MarauderYak

I managed to get a look at the new Tessera Skeet Reese rods. I don't want to say too much about them because I don't want to take a chance on getting anyone in trouble. Let's say they'll be hard to miss. I bet they'll be a big hit, but not everyone is going to love them (kinda like Skeet).

Nope. A rod's action will only slow when shortened. (no matter if it's an inch or 2 feet) Since "speed" is measured as a % of overall length deflected, the only thing that can happen when you shorten the blank is the deflection "point of origin" is now further down the blank. Where a blank bends changes when you shorten the tip and if you shorten from the butt you've reduced the length so the "same" bend in a shorter blank is by definition, slower. Power/backbone/whatever you want to call it has NOTHING to do with action/speed. They are completely independent of one another. I'll stick with what I said. If the deflection point of a 72" rod is 18" from the tip, then 25.0% of the rod is bending. If you lose 2" off the tip you now have a 70" rod that deflects 16" from the tip. Now 22.9% of the rod bends. You've turned a fast rod into an extra-fast rod.

I'm not saying what they will cover (I've never tested them), but the Shimano warranty clearly states it's only for the original retail purchaser, and all warranty claims must include the original receipt.

Just to clarify... the rod will obviously be stiffer & will react more quickly when casting the same lures (if it will). Whether it technically became "slower" or "faster" in action will depend on the exact taper, or curve, the rod had before. If the rod was previously pretty soft down to the fourth guide & then started getting backbone, then you should've made it faster by losing a little off the tip. In any case, the power does go up.

I'm pretty sure you can beat the reliability & performance of a Chromica pretty easily. But I guess this thread is about looks, so if you like it... I guess that's all that matters.

Those catalogs are large, and pretty darn cool to look at. I've gotta laugh when I look at their very upper end rods. Each model of rod has it's own name, and it's always something like "Raptor", "Tomcat", or "Night Hawk". They use a lot of US military names for their rods. They're out of control.

BPS Extreme.

It aint easy to diagnose a problem like this on a forum, but a couple of thoughts... I personally think it's better to set the actual cast control & back off the tension knob further than that. Don't try to set the reel up to where it's a "thumb free" cast. Only let go of the spool for a second before you start to feather it with your thumb again, and stop the spool with your thumb before the lure stops pulling line. If you make a high, rainbow cast the lure is going to quite pulling line before it ever reaches the water.

Frank, I just got a $100 gift card to BPS for Father's Day (Wahoo!) and plan to buy a Pro-Qualifier BC reel when they go on sale. Are you saying I won't get the sale price if I use my gift card? Or am I not reading this correctly? Thanks, DMB hey DMB, sorry for the confusion. here's what i'm talking about: www.basspro.com/save100 this is the current promotion for $20 off a minimum $100 purchase. let's say you want to take advantage of this promotion and so you place an order for $115 in merchandise. if you paid by credit card, you'd get the $20 discount. but, if you want to apply your $100 gift card toward this order, you would have to order another $85 worth of merchandise to get the $20 off because the amount of the gift card is subtracted from the qualifying amount of the promotion, in this case, the minimum $100 purchase. this is why i hate getting gift cards from BPS as gifts...not only can it be worth less than the cash amount it was bought for BUT you don't get the rewards points for them either. cabela's does not do this and the only reason i can think of why BPS does is because they figure they already have your money so why bother. I bet I know why they do that. There's a lot of people in the idustry that get a BPS discount (pros, vendors, outdoor writters, employees of a few different companies, etc) and they get their discount on gift cards. I'm sure BPS doesn't want a "double dipping" on discounts, but they should have some sort of way of knowing if a gift card was purchased at a discount or full price. I know I get a discount at BPS, but it doesn't work with a gift card. If it did I could buy a gift card at a discount, and then get my discount again when I used it.

I'm sure I'm guessing on the light side with the 80,000 units, but that still means they would've done over $12 million. I know that's not in a league with the Curado, but that's pretty good. But to your point, I don't think they'll be doing many (or any) more reels with the twitchin' bar in the future.

Didn't work for who? I bet they sold over 80,000 of those reels. I personally don't want one, but that reel was a huge success for them.

I can't think of any spinning reels that use plastic gears. All three listed use some form of hardenned or high tensile brass. You're going to get a lot of different opinions as to what reel is the best. I think all three you've listed are pretty good reels, but I haven't actually fished with any of those exact reels. My current favorite spinning reel for bass fishing in that price range is the Johnny Morris JM2000. It's on sale quite often for $80.

The hot place to eat for this year's attendees will likely by Charley's Steakhouse. But I don't think you'll see quite the same attendance as you see in LV.

I haven't fished it, but I do have a little input. I've flipped/pitched it with a casting plug, and the biggest thing you'll notice is that it takes a little adjustment to get used to thumbing the spool intself, instead of the line. After a while, I actually liked that though. My only real complaint is that it isn't as free spooling as many other reels. I found it a little difficult to get a 1/2 oz plug out as far as I'd like to for a long pitch. I do know 2 guys who have these strictly for fipping, and they do like them though.

i dont like quantum but im here to help...just so you know that code if you open it up inside it has plastic gearing,not something i would ever want on my baitcasters,id stay away from that reel and look at high up quantums if thats what your sold on.theres still room on the shimano side however if you still are thinking about jumping over haha. just messin lol I'm pretty sure the main gear is brass. If the main gears were plastic this reel would weigh a lot less than 9 oz. The gear that drives the level wind in pastic. But that gear is plastic in almost every baitcast reel (Shimano included).

The "Best of Show" awards at ICAST are all about who runs the best campain, NOT what the best product is. Who ever hands out the best spiffs & beggs for the most votes is going to win (for the most part). An actual rock as a sinker won last year... 'nuf said.

A reel is a tool. You can typically do the same job with cheap tools, but they will often go smoother with better tools, and will likely be less frustrating. And usually, and more expensive tool will last you longer. If you remove all other variables, and you assume that a more expensive reel is better quality than a cheaper one, will it catch more fish? Maybe. A big fish will expose any flaws or weaknesses within a reel. I've lost big fish due to poorly performing reels in the past. I obviously can't say for sure I would've landed them with better reels, but if I didn't, it wouldn't be because the drag started grabbing.

put a small mark or piece of tape on the spool so you can watch & see if the squeek happens when the spool is always in the same position. Does the reel function fine, or have you tried it?

That reel is essentially their Bionic Plus reel that retails for $65. The differences are the Tournament reel has the recurve handle and different bearings. The Bionic Plus has 6 double shielded stainless steel bearings. The Tournament reel has 10 bearings, but they aren't double shielded. In other words, they are more likely to fail sooner. That doesn't mean with normal use & maintenance that it shouldn't last for quite a few years. If you could still find one of the old Extreme's for $40 it would be a better choice though.

Yes, it is definately possible that you found an employee at Bass Pro who had no clue. That sucks. I really hate when that happens too. As far as where the reel is made, I can usually tell you where reels are made. That includes all reels. But if I told you, I'd say... "it's the same factory that makes these other reels". If I told you it was made at the Rushan Fudi factory that wouldn't mean anything to most people. You are correct that adding bearings isn't always much of an upgrade. If they add 2 bearings to the handle knobs, yeah it's going to feel a little different, but it's not really a performance upgrade. And as I said before, you are correct that the picture in that 2007 ad showed the Extreme rod when it was really a cheaper rod. I was told that all the stores were supposed to have a big sign close to the main entrance that explained that mistake, but it was still a big problem for them. I have no problem with Cabelas. I buy things from them as well. For fishing I prefer BPS.

And you can sit there and state that this isn't confusing? Think about the target market for this product. Its not the guy using the rod and reel that will be buying it. It will be a wife or son or daughter that purchases it as a gift. The item is specifically placed on back page, where higher price point items are usually featured. A "Half Off!!" sale price on something that looks like a $200 item is like crack to the target audience.Its not a bad deal, don't get me wrong, but it isn't that good. It's not confusing to me Looking at it from other's point of view... even my description was confusing. I can assure you that the people responsible for the ads at BPS will watch this thread. What precisely would you like to see them do differently with a promotion like this next time? Not list a value maybe? What if they took more room in the ad & flat out stated something like... "We took our current Pro Qualifier reel and made the gears out of duraluminum instead of brass..." I'm not assuming they are going to do what you ask, but I guarantee they'll listen to suggestions as to what people like & don't like.

Thanks for the link. I think I have a better idea of the skepticism. Like I mentioned before... next time I see a similar situation, I'll see if I can get more details to post here. If I'm not sure about something, I won't present it as fact.

I never said you are lying. I said you were mistaken. If you are positive you aren't mistaken... then you're lying. If I must, I can get pictures of the Father's Day ads for Harrisburg for the last three years. Not only was this not advertised, it was never made. I spoke directly with the importer that brings in all the BPS reels & he confirmed that there's NEVER bee a special make-up Rick Clunn. I'm not going to presume what your intentions are, or your intelligence level is, but you're wrong. Before you keep calling me names & making idiotic claims about me, you should attempt to get your facts straight.

I completely understand your confusion as you've stated it here. I do work in the industry & work with BPS alot. Some times it's not so easy to see things from a different perspective. When BPS lists a reel or combo with a regular name followed by "limited" or "Special" or "Tournament", they've made a special production run. Often it's just a cosmetic change on a reel & paired with a matching rod. In this exact case it meant taking their current PQ reel & upgrading to duraluminum gears. When they list it in an ad, they often list a "value". If the items were actually sold at a higher price they list a "savings". What's the true value to you? Well, I think that mainly comes down to the reel. If you like the PQ, what's it worth to have one that's 7 oz instead of 8.8? For the rods & reels I currently own, the rod in this combo makes for a great loaner combo. If it would help in the future, I can usually get more detailed info as to exactly what these special purchases are. For example, the internals of this reel are the same as that one. I'm more likely to be able to help with BPS, but may very well be able to help with other retailers as well.

This is a big forum with a lot of BPS customers. Can anyone here produce any proof that BPS sold a Rick Clunn LTD special make-up combo? I'm betting no, since they never did. I never said anything about trusting all companies. I said I can't imagine a retailer (refering to sporting goods) would try to deceive their customers into buying something & thinking they were getting something else. If they did, that retailer wouldn't be around long. I still haven't heard an explanation how buying an upgraded reel with a free rod for the same price as the original is somehow a bad thing.