Five-Alive

I was a marshal at the elite on Smith Mountain lake last week and 2 of the pros I rode with used a biodegradable soap to spray on the pollen and clear the water, it only took a few squirts and parted the pollen back immediately allowing them to get a better look for sight fishing. As to Faircloth pointing his camera at the motor, I am not saying that he didn't but in his defense I rode with Gerald Swindle on day 4 and a camera was on the boat and at the first stop after the take off his camera was pointing straight up at the sky. The camera was mounted with a ram mount so I had to straighten it and tighten the ram mount and point it back towards the front of the boat. We were instructed to cover or block the camera if the pro had to relieve himself.

but it says KVD on it!! just kidding, it does say thousands of uses in one tube and even if that is an overstatement it would be reasonable per application.

The carolina keepers mentioned earlier work really good. I will use 2 of them when throwing anything over three quarters of an ounce because I have had them to slide down the line some. Another thing is the typical carolina rig will sometimes allow you to only break off your hook and leader when getting hung up, with the carolina keeper you will either lose the whole rig or if the weight is what is hung up the keeper will slide down the line when you are trying to pull the rig loose. If the keeper slides down the line, I like to cut that entire section of line off before retying.

I picked up the Ardent smart cull system last year for $39.95 which I thought was a little steep and the price has dropped about $5 this year. If you take the time to weigh your fish, you can dial and set the weight with the smart cull and it makes culling very simple. The system has worked flawlessly for me.

http://www.***.com/searchresults.html?search=products&searchtext=save+phace I assume you are talking about the Save Phace masks, if so they can be purchased through Tackle Warehouse, Bass Pro, etc., etc.

TAMU Fish - the website is http://www.geminisportmarketing.com/

Tackle Warehouse has some of Daiwa ones on sale for $99.99. Ike has switched sponsors for this year. http://www.***.com/Daiwa_Mike_Iaconelli_Casting_Rods/descpage-DMICR.html

Shaw stayed with a friend of a friend while fishing the Smith Mountain Lake tournament last year and the ones that hung out with him said he is truly a nice and sincere guy. I like Shaw and I don't think the excited voice is fake but I agree it can get on your nerves in short order. I agree with others that the sponsors are paying the bills and Shaw represents them well.

Unless you will be using the reel exclusively for cranks (especially deep cranks) I would recommend going with the E7 and just slowing down when you need to.

I have been ticked at them too but I still love to walk through the stores. The closet BPS store to me (Concord, NC is 150 miles away, I had purchased a nice rod (well, expensive anyway) from the Myrtle Beach SC store (250 miles away) and on the first trip out it broke into 3 pieces on a normal hook set. I called BPS and was told that since it was still within 30 days of me purchasing the rod that it could be swapped at the store. I took the rod to the Concord store and was told that I had to take it back to the Myrtle Beach store which by then would be more than 30 days from the date of purchase and would not qualify for an in store exchange. I think the customer service person could see the look of shock in my face and she said wait here just a minute and she returned with a manager that allowed me to exchange the rod at their store.

I also have the 565 and it does a good job. Both of the previous posts are correct. I ordered mine and it did not come with the trolling motor transducer. I was reading the instructions with the unit and it told about contacting Humminbird to exchange the transducer for the one you needed. I had jumped the gun and had already ripped the packaging open so I called Humminbird and explained what I had done. The customer service rep I had was very helpful, told me which transducer I needed and told me not to worry, just to pack it up and return it. It arrived in just a few days.

I fish a jig year round with good success without rattles but could see it making a difference in stained water. This may be a case of what ever you have more confidence in.

I was in BPS about 3 years ago and they were running a sale on these rods. I ended up with a 7' MH casting rod, a 6'6" M cranking rod and a 7' M spinning rod. They are far from measuring up to my Cumara's but at $49.99 each I couldn't be more pleased.

I like a Boo Baby Boo jig with a tiny paca trailer as well. I use the 5/16 ounce.

I really like the roboworms too, caught 200 or more on them dropshotting this year.

I have 3 of the 6500 series with the bait clicker that I use for stripers, catfish and for fishing off the piers at the beach. I still have a Shimano calcutta (round reel) that I still use for freshwater bass fishing other than that it is all the lower profile shimanos for me.

The super fluke has been my favorite but after all the positive comments about the slug-o I am going to have to pull some of them out. I don't think I have fished one of them in years but used to have real good luck with them. Someone mentioned the magnum fluke, it has been used with pretty good success here rigged on a jig head for stripers on Smith Mountain lake.

I am not ashamed to say that story brought tears to my eyes, that is awesome and says a lot about everyone that stopped to lend a hand.

I hope others will comment but I have read in another posting that there seems to be a delay in the steering with these units and bass fishermen found that to be annoying.

It is Bass Tech, but Gerald G-man Swindle was involved. Here is a link: http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tv/news/story?page=g_tv_desc_BASS_Tech

I have the ardent smart cull system and it works great, a bit pricey at $39.99 but I am not complaining.

I have had hook setting line breaking issues with 15 lb. P-line floroclear this year. On one occasion I set the hook on a jig and the line broke and my first thought was I should have re-tied, after tying on a new jig I broke off on the hook set on the very next cast.

kind of along the same line ..... I caught a bass with a plastic worm coming out of his hind parts!!

that's it

First, I am terribly sorry for your loss. Just my opinion but I would seek replacement value of equivalent rods. I hope it works out for you.