hawgchaser

Last summer my boat was stolen and sunk on Greers Ferry. To top it off, all of my fishing gear was stolen out of the boat. 7 months later, the Van Buren Sheriff's Dep. called to tell me that they think they found my rod and reels on the bank buried in some leaves. I was very impressed that they remembered my report and took the time to look it up and locate me....my name wasn't on any of my gear. So a special thanks to the VB Sheriff's dep. Anyway, I had 11 rod and reels to pick up. I was just hoping that some of the rods would be usable but figured the reels were wrecked. When I picked up my gear, I was shocked to see that the Bass Pro Extreme series rod AND reels looked nearly brand new!! ALL the other brands were worthless. I had some high grade shimanos, low grade shimanos, and pfluegers. The other rods were ALL Star, Falcon, and browning. All of this gear is good stuff but the reels were rusty and the rods broken. However, the BP Extreme gear had some cork chewed off of the handle but the rest of it looked nearly brand new!!!! I took them apart and there was no rust to be found. I oiled them up and 7 months later I was in Venice, La catching redfish. I used the exact rod/reel combos that were burried in the leaves for 7 months!!!!! BP has just won my business and that says a lot bc I am a shimano guy. Its the best value in fishing IMO.

My alltime best producing pond bait is a texas rigged gitzit. Find the fattest tubes around in black and redfleck. You can fish this bait shallow and parallel to the bank or drag it up the dropoff. I would be willing to bet it outproduces any other bait you try.

That is a great temp to throw spinners...In fact I did it today for about 6 hrs. The surface temp was between 55-58 and I got the majority of my fish on War Eagle spinnerbaits.

The Woo Daves Extreme Series from Bass Pro in Med would be my choice. They also happen to be on sale for pretty dang cheap. If I could only use one rod, it would be the M action. It has a pretty decent backbone for tubes and jigs. I have 5 of them.....

How are these reels holding up? Anyone else have one?

Definitely a great deal! They are awesomw rods....another great deal is the extreme on the right side of the page. I just ordered another one 8-)

Good info, I haven't had a huge problem with rocks since switching to Power Pro BUT it was bad with Spiderwire. The jury is still out for me with braid. I kind of have a love hate with it. I am however a big fan of Seaguar Fluoro!!! What to do what to do.

I am not sure its that cut and dry. thats why i was wanting some experienced opinions. Many people claim that fish aren't capable of seeing the line and some swear that they can't catch a fish unless they have a mono leader. I am not sure. My opinion is that it doesn't matter on fast moving baits like traps, crank baits, spinners, etc... I haven't decided if it does on clear lake plastics....ie worms, tubes and lizards.

I have 5 Extreme series rods and IMO they are the best bang for the buck around! I use them for everything from drop shotting to redfishing. I have 2 7' M spinners, 2 7MH bc, and 1 6'6" bc. You can't go wrong with them.

The Low Rider is a great rod! I have one that is several years old an I love it....but I love most Falcon rods. Great value!

First off, great forum and I am glad I found it! My question is how many of you use braid, without a mono leader, in clear lakes? I have a place on Greers Ferry in Arkansas and have been using Power Pro and really like it. I am not sure that I have had less hits using braid over the usual mono or flouro. What do you guys and gals think?