Stasher1

IMHO, it's not just the overall weight of a round reel that throws off the handling of the combo, but the higher center of gravity compared to a low-pro baitcaster. If rod weight isn't your primary concern, I'd skip the Carrot. There are rods out there with better guides and better track records for the same price.

All I've owned are Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels, Daiwa and Pinnacle baitcasters (except for the Abu EXT-Pro I picked up from Micro), and a couple Zebco spincast reels. With the exception of a Daiwa Megaforce I bought a year ago, they've all functioned well and performed exactly as they should. I'd be willing to try other brands, but haven't really had a need to change equipment in a while. I have been eyeballin' the Patriarch lately, though, and will probably wind up with one before my summer fishing trip.

Yup, three for me as well. 6'6" M/F spinning rig with 8# mono 6'6" MH/F spinning rig with 30# braid 7' M/Mod-Fast baitcasting rig with 12# mono These three rods can cover pretty much any technique I'd use on my local lakes. I have other combos, like an UL spinning rig and a ML dropshot spinning rig, but I can actually cover both of these techniques with my primary rods.

Sufix Elite

I found this while searching for info on the EXT Pro. http://www.realsreels.com/servicing/Ambassadeur5600EXT.pdf

I have no problems fitting 7' one-piece rods in my little commuter car. Rod butts on the floor on the passenger side and the seat laid back.

There's a dealer on Ebay selling them in sets of 4 for $20. The sets include a chrome/black, chrome/blue/orange, gold/black, and pearl melon. Nice variety at a decent price.

I picked up a 7' M/MF Kistler Magnesium TS "Alton Jones Crankbait Special" a little while ago for the same purpose, and so far I like it a lot. It's a moderate-fast action graphite composite, so it's not quite as "whippy" as some of the other crankbait rods out there and has enough backbone to yank my lipless cranks thru the weed-filled puddle I usually fish.

If you're not stuck on either of them, the Abu 5600 EXT Pro is a nice compromise. It's a round reel with the features of a low-pro, and a weight that falls between the two. Butter smooth and casts like a dream. They're currently on sale at Tackle Warehouse... http://www.***.com/descpageRLCABUGAR-AGEXP.html

I can't believe we don't have one in the Atlanta area.

My Procaster Rojo does it.

Dude, relax. : Don't assume that everybody on this forum has experience with every reel out there. The search function on this site works very well, you might want to give it a try.

Complete BS. : Most companies the size of Shimano farm out lots of work to Chinese factories, and it's these large companies that set the quality cotrol standards, NOT the Chinese factories. They simply manufacture a product to specifications supplied by their customers. If the customer demands a quality product, they receive a quality product.

If it's a lure that I've heard/read good things about, I'll usually buy 2-4 but in different colors. If it's something that I find moderately interesting, like the Ima Roumba, I'll only buy one until I see how well it works for me.

I know my Crucial was made in china.

My Kistler Magnesium TS was made in china.

I like to use it as backing under my green PowerPro. That way it's obvious when I'm getting low and need to respool.

I'm less than 15 miles from the Atlanta BPS, so I still do a good bit of shopping there, but TW's free shipping over $50 is definitely changing the way I buy tackle. If my order is less than $25, I'll usually order it from BPS because the shipping is cheaper than the two gallons of gas I'd burn going there and back, $25-$49 and I'll just drive to BPS and pick it up, over $50 and I'll order it from TW from now on...unless I can find what I'm looking for on Ebay.

My local BPS had some of the KVD cranking rods in stock when I was there a week and a half ago, but the rest of the rods were pretty picked over. I wound up ordering my new rod thru their site and paid $21 in shipping because I was paying with BPS gift cards.

I go out in the yard and practice on a fairly regular basis. So often in fact, that my neighbors have even stopped staring. The only casting plugs I could find were 3/8 oz, but I just add an 1/8 or 3/16 worm weight to the line before I tie on the plug. Works just fine for me.

Not to start an argument, but you might want to check the stats on some of the larger spinning reels before making a blanket statement like that. My Shimano Sahara 4000FB has a 17# drag, which is substantially more than many of the common low-profile baitcasters.

No visual trick here... Man, that's extremely nice of you, and I really do appreciate it, but I've already fixed mine. I took the cup off, centered it on the body, redrilled the 5/64" holes in the cup and 1/16" pilot holes in the body, and remounted the cup with a dab of superglue under each screw for good measure. Problem solved.

If you plan on mounting your new reel on a dedicated crankbait rod, you'll have a much harder time finding a crank-specific spinning rod. You can find rods that will work, but there are definitely more options in bait casting rods.

It's not as simple as bending the lip, unfortunately. The cup was mounted to the body crooked. If I remove the forward screw and rotate the cup to make it line up, it's off by roughly the diameter of the screw hole. I'm going to have to elongate the hole in the cup so it'll line up. Simple solution, and cheaper than the postage to ship it back.

I prefer the look of cork. It just looks classier, IMHO. Foam grips remind me of Ugly Sticks.