quant PT

Thank you for the info. Great to read a detailed review of many popular brands with no brand bias.

I long for the good old days when gas was only 2.25 per gallon. I think that may have been back in 2006 but I 'm not sure. It was a long time ago. Since I drive a chevy 2500HD I guess I am part of the demand problem.

Same problem with the red eye shad. Fish didn't seem to care in my case either. Maybe SK needs to make a No Eye shad.

The Shimano Compre crankbait rods are nice. They retail for $99.99. They have the same TC4 composite blank as the more expensive Crucual crankbait rod. They make a 7' medium and a 7' medium heavy. If you fish large deep divers ( like DD22's) get the medium heavy otherwise get the medium. I have the medium Crucial medium crank bait rod and I have been very pleased with it. The Compre should not be much different. You also get the best rod warranty in the industry. As far as attributes, most crankbait rods have at least some fiberglass in them which makes them more flexible than an all graphite rod. This will keep you from pulling baits out of the fishes mouth when you set the hook.

I have the 7' medium cranking model and the 7' medium X-fast. I love them both. I also have a Clarus 6' 10" MHF that I had before the Crucials and it is a good rod as well, but the Crucials are noticeably better. You will not be disappointed with Crucial rods.

Shimano Stradic. I have one that is about 12 years old and it still works great. It has been used primarily in salt water for snook, spanish mackerel, jacks, redfish, black drum and trout. It handles all of these species with ease. Now I live 3+ hours from the ocean so I use it for bass and it works great for that too. I like it so much I would be reluctant to buy any other spinning reel.

I have 3 Energy PTs. I think the only difference between them and the Tour is the bearings in the handle. I have had no problems with mine. Two are 6.3:1 and one is 5.1:1. I love these reels, and for the money ($129 after rebate) I don't think you can do much better.

I tried one of these today for the first time. I got hit on it right away ( and missed) and then I noticed it ran funny. When I looked at it one of the eyes had fallen off. I removed the other eye ( it popped off very easily) and it ran OK for a few more casts, then it started acting weird again. I then noticed that the finish was peeling off in sheets. I removed the rest of the finish and now it is all chrome ( I still caught fish off of it ). I was just wondering if anyone else has had durability issues with it. I got mine at Walmart and I sometimes wonder if you always get first quality stuff there.