SWMIBASSER

What lakes do you fish in the SW?

The prolite is EXCELLENT. But if you have any intention of making long casts with anything heavy note that you will probably empty the reel. It doesn't hold alot of line.

A longer handle will pick up more line per turn of the handle. To visualize imagine how much distance a civic tire covers in one turn, as compared to the distance covered by a 35" truck tire.

Is there a handle option available for these reels? I'd like to add a longer power type handle to pick up more line per turn of the handle.....

It's all about confidence. And experience. I started taking apart my Abu round reels when I was adolescent. The experience dealing with a stone simple design that goes together everytime has given me the confidence to takle any reel. You just have to pay attention to how it comes apart.

Me too. Then switched to 8lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid. IMO it does everything better than XL. Stretch, abrasion reistance, strength, diameter, handling.

My reel brand loyalty stemmed from growing up ONLY Musky fishing. An Abu was simply the only thing that would hold up. Because of that, up until this year I've only used Abu reels. Revo's were out of my price range, and I've never had a problem with the round reels. So I've been using either 4600c3's or c4's depending on what I'm doing. I do want a revo, but based on the feel of those vs BPS reels, (also taking into consideration price-obviously) I've decided to go with a few BPS reels. Simply because I want a lower profile/lighter weight for some things. I'm not brand loyal on rods. Loomis are nice, and they have a good warranty but are overrated IMO. What you gain with a Loomis is availability of a model with a very specific application. With that said I do have a Loomis rod and plan to pick up the 7'6" Bronzeback spinning rod. But when simply comparing price, my Rogue, and BPS Johnny Morris ELITE, are just as good if not better and much cheaper. The BPS rod wasn't much cheaper, but it is also comparable to a higher end Loomis than my 6'10" SHR I've also had a couple Falcon rods, and still have one. For my money they offer the best bang for the buck.

For me a scan of what they carry says it all. If a place has white and green pork frogs, culprit worms, NFL team crank baits etc that tells me the staff isn't clued in at all. Likewise, if they lack tubes, shakey heads, drop shot hooks/weights, senko's etc, and green pumpkin, and watermelon colors they are probably not on top of things either. I've found several Gander Mountain stores to be quite good. And a couple of BIG stores to be just EH.

I bought last years BPS ProLite Finesse and couldn't be happier. I bought it for my jig/pitchin' rod. I liked the small reel profile. When comparing it to other reels on display there it really is a very nice little reel. I like all the BPS reels and based on the display reels I'll end up with all my baitcasters being BPS reels.

That's what I'm planning to do. I have an older bucktail rod I'm going to use. It was built before the MONDO bucktails became popular.

for me it really depends on the trailer and profile I'm trying to present. And also the skirts and/or jigs of course. On my homeade jigs I didn't have to trim a bunch with the skirt material I used.....Some pre-made skirts need to be trimmed quite a bit (for my use) I'm what I call a middle of the road jig fisherman. Or power finesse. I don't flip, I don't use 1/2oz or bigger jigs, I don't use heavy line. I also don't use 1/8oz jigs, spinning rods, or light line.

St. Croix make a baitcasting drop-shot rod. 6'9'' ML with an extra fast tip. Aside from casting lighter weights I think the spinning rod/reel gets the nod when using anything you want to free fall on slack line (ie spinning reel with open bail) Small jigs, tubes, wacky, dropshot, shakey.

My too. He add a bit of personality to bass fishing. A few years back everyone had a cow about how he acts. Now everyone tries to be more like him.

I would have to double check but I want to say it was actually smaller than Trilene XL when comparing 8lb to 8lb

I spooled all my spinning reels with 8lb hybrid last season.....I loved it. But I've been considering stepping up to a 100% Flouro for a few reasons. Invisibility, sensitivity, and sinking line. I'm torn though because of so many conflicting opinions on the various Flouro's. I'm debating just sticking with Yo-Zuri

I used to be a die hard Abu fan. Before the Revo came out. Back in the Musky fishing days the Abu was the ONLY thing that would hold up to the beating that put on them..... I've got a bunch of round reels......It seems they always get close on the spinning reels but there is always something that needs to be tweeked. I'll stick with Pflueger for spinning reels. (Supreme and President) If I had my choice I'd swap all my baitcasters over to Revo's. I just don't like the expense.

Cheaper and a board member may be the way to go...... IMO the "weedlessness" of a jig is more a function of the head shape, and the hook eye location in relation to the shank of the hook than whether it's horizontal or perpindicular. The jig type as pictured couldn't be any more weedless.

I myself would really have a hard time buying a dedicated spinnerbait rod.....And I definately couldn't at that price. Look at the BPS Johnny Morris Elite. I just picked one up. Light, sensitive, recoil guides....To buy a comparable rod from someone else you'd be paying a bunch more. The elite is my new jig rod, I have a Rogue for tubes, a Loomis for shakin', and my crankbait rod is a old Tim Horton Plueger crankbait rod. My jerkbait rod is a Falcon lowrider..... IMO reaction baits don't need a super sensitive rod.....All your contact baits, jigs, dropshot, shakin', tubes, etc require more sensitivity.

To better answer your question LureCraft (makers of Poor Boys) sells them for 7.99 for 10. Unpainted. They also have these heads.....I just picked some up friday, 10 unpainted heads for 7.99. These are 3/8 oz. They also have the green pumpkin paint I used to paint them and the skirt material. These are hand tied skirts using 80lb Stren braided line (I have it on my Musky rods).

You definately won't be dissapointed I can assure you of that. I have the Loomis SHR821 with a Pflueger Supreme 8030. (I like smaller reels for some reason) Great combo.

Yeah I think their stores are pretty hit and miss. The BPS in Portage IN was missing ALOT of stuff I thought they would have.

without question the worst on-water behavior I witness consistently is other fisherman. I see guys cutting off other guys en route to a spot/section, fishing within a handfull of yards, full bore runs close to shore, etc...... Some of us need to remember that others have the right to the lake too.

I actually got this one for 10bucks cheaper.....I didn't see the extreme reel in that size at the BPS store. Anyhow who makes those for BPS?

Bass Pro Shops ProLite Finnesse. It's last years model. I'll post a link when I can. Sorry can't post links yet :-[ I really like it, but as preventative measures I'd like to pick up a new pawl (which I should be able to do from BPS) and if it uses bearings that others do maybe I'll look into the ceramic bearings... Some of you are probably doing the : but with an aluminum frame seven bearings and above all the physical size of the reel it is worth the work and $$ IMO.