SoFlaBassAddict

Dobyns 704 and 734.

Yeah yeah I know. Been busy lately. Just picked up a decent job that I need to build and ship to New York. Going to be nothing but work starting on Monday. I'll shoot you a PM sometime tomorrow.

No sir! I'm staying single as long as possible. Now, if I find a woman that likes to fish and watch football or watch kids while I fish..... Then things may be different.

Does running from my couch to the fridge during a commercial break count?

First thing I thought was that it had to be the famous rock pit you've been telling me about, Doug. That is one ridiculous fish. What an awesome catch.

If you go out there in a small boat, don't play with the gators. Otherwise they may decide to play back. Worms, frogs, spooks, dippers, traps, etc etc. It's just a matter of finding the fish out there. Once you find them, work over the area.

It can be a lot of fun...........or it can be extremely frustrating.

Lots of people thought that before they got laid off when the economy tanked. Save your cash. Go to school and enjoy it. You've got your entire life to go fishing.

Exactly the same thing I was planning on typing after reading the OP.

wunderground.com weather.com The weatherbug I usually use all three to get a fairly good picture of what the weather is going to be doing.

Good God. That thing's a horse! I might poop on myself if I caught one that big. I know I fish in areas where I have the chance, but seeing it actually happen would be ridiculous. I'd be exceedingly happy with something over 7 right now. I just can't get a big fish into the boat this year.

10.20 and rising. Good to see. Lake Okeechobee Water Levels The pit lakes down here have come way up in the last week or so. The one I live on was down several feet, now it's actually just over the normal pool.

You must have one of those special edition Daiwa vacuum cleaners. Spiffy!

I'll probably give it a whirl with one of my Citica E's. Same basic reel as the Curado E. Need to get myself a new muffin tin to hold parts though. That's something I've been meaning to do for a while. I also need to pick up a nut driver and a couple of new small screwdrivers. The ones I have right now are pretty much worn down. I really don't want to strip a screw head out on a reel.

Agreed. Completely taking everything apart is the best way to do it. But the videos do give you a good set of tips on a thorough cleaning and lubing. Dismantling everything is more of a once a year kind of thing for me. I send mine out for that. I'm not ready to completely break mine down, even with the schematics for my reels. I probably should give it a whirl one of these days. When I did mine I was surprised at the amount of drag material inside of a few of the reels I use for Peacocks. Mind you, that could have been grease that was pushed off of the drag washers. Definitely a lot of black crud and a bunch of q-tips to fix that.

I know what videos you're talking about Bruce. Good info. It's not a "major" cleaning. It does give you enough info on what to do and all though. Did most of my reels last night. Makes such a big difference when you clean them out. Those videos leave out stuff like soaking the bearings, oiling the worm gear, etc etc. It's d**n sure a step in the right direction though.

In this situation though, Wayne, the OP mentioned a small boat. I'm assuming it's a jon, crawdad, or some other type of inexpensive boat. As much as I'd like to put an HD unit on my Jon, it just seems overkill as well as not that feasible. I'm going to have to go with what Francho said. In this situation, the only "fish finder" you need is the one attached to the end of your line. If it is a regular bass boat being used in small waters, then you have several different choices in SI units. From what I understand this is what you're looking for. Expect to shell out some serious pesos for one of those. I've got an inexpensive Eagle unit on my Jon and couldn't be happier with it. I get all of the information from it that I need.

The one thing that really makes me giggle about all the complaining, is that people have always said it's not bearing count that matters, but bearing quality. Yet there are a bunch of people seriously complaining about there being a bearing or two less. Whatever happened to quality? Like RW mentioned, after they get into the consumers hands, I'm sure we'll all learn that they are still very good quality reels. Shimano wouldn't release a bunch of crap and tarnish the name they've developed over the years.

Next year. This year there were several new champions, a handful of extremes, and micro guided Savvy rods shown. I was hoping for the Savvy crank rods to come out this year as well. I can see the mindset for offering micro guides though. It's what's "popular" right now.

Looks like a different paint job on a Savvy or a Champion to me.

I know I do, without even having to hold one. I'm not familiar with the frame they'll be using now, so we'll have to see. It's far easier than having to do a gear swap though. Having the options is a big bonus in my eyes.

Generally if they have stock, you'll be replaced with the same product. Once they no longer have the old style, you'll receive the most comparable item. Usually that is the current years model.

Robby Grant from Shimano says it's the same blank design as the Cumara. http://www.***.com/ICAST11.html?ccode=ICSHICRUC

Rabble rabble rabble!!! The intarwebz is serious bidness!!! People are ticking and moaning about a bunch of pictures they've seen? The reels haven't even made it into most peoples hands yet. Give it some time. Shimano has always made a quality product. I personally am glad to see some of the changes. I'm not dumping all of my gear and buying new stuff right away. Though I do see a few new toys making their way into my lineup.

Epic scam on a scammer. That was great.