ChiCityBasser

Ok I understand and I have 7 casting combos right now with 2 7.X reels and the rest being 6.3:1 reels.

The 6.4:1 reel is a good choice if u are getting away from jigs and plastics

No I didn't know that I wouldn't fish with the boater I register with and thanks for that info also.

Thanks for the great info and tips as I just found a boater for the illini division and this info really helped and gave me some things to go over with the boater before we even get ready to start fishing.

Yeah I like the Classic Patterns episodes also and would love to see some new episodes as well.

My favorite reels: Spinning: Catalyst PTi-20B Casting: Quantum Energy PT E761 and Quantum Accurist PT AC101 HPT Casting reels are sharing double duty as favorites.

Glad to hear you are enjoying it also and your avatar pic looks like some of the lures I've purchased off ebay before.

Thanks Paul and gonna give it a try for this season and sure it will be a learning experience and thats fine with me. LOL that is so true as I'm looking up and researching lake info and conditions for that time of the year and which 4 rods I might want to take along and tackle. It's gonna be a long 4 months.

Just joined and registered for my first tourney on Lake Shelbyville here in il. Fishing as a co-boater/co-angler and registered as early as I could to try to guarantee a pairing for the 4/22/2012 Tourney which is also my birthday. This will be my present to myself and a chance to learn and try to at least put one fish in the livewell from the back of the boat.

I have 5 Quantum PT reels with an older Accurist PT 501,a newer Accurist PT, a older Energy PT, a Energy PTXM and a Kinetic PT and not a problem with any of them. The Energy PT was purchased used 2 years ago and after a good cleaning has been flawless. The Accurist PT 501 is roughly 4 years old and it's time for a cleaning but it has performed well also. Those are just the casting reels and on the spinning side I have 4-5 spinning model PT reels as well that have all performed great. I haven't had any experience with the Smoke but if I was in the market for another casting reel it would be at the top of my list. I will be adding the Smoke spinning reel to my arsenal during the BPS classic with the reel trade in as well.

Welcome to the board

ABA has rules for boat operation and says you basically must discuss sharing time for his/her selected waters prior to ooze-off. Nothing about sharing operation of the boat.

I'm a quantum guy myself but I've heard good things about the lews and the premier reels as well as the curado. I like the exo but as with anything new it will have to see repeated usage to gain its following. You can't beat the price of the Lews in that field.

Congrats on the Jig fish and for sticking with it and gotta improve myself with jig fishing as well.

My three shallow cranking setups consist of a Cabelas Prodigy 2pc 7' M/F with a Quantum Catalyst PTi-B20, this is my spinning outfit. I also have 2 casting outfits, a Kistler 7' CRR M/MF with a Quantum Energy XMPT and a Cabelas Prodigy 7'MH/MF with a Cabelas Prodigy 6.3:1 reel.

There have been no disadvantages or problems for me as I have fished 2 pc rods for years and still have a 2 pc rod I use for shallow to mid diver cranks and a couple of others with no regrets at all. Rod technology has really improved making the 2 pc rod a good choice for limited space without sacrifice on sensitivity.

Try the Dick's Tec Spec Rig&Jig 7' MH/F rod which I have used for unweighted senkos,jigs,topwater and some crank work. The rod is surprisingly sensitive for a budget rod and worked very well trying to feel the bit on an unweighted senko on braided line.

Cabelas has the Xml Walleye series rod model# XMLWS704-1 7' M/MF 1/4-5/8 which might work well.

Cabelas has replaced the XMLTi with the new Platimum Z rods for 2012 and after reading a bit on them they seemed to have stepped up above the xmlti but still keep the price at $200. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fishing-Rods/Casting-Rods%7C/pc/104793480/c/104764680/sc/104823180/Cabelas-Platinum-ZX-Casting-Rod/1312588.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-fishing-rods-casting-rods%2F_%2FN-1102351%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104823180%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BBRprd1312587%253Bcat104764680&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRprd1312587%3Bcat104764680%3Bcat104823180 Specs: http://www.cabelas.com/custserv/custserv_popup.jsp?pageName=TechSpecCabelasPlatinumZX The rod specs on the components look like they are quality as well. Looking at the 7' MH/F possibly when they do hit the stores and if they are that much lighter then the xmlti they are truly light rods.

LOL same for me and my wife knows if she needs me to do anything it will have to be before 7 and after 10 lol because I'm glued to the tv.

I like both of those as well as Getting Schooled with JP Derose and Lost Lake. I added it as a separate channel for $3 because in a package it was $15

WFN is also on dish network as well

True I'm not a fan of the saltwater shows either but I can get around them moreso than the hunting shows.

Glad to see the new shows are returning to versus and the other channels as there has been plenty of hunting shows on and I had to get WFN as one of my channels to enjoy fishing shows. Plenty of Bass fishing on WFN throughout the week.

The Cabelas XMLTi present from my wife mentioned earlier with a Quantum Accurist AC101 HPT 7.0:1 mounted for now.