flechero

If he did that with EVA the results would have been nearly the same. hook barbs will pull out EVA just as they do cork, only a tad slower.

That also means you are close to All Star and Castaway....

That's awesome!!!! Gene, I was out yesterday for a little while (see the outings section ) and again this morning... the lake came up another foot while I was on it this morning. ...lol We also had a white fluke bite but tore up the smallies on 4" & 5" storm swimbaits. We caught the green ones on the flooded brush edges and the brown ones on the big rocks near steep banks and pushing also some schooling in open water, over secondary drops. The white bass were schooling from the mouth of the cowhouse all the way to BLORA... litterally thousands of them. Made for fun on the fly rod. Hope you guys got into them! The gates were still closed when I was there earlier.... if they keep em closed and we get to 7'+ high, start pitching lizards into the lighter green broadleaf bushes (don't know the name) we killed em that way 3 weeks ago- every day the water was up. The bite held until the lake got back to 6' high and less. ** I just checked the Corps page and we are 6.68' high!!! Sweet!! I will be back out after Church tomorrow! Spool up the XT, it's time to pitch! (the stillhouse page says 18' high! ) Unfortunately we are getting lots of flooding. We went from a 2 yr. drought to not knowing what to do with all the water!

I went out in between thunderstorms yesterday afternoon and got into some smallies. This one weighed in at 5.0 on the digital. Not bad considering the Belton lake record is just over 6. She had one jump that was about 4' high out of the water... what a memory!

Call Southwestern Parts and Service, and for a couple dollars, you'll have a new part mailed to you. I've been using them since the late 80's and have always had great service. The regular nut you want to buy will not work. http://southwesternparts.com/

Ironically I also caught a big "brownie" last night that went just over 10 lbs... but we call them carp down here. ...lol (true story, caught on a #7 shad rap, hooked inside the mouth!)

Catt, Thanks for the clarification.

ReelMech, With all due respect, a written warranty inplies that a working product was first delivered, and in my case it was not. I honestly do see your point. But, my only expectation was to purchase a reel that worked out of the box... and I'm 0 for 3 with my last 3 shimano reels- that is beyond bad luck, IMO. And it's different than having a warranty issue come up within year one. The difference is that I have not used to reel yet, so in my mind, either the retailer or shimano failed to hold up their end of the agreement. (my $250 for a working reel) I bet if your last 3 shipments of rod blanks were cracked or had paint runs, and you had to pay return shipping to get them replaced, you'd be tired of it by the 3rd consecutive time. Remember, I never complained or even said a word about the first 2 "bad" reels... but the shipping charges add up. I'm at almost $30 in pack/ship/insurance charges because either retailers or shimano failed to take 5 seconds to see if a reel worked before sending it out. That is poor Q.C. by one of them and disregarding me after the fact is poor customer service by both of them. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this. My point in this whole post was that a $10 gesture by shimano would have been repaid tenfold (at least) in future profits off my business, I have bought 5 MG's in the past 8 months alone and was planning to add a few more to that. But now I'm re-thinking that plan and will be trying out a couple other reels... Case and point to shimano. In the grand scheme of things, if I only have this to complain about then life is good... thank you, God!

ReelMech, I completely understand where you stand and I don't think it's actually Shimano's responsibility to reimburse a retailer's or cusomer's shipping to another place... but since they knew i had several problems I would have hoped at least for a free ship for warranty repair since their name is associated with these (defective or re-sold in need of repair) reels. I'm not worried, it will get fixed but it's just left a bad taste in my mouth. Here is why I expected a little more from shimano: I once had an issue with an Abu reel, and the good folks at Southwestern, shipped a new reel across town to save me the 20 minutes hassle of returning it to them.... I had Barlow's ship back a Loomis and a Berkley rod, to save me the trouble of packing and shipping. Loomis paid the freight both ways on a different rod with a defective reel seat, and replaced the rod. Lowrance sent a UPS call tag for a graph in need or warranty service. I've had 2 differnt boat dealers drive to my town (from another) to pick up my boat when I had problems, to save me the time and gas. (once with service and once with warranty of trolling motor) Berkley sent me new spools of line to replace some that was purchased past it's prime and never asked me to return the bad line, or how much was left on the spools. Those are just a few examples of good service by both retailers and mfr's, working together to take care of the customer, regardless of who actually caused the trouble. And because of those reasons, I have purchased over 20 Abu reels, 15 Loomis rods/blanks and countless berkley rods, and hundreds of spools of Trilene XT, in my lifetime... and will continue to support those companies because the "get it". It is in everyone's best interest to take care of repeat customers.

First off, I these 3 reels were not all recieved at the same time, this started at Christmas and has been about 1 every other month. I would loved to exchange them at cabelas', BPS or a warranty center... the reason I ordered them in the first place is because the nearest one of those is a few hours drive from me.... A friend of mine who works for Academy in the next city said they just got some MG 50's in and he would exchange it for me and send mine back if I bring it over there. He said no problem, they will get credit and a new reel for it. Or until another associate sells them. Why don't you do send them back? Seems like this may be the problem all over the place. If nothing else, this thread suggests that maybe they don't sit on the shelf forever. I'm just dissappointed in the retailers and shimano......... I used to work retail and dealt with manufacturers on returned/defective items, so I do know that when a retailer screws up a mfr. should step in to remedy it so they protect their own reputation and make it right for the consumer, who after all is the one responsible for the profits of BOTH the mfr and retailer. ReelMech, thanks for the offer, I may call. -keith

Just hung up with Shimano customer service... They wouldn't reimburse on my shipping but did offer to repair the reel... but again, I would pay shipping. My only "free" option was to have them send out a new set of IAR parts, which I accepted. I figure if I screw it up I still have shipping charges, only this time they will be to Park City, KS. He told me I should take up my shipping charges with the retailer who sold a defective reel and "they should reimburse you for those costs" but proceeded to tell me that he had no way to get my shipping costs reimbursed if I sent the to him for repair!! ...lol Call me crazy but how is that any better or any different?? Heck with it, despite high winds.... I'm gonna go to the lake.

It just chaps me... I don't buy reels for "stock" I buy a reel when I have a need so even if shimano makes good on a repair, I'm still out 2 weeks on a reel that was never used and was sold in a defective state. Man, my blood is boiling just talking about it. ...lol Two were from cabelas and this latest one from bass pro shops. I guess I'll call shimano before I call BPS about it...

Well, I am officially whipped and ticked off with Shimano. I recieved yet another reel that slipped past quality control. This is the 3rd (1 curado 100 and 2 50MG's) one that has not had IAR working. I have 4 other MG's with perfect IAR and now 2 in a row without... It's now 3 reels in a row with the same issue and 3 reels in a row that I have to pay return shipping on... and of course another shipping charge for the replacement reel. I will never again buy a shimano product over the internet or any mail order. It is actually cheaper for me to pay full price plus tax and buy one locally where I can sort through a few of them to find one that I don't have to send back. If Abu would only make a lighter version of the Revo... I'd swear off shimano for good. >

I use the hold your breath as a guide but remember that the fish just "ran a sprint" while trying to escape capture.... so run a wind sprint or two and then time yourself when you hold your breath. If you plan to have the fish out for even 1 whole minute... break it up by giving the fish some time back in the water. You might just save a few this way.

That depends on a few things. I actually like IMX better because it's so much more durable and almost as light and almost as sensitive... IMO it's the best value. But if you have a rod sock and are real gentle on your rods and are comfortable with a more delicate rod then the GLX rod IS lighter and more sensitive. I sold my GLX's a few years ago... I sleep better at night now. ...lol I used an IMX MBR784 as my worm rod for almost 15 years... then when I started building rods, I built an 784 IMX blank as my worm rod. It's hard to beat that for t-rigs. If you just like a 7' better, the MBR844 IMX is also a great one... I also had it in factory and have it in custom- It's a good worm/jig rod as well and maybe a little more versitle. From what I have heard, the BCR's are also outstanding...

Neat looking water!! It looks like a great place for a flats boat with a poling platform. Don't forget super flukes or even senkos, they can run weedless and produce numbers and some decent size.

Depends on your state but I can tell you one thing that is true in every state... the license is cheaper than a ticket. You probably pass a store several times each day that sells them.

Mike, There may be hope for you yet... My wife also cannot be out much, she is so fair she'll burn in as few as 15 minutes. I intruduced her to fishing clothing... the Columbia SPF 30, 40 and 50. She resisted at first but once she tried it once, she saw the value. She wasn't much for the "fashion" of my clothes but we found some "cute" columbia SPF stuff (her word, not mine) at a Sports Authority one day and she got a couple outfits to be on the boat in. It's still not high fashion in her mind, but she learned how to t-rig a couple weeks ago on a bright 90 degree day (caught a dink and then a 3-14 PB the first day!) and has decied that worm fishing is pretty cool. She has now claimed my Fuego and requested that I build her, her own worm rod. I'll gladly honor that request!! Maybe your wife can give it a try...

Congrats Matt!! You need to start taking a friend with you so we can see some "whole pics" of your fish!! Keep it up, you have all summer to bust PB after PB!!

Do this: and then this: And your problems will go away. You may need to re-troll the line every few outings to keep things trouble free as some lures and riggings will impart twist while fishing.

I don't like braid. Admittedly, I haven't used the newer lines but I don't think that matters. I fish 2 primary conditions, rocks and heavy wood. Braid doesn't hold up any better (or as well) as XT in the rocks and when I can't get to a pitched bait that is hung up, I can break it if I have to but it's strong enought that a fish rarely breaks it. I do carry a spare spool loaded with power pro but have never had to put it on. Another thing to keep in mind is that braid can be hard on rods and reels when used at close range... be sure to set your drag light enough (properly) to prevent damage/breakage from a close in hookset.

Russ, Even in the quick pics, the VS-3 guides and split grip caught my eye! ...lol ;D Fun stuff! Glad to see it's not collecting dust! -keith

Simply awesome!! Congrats on a huge milestone!!

I have typed out 2 lengthy responses and deleted both... going to take Mom's advice here. Can mods delete an article, like they can a thread? This is one that does more harm than good to people who read it. I hate to be the one to say this but it probably should be removed.

flechero, from one (native) Texan to another, I'm going to definitely have to disagree on your opinion of allowing concealment in the court house. That is just one place that NOBODY but sheriffs, bailiffs, etc should be allowed to have a firearm. There has already been incidences where the defendant has actually taken an officers' pistol from their holster and shot multiple innocent people, including the judge. I believe the scenario that im specifically referring to was in ATL, Ga.. not sure though. I think if you have a CC permit, and need to step in the court house, there should be a "check in" area at the entrance (where the metal detectors/officers are) similar to a restaurants' coat check. Besides that, anywhere but a courthouse, you should be allowed to carry and conceal. Just my .02 That's exactly why i think I should be able to carry there... the police pistol (carried openly) was taken and innocent, unarmed people, were picked off like sillouettes. Had some of those people been armed, there is a good chance that fewer people would have been shot. and killed. The last thing I ever want to do in the world is have to draw and shoot. BUT when faced with a life or death situation, I cannot draw when my weapon is secured in a vehicle or lock box.