Jrob78

I try to fish whatever will catch fish. I do find myself neglecting certain techniques more than others so I try to make an effort to be open minded about what I should throw.

I have to agree with you. The D's were great reels and built like tanks The Curado's retailed at $199, the highest of any Curado. Some people thought the 200's were too heavy but they were great reels. The G series is the only one I know of to really take a beating from the public and that wasn't really because of how the reel performed.

They are definitely unique. I wish somewhere around sold Edge rods, I would love to get my hands on them.

Interesting, I somehow missed those.

What rod is that?

Many of the lakes in California, where the big swimbaits first became popular, are stocked with rainbow trout. Besides that, it doesn't matter if they've never seen a trout before, they will still eat it.

I agree with you on flat sided cranks. I like them when the water is colder and I can fish them slower. Any of the baits you mention should be worth trying out. I prefer XCalibur XCS sq bills for cheaper baits. If you have an Academy close by the H2O Xpress sq bills are great for the money also.

This is what I use also.

I'm sure there are but they wouldn't result in catastrophic failure in an undamaged blank. That was my point in posting the video. If a blank is taken care of and not damaged, it won't break in a lifetime of real world fishing situations.

This is what a rod will do when it isn't damaged. I don't think most people are putting this much strain on their rods while fishing. If your rod breaks after the first year, it's because of something you did to it.

Contact St. Croix and tell them your model #, they will probably send you a new guide in the proper size. Once you get the guide search online for how to replace a tip, or post here and someone can help you.

When you make a really long cast and almost spool the reel, you lose your ipt at the beginning of the retrieve. This matters more for some baits than others.

"Because accidents do happen" That's like saying Ford should fix your car under warranty when you wreck it.

Then don't buy a rod and stick it in the closet for a year. It's the same as any other product with a limited time warranty. It's not that hard.

Exactly, there is isn't any reason whatsoever for a rod to have more than a one year warranty. In turn, Shimano should, at the very least, keep prices the same on new models of rods and not raise them.

Love em. They suit my casting style really well.

Savage Gear brings it every year. Their new swimbaits look awesome, I see a couple that I will buy and their new soft baits with the internal mesh should be a huge hit with wacky riggers.

TW has their day 1 videos up. I know what I'm doing for the next hour or so.

If you want to fish plastics, you have to pitch to likely spots, hop it a time or 2 and on to the next pitch. If he's too far out to pitch, you will have to go with a moving bait or get him to slow down.

I haven't used any Megabass sq bills but love the Lucky Crafts. The BDS series, TKO and LC series' baits are all great.

This is how I set up my baitcasters too. I always have some side to side play in my spool, not a ton but some. I might turn my brakes up to 9 or 10 on Mag Z reels or 3 brakes on with Shimanos but that's what the brakes are for. I like my reels to feel loose. I often get line blowing up during a cast only to have the brakes pull it back in at the end of the cast. This probably isn't the way a beginner should set up a reel but it works for me. I do have to use a fair amount of thumb and do get backlashes occasionally.

The Fighting Frog is a really good bait as well.

If you're going to comment, at least read the op.

I'm not a big fan of PP either but it is a quality line and isn't going to break for no reason.

I don't know what they are but they're making me itch. lol