ChiCityBasser

Daiwa Exceler for around $80 and possibly cheaper on ebay. It casts well down to 1/4 oz at least from my experience with crankbaits. It was a top pick in a article in bassmaster mag a while back as well. The spinning reel was also a top pick for reels less than $100 I believe. Another choice would be the Cabelas Prodigy made by Daiwa on sale now for $60 I believe. Of the 2 I would go with the Exceler.

Good pickup, I have last years model of the same rod and had a chance to get it out a couple times before the freeze here and it felt pretty good. It seems that Kistler is the Quantum of the site but always wanted to try one of the rods and waiting on spring to really put it thru its paces.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fishing-Line/Fluorocarbon%7C/pc/104793480/c/104719680/sc/104338080/Cabelas-No-Vis8482-Fluorocarbon-Line-200-Yards/702377.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-fishing-line-fluorocarbon%2F_%2FN-1100385%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104338080 Cabelas 100% is pretty good and has very little memory. Used it on one of my spinning setups in the 6# test and it worked very well. I've heard good things about the BPS XPS but haven't used it.

Log into the Kistler site and post a question and I'm sure you will get a prompt response from one of the kistler staff will get back to you on the forum. I have the Kistler Mag TS MgCBSAGM70 Crankbait rod which is a 09 Model and the 2010 Model is the Mag/Mag TS CRR which is essentially the same rod per the kistler staff. Is your Mag TS MgCBSAGM70 the Alton Jones Model? How much was the retail price? Do you like it? Thanks. No my rod isn't the Alton Jones model and the retail was I believe $159 but I got the rod off ebay for around $60 with shipping and handling. My rod is a 09 model and the current equivalent would be the MgCRR rod for 2010 which is now on sale for $89 on the Kistler site. Its the same blank for both rods per the Kistler staff. I've only had it out a couple of times to test before the freeze over here but I really like the rod. I've only used it with shallow cranks but plan to try it with traps and spinnerbaits as well.

Log into the Kistler site and post a question and I'm sure you will get a prompt response from one of the kistler staff will get back to you on the forum. I have the Kistler Mag TS MgCBSAGM70 Crankbait rod which is a 09 Model and the 2010 Model is the Mag/Mag TS CRR which is essentially the same rod per the kistler staff.

Most of my rods are 2 pc rods with me only having 9 setups and 6 of them being 2 pc rods. I have 2 XML's, 1 XMLTi, and a Mag Touch which are all good rods and I've never had a problem with one of them coming apart while fishing it or fighting a fish. One of my crankbait rods is a 2 pc Daiwa D Force rods for shallow to medium diving crankbaits. The crankbait rod is the only one I have ever had come apart on a cast and its also the least expensive at about $20. I just started to getting into a selection of one piece rods and I have confidence in myself and any rod that I'm fishing with to catch fish.

I was in the same boat and picked up the Kistler Mag Crank bait 7' M rod.

I got a Cabelas MagTouch 6'9" M rod and also a Cabelas Prodigy 7' M rod and now I need a couple new reels to go with them.

I would go with the 6.3:1 and if not the quantum then the revo if you are going for a 5.x:1 reel for cranking duties. My cranking reels are a Cabelas Prodigy and a Daiwa Exceler for casting both in the 6.x:1 range, both lefties. Spinning its a Quantum Catalyst B.

Welcome to BR and hope ur season turned out well for you and that you were able to get a couple more in the boat...

Welcome to the site

I read about this lure awhile back in a issue of BassMasters and thought of trying it but at $34+8(shipping) thought it was way to expensive. Now they are on sale for $12.99 which is about the same as any Lucky Craft lure. They are roughly 5.5" which puts them at about the same size as alot of swimbaits. I was wondering if anyone has tried one or are they just another gimmick lure? Any thoughts or opinions...

1. Strike King 1xs (Various colors) 2. Swim Jig (Various Companies) 3. Spinnerbait (Various Companies) Majority of my fish this year were on the Strike King Shallow diver crank

I'm about 2 miles away from a Cabelas and heard that they are coming out with a new XML or one with a different name. I have 2 XML spinning rods and 2 casting( not the titanium w/ recoil guides) that normally retail for $139. I picked all of them up when they've been on sale. IMHO, even at $139 these are great rods! They will hold their own w/ rods that cost up to $100 more. It will be interesting to see what the new rod will be like. I have 2 XML spinning rods and 2 XML casting rods and I also have 1 XMLTi casting rod with the recoil guides. They are great rods and I agree they can hold there own against more expensive rods. With both rods being on clearance it will be interesting to what the new rod or rods will be like.

I've never used a leader with braid but if fishing around rocks I could see using a leader. True 30# braid can be hard to break off but I usually keep a heavy work glove in my bag to help break off the braid if I get hung up.

Hummm if if had to be just one rod then I would have to go with either my Daiwa D-Force 6'6" rod with my Catalyst PTi-B 20 and 20# Power Pro for spinning. or Casting it would be my Kistler Mag TS 7' rod with a Daiwa Exceler and 12# Cabelas Flouro.

My reels are all in the 2000 size and thinking they hold around 150-175 yrds of line. If I'm using braid I will go upto 20 or 30 Braid with no problems. If I'm using Mono,Flouro or a Co-Poly I stick right around 8# because I find that anything bigger tends to have lots of line twists and memory.

I haven't got any of the new catalogs. I did go into the Hammond Cabelas and they had the XML and XMLTi rods on clearance for $40 normally $139 and $89 normally $189.

Never have used a leader with braid

I have handled them in BPS but never fished the rods and they felt pretty light to me but as I said never fished one.

I have 20# Power Pro on a couple of my spinning setups with no problems

The latest version of the Sahara

My choice for baitcasting was Daiwa as I own and Exceler and a Prodigy which is made by Daiwa. Quantum wasn't listed but my Daiwas spend more time on the water. As far as spinning goes I couldn't make a choice cause Quantum wasn't listed and as far as spinning setups 3 out of my 5 setups are Quantum.

I own a Sahara and maybe I should have stepped up to a Saros at the time or the Stradic. My sahara was not the greatest shimano experience. It was smooth but has spent more time at home then on the water. Go with the Symetre or Stradic

For me it's quality and performance and also value/deal and my product of choice is Quantum. Now I know quite a few on here have had issue with them but I've only been fishing the last 4-5 years and they have performed for me solidly. I have other reels in my arsenal including Daiwa, Cabelas reels(made by daiwa), a no name rainbow bm spinning reel and a shimano. My quantums spend more time on the water with me and only had a issue with one quantum reel. Took it back and replaced it with a Quantum. Great products and have worked for me everytime.