Dockhead

How much do you want to spend? In my price arena (~$100) I like a 2500 Symetre and a Pflueger Supreme 8035 for crossover duty. You could go up to the 3000 Symetre or down to the Supreme 8030, depending on what line capacity would meet your needs.

Falcon Low Rider - 7' 6" Heavy

I am up to three mojo's now, and while I really do like them, the biggest selling point is I can actually go to Dick's and play with them. No Lamiglas around, I'd love to check out the excels. And finally saw the bucoo's at bass pro, but all they had were med action rods in stock.

HA!!!!! Must have lost it to Skeet in a bet.

I caught a rather large one on a shallow crankbait once. Have seen them caught on corn and marshmallow bits. They are nice eating, but I only do the ones from Publix myself. Hopefully their seller is not harvesting from some of the canals mentioned earlier. And to think we have been worried about the mercury content of the fish we eat! Fertilizer does not sound like a good flavor enhancer to me.

Didn't see this in time - how did you do? I love fishing there, it fishes a lot of differently than most central fl lakes. Lots of good offshore stuff, although I have actually only been there a handful of times. Seems like the lakes are each unique, can't necessarily run the same pattern on each lake if you find a good one. Hope you had a good time.

My biggest fish have come on 3/4 ounce Rattlin' Rapala's. My favorite on my home lake for a long time was a cotton cordell/excalibur super spot, Jimmy Houston Edition. It had a great paint job, basically silver scales and black back but it was extremely realistic looking. It was ahead of its time. Can't find it now. If I were you I would keep a couple different types handy. Seems to me the fish want different attributes at different times. Some of those "attributes" only the fish are aware of, so switch it up. The baits are all a little different, and while we may not always notice those differences, the fish certainly do.

On occasion I pour Fish Formula into bags of soft plastics, especially if I know I will be using a certain product on a trip. I am not totally convinced that it truly soaks into the baits though, so I don't do it on a reg basis. Just figure it can't hurt. Although it can be tough to screw said baits onto a shaky head-slippery! For normal use I use Smelly Jelly (Bass Feast flavor lately) or Megastrike.

I have the white Stradic, no problems to speak of. But my latest reel was a symetre, and I love it. I would recommend it over the older white stradic.

You won't regret the citica.

Thanks - I think you nailed it!

More importantly, what kind of rod is that in the picture?

Run!! While you still can!!!!!

Don't people have rods custom built all the time? And don't those rods, when they cost in upwards of $300, usually have a stout warranty? I know everyone wants to see what the deal is with these blanks, but they are available to other builders, aren't they? Which brings up another point; are the blanks really that great? Loomis put his name on the Temple Fork product that is out now, and from what I have heard they are lacking. Not to say these blanks are similar, but who knows. You have to wonder when this seems like such a stretch warranty wise. If you want one and can afford it, more power to you. It will probably turn out to be a masterful marketing strategy in the end.

He is quite the salesman. Good luck to him. I guess if you can afford one z-bone (I can't), you can probably afford a second one. With that warranty (or lack thereof), you'd better be ready. Although I would bet not many will buy a second one if the first breaks.

Ya, can't find anything on the Costa web site that looks exactly like those. Locally I fish Lake Tarpon, the Hillsborough River and the Flats around Anclote/Tarpon Springs/Dunedin. I also fish in a club, South Pasco Bassmasters. We fish all of the popular central fl lakes, and a few that are not so popular. Where do you fish?

Ahhh, sweet! I was wondering where I left that thing! So glad a BR member found it - I will pm you my info. so you can send it straight away.

One word - Senko.

What is "The Beast?"

I keep looking at this rod everywhere I go, even though it is out of my price range by about 60-70 bucks. Is it everything it's cracked up to be? Do you have any heavy cover out there to test it's strength? Great set-ups, looks like you have the bases covered!!

Anyone know the exact specs (or at least the model) of the sunglasses Jeff Kriet wore in the Classic? He is sponsored by Costa Del Mar, so unless he pulled a Velvick, I assume that was the brand. :

I just tried the magic eraser tonight for the first time, worked great. So great, in fact, that I realized how bad the cork was on a couple rods, hence this thread. That wood filler sounds like a good idea too, thanks. Although, the cork is so pitted on one rod that I have a much lighter rod at his point. Don't need a split grip to reduce weight.

Interesting. Thanks for the link. Does it change the color of the cork?

Anyone know of anything that can be applied to cork rod handles to preserve them?

I was sold on the old Curados, had just bought my fourth one when they decided to make the Curado differently (and boost the price) and upgrade the Citica. Everyone was saying the Citica was basically the same as the old Curado, but I didn't care, I was so miffed I swore I was done with Shimano and I was going to try something different around that price point ($120) next time I was in the market. Well, someone got me a Citica for xmas, and now I just ordered my 2nd one earlier this week. They are great, you won't be disappointed. And of course I had a notion to go for a Curado, but decided it wasn't prudent. My only question would be if you are happy with the BPS reels you have, why switch?? If you are getting rid of 4 to get 2, won't that leave a couple rods hanging in the garage? You might be better off keeping what you have, and down the line if you need a new reel try a Citica out.