Stasher1

x2 Gambler Giggy Head for me.

You want a suggestion? Ok, here we go... Drive to your local tackle shop and handle every reel they have in your pice range. Once you've done that, handle every reel they have that's slightly above and/or below your price range. Find one that fits your hand, your needs, and your budget and buy it. Be sure to let us know which one you picked. We could all sit here and recite page after page of BPS' catalog, but that really won't help the OP. What I find comfortable or desirable in a reel, he may find useless or even irritating. Different strokes and all that...

True, they make decent reels. Contrary to popular belief, however, "Shimano" is not the answer to every question.

Not bashing the Shimano posse, but there's an awful lot of "monkey see-monkey do" going on around here. There are lots of good reels out there, but you're about to covered up with Citica/Curado recommendations.

I buy just about all of my reels, all of my fly rods, and alot of my line on ebay. The only problem I've ever had was a brand new Citica 200e that had a problem with the drag. I wound up selling it locally (full disclosure and buyer looked it over in person) and recovered all of my money. Casting and spinning rods I buy locally, along with most of my lures. I like to handle them before I drop the cash.

It happens every year. Once the ice and that nasty white crap melts, the general tone of the board becomes much more pleasant.

You're not supposed to like it. You're, like, old and stuff. Duh. : It doesn't appeal to me at all, but I'm sure my 12 yr old son would be fascinated by it. ;D ETA: People with even less musical talent have made millions off of far worse songs than that. If she can make money doing it, more power to her.

That's bound to happen when they're making several of them in the same factory. ;D ;D

Is that a nice way of saying "jackass"? j/k ;D

that sounds pretty fun until you got to the radiator. i love cutting down and chopping wood. Took care of the radiator this morning. Now, on to the rest of the crap. lynyrdsky1, my trade offer still stands. ;D

I think, in the future, it should be specified during the initial setup of the Lure Swap that only new lures are to be placed in the box. I don't see anything wrong with the used reels, sunglasses, etc., though. Sometimes people have different ideas regarding what is, or isn't, "good" condition.

d**n shame, really. I was on board to do the first Lure Swap, but bailed out when the box got "lost". Stuff like this is the exact reason I won't take part in another one.

It's not that the knob is all that rough...it's just the combination of the texture and the shape that I don't like. Had they rounded the edges a bit more, it might have been more comfortable.

Ok, I didn't have a chance to finish my post before my wife shoved me out the door so I could bring my son to baseball practice. ;D Anyway, I'm thinking I can cut/fit a piece of a foam pencil grip over the knob to make it a bit more comfortable than the bare aluminum. I just need to find a pack of black ones... :-/

I picked up a stock Revo SX handle in the Flea Market and the knobs actually fit my Supreme XT, so I went ahead and ordered a set of these to replace that little sanding block... They may not be any more comfortable, but they look neat. ;D

That depends on how difficult it is to change the starter on that old GR. On some bikes, like the Yamaha Virago, the engine has to be removed to replace the starter.

Do some kayak fishing and you'll trim that down even more. I generally bring four 3600s and about a dozen bags of plastics, and most times I could actually get by with less than 25% of that stuff.

Always wanted to try an EXT, what weight lures do you use them for? Abu has a habit of dropping reels that I like, the C-5 for instance. I had one on my cranking rod for a while and it really struggled to cast anything 1/4 oz or lighter.

Tell you what...I'll trade my spring break for yours. Here's my plan for my spring break: Cut down two trees, limb them, and chop them up into smaller pieces for removal Repair/rebuild the handrails on my front steps Replace the radiator in my truck Cut the grass, trim weeds, etc. <-- This is the first cut of the season, so there's ALOT of cleaning up to do Repair drywall in one of the upstairs bathrooms This is all in addition to the normal crap that needs to get done around here and baseball practices/games for three boys. I wish I could have a nice boring spring break.

Are they still in business? I tried a couple of their products a few years ago and even the bluegills wouldn't eat it. They'd eat little bits of soft plastic tube tails, but wouldn't go near the Food Source mealworms or red worms.

x2 What is it about them that makes them so appealing? :-/ If my suspicions are correct, they're built in the same factory as many of BPS' reels, most likely using many of the same parts...yet people on every forum are talking about them like they're something special. I don't get it. They may actually be nice reels, but I believe they may be no better than any of the BPS reels...at a much higher price.

It may be a great reel, but it feels like something you'd find in a hanging in a blister-pack at Walmart. Skeet may like them, but I won't be buying one...or one of his rods, either.

As much as I like to read the reviews on TT, there's very little uniformity or consistancy to their ratings. The Skeet Reese (which, according to most of the reviews I've read, feels like a piece of junk to just about everyone who handles it) gets a 8.08, but the Patriarch only gets a 7.5? :

Fixed it for you. I went through this crap with my local BPS. If the local retailer isn't going to offer an over-the-counter replacement, there's no reason for me to buy a Shimano rod over any of the other brands. Once you take that replacement warranty away, there are other rods I prefer in the same price ranges as the Compre and Crucial...and there's no shortage of comparable rods in the Cumara's price range as well.

The only possible advantage I can see would be weight reduction, but there's such a minimal difference between a rubber knob and an EVA knob, I really don't think it would be worth the expense. The rubber knobs also seem like they'd last a lot longer. I have an EVA knob on my Supreme XT, and I've been looking for something to replace it since the first time I used it. It feels like a little sanding block.