NOVA Angler

He does a good job of keeping the demand and price high by limiting the supply as well. I'm sure part of it is the time it takes to paint one but if he were putting these up for sale every day, the price would go way down. If I were him, that's the only bait and color I would make until demand slowed down.

If you caught 2 snapping turtles, maybe you need to fish it a little faster. I've seen turtles move and there is no way they're catching my Red Eye when I'm reeling it. I really like the Red Eye Shad. In my opinion, the Sexy Shad color is not the main reason why this bait has been successful for me. The action of the baits is responsible for the strikes. If you changed the color to any of the popular brand shad colors it would still be successful.

No way I would pay that much, but d@mn that thing looks good.

My Rat-L-Traps are also being replaced by the Red Eye Shad and I loved my Rat-L-Traps. I have one of the Lucky Craft lipless cranks in American Shad and it is probably one of the most realistic looking baits I have ever used. Last year when I was on Kerr Lake I snagged a small shad and side by side the resemblence was unbelieveable. The only bad thing I have to say about this bait is that it doesn't seem to have much action/vibration. If you took that paint job and put it on the Red Eye Shad you'd have one hell of a bait.

I've actually had pretty good success with the chatterbait in the spring. I caught a lot of fish early last year and three that helped me win a club tournament on Kerr Lake. I will say that by late April/early May, I'm pretty much done with it. I'll keep fishing it until I stop catching them.

Senko - Green Pumpkin Lake Fork Craw Tube - Green Pumpkin Chatterbait - Black/Blue

Not durable? : History speaks itself so does durability, BASS record by Dean Rojas with 108 lbs then Paul Elias with 132 lbs. Both with Quantum. Your last statment, calling ya a bluff. Jimmy Houston bowl hair wearing KVD shirt standing on the bank casting with Shimano on Quantum rod beside the boat launch. A mentally confused individual. ;D Just because a reel makes it through one tournament doesn't mean it's durable. I want one that makes it through several years of tournaments.

Do yourself a favor and pick up the Kevin Van Dam line conditioner at Dicks. It is worth every penny.

I'm intrigued by this line and would like to try it for sure. Only hesitation I have is similar to RW. No specs for line on the Izorline website. I plan to order a couple spools from acidrod.com and try it out. It's so much cheaper than the Berkley Fluoro Professional I've been using.

roadwarrior, I've heard some reviews that say the ultra soft turns a milky white color. Have you seen that in your experience? -NOVA

5" Senko in green pumpkin w/ black flake, Strike King Red Eye Shad in Sexy Shad, Mann's Baby -1, Zoom lizard in pumpkin with chartruesse tail.

Mustad Triple Grip...make sure you get the short or extra short shank, otherwise they may tangle up. Sometimes they're hard to find though...

I plan to fish the finesse style swimbaits this coming season. Mostly Money Minnows, Mighty Minnows, 5" Mission Fish, Shadalicious, Mattlures Baby Bass & Bluegill (1.9 oz). I'll probably also throw the SPRO BBZ, Sebile 125 and possibly a Baby Wake (the heaviest at 2.1 oz I think). Before I invest money in these baits and a setup to throw them, I wanted to ask if a swimbait setup is really necessary for the baits I referenced. I know these baits are on the smaller end of the swimbait spectrum. Could I use one of my MBR844C's or possibly my Shimano Crucial 7'11" Flipping Stick to cover these baits? I'm almost certain that I won't ever fish with swimbaits heavier than the Baby Wake. The swimbait rods I'm considering are the G. Loomis SWBR904c and the Dobyns 795ML SB. Let me know your thoughts.

Let me start by saying I used the Red Eye in Sexy Shad a lot this past season. It's been hit so many times that it doesn't even look like the original color anymore. The success with this lure has more to do with the action of the bait than the pattern. It just happens that the catchy name "Sexy Shad" is the most popular light color version of this bait. Great marketing. The success and endorsement by KVD helped tremendously. I've used other colors and they also work very well. These lures have replaced all but one of my Rat-l-Traps. If you painted the Red Eye solid white and called it white, I bet I would have just as much success.

Who are you telling? You don't know the half of it. OMG...you would have thought that I was sending my brother to his grave. I get a text message from my sister last night that says..."nice sending your brother to meet a guy at a gas station off the interstate to serve your own self interests." That's the first and last time I ever ask anyone in my family for help buying fishing equipment. Holy S! My family is crazy. Anyway, I got the rod...everything went off without a hitch...it's in perfect condition...brand spanking new. Was it worth it? HELL NO! Seriously you wouldn't believe the mess it caused. Next time I'll pay the guy the 30 bucks he's asking for to have it shipped.

True. Maybe he is a kidnapper and is trying to lure you in with a great deal? Kinda like a ninja bait monkey.... Haha...funny you should mention that. I just got a call from my dad reading me the riot act about having my brother meeting someone neither of us know. My brother mentioned it to my sister last night and she freaked out and got on the phone with my parents. It's become a whole family affair. I'm 29 and my brother is 27...dad still doesn't trust our judgement I guess. I spoke with the guy for 20 or so minutes this afternoon. They're meeting in a very public place. I don't think he has anything to worry about. Stay tuned...

He didnt' give me the address. I looked him up on white pages. Could be the name of another person from his town I guess. I've spoken with him on the phone with the number he gave me. A reverse lookup of the phone number goes back to his name and address as well.

He never said it was a custom built rod. I guess I'm just looking for some sort of possible deception. He says it still has the factory stickers on it. I told my brother if he sees anything that doesn't look exactly the same as the pictures I sent him to call me before he gives him the money. I may even have him send me a picture with his camera phone. He claims it was a gift and that he needs the quick cash. He said he would return it to a store but that he doens't have a receipt. I have his address and phone number but I don't know what good that will do me. He knows the value of the rod and even states that he's selling it cheap. I've made up my mind that I'm going through with it so I'll report back tonight and let everyone know the outcome.

My brother is meeting the guy this evening and I've given him direction and pictures of what to look for on the rod. Because the deal is so good, I'm starting to second guess it. If this rod was custom built from a blank is there anything that would give this away? Would it still have the same G Loomis logos on it? I just want to make sure it is a factory original. I have the guys phone number and address and I feel pretty good after speaking to him, but I'm starting to lose faith in people, especially with our economy the way it is. You never know what someone will do to make a buck. Let me know if you can think of anything that I should be looking for.

Haha...okay okay...I'll buy it. Of all the rods I've bought, this one is probably the easiest to justify. I'm sure I'll love it. My brother is meeting the guy tomorrow to pick it up. My other two worm and jig rods are 7'1" so maybe it will be nice to have something a little shorter for pitching. Plus this will be my first GLX. I'll post back to let you know how hit works out.

I have an opportunity to buy a brand new Loomis GLX for less than half of what they retail. Not exactly a rod a I need since I just added another MBR844C to the arsenal but it seems like too good of a deal to pass up. Am I a fool to pass?

I agree with Bassn Blvd. I have the CBR 843 and while I really like, I think it's a little on the light side for what I need. If I had to pick just one I would go with the CBR 845. With that said, neither of these rods would be my first choice if I had the opportunity to buy a couple at 50% off. I would be looking for a good jig and worm setup.

Well I got the opportunity to test the MBR 844c IMX Senko setup over the weekend. The rod was paired with a Shimano Curado DHSV and 20lb Berkley 100% Floro Pro. I fished in a club tournament on the Potomac River and was able to land a 4.7lb bass in heavy hydrilla with this setup. Casting was not a problem either. I definetly plan to buy another to use as a dedicated Senko rod!

Thanks for the sugguestions. I have an 844C rigged up for flipping jigs and creature baits. I'll try the senko on it this weekend and see if I like the fit. If so, I may be in the market for another!

I fish on the Potomac River and have found that the Senko is one of the best baits to use when it seems nothing else is working. I've decide to purchase a rod dedicated to this bait. I prefer casting rods to spinning rods however the Potomac is often very windy so I'm concerned this will cause problems casting a bait caster into the wind. Most of the time I'll be fishing this setup in heavy hydrilla and milfoil so I plan to use 30lb. Power Pro braid. What kind of setup would you recommend for this application? (spinning or casting, action, length, specific rods, etc.?) Thanks, -Rob