang the guy that created this poll." is holding 3rd place so far.

It does feel very similar to the Carbonlite, and I've got to say, it's beautiful in the sunlight. It may wind up being a big pile of excrement, but I think I'm gonna have to sneak this one away from the B-I-L for a little while to see how well it fishes.

Personally, I think both 8' and 10' are too small regardless of whether you plan to fish from them or not. The short kayaks are great for the river where you need the ability to turn quickly, but blow chunks on the flatwater, imho. Generally, the longer the kayak, the better it'll track which translates to less effort by the paddler to keep it going in the right direction. I'm currently fishing out of a 12' kayak, but my next one will most likely be in the 14' range.

I'll give it a shot when/if I can find some in a clearance bin somewhere. Until then, my old-fashioned yellow Power Pro will do just fine.

Kinda looks like this if you ask me...

Not a bad list, but if you go looking for Rapala Rat L Traps and a Rapala Torpedo you'll be looking for a long time. It's a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and Heddon Torpedo.

As I said earlier, I prefer cork but given the choice between poor quality cork with lots of filler and EVA, I think I'd have to take EVA.

I prefer cork, but with the scarcity of quality cork and the rising prices on what cork is available, I think it's just a matter of time until EVA (or something similar) replaces cork on all but the most expensive (or custom) rods. It seems as though it's already happened in the ~$100 rod market. FWIW, that foam/cork stuff that Fenwick uses looks pretty cool.

I'd definitely choose the Veritas over the Mojo, but I'd take a Carbonlite over either of them. I actually looked at the 7' medium Veritas (again) yesterday afternoon as a possible loaner rod for my brother-in-law, but wound up walking out with a Browning HiPower instead. The Veritas had better guides, but the HiPower just looked better and felt better in the hand. I've handled the Veritas several times now, and every single time I've walked out with something else. On paper they seem like great rods, but in person they just fall short of my expectations.

As part of my annual preparations for the wife's week-long family reunion, I made the trek to my local BPS to pick up a new spinning rod for my brother-in-law to use...for $100 or less. (see last year's search results here: ) One of the rods that really jumped out at me this year was the new Browning Hi Power. It appears to have a similar (possibly even the same) blank as the Carbonlite, EVA grip with a larger (JDM-ish) foregrip, but cheaper guides. It had a very similar feel to the Carbonlite in the hand as well. I picked up the 7' medium and paired it with my Ryobi Zauber 1000 for a few casts in the front yard, and I think this reel may have found a new home for a while. The Zauber is an all-metal spinning reel, so it's substantially heavier than you'd expect from a 1000 but it seems to balance the rod nicely. Anybody here had an opportunity to try one of these out yet?

It doesn't matter how bad the specs are, the posse will buy them by the truckload and recommend them to everybody who asks "What's the best reel for $____" regardless of whether or not they've actually used them.

In my experience, the Crucials are a bit under-powered. While it may work, I think a MH would be a much better choice for jigs in that weight range.

Wuss. I think spitting is a disgusting habit, so dip is definitely not for me. Personally, I'd rather smoke. I gave up cigarettes years ago, but I've been known to smoke a pipe now and then.

You really ought to handle both side by side on the same rod to see which you prefer. IIRC, the WLP is only ~1/8" wider than the Curado 200E.

I use Norman Speed Clips whenever I'm using cranks, but I remove all of the factory split rings from the cranks as soon as I take them out of the package.

X2 My mother has a Facebook account. I'm of the opinion that anything my mother likes just can't be cool.

Right now I have two Supremes and a Supreme XT and haven't had a moments trouble out of any of them. They're light, smooth, good looking, have smooth drags, and are priced right. To be honest, I can't feel much difference in performance between the standard Supremes and the XT, but the XT is definitely much cooler looking.

It's the old Rick Clunn rod/reel combo with a new purple paintjob.

1/8, 3/16, and 1/4

I use just enough mono backing to cover the spool with a single layer and then fill the rest of the spool with braid. The only exception to this is my little Ryobi Zauber 1000 with the line tie hole in the spool. There's no way your braid can slip on that bad boy.

I haven't used any of their conventional gear, but I've used several of their fly reels (two Sierras, a Magnitude, three Airframes, and an Integrity) and have absolutely no complaints.

Braid for everything, in different weights and colors for different techniques. If I'm worried about visibility I tie on a fluoro leader.

I believe D.A.M. (the makers of the Quick line of reels) was bought out by Okuma a few years ago.

Top five soft plastic colors would have to be: Green Sunfish Bama Bug Tequila Sunrise Watermelon/Red Flake Silver/Red Flake Top ten would include all of the above and: Black Bubblegum Avocado/Gold Flake Green Pumpkin Watermelon/Purple Swirl For jigs I stick to: Black/Brown Black/Blue PB&J Green Pumpkin/Purple Smoke/Purple

For $350 they could've at least given it a decent finish. From the looks of it, it's sporting the typical Abu paint that scratches if you look at it wrong.