bilgerat

I had a shop teacher that could put a razor edge on just about anything with one of those stones. I wished I had paid a bit more attention. I can get a decent edge but nothing like that.

What he said. I probably border on mental illness, but every winter I wipe my rods down with diluted Simple Green, apply a coat of car wax to the blank and guides and apply U 40 cork sealer to the handles. Then they get stored in tubes. I like my stuff to last a long time.

I just picked up some Daiwa Shadmasters at Dick's for 2.97 ea. I can't find any info on them, but I'll try 'em for that price.

I have success with all types of retrieves. Sometimes I rip them to get them down and then pause, then let them slowly rise. Other times I'll steady retrieve them, pausing for a moment here or there. Either way, most of the time I get hit on the pause. As for the nose down/ neutral thing, I stumbled across something last season that worked out kind of good. I had found an old jerkbait. I took it home and relaced the hooks and hardware. I had put a dressed treble on the back. During the retrieve it ran normally. At rest it slowly took a nose up tendency. The added 'wiggle' of the dressed treble got me some nice fish. It really worked well when there was a slight chop on the surface.

I've owned an STX since early November. I'd love to give an opinion on it, but between work, the holidays and the weather I haven't cast it once >

Congratulations. The free insurance more than compensates for the hourly rate. It could pay off in more ways than one, possibly putting you in a lower tax bracket. That could = more money in your pocket

That's a redneck hearse. Bet he just left Wal Mart with grandma in the box.

People like him keep people like me employed

I quit cigarettes cold 8 years ago after 20 years. Then about 6 months later, like a jackass, I started on the small cigars. I sucked them down like candy. After my first bout ever with bronchitis back in the beginning of November, I'm smoke free. Not being able to breath and having to be on an inhaler for a while scared the doo doo out of me

I own an Avid and a Triumph. The Avid is obviously better but the Triumph is no slouch. The only thing I can add is the Avid is a lifetime warranty, the Premier is 5 years. St. Croix is an excellent company to deal with.

I can vouch for the Trion. I've got one on my ul rig, going on it's third season. Early last spring I foul hooked an 8lb+ brown carp that turned out to be quite a fight. The drag was flawless and the reel didn't flinch. On top of all of that, I'll put Pflueger's bail system up against any other one out there. As far as rods go, I've got the BPS Micro Lite. It's an ok rod but you can do better. My next ul stick will likely be a St. Croix Premier. Another thing on rods - most ul rods seem to run 5' to 5' 6" long. At the very minimum I'd go 6', preferably 6' 6". You will get much better casting distance with a longer rod, especially throwing tiny baits. You will have a blast with ultra lite.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_58697_100001002_100000000_100001000_100-1-2 And you still have $10 left to spend. I've owned one for going on three years and have fished it hard. It's a great reel for the money. No matter where you read the reviews they are overwhelmingly positive.

And became a pirate off the coast of Somalia. On his first pirate adventure, he was shot 14 times by mercenary soldiers hired by the shipping company to protect the ship and crew. The end.

I certainly can't think of one. You always want balanced tackle, but brands aren't part of that equation. Unless there's something I'm missing, the important factors are line size, type and weight of lures used, balance and other factors not related to brand. In response to this and Brian, according to abu's website the vendetta rods are factory tuned to balance with revo's. Not sure how much truth there is in that statement by abu since there are all different weights and sizes of revo's but supposedly they're meant to match. Thats not to say you cant mix brands. The Vendetta may be a good rod, but that 'factory tuned' to balance with the Revos is a bunch of hooey. The Revos are in the ballpark with everyone else as far as weight is concerned.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1253489706

Get yourself a fogproof shower mirror. Shave in the shower. Shaving in the hot steamy environment of the shower will give you the best shave next to a barbershop shave. No sink mess to deal with. When the anti fog treatment wears off of the mirror eventually(and it will) rub your fingers on a bar of soap and coat the mirror surface. It will stay fog free long enough to get your shave done.

I catch a fish on a crankbait even if I have to dump all of my other baits in the lake to do it. Muddy returns as a diehard Shimano/G Loomis guy. Everything is swell for about 14 minutes until someone starts a music thread. WWIII breaks out.

Precisely the reason I learned years ago to just shut up when my better half came home with yet another pair of shoes.....

I wonder if some of our gear is as coveted over there and are they willing to pay big $$$ to get it ?

I was waiting for an over the top kung fu battle to break out......

How's the fight ? are they more/less aggressive than a LM ? No chance we'll ever see them up here

Here's a good sizing chart for terminal tackle. It's the only one I know of like it online and it's pretty decent. Keep in mind that the sizes are general. For example, one manufacturer's 4/0 hook may vary slightly from another manufacturer. You must download and print the chart to get the accurate scale. It's five pages long. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/Content/Parts_Sizing.htm

Had me going there for a minute. I thought you were referring to that swishy singer that likes to hang out in men's bathrooms....... Sorry for the confusion, no disrespect meant.

I have just as much fun catching aggressive bluegills and crappie on ultralite as I do catching bass and pickeral. There's always that sweet time of year around here when the 'bull' gills come out to play. These are freakishly large and full of attitude. They will nail plugs and topwaters like a torpedo. They fight pound for pound better than a bass. I don't even fish for bass when this time comes.

One spinning rod and a backpack or vest with my gear. I hate pulling a ton of gear around when I'm bank fishing.