Todd

I agree with Basser89 on Suffix...although I have never used powerpro. I also really like using it for topwater because you have so much less stretch when you launch a Sammy into next week and have fish blow up on it more than 50 yards away.

I went out this morning and started killing the fish in the rain on a drop-shot rig. I was reeling in to re-cast when a fish nailed my worm. It turns out that it was a tiny Striper! I never would have guessed that! Sometimes I make screaming faces in my pictures...I'm not pulling an Ike here.

I had a snake charge my top water not too long ago at dark. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1210816099/0#0

loving my carrot and revo stx combo too...i'm using the suffix 20 lb. braid (6lb. diameter) though, which is nice stuff.

I just bought a carrot 7'3" MH casting rod. I used it this morning for the first time on Lake Lanier and really really liked it. I only caught a couple of keepers, but was very impressed. But I do have to admit that I've heard so many things great things about St. Croix lately that I'm thinking about trying one of their legend tournament series rods.

Nice fish! I ordered the 7'3" MH carrot on sunday from Tackle Warehouse and am anxiously anticipating a rod tube on the porch tomorrow! Can't wait to try it out! Hopefully I'll catch one as big as yours with the new stick!

Revo STX

Nice catch! The "over-the-branch" bite is always interesting!

Haha that's a great! I used to fish with live bream and cut bait off of this dock on a private lake in Texas where the club cleaned all the crappie and bream. One day there was this big bass just hanging out in plain view on the end of the dock and I would dangle my bream in front of her and she would not have anything to do with it. One of the guys who worked there told me to pull out some slack in my line and stand back and throw my bream over the side just like the bream fishers do when they release one. Needless to say, she annihilated that bream and it became a standard "pattern" of mine.

Thanks Micro...it takes a lot for me to kill a snake anymore. I killed one a couple years ago cause it was a copperhead in the backyard, and my little brothers play back there a lot. Plus, I'm a student of natural resources in the forestry school at UGA, and ecosystem diversity is very important to me. Who would want to kill all the snakes?

here is a photo of the snake

I've been using almost exclusively shimano reels for years, but after hearing so much good stuff about the Revo reels on here (and elsewhere too), I decided to buy one. Well I bought it yesterday, threw some suffix 20 Lb braid on it, and headed to a campus pond...that reel is AWESOME! I am very impressed. I am very grateful for all of the good information on this forum. Caught a dink and a snake haha! It was getting dark and I thought I saw something lunge at my topwater...but stayed on the surface, figured it was a snake. Well I cast again and cranked down on it. Not sure why I did, curiosity I guess. Well it sure was a snake. I couldn't see very well (flash lit the photo way up), so I couldn't get excited about reaching down to unhook it, even though I figured it was just a Banded Water Snake. He managed to free himself shortly afterwards and I let him wriggle away to live another day. Great reel...fun night!

I have been using spiderwire stealth 50Lb on some of my heavier rigs, but just got some suffix 20Lb for lighter work. Tried it out for the first time last night and loved it. I hooked a small one on the edge of a beaver dam and pulled some serious brush back with the fish! I just started using braid this year, so some of the other guys here may correct me, but with my baitcasting gear I sometimes have to "lob" the cast to get the distance...i.e. can't just fire it out there as hard/quick as I can. I'm not saying the distance is shorter, just a different cast...slower/smoother motion. Has anybody else experienced that?

Mattlures, What a great picture and day! Just curious, how big is that toad on the right?

My GL2 models have them.

Don't forget the Lucky Craft "Pointer" and "Sammy". I caught a spot that went 4lbs 14oz a couple of weeks ago on a pointer.

My pb came when I was young. I must have been about 12 or 13. I caught it on a live bream in thunderstorm in East Texas. She weighed 7 1/2 lbs. I caught one that same year in the same lake with a jig that was about the same size. Can't wait to catch one bigger!

My fishing parter uses spiderwire stealth (I think 20 lb) and loves it. He uses it on a fenwiwck spinning rod and quantum reel. The lack of memory makes fluke fishing and skipping under docks a breeze. Also, we tend to get into a few stripers, and the braid gives a lot of confidence. I will probably put braid on a spinning setup this summer.

Thank you roadwarrior...just needed somebody else to remind me not to waste $40 bucks. Are there any Loomis flipping/pitching rods under $220?

I am wanting to get a telescoping flipping/pitching rod and can spend up to about $140. I am just now trying to learn how to flip/pitch successfully, and want a better set up. I currently use a combination of Loomis and Al Star baitcasters...and have to admit that I like Loomis gear. It seems like weight would be a major issue with a 7'6" rod, and from my experience, Loomis is light. I fish Lake Lanier a lot in Georgia, so most of the cover I fish is rocks, brush, docks, and stumps...doesn't tend to be the grass. I want to use braid, is there a certain type of guides I need to shop for? How about the Procyon from Daiwa? Super cheap...must be a reason it is only $39. It has IM7 graphite and aluminum oxide guides. I have learned that buying quality is worth it in the long-run, but I have to admit that this is a tempting price for me at this point. Anybody have any major problems with that rod?