TourPT

Tough question for me, kind of looking around and testing many brands now, or should I say whenever I can fit a new rod into the budget, but if I had to chose one that has served me well since the day I began bass fishing 20 some years ago, I would have to say Loomis however thats Loomis as in Gary before Shimano as in the MBR series IMX, GLX and even GL3 of which gets no respect but has worked great for me for many years.

The new Legend Slop N Frog is plenty long at 7'4 and although I have not fished one yet I have heard they got the tip action right on it this time. I know not much help since i don't have one yet, but worth checking into.

FX2 is fastly becoming my favorite. Still use and like Sonic Braid and Power Pro also.

Recieved 2/0 EWG worm hooks and sticker here also.

The biggest Rage caught bass for me was 5.1lbs on an 10" Anaconda. As it turns out the smallest I have caught on a Rage bait also came on an 10" Anaconda. Fish was only about an inch longer then the worm.

Actually Bud is better, throw it away! LOL

Where is it written that someone of who likes and uses Loomis rods can't use other gear? I don't own one St. Croix rod however my buddy bought two of there rods a few months back and got two free sweatshirts and gave me one. It's a nice sweat shirt but from what you’re saying, since I fish Loomis mostly I should not wear the sweatshirt he gave me. LOL Also of note, I am a Loomis fan however I don’t care for there frog rods so I guess I better either stop frog fishing or waste my money and force myself to fish with a Loomis frog rod for lord knows us Loomis fans are not allowed to use other brands. LOL

About the same here in Northern IL. No signs of spawn yet but lots of males cruzing the shallows and actively feeding.

This one pond I use to fish, that color in plastics and rattle traps was killer on cloudy rainy days.

Mine also was a Ryobi. Don't recall the model but it actaully was a pretty good reel.

Being using nothing but Quantum reels for the past 20 years now and the only issue I have ever had was on some, not all but some, of the old MG reels anti reverse giving out. Other then that I have not had any issues with Quantum reels nor there rods for that matter, although I do prefer G.Loomis rods. I use to be a Shimano nut up until Quantum came out with the EX series many years ago. Once i tried those I was hooked and never went back, in fact I still have two EX series reels that are still working as good as the day I bought them. I use them for deep diving crankbait fishing to this day. I also still have one MG reel that has a bait clicker that I still use for cat fishing, that is also working as good as new. The rest of my reels are all PT Energy or Tour reels and I have not had one issue with any of them. With that said I think a lot of the hate comes from some of Quantum’s cheaper reels like the code reels of which are junk, but the PT series flat out rock in my book. .

Heading out to the ponds to give it a try today. Ice was out a few days ago around here. Todays weather though is not going to be fun, 41 degrees, rain/snow and 17mph winds, but I can't wait any more for I gots to go fishing! In the past the jig & pig has been my go to lure for ice out but with these winds today I think I am going to have to break out the old 4.4:1 reels and try slow rolling a spinnerbait or maybe try slow cranking a Bomber 6a. In any event. as KVD would say. " IT'S GAME TIME" !

Same here. All my reels are Quantum PT's that came with Hot Sauce, but I have used it in other reels just fine, however like others have said when changing from one brand to another its best to do a good cleaning first.

The infisherman bass issue thats on the newstands now is pretty dang good.

My understanding is its the inventor doing the suing not Mann's. Mann's just bought the rights to make them under there name. I could be wrong but thats what I have heard. In any event jelly worms work as good today as they ever have. I believe it was because of the Jelly Worms fruit flavor that we have ten million scents on the market today. The bass ate them up like candy and the next thing you know the Attractant, Scent market got started.

FLW, BAM, Bassin when its on the news stand, IL Game & Fish and Midwest Outdoors. Use to get Bassmaster until they tried to charge me 25 dollars for a year of which I have never paid more then 15 for it in over 20 years. Not worth 15 yet alone 25 IMO. Use to be great back in the 80's and early 90's, packed full of info, now your lucky if there is one good article in it IMO.

I watch all the fishing shows I can, even the ones I am not really all that into like salt water fishing for its still better then anything else on TV these days, but what I want to know is why the heck was Zona's show a rerun last night already? It can't be rerun time already, they just started the season a few weeks ago. You got 5 million hunting shows all year long and just a few fishing shows for a few months and its rerun time already? Zona get your butt back out on the water and record something. LOL

I agree except for one thing. I think at least a 30 day would be better then no warranty, for if you live in the sticks like I do you must order online of which means you can't check it out for defects until it arrives UPS. Not to mention BPS nor Gander nor Dicks carries the brands I use, with the exception of some Loomis rods at BPS, so it’s impossible to check them out before buying. I agree why should they cover a rod someone broke on there own and it would be nice if they lowered the price by getting rid of life time warranties, but at the same time why should I risk ordering a defective rod if they won’t at least stand behind there product for 30 days. Like you said if there’s a defect it won’t take long to find out about it. After 30 days user error is most likely the cause of broken rods.

An excellent book if your talking about the one written by John Wiess. One of my favorites that I read every winter while waiting for the ice to go away.

Quantum Tour PT

That Space Monkey Rocks. You can fish it so many ways from top to bottom. One of my favorites for sure.

Have not had no where near as good of luck with the Rage Craw as I do the Netbait Paca Craw, but the Space Monkey and the 10" Anaconda rock. Just wish the Anaconda held up better, I go threw them like crazy around here. The action and that Plum color is, as KVD would say, Money In The Bank Baby! Just ordered up some more Rage Craws the other day though, for i am not giving up on them yet and also ordered some of the Rage Toads to try out this up coming season. HUH! Don't tell the bass around here that, They love the 10" Anaconda!

Top three: 1. Spro Poppin Frog (Most fish caught, two tourney wins, 1 top 5 and 1 Biggest Bass of the Tourney award 5lb 7oz. Also responsible for the first ever smallie I have caught on a frog. I have caught a ton of smallies but never on a frog before) 2. All Terrain Jig & NetBait Baby Paca Craw (My Biggest Largemouth Bass of the year 7lbs 3oz, not to mention several 3 to 5lbers, Biggest Smallie of the year, 4lb 5oz) 3. Booyah BuzzBait (This was a total shocker for me. I had tried Buzzbaits before on and off over the last 20 years but never really had any luck with them and then all the sudden in 2011 I could not keep the bass off of them if I wanted to. Second largest bass of the year came on this lure 6lbs 4oz. The dang thing also, believe it or not, caught me two bluegills that did not like this racket running over there beds. Small little buggers with bad attitudes. LOL) Close runner ups: 10" Strike King Rage Anaconda. Would have made the top three list if I would have bought enough of them. Great worm but don't last for more then a couple fish at most. KVD Silent 2.5. Bought them late in the season and caught many bass on them this past fall.

Dicks Sporting Goods has the Field & Stream Rods on sale for 50 percent off right now. I know nothing about this rod or the brand, just noticed them on sale today while shopping. For a little more then a 100 bucks the Lamiglas Excel Frog rod is hard to beat. I own two of these and for a 110 bucks they are really nice fog rods. Also at Dicks the St Croix Mojo's are 99 bucks (Normal Price I think) but you get a free St. Croix sweat shirt of which is actually pretty nice. Here again I have no clue how good or not the mojos are but my buddy bought two Mojo's and two of The Last Tour Edition PT reels they had. 89 Bucks for a Tour PT Reel! Man if they had the LFT hand models I would have bought 6 at that price.

Nothing against golf. I use to work for a Yamaha Golf Cart Dealer and got to golf just about anywhere in Northern IL for free, just saying its great that the fishing shows are back, just wish they got as much air time as hunting does.