Stasher1

I've been using BPS EWG hooks for about 95% of my bass fishing, for the other 5% I use BPS Offset O'Shaugnessy hooks. No problems at all and you just can't beat the price.

I live less than 15 miles from there and have fished it many, many times. There are actually two lakes there, an upper lake and a much larger lower lake. The upper is bank or canoe/kayak fishing only since you have to carry the boat down a small dirt road. The fishing can be quite tough as it's an extremely well-fished lake. The bass there have seen pretty much everything, so prepare to be frustrated. The lower lake has a decent boat ramp and parking for about a dozen cars/trucks with trailers, and a couple spots reserved for "personal watercraft", but they're usually taken up by people using the walking paths. > There are plenty of quality bass, but like the upper lake, they've seen everything. It's also quite possibly the weediest lake you'll find anywhere around Atlanta. There are many areas that even topwater lures would snag. I've heard of folks having good luck with swimbaits there, but I'd advise you to leave the expensive ones at home. You might not get them back. <---------Tribble Mill bass

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I hit one of my local Dick's this morning and fondled the St. Croix Triumph, Shimano Convergence, Berkley AMP, and (at the insistance of their salesman) their store-brand Field & Stream IM7 rod. Surprisingly, the F&S actually had the best feel of the four. That's about all they had in a 2pc. 6'6"-7' M/F, besides their F&S IM6 rods and some Ugly Sticks. I guess I'll make the trek to the local BPS tomorrow morning to see what they have to offer. None of their store-brand rods are on sale in the configuration that I need, but I'll go see what else they have to offer.

I've got a bunch of one-piece rods in my "arsenal", but I've decided to pick up a two-piece spinning rod to keep in the truck for those 'spur of the moment' fishing trips. Since it'll only be used a handful of times a year, I'm not looking for anything expensive. I've set aside $100, but I'd really rather keep it around $50-75 if possible. I'm looking for 6'6"-7' M/F that I can pair with a new Mitchell 308xe that I picked up for $15 on clearance along with a $4 spool of 20# PowerPro. I'm less than 15 miles from BPS and have three Dick's within a 20 mile radius, so I'd much rather buy local if at all possible. Any ideas?

If you follow the links to their main site, they show several "conventional" spinning and casting rods. Read beyond the article. : Gee, from the looks of it, they're already building them. Is it that unreasonable to think they might actually be listed on their site?

From what I'm seeing on their site, they're only offering 2, 3, and 4 pc. rods. No one-piece rods in the lineup at all. :-? I'll pass.

You've already got a bunch of $100-level reels, why not save up a little more and pick up something in the $150-200 range?

The Sahara 2500FB / BPS Extreme 6'8" ML is the combo you see in my avatar. I used that combo for floating/Trickworms for about a year and worked great. It pulled the fish in my avatar out of the weeds/pads just fine.

Kids need to start somewhere and a $15 rod is probably fine for a five year old, but it's REALLY not enough for a bass fisherman. While I agree it's not necessary to "break the bank" to have decent gear, even my 7 & 10 year olds fish with higher-end rods than that. If you're patient and keep your eyes/ears open, you'll find good deals on decent gear. I just picked up a couple brand new Shimano Sonora 2500FBs for $15 each and a pair of Abu Garcia Conolon Premier rods to put them on for about $27 each. That's two complete combos for less than $100, including tax and line. Good enough for an adult, but inexpensive enough that I can let the boys enjoy fishing without hovering over their shoulders making sure they're taking care of their gear. To the OP, SirSnookalot and roadwarrior have it right. Buy a decent reel that'll last for a long time (with routine maintenance) and match it with a quality rod that feels good in YOUR hand. What feels good to me, might feel like a twig or broomhandle to you.

If you have a fishing reel that might be damaged by occasional contact with water, you need to toss it in the nearest trash can.

The new 33s are crap. I bought one for each of my oldest boys as an upgrade from their 202s, and they're absolute junk. They're rough, and feel like a major step down from the 202. There's a reason they seal them in that plastic clam-pack. They know that nobody will buy them if they get to handle them first. I've got a Omega Z03 and a 33 Platinum, and they're both light years ahead of the "standard" 33 in fit, finish, and function.

Zebco Omega Z03 http://www.tackletour.com/reviewzebcoomega.html

With a $249 MSRP it ought to hit Ebay for about $180-$220, if we're lucky. I told myself I was done buying reels for a while, but I may have to rethink that...

+1 on the Suffix +2

3/0 EWG

As soon as I take them out of the package I engrave the diving depth and sometimes the brand/model on the underside of the lip with one of these...

X5 The Curado 200E7 is another fantastic reel that's extremely easy to cast. When I thinned out my gear collection a while back I kept two baitcasters. One is a Patriarch 64WLP that I use for lipless and shallow cranks, and the other is a Curado E7 that I use for soft plastics.

I've never used a Revo S, but the Citica 200E I owned was far from impressive. I wouldn't trade my Patriarch for four Citicas, but to each his own I suppose.

That's the ticket X3 It's also a reel you won't "outgrow" like alot of cheaper BC's, so you'll actually save money in the long run.

Cool, thanks. I was watching an episode of The Bass Pros a while back and RC was talking these spinnerbaits. He said he designed them to be used kinda like a wake bait, running just below the surface creating a bulge but not breaking the surface.

I picked one up a few weeks ago, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Were you fishing them just below the surface creating a bulge, or were you letting them sink and then retrieving?

If you do your reel shopping on Ebay, you could get a Curado 200E or a Pflueger Patriarch for around $160 shipped.

Personally, I'd pass on both of those OT's in favor of a model with proper seats. Those plastic monkey-butt seats hold water and don't allow for air circulation around your booty. Once your shorts get wet, you're gonna stay wet. The wooden seats with webbing are generally more comfortable, fairly inexpensive and easy to replace, if necessary. I've paddled many miles over the past 4 years in my Mad River "Explorer 16TT" and so far, have no major complaints. It's a bit heavy @ 82# (but it's still 3# lighter than the 14' OT you're looking at) and is a bit of a pig on flat water with two adults and 2 small children, but paddles just fine with fewer passengers. I took my 9 yr old out on Lake Gaston last summer and it handled great. Spin it around so you're sitting backwards in the bow seat and it'll improve the handling when you're by yourself or paddling with smaller passemgers by moving your weight closer to the center of the canoe. http://www.madrivercanoe.com/product/index/products/versatile/explorer_tt/explorer_16_tt/

We're just lucky he couldn't figure out which key to press to put a little heart over the "I" in YUMMI. ;D

I think you'd be better off opening a store selling new tackle and accessories with a section of the store dedicated to used gear, and hire a full-time online salesperson to handle Ebay auctions and customer emails.