Marty

I've got an HMG spinning, 6'6" medium power and I like it very much. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

I'm an artificials-only, C&R guy, so using bass as bait turns me off, although, like you, I don't know the effect it has on the fishery. The practice would be legal here, except minimum keeper size is 12", so that wouldn't make very good crappie bait. :

It's not important Glenn, but I still couldn't find it on the FAQs page. I even tried a Find (Ctrl+F) on "kick" and didn't get a hit. This is the page I tried: http://www.bassresource.com/fish/faq.html

Do you have these problems only with Chatterbaits? Are you tying to the snap that comes with it? What kind of knot? You can go to a 50# braid like was suggested, but that won't solve the immediate problem, because it shouldn't be occurring, not with 17# test or 10# test.

I didn't see anything in the FAQs that looked like it related to NGC lures. I haven't used any, but I'm sure they'll catch some fish here and there. I wouldn't buy anything from them out of principle because I consider their advertising to be deceptive and full of dubious claims. If I were you I'd buy from conventional tackle companies. You'll probably get better lures at a better price and be dealing with a more upright company.

Because networks will show them and people will watch and advertisers will pay. Charley does go overboard when it comes to blatant and gratuitous promotion, but he's been on TV for a long time. There must be a reason.

I've read reports over the years that say good things about a lot of the other brands. I personally have used (in addition to Senkos) Zoom Z-Nails and Yum Dingers and am very pleased with both.

Absolutely.

They also own Luhr Jensen. As far as I know, it's the Rapala VMC Corporation that owns all this stuff and Normark is their North American distributor.

I've used both Chatterbaits and Booyah Boogee Baits. I agree that the Chatterbait has poor components, but I couldn't detect any significant difference between the two as far as ability to draw strikes.

What programs are they advertising on and what messages are they broadcasting?

I agree with mferris, the Cabela's web site has considerably more than their catalogs would lead you to believe. For years, their catalog selection has paled in comparison to BPS. The web site probably does too, but the gap gets narrowed.

Super Flukes float without a hook, so yes, there's a reason they're pretty buoyant. I've used them and other soft jerkbaits with weight on the hook shank. But instead of weight molded to the hook, I've used rubbercore sinkers with the rubber removed. The lures stay down better and still have good erratic action as long as you don't overpower the bait with too much weight.

If I can paraphrase Will Rogers, I never met a smallmouth that I didn't like. Even the dinks fight hard. Just a super fish.

I don't know all the lines, but your specs will be pretty hard to meet for a non-superline. The only line I know that approaches your requirements is Tectan from Cabela's. For example, 9.2# test is .0079 diameter. I believe that converts to .20066mm. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0030000119135a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=tectan&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=tectan&noImage=0

Just remember that, all other things being equal, a given line performs better on a larger spool. Personally, I'd never use 8-10# line on a UL reel.

Mono is a very good line for bass. I personally have not noticed any particular problems with stretch, although amounts of stretch vary. My first consideration is that the line must be spinning-friendly, that is, relatively limp and low memory. Three such lines that are suitable that I've used recently are Trilene XL, Original Stren and Gamma Copolymer.

IPT can be hard to come by outside of the BPS catalog. As far as I know, spool size and ratio are the only two factors. Unless you also want to consider that the less line on the spool, the less the IPT. So if you make a real long cast and retrieve at a constant speed, the IPT increases steadily during the retrieve. As to whether the difference is significant, I don't know.

I am neither a math teacher nor major. But it seems to me if you want to look at it as two separate events, that is, qualifying for the Elite Series, then making the Classic, it would be .000111 x .34 = .0000377 This, like other such exercises, depends on a false assumption, namely, that all of the 1,000,000 anglers are of equal ability. Changing the subject, does anyone remember the Conseco Challenge of a few years back, when if you entered, Conseco would pay $1,000,000 to any entrant who guessed the top six finishers in the FLW event in the right order? I computed the odds and had it verified by math people: the probability of winning was unimaginably low, 1 in 26 trillion!!

Take a look at Stamina. Maybe Barlow's too. http://www.staminainc.com/hooks.html

Whether it's a Loomis or not, there's always the possibility that it's a good value. A lot would depend on the place, how well you know and trust it and what the manager tells you about the rod and to what degree he'd stand behind it if problems develop. I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole if you don't know and trust this business.

No details as of now. She collapsed and died. As far as I know, there will be an autopsy Friday.

You obviously don't fish pike and pickerel waters!!

That'd work. But if you hooked a big fish that took line past the tape, it's gone. If there was a knot you'd have a chance. I have a couple of the original Zebco Cardinal reels with the rear drag. They came with a gizmo called an arbor. It was a circular piece of plastic that wasn't connected and was flexible. You could open it up and put it around the spool. Its only purpose was to reduce the spool capacity.

I use cheap mono as backing regardless of what line I'm fishing with. I use enough backing so there's room for 50-60 yards of the fishing line, which is sufficient for bass fishing. I don't think it matters how the backing is attached to the spool, since if you hook something big that actually spools you, that connection is going to break, period.