Bigs

I like my zillion cranker but I have to say the first big bass I caught on it which was about 8 pounds, didnt do so well. I was actually throwing senkos with 10 pound floro in 3 feet of water. 24 inch bass got on and ended up gettin off right in front of the boat as I was gettin ready to try and grab him. The reel just feels a lil weak with big fish but it does cast like a dream no doubt. I ended up losing the biggest fish of my life and I cant help but think the reel played some part of that. I think its that 8.8 pounds of drag which just sux imo. Beautiful well built reel tho but not as robust as some of its competition.

I stopped paying retail and started using ebay. I got my sol 2500 for 157 bux brand new a few weeks ago. Wish I had known bout the new stradic and I would have waited. Oh and Jake ya know theres not any blackcock bass in the potomac anyways, maybe some blackcock snakeheads tho(inside joke)

I knew there had to be a catch > turns out the motor was modified to 300hp. Seller said he forgot to mention that and told me today. I spent 30 minutes in a local marina today talkin to the manager of the service dept as well as one of his techs and they told me to stay away from anything modified. So here I am back to square one. They also told me that without a moisture meter that there was no way to tell how bad a crack was. PPI's are 225 bux there and include compression tests and they use a meter to detect moisture. So if and when I find something local , I know where to go. Why is it so hard to find what I want when I have money burning a hole in my pocket?

Ya the man I spoke with at green top yesterday said only "top shelf" dealers/vendors can order stuff like that from shimano and it takes 3-4 days to get it. He said to call back on monday when shimano was open and he would call them with price and availability. Shouldnt be a problem since alot of online stores have it already. Plus I have stuff I can return to green top for store credit which absorbs some of the cost. I usually would never buy a rod or reel from green top cuz they charge retail, there tackle selection is like heaven on earth tho. Guess my daiwa sol spinning reel is gonna be collecting dust soon.

If I can find a place that does in home service then I wont even have to drive down there till I know the boat checks out. Otherwise I have to trailer it 25 miles for the inspection and if it doesnt check out theres no way in hell Im gonna wanna bring it back to them. So thats where it gets complicated since the seller doesnt own a tow vehicle. They also told me if I dont end up gettin it that they will gimme a hundred bux to cover my gas. Now the question for me is how concerned with stress cracks should I be ? Seems like most boats over 5 years old have at least a few gelcoat cracks. How do u tell the difference between gelcoat cracks and fiberglass cracks ? I know gelcoat cracks are easy to fix but I dont want anything with cracks or voids in the glass itself. I know this is part of the pre purchase inspection but what if they miss something ? No one is perfect. I could get home with it and discover cracks I didnt see before. Or even if I dont get this boat and I go to look at another boat , how can I tell ? Where is the most common place to find them and where is the worst place to get them ?

just got lucky and made a few good decisions on investments, nothing major, Im far from wealthy believe me. My 2 boats are both aluminum and not expensive at all. I actually finally sold my tracker yesterday so Im down to 1 boat for now. Hopefully I'll have a 20 foot bass boat by weeks end. I'm constanty buying stuff and selling it for profit on ebay, craigslist, etc..Now matter how bad the economy is , theres always ways to make a buck if you know what to look for. Back to the reel, I wanna hold it and touch it , much like a beautiful woman. Lookin at the pics of it online make my loins quiver ;D does anyone else feel the same way about this reel or am I just a weirdo?

I think Im gonna go ahead and drive down there to see it. Talked to the sellers wife today and she was down there lookin at it, she said its pretty much immaculate so lets hope it runs as good as it looks. Gonna be gettin a pre purchase inspection done to check compression and everything else. If it checks out then Im gonna get it. If I end up hating it then I can always list it on craigslist come March and sell it for 9 grand no problem. Then take the profit and put it towards something with a better ride. I cant afford to spend 15 grand on a TR21 right now or something along those lines so this will have to do. All I know is I need something fast, fairly stable and with huge casting decks which the blazer has. Might be a lil extreme for my first fiberglass boat but for 7 grand its a better choice then an 18 foot nitro which is about all u can get for 7 grand.

Anyone have this reel yet ? Im gonna maybe get one of the 2500's and see how I like it. Bass pro shops and Gander Mountain both said they wont have it for months. Another local high end tackle shop called Green Top just told me they can get me one special order in a matter of a few days. Think Im gonna ditch my Daiwa Tierra and Sol spinning reels in favor of the 7 ounce beauty from shimano. For 200 bucks it seems like I cant go wrong with it. I know Tackle Warehouse and cabelas has it but Id rather see it and feel it in my hands especially considering its gonna be full retail price everywhere its available for a while. I wonder when ebay vendors are gonna start carrying it, I'd love to use my BING cashback to get it for 180 bucks.

I live 3 miles from one of the best fishing rivers in the usa, the potomac river. And every week theres lots of tourneys, one in particular has 2 teams that fish from a jon boat with 9.9's. One of those 2 teams finished in the money 7 weeks in a row this summer and they usually cash a check every week. They get into the spots that others cant get into or that others simply overlook. However youre much better off fishing as a non boater to start off, you will gain tons of experience, get in more casts(no trolling motor workout)learn secrets and cover alot more water. Also keep in mind with some aluminum boats that the livewells can get very very hot fast and keeping fish alive can be a challenge in the summer. With my 2004 tracker thats not the case but with my '87 sea nymph , forget about it. That livewell might as well be called a deadwell. Just my 2 cents. Good luck

just make sure that sahara has a sealed drag system. Its gonna pay off if you end up fishing in the rain or if u drop it in the river/lake. Also even daiwas sealed drag isnt as sealed as they say. I love my daiwa sol spinning reel and all of my daiwa baitcasters but honestly I think shimano makes better spinning reels for under 100 bux. The handles on daiwas suck and fall apart fast. Altho u can swap em out for a different handle which shimano u cant do as far as I know. If the 3000 is in fact lighter then its a no brainer for me. The pfluegers are awesome reels also for the money and they have been around a long long time. You rarely hear bad things about them. I think you should just use fluorocarbon tho since youre gonna be throwing alot of soft plastics. Save the braid for when you get a baitcaster. Oh and btw I like that bass in your avatar, gee I wonder whos boat u caught that off of

learning to use a baitcaster isnt as hard as you think. Just practice like when u first rode a bike. Remember , practice doesnt make perfect...perfect practice makes perfect. If you take it seriously then it shouldnt take u long to master it. Birdsnest are alot easier to avoid if u just tighten up the spool tension some at first. Your casts wont be as far but u can work ur way up to that. I have several high dollar spinning set ups and I rarely ever use them. Pretty much just for soft plastic worms and thats it. I even started throwing senkos with my baitcaster recently and love it. Good luck

there was a used bass boat I like on there and when I went to ebay this morning it said 24 percent in red next to it, does that mean i could have gotten 24 percent back in cash if i had clicked buy it now for it ?

ya i figured it out and created an account and then linked my paypal to it so I hope it works right. I notice when I go on ebay homepage alot of times I see an icon next to items in the upper left corner that show discounts in red, is that what this is for or something different?

someone plz explain how this works. I go to the site and its confusing. Does it work only with stores or if someone has a buy it now rod can I still use it ? Im confused. It says I need a windows live ID to use it, I dont get it at all.

I also love throwing braid with my spro frogs, I use 50 pound power pro but Im gonna stick with mono for walkin, at least for now. I just think I will get better action with the stiffer line and my plug will have less chance of runnin over the floating line that way too. I went fishing with a pro by the name of Terry Olinger recently and I watched him catch bass after bass walkin with mono on a 70 dollar rod. And he's an experienced pro, so if mono is good enough for him then its good enough for me. It was good enough to get him second place this year at the stren potomac stop http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/stren-potomac-09.html I just talked to him on the phone and he told me to get a short medium rod, nothing fancy and keep practicing. So Im gonna head over to bass pro and gander mountain and look at some shorties 8-)

will the crankin battery from my 16 foot '04 tracker be ok to try and crank that 225 merc ? I could just take my battery and also my trolling motor battery actually if thats the case. Would it suit me better to just find a local shop that can look at the boat without me even having to drive down there ? And if everything checks out then go down there ready to buy ? Im gonna call a few local marinas/techs down there and see what I can setup. Anyone driven or riden in a 20 foot blazer that can comment on how they ride ? I know they are light so it's not THE most stable platform but the casting decks are huge and its still as stable as most 19 footers I'd assum since it weighs about what an average 19 foot boat weighs. I think its around 1350 pounds or so.

sorry to hear. I have had boats scream right by me when Im out on the lake or river all the time and jet skis too. I usually yell at them but they dont hear me or dont care. So thats why I decided to get a fully automatic soft pellet air gun. When you see them approaching just let'em have it. They will get the idea. Also maybe an 8 foot rod with a 2 ounce weight cast right into their expensive winshield will teach them a lesson 8-)

Ok theres alot more replies then I ever expected in one day so Im taking it all in. Two things, first off Im just a newbie to walkin the dog but everything I have read elsewhere and all the videos I have watched say to use 12-20 pound mono and not to use braid at all becuz its so limp. Plus I have found that when I cast topwater plugs with braid I tend to wrap the treble hooks up in the line sometimes where as with mono it almost never happens. Im aware that part of that is my casting technique and with more practice I'll be able to throw braid without hangin the hooks up on it. So now Im confused even more. Also as far as gettin a cheap versus expensive rod, I think that my wrist would greatly appreciate the much lighter and more expensive st croix over a 25 dollar rod. I also play piano in my free time and sometimes for money so I dont wanna risk messin up my wrists any further then I already have from 14 years of bangin on the keys. It seems to me like a light reel and a light rod would work best in terms of the action itself and long term affects on my wrist and forearm. For example when I tried walkin my frog with my flippin stick I got nowhere fast. The long handle was part of it but also the weight drags the wrist action a ton for me. Again Im just guessing cuz I have only just recently started walkin baits. But why take the chance and put more wear and tear on my body then I need to ? Furthermore Im not a price shopper when it comes to gear, I do like gettin the best deal but I dont buy something cuz its cheap. So if theres a cheap rod that is just as light and strong enough for fishing topwater right on top of heavy cover then so be it, point me in that direction please. I do appreciate all the advice and I'll have to set up my reel with mono and practice and see how it compares to the braid I been using.

oops, I just looked at my curado and realized its an e7 which is 7:1 so Im good to go. I'll leave my zillion as it is since I love throwing frogs with it.

no problem, I have an anniversary zillion which is 7.3:1 so problem solved, thanks for the tip guys. Guess I'll be taking the braid off my zillion and puttin some 14 pound mono on it tonight. I'll just continue using my curado for crankbaits and buzzbaits then ;D

Funny you guys mention the Avid, I own a 7 foot medium heavy avid and it is my fave rod. I use it for swimmin jigs tho and buzzbaits. I was thinkin I wanted another one for this purpose but wasnt sure which would work best. Im gonna go to the store and handle a few and see what I think. I'll bring my reels with me and put them on the rod so I can get a good idea. I was gonna do that anyways but didnt wanna be fumbling around puttin my reels on 10 different rods at bass pro shops

Im thinkin I might just go down there on saturday morning and try my luck. The sellers wife is gonna be down there this weekend when the buyer for his dads chopper comes to pick it up so it would be convenient. However she knows nothing bout boats and they are still tryin to figure out where we are even gonna test drive it. I do know it hasnt been started since april and the batteries are gonna be dead most likely. But I have seen about 12-15 pictures of the boat and the gelcoat shines, no visible scratches and the carpet and seats look fine. I wish the seller knew more bout it. He cant even tell me if its oil injected or fuel injected nor can he tell me what electronics or trolling motor is on the boat. There always seems to be a catch when I find a deal like this. Im prayin a closer deal pops up but its still tournament season and all I see for sale is junk or expensive, nothing inbetween like what I'm looking for >

Just wondering what are some rods I should check out for walking topwater. I have read some articles online but would like to hear from people who walk alot of topwater and what rods they use. Most of my rods are either really long or have long handles so Im thinkin I might invest in 2 rods just for walking the dog. I'm just startin to walk and am still just so so at it. My wrist doesnt always do what I want but I'll get the hang of it soon Im sure. I just bought the River 2 Sea Bubble Walker 80, Sebile *** 98 and the Sebile Ghost Walker. The reel is either my Daiwa Sol or my Curado E5 since both reels are so easy to palm and so light. Im guessing I need a light weight rod with a short handle and a fast action tip ? Keep in mind that Im usually fishing water with heavy grass a foot or two below the surface.

This is the only half decent deal for less then 11 grand that I can find within 300 miles on a 20 foot or longer bass boat made in the late 90's and I have looked all over. Everything else is either full of stress cracks, early 90's or its 15 grand. Otherwise Im gonna put money down and finance a newer boat but I hate to do that and pay crazy interest rates. Im tryin to work out a deal on a 1999 stratos extreme 21ss right now thats only about 90 miles away but they want 14,500 bux and its simply not worth it. If one of those 2 doesnt work out and nothing else pops up in the next few weeks then Im just gonna get a tr21 and finance about 7 grand of it. I cant stand fishing out of my tracker anymore, I need an upgrade asap.

Ya Im gonna see if I can find a member of this forum who lives near asheboro north carolina and see if he or she can go and do the transom test for me and look the boat over for a few minutes. I'd be willing to paypal whoever could help me 30 bux for gas . My truck gets about 13 miles per gallon on the highway on a good day so I'd hate to spend 150 bux in gas and then another 200 to have a shop look at it for a boat that I might not end up liking. What makes it harder is that the seller lives 4 hours away in west va so its not like he can go out and look at the boat for me or take more pics. Its not the most convenient situation but the price is what attracts me. Every other decent 20 footer is at least 11 grand and those might not be in any better shape either.