MarauderYak

It's essentially a redesigned version of a centrifugal braking system. You could say that any centrifugal braking is "self adjusting" since the braking force increases with the velocity of the spool. I THINK their new cast control is supposed to be more sensitive to the acceleration of the spool which is why they are calling it self adjusting. They're obviosly marketing it, but by calling it "hype" makes it sould like it doesn't actually work, or isn't an improvement. I wouldn't call it hype without trying it (which I haven't).

With an identical hook set, a longer rod will cover more distance than a shorter rod, but it will require more effort (force) from the hook setter. You actually get more leverage out of a shorter rod. See this thread: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1250045298/7#7

Beat me to it. I was typing my previous post before this was posted. Edit: Just re-read your post. There's a problem. In your equation "distance" does not represent the length of the rod, but length from the butt to fulcrum. If you consider the force on the rod TIP to be constant (ie the fish), the the longer the distance (fulcrum to tip of rod), the more work the fish can do on you (mechanical advantage goes to fish).

When it comes to bass fishing, the action & power of the rod come into play more than mechanical advantage (leverage). But for the sake of discussing leverage, think of the rod like a solid lever. To have a lever you must establish the fulcrum (pivot point). Most commonly this would be which ever hand is the furthest up the rod. The amount of "power" felt at each end of the lever is equal to the force applied X the distance from the pivot point. So if you take a 6' rod and grasp it 2' from the butt end, and put your other hand on the butt end & press down with 2 lbs of pressure, you'd be at a stand still with a 1 lb weight on the tip. 2 lbs X 2 ft = 4 ft lbs. 1 lb X 4 ft = 4 ft lbs. So the longer the distance from the pivot point to the tip, the more leverage the FISH has. A 6' Tuna rod will have a long foregrip to allow you to establish the pivot point as far up the rod as possible. So if all rods were broom sticks, you'd want a shorter rod with a longer butt section for more leverage. But when talking about bass rods it isn't quite that simple. For starters, the first "x" amount of force applied to the tip is working to bend the rod, and the rod itself then has stored energy that will work for you. In addition, the action of the rod effects the amount of leverage as well.

Good tips before this, but here's another small thing that may help: When casting overhand, hold the rod & reel at an angle. If the rod is pointing straight up, have the handle of the reel pointing behind you instead of away from you. At the end of the cast (when the rod is pointing straight in front of you) the reel handle would be pointing more up than off to the side.

Daiwa is making reels for Megabass. It's opening the door for previous Daiwa JDM exclusives to be offered directly to the US market via the Megabass name.

It's not twist, it's just line memory. All mono will do that over time, but a better quality mono will have less memory. Other than buying new/better line, the next best thing you can do is use a line conditioner like the KVD product. In addition, make sure you store your reels out of direct sunlight, and away from any direct heat.

That'll teach those rod tips ;D Seriously, one more thing you might consider would be to tightly tape all the rods together with the butt sections sticking out a litte further than the tips. This will prevent the tips from slamming into the end of the tube when the luggage handler treats the tube like a javalin.

So you don't think the Shimano Cumara, Quantum KVD Tour, Cabelas XMLTi, Bass Pro Johnny Morris Elite, Fenwick HMG, or the Kistler Magnesium (for a few examples) are any good? Those rods are all made in China. I wish we hadn't lost so many of our manufacturing jobs here in the States, and I hope we can start to see more US based manufacturing in the future. But any company that wants to survive is going to make their product in a location that gives them the best bang for their buck. St Croix for example has opened up production in Mexico (certain series only) to stay competitive.

I've met Dr. Hearn, and she is a VERY intelligent (and seemed to be very nice) lady. She also happens to have beautiful blue eyes & a French accent which doesn't hurt. I still have pretty neutral thoughts about Carrot Stix, but it's always a good sign to have tallented people at the top of a company. BTW, that e-mail was forwarded to me, and not sent directly to me from her (didn't want to give that impression).

For my normal fishing, there are two instances where I prefer spinning reels. The first is river fishing from my kayak. I'm sometimes using lures as light as 1/16 oz, and often casting in tight quarters, or in all directions. A spinning reel is much easier to cast in those situations. The second situation is a little more rare, but any time I know the drag will be used a lot (usually brown trout or carp fishing with 4lb test). The drag washers in my spinning reels are much larger, and create a smoother and more consistant drag at light settings.

This is NOT intended to start another debate, but I thought some of you might like to see an official response from e21 regarding a couple of recent issues. The following is from an email sent by the President/CEO of the company... CARROT STIX LIFETIME WARRANTY Carrot Stix rods comes with an Original Owner Lifetime Warranty against defects in workmanship or materials. Element 21 wants to continue instill the confidence to you that we take this warranty very seriously and will always honor this warranty policy. CARROT STIX RECENT BREAKAGE Element 21 is aware of the recent breakage of our rods and has not only discovered the reason for the breakage, but also made the necessary corrections in our production cycle to address this problem going forward. Unfortunately there were several thousand rods shipped to customers before we discovered there was a problem. There is only one option Element 21 can do with the rods already in your stores or the rods your customers have purchased and that is to stand behind the workmanship. If there is a defect in the workmanship Element 21 will replace any and all rods that are defective as a result of manufacturing. Zero questions will be asked on manufactures defective Carrot Stix Rods! Boyd Duckett Recently, Element 21 and Boyd Duckett decided to discontinue our partnership. This was a mutually agreed separation and purely a business decision made by both Element 21 and Boyd Duckett. Element 21 has nothing but positive things about our experience with Boyd the last thee years, but both parties decided it was in the best interest to separate at this time. Element 21 thanks Boyd for all that he has done for Carrot Stix and wishes him the best in all his future endeavors. In summary, I want to personally thank all of you for your support and commitment to Carrot Stix rods. Please do not hesitate to email anytime with your questions or concerns. Element 21 will continue to bring you the best and most technologically sound products the fishing industry has seen to date. Kindest regards, Nataliya Hearn Nataliya Hearn, Ph.D., P.Eng. President & CEO, Element 21 Sports Co. 200 Queen's Quay East, Unit 1 Toronto, ON M5A 4K9

Got a link? I could only find it for $139.98.

In addition to the previous list... Ardent makes a couple of nice reel cleaning kits.

Boron is an element that is very similar to Carbon in the way it behaves. Boron is the 5th element, and Carbon the 6th. Carbon comes in many forms (allotropes), but the one most common to fishing rods is Graphite. Boron can be used in the same way, but it's lighter. Carbon and Boron atoms both like to form covalent bonds which is what gives them their strength. Although very similar, Boron molecules actually lock together a little more tightly than Carbon. So with the same construction, a Boron rod will want to rebound a little quicker, and will transmit vibration better. But the more "elastic" Carbon bonds allow a graphite rod to absorb stress better than Boron. When a Boron rod is pressed to it's limits the bonds just release (ie the rod explodes). Boron rods you see now are typically blended with graphite for added durability.

I don't think you can turn the anti-reverse off on those. Do you have a lure or weight tied on when the line is spooling off? If not, the line is not being pulled down against the pick-up pin. Did you check to see if the pick-up pin is even engaging? Just unscrew the cone & check. If not, just lube it.

You would think that's the case, but ironically just the opposite is true (for them). But we'll see if that changes now that they've spent the last year retraining all their rod builders.

Muddy, I worded it that way because the factory that makes that is still refered to as a Shakespeare factory. If I had said Pure Fishing that wouldn't really narrow it down. Besides, Pure Fishing is actually only one division of the actual parent company which is Jarden Corp. Jarden owns the following campanies and their subsidiaries: Ball®, Bee®, Bicycle®, Crawford®, Diamond®, Dicon®, First Alert®, Forster®, Hoyle®, Java Log®, Kerr®, Lehigh®, Leslie-Locke®, Loew-Cornell® and Pine Mountain®; Consumer Solutions: Bionaire®, Crock-Pot®, FoodSaver®, Harmony®, Health o meter®, Holmes®, Mr. Coffee®, Oster®, Patton®, Rival®, Seal-a-Meal®, Sunbeam®, VillaWare® and White Mountain; and Outdoor Solutions: Abu Garcia®, Berkley®, Campingaz®, Coleman®, Fenwick®, Gulp!®, JT®, K2®, Marker®, Marmot®, Mitchell®, Penn®, Rawlings®, Shakespeare®, Sevylor®, Stearns®, Stren®, Trilene® and Volkl®. But there again... if I had said Jarden corp. makes it (which is actually the correct answer) that wouldn't have meant much to anybody.

Shakespeare/Pflueger.

What does eBay have to do with the MSRP of a product? The $250-300 bracket in the Shimano lineup is filled by the Chronarch. eBay actually does give an indication as to market value. I wish Shimano would've just redesigned the Chronarch 50 Mg instead of moving it up to the Core. I think they (Shimano) just assume that all the 50 Mg customers will step up to the Core 50 Mg. I have a 50 Mg that I got a deal on, but it's going to have to be a bigger discount for me to step up to a Core Mg. I'm sure it's a great reel, but I think they've moved it up out of the range of a lot of "once a month" fishermen like me.

If KVD puts his name on a reel or rod it's going to be black & red. If Skeet puts his name on a reel or rod it's going to be black & yellow. These guys have their signature colors & they really like them. Could he have asked for the yellow to be more sublte? Yes, but that's not his style.

I think you should post Ken's number for those who have an issue.

yeah, I was expecting some new stuff to replace the recently discontinued reels. Daiwa had too many reels priced too close together this year. Sol $249, Fuego $249, Zillion $269, Zillion Aniv. $299. Makes it awefully tough for them to sell enough of any one model when they're only going to sell so many reels between $250 & $300.

In the visible light range, Red has the longest wave length. Because of this, it is the first color to be absorbed by water (it can penetrate the least). The Blue/Violet waves are the shortest & can penetrate the deepest. That's why as you get deeper everything takes on a Blue tint. Items that appear red under full sunlight no longer appear to be red when there are no red light waves. Most red items will appear a sort of brown as the red waves become more sparce, but that will vary on the exact hue, tone, and transparancy of the item.

This story started a while ago, but here's a release from TFO fly rods... http://www.tforods.com/ Here's a partial from the page: Gary probably said it best: "All I have ever wanted to do was build the best rods available for everyone to fish. Through TFO, I am able to deliver a true performance rod that once cost three times as much. Working with TFO allows me to put high-quality rods in the hands of potential anglers that otherwise would not have access to this kind of gear. It is these new anglers that through their enjoyment of the sport, will help us protect our threatened fisheries." We've started production of 28 one and two piece rods in both spinning and casting configurations in 6', 6 ½' and 7' lengths. They will feature single foot guides with gold SIC inserts, skeletonized lower grips and fast/progressive actions. Retail pricing will be $99.95 and availability is expected in early September. Gary's analysis of the entire process from blank performance to finish out has been amazing to see and we expect these rods will be even more amazing to fish. Please join me in welcoming Gary to our Temple Fork Outfitters family.