rubba bubba

I've used 10lbs braid on a baitcaster and it worked well enough; not great but not bad. Now I just use 30lbs braid and run a fluoro leader 6 feet or so of whatever diameter the situation warrants (my range is normally 6-12lbs). Learn the Alberto knot and your line options increase substantially.

Thanks for the info - didn't know about the BYO life jacket. After the fishing is done, what happens then? Any more work/volunteering to do? On the water - what do they do for bathroom breaks? Do you get assigned a different pro every day? Or do you get to pick a pro based on a number out of the hat you get?

If anyone out there has been a marshal in any Bassmaster competition, I'd appreciate your thoughts and experience based advice. I'll be a Marshal at the upcoming Classic and have never Marshal'd before so any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. Advice on what to do, what not to do, before/during/after the fishing, etc.. would be welcomed. What am I responsible for? Any training videos out there? Things like that would be immensely helpful as I really don't want to bungle this in any manner so what to prepare ahead of time as much as possible. Recommendations on where to stay? I'm planning on staying close to the launch to minimize my morning drive down there, and then just drive to the weigh ins or whatever evening activity is going on. I haven't received the packet yet so not sure how much info/instructions they will provide. Roy.

Thanks for the post; picked up another 1. Great bang for the buck. Shimano's are never on sale unless they're closing them out. This one has been on sale several times now; no clue why but I'm not complaining.

What are the current water temps? I'll be heading down to Naples next week and would like to know what stage they're in.

That Captain Bob finally hacked your account.

Do they have it in Lefty? I'll be a guinea pig and test one out.

It's all good; just havin' some fun.

Whatever you do, do NOT paint them. Clearly yours are collectible being from the rare, limited edition Gauguin cloisonnism line, that Lews secretly produced. Keep them in a secure vault...

Looks like it'll be a killer reel. Priced too high, though, imo.

Anything in Lefty?

Before you send it back make sure they are the same reels. You list the specs from the 1 you bought as having both centrifugal and magnetic, however the $39.99 one at Bpro is magnetic only. Plus the Bpro one is a graphite frame - not sure if the one you got from eBay is aluminum or graphite.

This picture is awesome.

My wench is out of town - I wonder if Abu will take her and send me a replacement..

You will only be missing out on the fun and satisfaction of trying new and different toys. You won't catch more fish, but you may enjoy fishing more. Find a deal on one and if you don't like it, you can sell it for most, if not all of what you paid for it. And don't take RM's tone too seriously - his communication skills are poor but he means well.

Many times (arguably most of the time) smoothness of a reel is dictated by how clean/lubed the worm drive is as it readily collects small particles and is not easy to clean correctly. I've had countless reels that felt grindy until I took the worm drive apart and cleaned them thoroughly. Problem is, that's not quick and easy to get to. You can do a poor mans clean by getting some degreaser in there and compressed air, which will help.

I floated it for 2 1/2 days last year in the summer blast furnace heat and the river was still too cold to be in it (swimming) for too long but it sure made the heat bearable. Rainbows dominate on that river as I caught a ton of them and only 1 smallie (I was fishing for smallies).

My understanding in talking with Fritz a few years ago about the non-instant anti-reverse was it gives the deep cranker better feel of what the crankbait is doing underwater. He never mentioned anything about softer-better hook-ups. However I'm old and could have forgotten/missed that part.

If only they would make 50G's....sigh...

Per one of your original questions on the Core vs. the TP: - if money is not an issue, the Core is the way to go - no brainer here - if money is an issue, the TP is the better value

Man that's a lot of wraps. I do 5 up and 5 back with the Alberto and have never had it fail yet.

I didn't want to drop the $$ for a Winch as I don't crank a huge amount so I went with the 4.7:1 Pro Qualifier (actually 2). I have other Revo reels - S's and STX's, I just didn't want to spend the premium they're charging for the Winch.

I just now noticed that on all their other reels; ouch. Did they say anything at the booth that would imply that's going to change?

Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate it.

I can take them out and clean them myself - have done it for cars numerous times and it's no big deal. If it was car part, I'd know where to go online for good pricing, just have never bought any outboard parts before. I was hoping there'd be more self-mechanics here.