21farms

thad, for me, it's all about space. motorcycle helmets are just too big and bulky and would take up half a compartment when not in use.

this is at least the third year in a row that BPS has included this petty snide dig at shimano (never mind that shimano sponsors their own 'take a kid fishing' events). BPS could have just said, "shimano reels not included".

yep, the newer red eye shads have an oval split ring and better hooks. sadly, the chrome and gold finishes on the newer ones is just as bad as the older ones...they start flaking almost immediately.

i've used several different XPS hardbaits. here are my impressions: XPS rattle shad (not in their professional series): very noisy and catches fish but it is relatively light and not good for a fast retrieve unless you want to fish very shallow. XPS walker: consistently lays on one side. i have three of them and they all do it. unacceptable. XPS suspending jerkbait: super thin hooks and i don't trust them. i tried changing them out to something better but it caused the lure to sink. even with the stock hooks, they do not suspend like the lucky crafts...the tail end tends to dive, taking the rest of the lure with it UNLESS you're constantly jerking it forward. XPS medium diver: much smaller than expected. i ordered it online and, when it arrived, was very surprised at how small it was. have not fished it because of that. in summary, the XPS pro hardbaits have nice colors and good finishes but the hooks are questionable and the actions are inconsistent. they're not cheap either...at $6-$8 a pop, i think you're better off with rapalas, normans, etc. the best XPS bait i've used is their rattle shad which is not in the professional series...even so, it is light for its size and doesn't cast as far as competing rattlebaits.

yes, spool it from the bottom just like the shimanos:

it's understandable that the carbonlite reel is a hot item and that it is out of stock. what is NOT understandable nor acceptable, however, is that they don't give out rainchecks. if it was cabelas, they would not only give you a raincheck but they'd ship it to your house for free. now, i actually got one of the carbonlites from the manteca store but i got there right when it opened on friday and i went to straight to the reel counter and immediately bought one because i knew they might not have very many in stock. i learned my lesson because what happened to you happened to me at last year's classic sale at the manteca store. while i'm at it, let me rant some more about the manteca BPS. i've read other people here talk about how good BPS is about taking back and replacing broken rods and such. last year, i took back a prolite finesse rod that had a cracked trigger. it was 14 months old. they said, sorry, it's past the 12 month warranty and that was that.

bass pro shops has no less than FOUR different house-brand lipless cranks: XPS rattle shad, XPS tri-vibe, XPS knocker shad, and uncle buck's rattle shad ;D

the diamond shad has a wider wobble and has a lot more rattles inside it, making it louder. however, it needs a medium to fast retrieve or it won't vibrate. the red eye shad has a tighter wiggle and can worked slower (and faster) without losing effectiveness. also, the red eye will flutter downward upright on slack line whereas the diamond shad will flip onto it's side and just drop with no action.

i was out fishing with a guide a couple years back and we were getting our hats handed to us...we tried everything but only caught 3-4 fish between us in 6 hours of throwing cranks, jigs, spinnerbaits, worms, etc. and we're down to our last hour of fishing. so, finally, he pulls out a zappu inchi wacky head and tells me to tie it on and then wacky a 6" roboworm on it...i thought he was nuts...i had never seen anything like it...i kept saying, "what is this called??" well, on my second and third casts, i catch consecutive 3 pounders. then, over the course of the next 45 minutes, 6 more bass, all in the 2-4 lbs. range. most impressively, every single fish was hooked perfectly in the top of the roof of the mouth. after that trip, i came back and looked them up on the internet. they were just starting to be talked about. i ordered one package but i have not fished with them at all since and i don't know why.

they do business on ebay as "bigfishinbuddy" and have a 100% positive feedback rating. i'd have no qualms doing business with them.

if you get one, here's how your setup would look:

sal, i agree and was about to post something similar. most weightless plastics i'd guess are stick baits (senkos) and fat ikas/hydras and the like which are not light and can be cast like a rocket with pretty much any baitcasting reel. even a tube with a 1/8th oz. jighead or a lunker grub with a 1/16th oz. darthead ends up weighing quite a bit more and can be handled by most reels. now, a 1/8th oz. crappie jig is another situation altogether and even the sol/chronarch 50mg aren't able to handle those well.

larry suggested the daiwa pixy which is probably the best finesse baitcaster but you won't find that at BPS or cabelas. they're really expensive too. the daiwa sol is your best best.

group hug!

whatever happened to this forum's sense of humor? i thought it was just some friendly ribbing and i thought it was funny.

the daiwa viento is on sale for $99.99 (it was previously on sale for $129.99 and used to be $230)...that's pretty good.

lamiglas has said that they are still making the SR705R, just without skeet's name on it. regarding the XCF705R, it actually preceeded the SR705R. the blank are the same...the only difference is the paint. originally, the SR rods had a non-tapered handle but they later changed that to match the XCF. according to the lamiglas rod squad, the rumors that the excel glass rod is the same as the certified pros appear to be correct.

the specs are exactly the same down to the porky 9.45 oz. weight. so i think i change was only cosmetic to match the new RCX rods. the old RC reels are on clearance at basspro.com for $89.77 but only lefties are left.

at 9.45 ounces, the RCX reel needs to go on a serious diet. plus, with the non-drilled spool, i wouldn't expect it to cast lighter lures particularly well. go for the carbonlite.

25% off zoom products SOUNDS good but, keep in mind that BPS prices are kinda high to begin with. here's a comparison i just did showing BPS prices compared to ***'s prices: so, in some cases (e.g., baby brush hog, finesse worm), TW's everyday price is still lower than BPS's sale price with the 25% off. in other cases, the difference is slight. just be careful before going hog wild

the non-orange version of the lami SR705R is the XCF705R and i love those rods but they are definitely not for everyone. they feel like a wet noodle and are not particularly sensitive but, man, i land more fish on the lamis than all my other crankin' rods combined. fish NEVER come unbuttoned on them. my other favorites are the dobyns glass CBs http://www.tackletour.com/reviewdobyns704cbglass.html. i've had two powell glass CBs but, for some reason, i liked the graphite powell CBs more. i think you're on the right track with glass CB rods...i bought a g.loomis CBR845 last year and i loved it at first but then noticed that my hookup ratio was lower...my theory is that it is TOO sensitive for a CB rod.

here guys, i took photos of the fishing pages:

Nope...happens with "non modern" spools too. sure it does...but i've noticed it gets worse the bigger the holes in the spool are.

i know what you're talking about. i think last couple of feet of line around the arbor are especially kinked because of the unevenness of the knot and the holes in the spool on modern reels.

And you could flip the same distance with line wrapped around a tin can... what exactly are you saying? when you said flip, he took it to mean that you used the flippin' technique whereby the reel doesn't do much except hold the line as the lure is swung by the rod and dropped into the target, usually only 7-10 feet away.