flechero

Lady Bass, There were a lot of people pulling for you to post something like this, me included. However, I was also one who added comentary in the other threads, so please let me offer an apology to you for my words. I don't think I said anything hurtful, but just in case, I wanted you to be clear that I meant no harm. I hope that Glenn, the Mods and the membership are open to your return. All the best in starting with a clean slate, Keith PS. Will you re-post the carp pic? I never got to see it before it was removed.

Agreed. And I'll add that many of the freedoms we enjoy, are because people in previous generations cared enough to vote, to leave our generation in a better place. We all do... since it's so dirty these days many great people won't even consider running. You should at least vote for the "lesser of the evils" even if you dislike both, since you will have to live with one of them. If you choose not to vote, you have no legitimate right to object, no matter how high your taxes go or whatever the issue.

I sold all my factory rods (including all the IMX's and GLX's) for the very reasons you mentioned. You have to fish with them (spiral wrap) to fully appreciate the benefits. I fished with a spiral wrap one day before deciding to sell all the factory rods. You can buy a bunch of blanks and components when you sell off the Loomis inventory! ;D

Jim, Fantastic job! They look perfect! What did you use to polish after turning?

Don't feel bad, I have to order everything I use for building. When I lived in Dallas, there was one store (well there used to be 2 or 3, in the 80's) that carried blanks and supplies but they only carried cheap blanks. And that store has since quit carrying blanks.

My view is ONLY if you get caught off gaurd and have a puny hookset or accidentally have a slack line. I believe that 8 or 9 times out of 10 a second hookset only creates a tear or hole (where the hook was already set through) which makes it very easy to have the hook thrown.

There are tons of places that carry blanks. if you go to wwwrodbuilding.org and look on the left side of the page at the sponsor list, most of them are suppliers that carry blanks. Mud hole and Angler's Workshop are 2 of the larger ones with a large selection of blanks. If you need any specific recommendations, feel free to shoot me a PM.

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewicast06rodspg3.html also for models, go to loomis rods page: http://products.gloomis.com/gl/products/group.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302032499&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441768913&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181201&bmUID=1162864106042 and look at the specific moels in the Jig & Worm, Senko, Carolina Rig, and the Bass/Casting/Flipping sections for individual listings of mossyback models. For my money, I'll stick with IMX...

it was discontinued

Every day of the week! (of course that's just me.) 1.5 oz is a big difference... but even if the weight was the same, I like the 50MG better. Ronnie, Those were my first 2 baitcasters!! Great memories!

Yes, a good hookset is a balanced, athletic move. Just like a good golf swing or punch thrown by a boxer. When you hit a dink in shallow water and then have to duck... you are doing it right. I'm only 1/2 kidding. It is my opinion that the hookset is often the most important moment of the fight. In heavy cover if you don't turn the fish on the hookset, many times that is all they need to cut you off. Most of my ramblings pertain to soft plastics and single hooked baits, obviously. link is ok here

I think if it worked, people using it would be winning every tournament... and that's not the case. Even if it did work, I like fishing, not shooting fish in a barrel. If you caught countless fish everytime out, it would be working out, not fishing. ....lol That sounds like some marketing guy made it up... fish story? ...lol

#1 carry a paddle. #2 go to Academy and get a weed cutter attachment, it's on the marine isle and you can't miss it. I forgot the actual name of it. The work pretty darn good and are cheap.

Buy a 5 gal. gas can for now so you don't hold up progress on the boat! Check with auto shops and wrecking yards in your area, many have to dispose of old gas. If no luck there, try the city or county website where you live, most have a company they use for paint/gas/etc. our city has a twice a year drop off for chemicals, paint or gas. (no charge for that) If none of that works, use it little by little for mower, chainsaw, campfires and fire ants...

If you are sure you will switch, you may as well start with braid and shorten the overall curve. But in the interest of your question I copied this from a thread I replied to last week. Line (for me) depends on the cover you will be fishing... if real rocky or woody, I'd go with XT or Yo Zuri Hybrid but if you have just weeds or sparse cover, try the spiderwire xxx in the green box... but go one size heavier as it's under rated. Go by the diameter... the 17# xxx is the diameter of 12# XT. It's good line w/ low memory but it's not as tough around heavy cover. Lots of people here like XL or Big Game for a general purpose line. My partner uses Suffix in the red box and swear by it... I've only used it on spinning gear but am impressed with it there.

yes

If I could talk you into bumping your high budget by $10... get a chronarch 50 MG from cullman outdoors (a sponsor of this site and an ebay store) Yes you'll have to set the brake (6 pin centrifical brake). I just went with 2 pins out on the first day and have yet to change it.... 6 months later, in 3 different reels, fishing 3-4 days per week. There is no need to be constantly changing the settings. Besides, even if you do feel like fooling with them, the sideplates are connected so they can't fall in the lake... like some other models. I doubt you could find a better reel for twice the price. For your lower price range, I might suggest a Revo S ($99) but I can't give a good review of it yet, only used mine twice. (so far is has met every expectation though) It's also a 6 pin centrifical brake.

While he may not be the fisherman he used to be, IMO he has the "skins on the wall." He is a member of a small group of people that have had very long and very successful fishing careers. It's hard to argue with that. I'll be interested to see which of the "young guns" are still around in another 30-35 years in the public eye and making a good living out of fishing. Somehow I doubt that bothers him. ...lol He's only been winning money fishing BASS tournaments since 1968 and has qualified for and fished the Classic 15 times. Now he's (probably) on the tail end of a great career and probably just fishing for fun and comraderie... I doubt he pays those entry fees. Besides he makes his salary with endorsemements and appearances. I'd be willing to bet he only fishes those tourneys to keep his name in there as it makes him worth more to sponsors even though he doesn't need to win anything. Really, so how did I miss YOUR TV SHOW?? Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus aren't very competitive anymore but I think they still know what they are talking about.

Shad_Master, Don't look at it as punishing the guys who can prefish, it's offering a level playing field for all club members. Seems to me that guys in a club would appreciate a fair tourney. Are you guys in the club to have fun or just to win a little cash? As it stands now, it's not fair... you are punishing guys that have to support a family and pay a mortgage or have a crap job and can't take Fridays off. You can still have the campfire stuff at night, even if you don't fish Friday. Duke, If you prefish and I don't, you have an advantage of knowing the current patterns, it doesn't make you a better angler than the guy who worked on Friday... you just had an extra day to figure it out.

Matt Fly has it right. The pleasure boaters are normally the ones I see causing trouble... except the 6am part. Since tourneys involve a $$$ payout, there will always be a few bad apples showing up. The author of the letter should have bought property on a private lake. He made the choice to live on public water, so he gets whatever the lake and it's users give. If I knew it was intentional, I would return the favor... with the trim low and decelerating in a hard turn. (also be sure the livewells are full) It will get the point across. Otherwise, check their rules about proximity, maybe they buzzed you too close and you can get them DQ'd... if it cost them money, they will learn fast. Or take down the boat numbers and call the game warden or lake patrol. (if they have to stop fishing in the middle of a tourney to speak with a LEO, they will remember it next time) ;D I like how exagerrated that is... HOURS??? I'm willing to bet all the tourney guys were well out of the way by 6 or 6:30. Here is the problem- they are complaining that a PUBLIC lake is being used by others... another reason these cry babies need to live on private water.

That is exactly what started this thread. ...lol

I used spinning gear only (for months) after my shoulder surgery, and had no trouble at all with c-rigging. The bait won't swim differently because your using spinning gear... you still have weight, bead, swivel and leader. A bait that "rolls" is not hooked properly and needs to be straightened out. Also, I don't think you are any more likely to get twist, as long as you still use the swivel... just be sure to use a good swivel. You'll get more twist from a fluke or senko since you don't have a swivel on them (or at least most don't.) Put it this way, if you fish a style that gives you twist anyway, you will still have it with c-rigs, but if you use spinning gear without trouble then a c-rig will not change that. I think the biggest reason most people use casting gear is that not many people have the right rod in a spinning set up... for me that's a 7' Hvy. Most people would tell you to use casting gear only with swimbaits also but our most successful swimbaiter here only uses spinninng gear. (Fish Chris) Just something to ponder.

Catt, That looks like a professionally tapered version of what I call a Tharp seat. (the person that turned me on to them at first said Tharp was the guy who got credit for the chopped out center section of the casting seat.) I've seen and used them. (they do not fit my fat hands very well) The seats I had were cut out of the Fuji ECSM seats, so the hoods were different than your photo. You can order the seats in your photo and cut out the centers... a little file work and then some (fine) sanding will bring it close to the finish you have. If you are interested in more info, let me know. Keith

Lots of "stuff" to do this winter... since we rarely have more than a day or two in a row of freezing weather, I do the household projects in winter. I have 2 fences to build, several trees to cut down a re-mod to a set of built in bookcases and a healthy list of smaller "honey-do's" that have been accumulating for a few months. ...lol As for fun stuff, I am building myself a few new rods this winter and working on some product development for a side business and general garage "pittling." I'm always killing spare time by trying to make something. ...lol

Most trailer owners have a few old sets of wiring and a few lights left over from previous changes. ...lol I always used an old plug from the truck side... the trailer light kits come with it and I rarely have to change that side so I have had an extra. Worst case scenario for you is to go to wal-mart or Academy and buy an extra one... they only cost $2-$3