flechero

I'd go 50MG if it were my money but to be fully honest, I've never held a zillion... I'd buy the MG anyway though, because I love light weight reels... especially on a M rod.

That is sad and awkward! My heart goes out to the wife and kids.

Not sure about the poll, but IMO the best all around, sub $250 BC reel is the Shimano 50MG. No question in my mind. Try a search for "50MG" and you'll get hundreds of good opinions and probably not any bad ones. It's one of the few reels I have ever seen where almost no one has had any negative feedback. (and if you look real hard, you can get them for $200-$210 delivered)

The only info I have seen came from the article Matt Fly mentioned the other day. http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/rstrait/stories/MYSA041308.03C.strait_column_0413.en.3698856.html

Seems pretty limiting to not consider all the 7' rods...

In my opinion, Y-Z ultrasoft is superior to original stren in every way you asked about.

http://www.rolandmartinrods.com/index.html not much info is given.

Fishtank, How many is a few? I agree that the Core is a nice reel, I've been using one since Christmas. Mine is very smooth, maybe yours needs another drop of oil somewhere. I do wish it had better line capacity.... as you mentioned casting it dry- since I use #14 & #17 XT, it's a real possibility and i see the holes in the spool on nearly every cast. Have you used a 50MG? Other than looks, I haven't seen much difference in practical use between them. Both are very light, smooth, castable and have smooth drags... Maybe the 50MG was just ahead of it's time. ...lol

The idea is to PACK it with MOJO, not steal from it!!

Call me a skeptic, but this looks like a well packaged deal for them, not the consumer. It's all about the union, not you and I getting a deal.

Not always... I have salvaged it a couple times. Granted, it was saltwater but that's not the point. From an environmental standpoint, that 20 seconds of lazy may litter a bunch of line out in a body of water, attached to a fish. So easily prevented by just tying a simple knot. Laziness isn't an excuse.

basspro96- he lists his blanks as "im-6"- more likely a private label since the finished rods so inexpensive.

Russ, I can't wait to be the man behind the camera in one of these posts.

I don't know about the small ones... the size 8 and 10 are tall in all the fuji's I've seen but the 7 and below are different by model. Maybe ReelMech knows... I only keep the TSG, TLSG and BLAG fly guides on hand. I think the LSG is low, the same as the TLSG but I can't verify that. You might want to price the TSG's out before dismissing them... in the small guides, they are not much more than the steel frames. It's only $0.75 - $2 less per guide, which is why I don't even use the LSG or SG guides.

What kind of guides.... some fly guides are low as mentioned but some fly guides- like the Fuji TSG or Batson FLG, (and others) are taller fly guides and might work well in a "guides up" configuration.

This is pure speculation on my part, but here goes. At 1069 ppm (molybdenum) it's barely enough residue in the carbon build up to prove that you were, or were not using TCW-3 oil in your outboard when it failed... maybe it's there because it will survive combustion... and they can use it to determine warranty. ?

I like to use 1/3-1/4 of the lines rating, not advertised break strength. In RW's example, you should be sure that your rod is rated for 20 lb line... since you are using a known 20 lb line, even though it's rated as #12. I have fished with RW and he does not handle and fight fish how most people do, he's much more careful and in tune with his equipment...

This link will give you a bunch of options for big water... http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/ And this one for the "Community Fishing Lakes" (not a complete list but a good start) http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/programs/gofishing/houstonfish/houston_map.phtml almost forgot... Welcome!!!

My own situation is better suited to a 1/2 oz buzzbait. If you ever decide to offer it in 1/2 oz, I'd like to try it.

;D Nice, Kent! Sort of the fisherman's version of "ground shrinkage" for antlers.

I hear ya, Catt... but it's been longer than 3 weeks around here! Tuesday afternoon we had about an 8 hour window with winds under 15... I had a stomach ache and left work at 1pm. Check that, we also had a nice Sunday (2 weeks ago) but I had to be in Dallas on family business. :-/ I don't even mind high wind so much if it's not a sustained wind... nothing worse than a trolling motor on high and the boat is drifting backwards.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate you clearing that up.

Ft. Hood is in a great area for fishing... as already mentioned, Belton and Stillhouse are here and depending on your preferences, you can be fishing for a wide range of fish within a reasonable drive. I will paste an old post below.

I was going to ask the same thing.

I hate to even post in this thread but have a couple of honest questions. Lane, From the posts above it's obvious that you care an awful lot about this... beyond it being part of your job. Having disclaimed that, know that these are honest questions. how did you arrive at the estimated 3% delayed mortality for this tournament but in the other thread you made an argument that so many fish are never found and so many never float that you can't put a good figure on it. What did I miss? You also said the deep hooked c-rig fish would have died anyway... which wasn't argued much in the other thread (at least I didn't see it.) It sounds like a good percentage of deep hooked c-rig fish were caught in the other tourney and a much smaller % in this tourney, wouldn't that sku the numbers a bit? I have no doubt you took better care of these fish, but I am trying to understand how the numbers were figured. Oh, did you get the pics from the other one? Thanks, Keith