fish-fighting-illini

I second most of what T_dot said. I've owned and fished both. I had the plastic first and would get a lot of leg cramps and had to scurry to the bank. It was a fun boat but not all its cracked up to be, junk seats, heavy to lift. I then bought a 14' jon extra wide w 9.9 gas, has a casting deck, trailer and he threw in a smal TM. I paid $800. My buddy got about the same thing with mint boat and motor for $600 Look for the wide ones it is worth it. You won't often hear someone say I bought too big of a boat. You will hear many say "wished I bought bigger". Be prepared for the extras they will take you by surprise. Life jackets, anchors, oars, , lic, trail reg, horn etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc ( get the point? lol) Lets us know what you end up with

Avid sorry to hear your bum luck. it is not quite the same as rotator cuff surgery but I had torn ligaments in my left shoulder many years ago from a a M cycle accident. The shoulder I had repaired feels better than the one that never got hurt. The surgery was cake, re-hab was easy in my case just had to swing my arm for a couple of weeks then good as new. I had 2 advantages, I was only in early 20's at the time and I lucked into a D^*% good surgeon. The doc's to this day see my scar and apparently I had the Bab Ruth of surg's ( the best). Probably not apples to apples If I needed it again I would have surge w/o hesitation.

So if a guy was to have a David Fritts maybe he could trade it for 2 Woo Davies and a Rick Clunn? LOL

Muddy maybe what you got when you stopped in was some sort of in-store special? The rod you posted in this post the XTR66MT is a part# in the catalog for the extreme rod. Your link and my link both point to a combo with a PG60MT rod which doesn't jive with Extreme rod part# series. Trout may be on to something that maybe in the links it is an extreme reel ( the reel at least has a similar par# scheme as the cat) but maybe it is not an extreme rod. Doesn't matter just curious what BPS was up to. BPS sure as heck is confusing now matter how you lok at it.

I noticed this a while back. In this link ( if it works ) check out where they have 2 versions of BPS Extreme combo's side by side. One is for $119 and the others are $69. The reel part #'s are slightly different than the ones in the 2007 catalog. The rod part# is not even close to the extreme part#'s in the catalog. Here's the link http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Subclass_10151_-1_10001_1000030 01_100000000_100003000_image__?CMID=FILN_OS_RODREELCOMBOS_BAITCASTCOMBOS BPS is confusing the heck out of me. Not to mention the WOO Davies signature editions adds to the cunfusion. What's up with the major idfference in pricing? I thought about buying a combo but not sure what I'd be getting.

Maybe the Mitchell 308x from 2001 was ok I'm not sure but I've had to return my 2005 308' 2 times in the last 1 1/2 yrs. Mitchell makes me nervous as my present one is also noisy. Save up $20 more and go with a Pflueger president or a Shimano in the price range. For the $18 someone listed thogh it might be worth a shot but not for 3 times per week fishing.

That should be a question that a dealer would be willing to answer. Never hurts to ask.

Hey Ghoti did you say a Cabelas is opening right by BPS in St Charles? North-Westish corner near the river right? I've only been down to BPS once as it is a 2.5 hr drive for me. With BPS and Cabelas though I might have to make it again.

I don't know a lot about higher end rods Muddy but in my price range ( $40 or less) I've used the Berkley lightning rods and like them. I own 2 and no problems ( fast tip?) Bps has them on sale right now you can often pick them up for $20 I also saw where for $64 BPS has their Extreme series on sale and it is probably a much better rod ( from what I've read ). I'd buy a couple right now but I've had a kid in the hospital for almost 1month. Things are tight at the moment not to mention in disarray. ( she's home now doing better but slow progress).

I've seen a couple of posts in various spots about who people thought made the house brand reels and rods. I'd just like to see it all in one thread. In your opinion who makes Gander, Bass Pro, Cabellas reels and rods to "THE BEST OF YOUR knowledge". Opinions are fine as long as they are based on observations. And no fights on this one LOL we will assume everyone is right! It doesn't have to be the whole manufacturers line. IE Gander Guide series 30 are made by xyz reel co. Or Bass pro Qualifier are by ABC co

LOL! Grid I can see where you might not have got that one off to a good start. BPS on your Honeymoon? LOL I do ( no pun intended ) some crazy things but I don't think I would even try that one! ps there is a sportsman's up in Wisconsin near where my daughter lives and it was a nice set-up as well but almost 3 hrs away

I don't have as much experience probably as the other posters but I do know that when I switched from mono to braid on my first baitcaster that the number of my backlashes dropped probably by 80%. Not much I do is ever the "normal" way so take it for what it is worth!

I've heard of people using used spark plugs. I'd wire 2 together if it was me for more weight.

LOL! I forgot about the females on the forum Fisher Chick! It got very windy so the outing turned out to be somewhat of a bust. Hard to cast anything and hard to keep floats where you wanted them. If they could catch a bass again they would get hooked for sure. I think getting crappie might be of interest and easier to pull off. One of the twins did catch a 1 or 2 lb bass at around 4 or 5. One of them caught around a 3lb channel cat and never forgets that. All in all we still had a pretty good time. We'll try again in calmer weather.

great replies, Unfortunately it is getting to the point with $2.50 per gallon of gas I even have to think about it before I make the 45mi( or whatever it is) round trip to Gander mountain. At 15 miles to a gallon its 7 bucks just to visit. That will just about pay shipping to my door. Nothing like looking in person though. On the other hand the bait monkey bites harder in person!

Check these out B junk http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp;jsessionid=4LKKINYI5IY1GCWQNWQSCOQK0BW0EIWE?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=search&id=0001110011811a&navCount=5&podId=0001110&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IH&rid=&parentType=&indexId=cat21380&hasJS=true&_requestid=25612

Sorry mud. I should have mentioned that I set the post up so people can vote for more than one.

I probably almost burnt out my twins on fishing at 5yrs old? LOL They keep saying they don't want to go. Yesterday at 7yrs old they both came up and said they really wanted to go. We'll see how long this lasts! They are female afterall so changing minds frequently is programmed in by default!

Was just wondering what tackle shops people prefer for lures, rods reels etc. I have a Gander mtn near me but it never advertises so I have to drive 30mi's just to see what's up. I like the layout though and they seem to be know a fair amount. I have a Dick''s also but it just seems lame to me. They only put low end stuff on sale and only have a tiny bit in their ads. The closest BPS is 200mi's away but I have been once and loved it as well. If someone mentions one not listed a few times I will add it to the poll.

Today's episode of A day on the lake was from Lake fork. If it is any consolation the guy took 4 hrs w/o a bite. He then started having luck ( he is a pro afterall) in whie Oak (?) somethin or other and Birch Creek? I think they usualy back this up in BASS magazine. Too bad this episode didn't come out before the trip!

B.A.S.S. might have " the " classic But Muddy's post has to be the BR classic of all time I'm laughing, my wife is shaking her head! Sorry mud I have to borrow the text and send it in some e-mails or I will link them to the site.

Husker, Watch your back the posse will be out in force and you stand a ggod chance of ending up on the wrong end of a rope! Don't worry you won't hang though some guy riding a horse named Pflueger will catch you before you stretch your neck! This ought to stir them up! lol

I too use the Roadrunners and Stump jumpers a lot. I have caught many bass and crappie on them. The last one being a 4lb LMB. The nice thing is you can use them for Crappie and catch bass at the same time. I don't think I use anything higher than 1/8 or 3/16" and never use any kind of trailer. I always use the small colorado type blade. I generaly use with around 6-8lb mono. They seem to work very well for me when I downsize with hot temps.

I'm not positive but that trolling motor may cause you some problems anyway. I had one that looks like that believe it was a 10# or a 20#. I had it on one of those small 2 man bass boats and with any wind on electric only small lake didn't know if I could get back to the ramp. If you haven't already used it on this boat don't be surprised if it is underpowered. Then again I was on an electric only lake, diff than just moving around shorelind and having a gas motor. Congrats on the boat you will have fun with it. You'll get her set up the way you want it.

Sorry Bow I must have missed checking the box on replies and didn't notice your Mar 3rd(?) post. I don't know how we got on the subject from "hot blond" to a wife lol but I think we are on the same page. How did you ever come out on this deal for the long run with mom? Any negotiations or a meeting or an agreement?