mase088

It depends on what you intend to use each combo for. Right now I don't recommend any of the ones you listed. And you only listed one brand for your lines, so please be more specific and I'll try and give you a better answer

I'm gonna cast my vote to the green mean fishing machine...the Curado.

Hmm... Spinning tackle: Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft #6 (.010" diameter, 11.9 lb test) Baitcasting gear: Ultra Soft or original formula Hybrid #12 (.013", 19.5 lb test) : .....you all knew it was coming anyway

I have the carrot stick that your looking at and love it. Its great for all the applications you mentioned. And a much better rod IMO, I recently returned a Mojo and bought another carrot stick. Plus you can't argue with a lifetime warranty.

You would be missing out on a high speed reel, which definitely isn't necessary, but just nice to have sometimes.

You totally misread my post, and then tried to correct me by stating the obvious. Go to basspro.com and read the line retrieve for the two reels listed above for the gear ratios. Like I said, just because two reels have the same gear ratio, doesn't mean they have the same rate of line retrieve. And you'll notice I never stated the reason why the line retrieves are different, just that between different reels, sometimes they are, and that the rate of line recovery should be paid attention to more than the gear ratio. Actually here are the links for the two reels I mentioned: Abu: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_74091____SearchResults?ordProd=Y&CMID=BOTTOM_selectitems#itemDetail Quantum: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_104126_100001000_100000000_100001000_100-1-0?ordProd=Y&CMID=BOTTOM_selectitems#itemDetail

I don't know about everyone else, but I like using a higher speed reel for jerkbaits than you have listed to pick up slack line quicker, and a lower speed reel for spinnerbaits.

By the way, gear ratios for different reels do not necessarily have the same inches per turn. For example the Quantum Energy PT with a 7.0 to 1 gear ratio brings in 29" per turn, while the Abu Garcia Ambassadeur C4 has a 6.3 to 1 gear ratio and brings in 30" per turn.

Would anyone happen to have a link to a chart of average breaking strengths for the different lb tests? Like the one Yo-Zuri has? I've been googling and can only find it for 10 lb.

You need to add some crazy legs chigger craws to that list.

I'm very surprised to see all of this negativity about the Curado E's. IMO they are perfect and greatly exceed all of its competitors in its price range.

I use flouro for anything I can now, I love the stuff. Trilene 100% is my favorite. I also use p-line flouroclear a lot as well, depending on what I have the money for or lying around.

I just got my second last week, and plan on getting more. There is a local shop around here that sells all fishing reels and rods CHEAP. For instance, my carrot stick was $120 and the Curado E5 I bought was $138. Gotta love local tackle shops.

I would like to know what people think of this also. I was flipping all day for the past 2 days behind my boater for a tournament. He was flipping with 20lb big game and was able to hoist two 5+ lbers into the boat w/o lipping them on top of pulling them out of the nasty stuff as well as other smaller fish. He also never broke off. I was flipping with 50 lb power pro and popped my line twice, once after setting the hook, missing and it popping in the air behind me, and once after getting stuck and just trying to pull some weeds out. After that I flipped with 15 lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid and pulled three 3lbers in w/ no problem. I was thinking of flipping with 20 lb Hybrid from now on.

I think the keys to becoming a pro in this sport is patience, knowledge, money, luck, and most importantly PRACTICE. I think that it requires a lot more determination and natural talent to become a pro in most other sports such as football. It takes a great deal of determination to put yourself in pain day in and day out while working out and practicing, getting injured and the like. You will definitely be more motivated to go back out and fish after placing bad in a tournament then you will to play football again after having a losing season. You got to have some real determination to do that. But like I said, the most important thing I think is practice. Your mind is not limited quite like your body. You may never be 6'3" 240 lbs and bench press 550 regardless of how hard you try, but you can learn just about everything there is to know through research and practice.

At my last tournament on Clarks Hill Lake, every fish we caught had red lips. When we dumped out the water in our bag when we came in for weigh in, there was a lot of crawfish shells and pieces that the fish had thrown up in the bag. This happened both days. Not saying its all due to this, but crawfish definitely turn lips red.

Thanks, even though all that bad stuff kept happening, all of us just kept laughing about it all and having a good time. I don't think anything could of kept us from fishing that second day though

Haha. After a trip like that Advil and Budweiser might not be bad choices either

Thanks everyone, if you interested in reading the article on the tournament, go to www.collegebass.com. The title is "Veterans taste sweetness of victory" and can be seen from the main page.

That stinks buddy, hope you get everything worked out.

This could quite possibly make BR history as the longest post ever. Like the title says my and my partner took 2nd place on Clarks Hill Lake, but between the 3 boats we had out for Auburn, our team easily had the worst luck. I will now attempt to tell you our story without missing anything, although it is unlikely, from the very beginning. Thursday: 2 of our three boats were going up to Clarks Hill today and we were trying to leave at about 3:30. Me and my boater are waiting on the other 2 guys (boat #2) to pull up to our meeting place as we are loading my things into his boat and truck. We see them pulling up and as they pull into the parking lot we hear a loud busting sound, followed by steam coming from the engine of his truck. Well it turns out he blew the fitting to his heat and air conditioning hoses in his truck, about 1.5 hours and a trip to Advanced Auto Parts later, we are on the road. About an hour into our trip, and before we get on the long drive down I-20 we decide to stop for food, and the Huddle House is our choice. BAD CHOICE. We wind up waiting what seemed like days for sub-par food. After we had finished we stand up to pay, and waste another 25 mins arguing with the waitress about how she screwed up mine and my partners checks. After that ordeal, once again, we are on the road...but not for long. About 20 mins down I-20 we hear car honking at us and they pull right up next to us while going down I-20, so my boater rolls down the window. The yell at us "IS THAT OTHER BOAT WITH YOU?" to which we yell "yes" back. "WELL TELL THEM THEY GOT A FLAT TIRE!" He hadn't noticed because of his tandem trailer, but sure enough he did. So we get off and pull into a CVS to change the tire, or at this point in time, rim. There was probably less than 15% tire left on the rim. We ended up having to drive the rim onto a concrete block so it would be making contact with something, so we could get the nuts off. But we ended up successfully changing it. Back on the road again and we make it to our destination with minimal problems. I say minimal because we wasted another 45 mins in unnecessary traffic because all of the construction caused us to miss our re-routed exit, and sit in construction caused traffic. So what was supposed to be a 3.5-4 hour trip, wound up being 7. Friday: I'll try to make this shorter than Thursday. We get out on the lake to practice for a day before our tournament. We get around to some places we had heard about and wound up catching 6 fish all day, and the only thing we could get a nibble on were shad raps. Our bag would of been about 14-15 lbs with the smallest fish at about 2.5 lbs. We get back to our rinky dink motel to meet up with our 3rd boat who had just gotten in town (boat #3), and our other 2 guys. Once we get back we realize that boat #2's kill switch won't work, as well as my boaters 3-bank charger and recirculating pumps. We had to meet at Academy anyway for the meeting, so while we were there we picked up the necessary supplies. We get back and after another 2 hours of splicing wires and such, we get everything to work fine. Saturday (DAY ONE): Me and my boater launch 16th and make the 20 min run at 70 mph to the place where we caught most fish at the previous day. Rather quickly my boater boats two small fish on shad raps, but they made 12 in. so into the livewell they went. We made a run down to another spot, to come up empty and then back to our 1st spot. Once we got there I hooked up with a 2 and a half pounder on a shad rap and another 12 incher. So we figure lets just wear out these shad raps since thats what they have been eating the past couple days. Well before we left I caught another 13 incher, rounding out our rather pathetic limit. We make a couple more runs to wind up blank, then decide to run somewhere we hadn't been yet. We find a shallow pocket and immediately see fish scatter as we pull up. After fishing for a while in about 4 ft of water, i pull in yet another small fish at 12 in, but wouldn't cull our existing 12 inchers. So we decide to leave the spot and head to another place. It about 12:30 now and check in is at 2:30 so we need to pick up some big fish. We pull into one pocket decide we don't like it, and turn around to leave. Well as we are turning around I see a shallow spot that we are swinging right toward with a boulder about the size of our boat sitting right under the water. After screaming a few choice words which i will not state on BR, there was a crash..... My boater tore off part of his lower unit which consisted of everything under his prop. We make a couple phone calls to come get another one of our boats who has had no luck for the day to pick me up and take our fish back to check in while my boater uses his trolling motor to get his boat ashore. Well we get to check in, make the ride to acedemy where we can weigh in on stage. While I'm waiting to weigh in my fish i hear that boat #3 on our team blew a head about a mile from the ramp on the way to check in, and on top of that they zeroed as well. Two boats down. So my turn comes and i walk up and weigh in our 5 fish for a grand total of 6.65 lbs. Well turns out that wasn't too bad because 1st place had 11.19 lbs and we were in 9th. So I call up my boater and he is getting towed back by one of his buddies that fishes for Montevallo that had zeroed, and once he gets back he is going to drive to Alberton Ga to borrow a boat from a man he knows. And eventually that is successful as well. Sunday (DAY TWO): We wake up this morning only to find that the owner of boat #2 is puking his brains out, but still wants to try and fish. We get "our new boat" loaded up and head to the ramp to get launched. We launch successfully and make the run to the spot where we caught all 5 fish yesterday and my boater catches about a 1.5 pounder on a rattle trap. About that time boat #2 says they are going back to Auburn, he is just too sick. After we fish the heck out of that spot we decide to move. Well by this time the wind is really roaring, so we decide to fish points that the wind is blowing on. We pull up to one and as we are working our way down the wind blown side, about 10 casts down it BAM. I set the hook into a 4-4.5 lbs fish. We land him, exchange high fives, finish up with that point then head over to the next one of the "fingers" that we pulled up on. About 5-10 mins later BAM. He sets the hook into a solid 4 pounder. Move onto the next point and while im fishing i hear a hook set from my partner and him calmly saying "Get the net" I do so and as he is fighting this fish it makes a run down the side of the boat. My parter turns its head back towards him, and I see it as it flashes.....a freaking monster. 7+ lbs, no lies. And then I hear the worst three words of my life come from my partner..."He got off." Well that stinks. We continue fishing thes points, and my partner lands about a 2.5-3 lber which gives us 4 fish. We hit all of the points again with not luck, figuring that the wind had blown too much mud onto these banks, seeing as it looked like we were fishing in chocolate milk. Well now the day is winding down so we head back to where we started and fish the heck out of that spot, and manage another 12 incher to round out the day as we go back to the ramp to check in. We were one of the last boats in, still on time, and the absolute last out of the water. We were also the last ones to make it to academy for the weigh in, so we didn't hear most of the guys weights. But upon arriving we find out that almost no one, including the first place team, had gotten on any good amount of fish. We walk up on stage, and weigh in our fish at 13.24 pounds and a 2 day total of 19.83. We are pretty excited and are pretty sure we have the lead at this point when the second place team from the first day gets up to weigh and weighs in 14 something pounds. They had 10 the first day and wound up with 24.84 lbs so we took a well earned 2nd place. Had we landed that monster and culled that 12 incher though.....it would of been lights out haha. The prizes we got were a brand new self inflating Revere life vest and a GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR AN 8 FOOT POWER POLE. Its valued at $1449 and seeing as I am boatless, I'm selling it. Its in the flea market for any potential buyers. We also earned $550 for our club. So for Auburn as a whole, the weekend was horrible, but at least we did manage second place. Sorry for my horrible story telling skills as well, hope you can understand most of that. Also congrats to anyone on this forum that fished on this mighty tough weekend. It was an awesome experience and can't wait to get back out there with you guys. By the way, I'm on the right in the picture of us holding up our fish.

Kozac, were you at Clarkes Hill? And yea coming down south a little bit would definitely be beneficial for fishing. There are many more teams down here. Penn State is the team closest to you that I know of.

I'm a member from auburn here. What colleges are you looking into, and i'll try and help you find out if they have a team.

We get a practice day on Friday and my boater has a friend that fishes on the lake a lot that is going to give us some advice as well. I think with that combined with what you guys are telling me, we should do pretty good. I'm just glad I'm not going to have to bare the cold all weekend!

I have a couple of quantums, and all are so-so reels. I bought the Energy PT last year and was pretty impressed. Its a little heavy, and sometimes squeals on the cast, but overall its good. I can't say anything about the new Energy PT and Tour Edition though other than they look awesome.