fish-fighting-illini

Is there a brand or a model within a brand that you want to try some day but haven't gotten around to yet? Be careful when answering this thread as this might be the baitmonkey's alltime favorite thread! LOL Mine would be: Pflueger BC's Either Pres, Summit or Supreme Diawa both an upper mid range spinning and a BC Curado Chronarch 50 mg Loomis upper middle rod Okuma spinnig just for the heck of it Revo Allstar mid level rod maybe a Kistler the ones with the bad reel seats ( just kiddin couldn't resist) Fenwick techna AV Fenwick Aramid

I haven't heard from him in quite a while.

3" Storm swimbaits still .50 ea!!!!

I took forever trying to figure out the best way to store tackle. I had 3 small hard sided boxes one for crappie, one for bass on one for cat but didn't like it. Once I switched to soft bags it was a no brainer. In my case I fish a lot from the bank so I have a small one that has a small selection of what the big one does. I just re-stock as needed. To me the plasic organizers make organizing much easier. One for cranks, one for plasics, one for crappie etc. Tha bag systems with the shoulder straps allow your hands to be free and thus easier to carry everything you need in one or less # of trips.

for Braid I like the Stren superbraid the best. Very smooth casting and not near as many backlashes. I've used Spiderwire before and I didn't seem to like it as well. It kind of helped a little too as I bought my braid last year on clearance at Wallyworld for around $4. Man I should have bought every spool in sight! I don't like the feel of Power Pro it looks like dental floss to me. I don't have experience with it though maybe it is fine. I've never tried Suffix either.

Do you mean as in never ending bait monkey? or just the fish then freeze then wait to fish story?

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I hear ya RW I try really hard to just tell facts or re-iterate what I've read. I know I lean toward Pflueger for spinning anyway though.

( Think Steve Martin and phone books) My 2008 Bassproshops Master catalog arrived today! Wooo Hoo ahh spring can't be far away. Now the 2007 can be a crapper reader. I told the wife now I can spend twice as much time shopping for fishing stuff! LOL PS I still can't believe they sell these things in book stores for $5 ???

I saw where the senate or one of those big whig groups threatened the NFL to lose its antitrust exemption. They said they would legislate if the NFL didn't put a certain game on free tv. What the heck is this good use of my tax dollars? I hate greed as much as the next guy but doesn't this violate the rules of buisiness principals? Don't we have something more important for our politicians to do? If the politicians want to legislate important things maybe they should look at .. oh I don't know say oil or energy price scams.! Sorry just my ranting and raving! FFI AKA - Matt Crum

a monstor big x 2 heck if you can get that for $74.99 you can buy 3 and sell on E-bay for $100 keep 1 and sell 2 and almost free Take the Grand pobah RW's word on this and buy it if you can afford the $100 if its $75 def buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If $75 is too steep then so be it been there done that myself several times in the past. Come to think of it I'm going to go to my Dick's ASAP

Hey Bass take a closer look those, St Croix's can be hard to see the model at times. I don't think the triumph's are a $100 rod ( ? ) but I could be wrong. Several people including RW ( the St Croix grand pubah of the site ) feel they are not worthy of the St X name. The Triumphs are always bright orangeish yellowish writing. The Avids are pale blue writing. If one happened to be last years Avid for $100 snap it that is one heck of a deal! Like was mentioned look for a Shimano Clarus in that price range or while at Dick's many people have had good luck with Allstars ( do a search for models). I think Cart7 (?) and several others have mentioned Allstar's ( Muddy as well I think). let us know what you pickout and later follow up with how it worksout for you. Just my .02 FFI AKA - Matt Crum

For about a month and up until the holiday it was an awesome time for good deals on Ebay. I saw Pflueger Medalist's, Curado's, Citicas, Chronarchs you name it and at some great prices. I would imagine many of them are tny and pro fisherman coming off of the water and re-stocking, upgrading etc. Many of the deals were for brand new reels which wouldn't fit that scenario. The forum flea market didn't seem to be so hot and heavy. Any way if you are wanting a deal it might still be a good time.

I wouldn't buy anything over prob $150 on E-bay and anything more than $100 would have to be new. I would never buy a boat, a car or electronics on E-bay under any circumstances w/o being able to go and test / see in person. Many more safe options localy as far as I'm concerned. Just my .02 FFI AKA Matt Crum

basicaly my vote is most of what he said times x2. I have a Symmetre but not a Supreme. I do own a President and would say it compares very well. I don't think you can go wrong either way. Take care of the baitmonkey and buy them both! LOL

Thanks guys, No one was hurt and surprisingly and luckily no major damage to my truck. I did notice long scratches as the ? slid across the top of the cab. My guess is the boulder, concrete or heavy ice chunk was almost 10-12" 's accross. Robby you are wise well beyond your age of 21 years, and the " Jack Johnson" part was hilarious. You, your parents and your teachers should all be commended. No offense but I might have went the " Jack Johnson " route had it not have been 3 of them almost a mile from the orig site having a seemingly endless supply of rocks. I also had a wife and 2 8yr olds locked in my car w no cell phone while I was on the phone with police and watching the thugs from a distance. In retrospect I should have waited and surprised one and did the Jack Johnson. It would have save a bunch of time and hassle for all. In light of a very near by situation that happened approx 6 months ago where an idiot dropped a patio block off of a bridge overpass in a 55mph zone. It killed the driver. I couldn't stand by and do nothing on this. If something later would have happened I couldn't handle knowing I didn't take the time to try to solve the problem in advance. . The person in that case btw is in prison as we speak.

Another take is Trophy wife Barbie - She drives a red Corvette, has well lets say fake large ones, wears mini skirts, thongs and has a ring twice the size of first wife Barbie's ! LOL

On the way home from a gathering some little punks decided to throw a large rock or piece of concrete at my truck as it passed them at 35mph. It hit just above my wife's window and just before the kid's window in my S10 ext cab, Luckily no one was hurt. It was raining and dark but we saw 2 kids in dark hooded sweatshirts but didn't get a perfect look. I circled back and as passing by they spotted me. As I cam around the corner they vanished. I called the police ( small town ) and they seemed to him and haw around. I spotted the kids again 3 of them so I called the police again, got the wife and kids safely away and stood in the rain keeping an eye on the hoodlums as best as I could. By the time the police got there the hoodlums had vanished. Via a little detective work I found out the kids had been in the DQ shortly afterwards but nobody knew who they were. In restrospect I should have just confronted them when I had the chance and let a few fly. Just had to vent thanks for istening!

hey Bass, I own a President in the 6730 size. I love it only thing I maybe wish is poss I should have bought the 6735 for what I fish for. That said 4lb bass are not a problem on this, smooth drag nice smooth operation and a sharp reel to boot. I can also use it for crappie w/o a problem. I love the handle personaly. Everyone has their opinions but I think the graphite problem might be overrated ( just MY opinion). Muddy even did some tests trying to get the graphite to twist and couldn't get it to do it. I believe LBH, Dodgeguy, Muddy, Fivebass and several others own Presidents and rate them highly. I also own a Shimano Symetre and it is a fine real also smooth but on the surface not worth the extra $20 in my opinion. Longevity could make the $20 difference so only time will tell. The weight might come into play for the $20 also for some people but for me it is not an issue. In fact my 6730 weighs 4% less that the 2500 Symetre I just received ( fri) a Pflueger Medalist but have not had a chance to fish with it yet. It is also a sweet reel but again on the surface not noticeably worth the extra $20 but how long it lasts might be the deciding factor although my president is a year old and no problems whatsoever. None of this means I am right. These are just my observations / opinions. It could be my overall lack of experience although I do fish 2 - 3 days a week so I should have enough water time to offer a fair opinion.

I think this was the series of rod I saw at my local tackle store but don't quote me on the exact name. Man were these light. I had never heard of them before. The looked to be in the out of my price range of around $200. They were feather light, seemed as light or poss lighter than the St Croix Avid that I held next to it. I didn't do a scientific comparison though. Has anyone else seen or used these?

Kind of interesting to see what happens in a year (In Dec 07) 1 Johnson Century SC on a 6' whatever rod reel broke 1 Johnson country Mile SC on a 6' whatever rod 2 Shakespere UL SC's on 5' UL for the kids both are broken but in warr 1 Quantum S3 spinning on a 7' Fuji cheap rod gave away the reel to a needy kid1 Quantum S3 spinning on a cheapo rod 1 Shimano Aero Symmetre on the 7' St Croix unidentifiable rod 1 Quantum Mantra BC on a 6' 6" BPS Qualifier rod 1 Mitchell 308x spinning on a 6' 6" Berkley ML 1 Pflueger President 6730 on a 6' 6" Berkley ML 1 bought and sold BPS Qualifier cheapo BC caught some nice fish on this but needed to try out first E-bay sale ( odds are Cart7 bought it, sold it and now owns it again ) 1 Shimano Symmetre 2500 on a Fenwich HMG 6'6" 1 Shimano Citica on a BPS Extreme 7' MH 1 Pflueger Medalist on a St Croix Avid 7' M I guess the bait monkey has been a busy little critter I've bold typed or struck out the changes from last year First I'd seen of your reply Speed, don't worry I'm still not in the $1,000 category!

A really steep hill!!!!!

Some good points all around. I'm not sure the picture did justice as I didn't think it looked that bad ( this from a guy (me) with no lights up). The only thing I don't like are those stupid blow up things though. They just have " Clark Griswold " written all over them.! LOL Particular thorn because my only "trash quality" neighbor is the only one that has put one up. You get tired of hearing the darn fan running all of the time. I almost did the pellet gun trick! I was tempted! Keep in mind when we were young you just worshipped those houses that had the ton of lights. So in a way it is about the kids.

LOL that portion is pretty funny Raul

Merry Christmas to the mods Merry Christmas to all of you out there as well Matt Crum- AKA Fish-Fighting-Illini