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I think for a lot of people, it has. I used to fish flukes more often than I do now, but they still have their place in my tackle boxes. A fluke's light weight is very useful for clear, shallow water, soft entry casting for spooky fish. They also have more horizontal glide than a Senko, which I think on occasion works better than the Senko's wobble.

Jigging spoon.

Same thing happens to me when I get tired and sore after a few hours of hard fishing, but food doesn't really help me. You should maybe give 5 Hour Energy shots a try. I pretty much hate all energy drinks because they make me shaky and then I crash afterwards, but this one really works. It's like a 2 hour nap in a bottle. I also use them when I deer hunt in stands so I don't fall asleep and drop my gun. These don't make me shaky or fidgety either, so I can still shoot accurately after drinking one of these.

I have had luck on the very bright Lemon and Chartreuse/Grn and Chart flake, but I haven't caught more than a few fish on Bubble Gum soft plastics of any style. I see people fishing them, so they must be doing well on them.

I use single and double tail grubs mostly, and also recycled 3 or 4" tail sections from chewed up Trick Worms and Swim Senkos.

I have a bottle of KVD on the way, but otherwise I've only used Ardent Line Butter, and it's works OK. I'm hoping the KVD is better.

I'm sure they'll get you a mint condition copy as well.

Ain't that the truth! Once you start upgrading to the high end Loomis and Dobyns rods, all your other rods that you were once very happy with will start feeling pretty lousy. It's frustrating. I only broke one GLX, and it was my fault. I caught it on a boat cleat very lightly, and thought I got away with one. But with the next hookset, it snapped like a dry twig. I had a replacement in 3 business days with the Expeditor program, which is unmatched in the industry. http://www.gloomis.com/publish/content/gloomis_2010/us/en/conventional/support.html

What kind of rod are you using? If you're used to launching hollow-bodied frogs a mile with this setup, I can see why you might be concerned with casting distance with unweighted Rage Tails. They weigh about half as much as a Spro.

Like Roadwarrior said, you'd be better off waiting and browsing the flea market for a Avid or a Shimano Crucial. They will run you about $90-110. I do like the St. Croix Premier rods, though. I think a person would be hard pressed to find a better rod that retails for $100 or less. I'll pass on the Mojos and the Triumphs. I don't know why those 3 St. Croix rod series feel and react so differently since they are allegedly built on the same blanks, but the only one out of those 3 worth buying is the Premier. I'd say it's on par with the Avid as being excellent values in their respective retail price ranges of $100 and $180.

If the front and back boaters are both using the same exact lure and the fish are actively feeding, I would expect the fish to go after the first one they see, which most oftentimes would belong to the front boater if the boat was on the move like you described. This is what I'm thinking happened.

Same here. Sometimes I'm too patient with areas that aren't producing at the moment because of what happened there yesterday, last week, last month, or last year on that weekend, etc. "Just a few more casts" I tell myself, "I'm almost on them", and before I know it, I've soaked an area for an hour plus with little success. I've vowed to work on it this year. I even bought a kitchen timer for the boat to help me out. When it dings, I'll pull up the trolling motor and move if I'm not on the fish.

Find a local rod builder. They'll take care of it easily.

Nope, that's a common theme. Mojos are a real black eye on an otherwise great rod manufacturer.

d**n, I'm always a week early it seems. >

I'd have to say the rod is more important to me. My rods all cost more than my reels. I just couldn't see myself being as comfortable or as effective with a $300 reel on a $150 rod as I would be with a $150 reel on a $300 rod.

Since they're in the same price class, how do you feel Powell rods compare to Dobyns Savvy Series rods?

I've been on the St. Croix and G. Loomis bandwagon for years, but I'm very, very impressed with the Dobyns Champion Series rods, the only Dobyns rods that I've tried. They're light, powerful, sensitive, well balanced, and I love the feel overall. My next rods will all be Dobyns until I find a better rod for the price. Many people rave about both of these brands. I wonder how different they really are, considering who designed them. I've heard that the Powell and G1 Dobyns Champion are on par, with the G2 Dobyns Champion being a significant improvement over both.

I'll second that.

Good tip! Thx 8-)

The Palomar works better, but if you're more comfortable with it, you can use the Improved Clinch with braid if you go twice thru the eye, followed by 7+ wraps.

Go with it.

Why does it have to be at Dick's? Gift card? If not, go try out the Shimano Citica 200E at Dick's, and then go home and buy it online for $95 shipped. It's significantly better than those you mentioned and is a perfect starter reel. I would recommend a little better reel to learn how to cast with. It will be less of a hassle if you go this route. It's a fine reel, and quite a bargain at $95.

No prob. You can pretty much forget about Google Earth now. Those FLA lakes good on Bing. Too bad they're black and white though. For me, some local lakes almost look like the pics were taken just above the treetops.

+1 Google Earth is even better, but best of all is Bing Maps. Give it a try, and click on the Earth icon to switch features. Try the Bird's Eye aerial pictures because you can zoom in far farther than with the satellite pics, though not all areas have been photographed closely and sometimes the lakes are iced over in the MN pics. This feature can be very helpful for scouting. http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/#5003/o=&a=&s=w/5872/style=auto&lat=45.489101&lon=-94.245598&z=11&pid=5874