The_Natural

As said, holding a rod before buying it is important. If you handled all the rods you are looking at, I guarantee you that one would just jump out as the winner. The Avid and GL3 are VERY close in sensitivity, so you have to go with ergonomics/feel. The Avid is a better value, due to equaling the performance of the GL3 for less money, but if the GL3 feels better....it will be worth the extra 50 or $60. I think if you are even considering a Gloomis, you should go with the IMX. You can find them on ebay pretty cheap. The IMX was my first 'high-end' rod, and I set the hook on every leaf and branch in the dam lake on my first trip out with it. The sensitivity blew me away....

Points and ledges (or dropoffs as I called them years ago) are the main 'structure' I fish. This is probably due to the fact they are easy to spot. The classic creek channel bend next to a dropoff seems to always have a few fish hanging out. My favorite way to get down there and catch them is a 5/8oz Zorro short arm spinnerbait. See that wire weedguard? Greatness....

x2 I like merthiolate versus pink, but my favorite is bright opaque red. I do know several people who swear by pink flukes though.

Rear grip length is important to me as well, only because it directly affects balance. If I see a 7' split grip...it better have at least a 10" handle. Anything shorter seems to make the rod tip-heavy.

I have used O-rings and tiny rubber bands meant for braces in the past, but those hair bands you posted are clear, which is a solid improvement over what I've been using. Excellent....

40-60% is the retail standard. More important is how cheap companies can make their baits. Take Strike King for example. I think as a whole they produce the cheapest and most poorly constructed baits of any lure manufacturer. They have their baits made in Mexico for next to nothing (China is the promise land compared to Mexico manufacturing). Their crankbaits cost in the neighborhood of .30 cents to manufacture, and they charge $3 to retailers. If you look, Strike King has the largest group of Pro-Staffers of any hard bait company, and they can afford to pay them big bucks due to their profit margin (they pay KVD $439,000 a year). I don't mind paying the markup on quality baits, but companies that put cheap manufacturing as a priority over quality irks me. If you buy enough baits, you can tell which one are cheaply made.

I bet he puts a Japanese reel on it. As far as craftsmanship in reels.... Japan>everyone else. I was hoping he would put an Ardent reel on it. Haha...Ardent reels are so heavy, the rod would flip over backwards.

In the fall when fish school up in the backs of creeks, the Lucky Craft Moonsault is absolutely deadly. It's all about the moonsault cb-100; for some reason the 50 just doesn't have the shimmy the 100 does. The moonsault cb100 is the bait I give novice anglers to use when they fish with me. It always catches fish.

You might rethink getting one if you handled the new '09 LTA sticks. They are quite a bit faster than previous models (which I like), but the increase in speed/power made the blank heavier, and they are noticeably tip-heavy. However, seeing how you just purchased a Legend Tournament, you may not mind tip-heavy rods.

I bet he puts a Japanese reel on it. As far as craftsmanship in reels.... Japan>everyone else.

You can get black, but I don't know of a dark green. It's just large diameter heat shrink tubing. I used to put gray on my BCR's, and it looked awesome.

Great rod for all plastics and jigs 5/8oz and under. I highly recommend it (I owned the casting version for a few years).

The Calais is archaic. It is smooth, but it's a brick and I hate the Johnny Morris mirror finish. It is long overdue for a redesign. There are several reels I'd take over the Calais.

Buzzbait! Black skirt with a black blade. This and a worm that moves a lot of water, i.e. a paddle tail worm, zoom speed worm, or zoom g-tail. Large worms in general move water, so any 10" is great in the dark. The buzzbait is what I'm throwing 90% of the time though.

Aw come on...I've got some electric blue foregrip covers with your name on them 8-)

They definitely look nice; I've handled them but haven't fished one.

No; I'm saying the rod can affect casting 25% at the most. A reel will make or break it....it affects it 100%. A Daiwa Zillion with a full 145yds of line will not cast a weightless finesse worm...regardless of rod. A pixy will cast that bait on any rod. I'm saying the reel is far and away the most important.

Cabelas has the best customer service and return policy of any retailer...period. They will take ANYTHING back they sell....with or without a receipt....used or not. However, Cabelas doesn't have the selection bass pro does. If cabelas carries it though, I'm buying it there.

I disagree with this. Rod can definitely help or hurt your situation, but the reel is your main component....or more specifically the spool. I owned two airy red pixies for a long while, and one resided on my bcr802. It casted weightless finesse worms brilliantly. If I put that same reel and bait on one of my flippin' sticks; it will shorten the distance some....I'd say 25%.

I'd go with the Curado; I'm not a fan of the Zillion's magforce Z. Both are smooth, well built reels.

Prodigy; it's the old model Advantage I believe....It's in Cabelas bargain cave.

I like 'em. I stock them for use in Sluggo's and 6" Senkos, due to their extra-long shank. Seem just stupid sharp to me.

The Loomis's in the corner have cork, but it gets covered with rod wrap.

bought a few of the Berkley TEC rod racks today....just got them put up. I think they look pretty sharp, and figured I'd show'em off. I had an old wood rack, but it was too small and wasn't very contemporary looking (my rods were getting made fun of at school). I purchased them at Cabelas....they are like $29 I think. I just need one more rack and I'll be straight.

This would be better.... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0066762124204a&navCount=0&podId=0066762&parentId=cat601359&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat21404-cat21406-cat601359&catalogCode=9IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601359&hasJS=true