flechero

Jim, I have used the 15# and the 20# in regular Hybrid. I am an XT user but changed for some clear water applications. It is almost as strong as XT (and about the same diameter per # rating) and VERY VERY clear. I immediately noticed a jump in numbers of bites when I switched. My only issue with it is that if you backlash, the kink of the overrun loop will normally break on the next cast or hookset. I don't backlash much but I found that it only took once to kink a spot. I still use it some- when I plan to pitch or flip the rough stuff. Pitchin' only causes loos loops for me so it's not an issue I have to worry with. I also us it as leader line for c-rigs and some other stuff. Hope that helped without scaring you from it. I have used ultra soft in other (smaller) diameters and suspect it would handle pretty well. -keith

I think ReelMech only handles parts for his in house repairs... try Southwestern Parts and Service: http://www.southwesternparts.com

I have no experience with Yamamoto rods. But I had not noticed the 2 models that are priced 99.98.... makes you wonder if they are mismarked, factory 2nds or something else. I want to mention something else and I mean no disrespect to anyone. You have to have sensitive enough hands to feel the difference in many rods. If you don't then a BPS rod may feel just the same as an IMX or GLX... so I guess the better answer is Yes, there is a difference, but no, not everyone can tell that difference. Like Raul, I feel a night and day difference between most rods. Maybe I just have real sensitive hands. If so, Thanks God!!

I use both tru-tungsten and excaliber. I throw a lot of 3/16 for t-rig and 5/8 for c-rig and I haven't ever seen tru-tunsten in 5/8 and hardly see it in 3/16. I have no issue with the cost of tungsten, I would love it at the price of lead but it's like any other quality item, I will pay for good stuff. I felt like I caught more fish with tungsten and I know I felt more bottom detail. I don't lose many weights so $1 ea. isn't a problem... especially when you look at the cost of hard baits now a days.

Bass22- welcome to the forum! There are two parts to your question... yes, the reel can cast 1/4 oz baits- your thumb just needs some time to learn. The other factor, as RW mentioned, is the rod. You didn't give us the specs but I suspect you got a MH or H, fast. A med. would cast the lighter baits easier. With lighter baits, you need a looser spool tension and a better thumb. It just takes time and practice, once you set the reel corectly.

There are very few things that time on the water can't fix or at least help. Even when I just need to get away from someone or need quiet time for thought or prayer. The tranquility of the water provides just that. Even when I'm sick, a few hours on the water always makes me feel better. Time on the water, even if I'm not fishing, does all of this for me.

As a rod builder, I say you'll get a MUCH better outcome with a custom.... but this assumes that you have someone building it that knows what they are doing. I don't think there is anything custom about the Yamamoto rods... just different parts. I like IMX a lot and I'll be honest with you- I've only owned a couple GLX's because the IMX are so nice. Several of my personal rods are built on IMX blanks. The difference between them is small... GLX is lighter - worth $100-$150 more than IMX??? That's what each person has to figure out. To me IMX is the best value but I would never discourage someone from buying GLX or using the blank... as they are great rods. (I didn't regret GLX one bit, just felt like IMX was right for me and a price I am comfortable with) case and point.

Sam, I might could see leaving from a minor fender bender or something but a potentially fatal accident???? Too many what ifs for me, I've stopped for some really bad ones in the past and was able to help, even without any real medical training. Common sense alone can save a life or just make someone comfortable or calm them down until help arrives. You really should at least call the highway patrol and tell them you saw it to give a statement... you may have seen more than the others or remember something different. Wow! That's pretty hard core... You never screwed up or got away with something that could have turned bad? I think we all have done things that could have gone south but through the grace of God, made it out unscathed.

There is good reason... usually it's because the person comparing doesn't actually have experience with the high end rod and as such, lacks the ability to make honest comparisons. You'll also find those comparisons from people who can't or won't spend that much on rods... as if to justify their own purchase by degrading a better product. I have lots of experience with Loomis and a fair amount with St. Croix but only have owned 1 BPS rod in the past 10-15 years. In over 15 years of being a Loomis user, I have never once met anyone who regretted the purchase of IMX or GLX rod. I have however, met many people who have sold cheaper rods shortly after the purchase in order to finance something better. Don't get me wrong, I think that many of the BPS and other less expensive rods have good value, some even great value... but there is a difference. You have to decide if there is enough value for you in the high end rods to justify the cash outlay...

Well if you look back at recent history, I think buying a series has had decent results- 4 world series titles since '96. I only saw Boston on that list one time in about 90 years, do I need glasses? All in fun, Muddy!

There is an easy to miss sticky in the tackle page- http://www.bassresource.com/fish/advertisers.html As most of you know, Glenn won't accept donations from members to pay for this site. Many of us have tried to donate money or at least find ways to help out. If you click one of the banner adds on each page and then purchase something from that sponsor, a portion of the sale gets credited back to Glenn and you have just helped out BassResource.com. We have asked on several occasions for a list of links that link BassResource.com to the purchase without waiting for the right banner on the page. The link above is the page of all the ads and keeps me (us) from having to open a bunch of pages to find a specific banner. ...lol So from now on, anytime you shop on-line, please go to this page and click the ads to get to your web site of choice to buy stuff- that's the only way Glenn gets the credit. Note to Glenn and Mods, I hope you guys will leave this one up... the sticky is easy to miss and only on the tackle page.

I don't have the technical vocabulary to answer your question properly but I can tell you that all polarized lenses are NOT the same. Solar bats (also a sponsor) are a nice, quality product. http://www.bassresource.com/fish/advertisers.html (this is the sponsor's links page)

An extra fast rod, in med power will serve well for both. You can get a Shimano Compre 6'6" Med/XFast for under $100. and the Crucial's offer a 6'6" and a 7' med/ Xfast for $129/$139. There are others but these were on the first page I looked.

SWIFF, Suffix is a very good line but if you are really in the heavy timber (or rocks) you can't beat Trilene XT. It takes a little getting used to for some people but not more than one trip. We fish a lot of mesquite, pecan trees and old barbed wire fence rows... no other line holds up like XT.

There are very few LP reels (Revo and TD-Z BBS come to mind) with much line capacity and 20#-25# mono is thick! Another thing is gearing, the popular swimbait reels are low speed by today's standards. Fourbizzle made a point in another thread I hadn't thought about- the calcutta 400 is so heavy, it comes close to balancing out a big SB rod.

Your info is confusing... if you are considering not drilling the butt cap ring, then you must have glued the grip flush with the end of the blank- if this is the case, just epoxy it in place and hand finish it once cured. If the blank is sticking out of the back of the grip a little, you'll either have to relieve the ring or trim the blank... no other way arounfd it. If neither of these sounds right, I misunderstood your situation... One note to file away in your memory about cork and drill bits of any kind. High speed, slow feed always cuts better.

Looks great, the natural cork adds another dimension to the look. I might have to break down and try a couple patterns with it. Speaking of our conversation the other day... You won't beileve this... USPS dropped a mystery rod tube off at my office yesterday afternoon. Something that may have been ordered around October???? The absolute killer was that they aren't the ones I ordered. :'( They are ones that I might have ordered in the future but not what I was expecting. I have an email out about them... depending on the response, I may keep one or both of them.

Matt, Do you have an ETA on the new baits? They look like they'd be perfect here in TX. Need someone to field test them in TX? No? How about at full price? ...lol I'm only patient while ON the water! ;D

That's why I said I hated to do it... but it's so darn close!! Wait, I kind of did actually... the revo S or citica, and IMX still falls into the budget as a total combo price.

I've said it before and will say it again... I started catching more and bigger fish on soft plastics when I made the jump to IMX. As precious as my fishing time is these days, and the fact that I can afford IMX and higher rods, I will not go back to cheap stuff. I understand the position of the original post and I used to fish with berkley rods and Abu 4600 reels... caught lots of fish on the "Low Budget" method. Consider this other side of the argument. I am now in a stage of life, and a $250 or higher rod or reel is not considered expensive. Go back as few as 10 years ago, my best reel was bought for $45. No one can argue that the old style 4600's are as nice or as light as a 50MG and no one will ever convince me that the difference between an IMX and a lightning rod is in my head. I caught lots of fish on the cheap stuff but my level of enjoyment, % of larger fish and annual income have risen dramatically since I was using that stuff and I like it this way much better. Each person will have a different perspective on this...

Roger, I did understand what you meant, I just have a different opinion. I think where we differ is that (for example) the Loomis and St.Croix high end rods use a high mod., high strain rate fiber... this material is not brittle as many people think. (the high strain rate fibers can bend like the lower mod. fibers without fracturing) The fragile nature of GLX and SCV comes from thinner wall thickness, not from brittle fibers, and as such, are more susceptible to nicks and scratches causing a failure. We are talking about a lighter, stronger more responsive fiber that can take the deflection of a much lower modulous fiber. IM6 rods would be just as fragile in a thin wall design such as the GLX. The problem, though, is that the IM6 couldn't stand up on it's own in that thin walled design. I would like to be clear that I think the combination of design, material and manufacturing process are more important than any element individually... but when design and mfg are good, I believe the high modulous rods win- every time. I do agree that many great rods are made of mid modulous materials. I have a few of All Star blanks that I will never sell, even on custom rods... they fish as good as IMX. They just happened to be good materials, great design and manufactured with all the planets in alignment. I can't explain it, I never owned a factory built All Star that felt like these. I only wish I had a truckload of them to custom build and sell. And for what it's worth, I'm mainly talking about worm and jig rods... anything that's considered all feel.

Oh man, I wish they sold that as a blank.... I would have one.

Bucketmouth- I hate to muddy the waters on this but let me offer a suggestion for you. IMX. Spend a couple dollars more and get a MH spinning rod in IMX. The difference is twofold... the tip is faster and therefore lighter in the MH so you get the casting advantages of the Med with the backbone of the MH... and you would be hardpressed to find a better soft plastics rod than an IMX. If I were in your shoes, I would look at the SJR843 in spinning and the MBR783 or MBR784 in casting before I bought anything. You are so close to the price of those that I'd hate for you to buy anything without at least looking at those. As far as reels go, for BC I'd look at the citica 100D or DSV and the Revo. I know you are a browning fan but you aren't buying a shotgun or a 9mm... I'll defer to others on spinning reels, I just don't have enough experience with them... but I don't know if the Okuma can compare to the Stratic or the Stratic MG- especially for the money!!

I don't have a clue about the Fords but wanted to say that you shouldn't assume that the smaller motor gets better mileage. My current truck, an 02' z-71 w/ 5.4 or 5.6 (can't remember which) gets 14.5-15.5 hwy and about 13-14 towing a 19' champion. My last truck was a 00' 4x4 and had the 6.0L and got 16 mpg.... and it got exactly 16 mpg from the purchase date to the sale date- didn't matter if it was hwy, city, towing, not towing, up hill, down hill with the wind or whatever. ...lol Here is my take- I think you'll drive many more miles w/o the boat, so buy a truck that makes better sense most of the time and the truck you want to have (so long as it's rated to tow your trailer(s) and worry less about towing mileage. BTW, I think all the full size trucks these days are rated to tow at least 8,000 lbs.

Matt, Awesome day!! I can't imagine how gratifying it must be to constantly catch big fish on your own baits! Speaking of which- that's a great looking bait, it is something that's available to the public???? I have a paypal account that's in need of some excercise! ;D Best, -keith