Goose52

You won't find the sideplate in the store - your only hope at the store level would be if they replaced the reel. From your first post, it sounds like you've already been to the BPS Outdoor World Rod and Reel Repair shop website - give them a call about getting a replacement sideplate. Rod & Reel Repair

Did the same thing the other day - but fortunately with much cheaper Yo-Zuri hybrid. Caught one of the outrigger floats on my canoe on the backcast. Cut off about 30-40 yards of line and was back in action (about the only good reason for having 140 yards of 10lb on the reel!). I also backlash from the bank - those bushes and trees jump right behind me just as I'm casting...

I bought a Supreme 8025 last year - after catching only 731 fish, the dang thing just recently started making a scraping noise. Must be no good - huh. Put a drop of oil on the line roller bearing and the noise went away. Great reel... I also have 2 Presidents, a President XT, and 2 of the older (gold) Surpreme XTs - all great reels and good values at their price points.

I only fish my neighborhood lakes close to home, and there's no stripers, sturgeon, etc. BUT, we do have some bass, catfish, and grass carp. So, the biggest fish I've hooked and landed here is a 37.1 lb grass carp. (A few months ago I caught and brought back to the bank a similar size grass carp but didn't pull it from the water for a weight.) Biggest catfish was a 33" channel cat (weight about 16-20 lbs?). Biggest bass here is my PB at 9.06 (story here: 9.06 LMB)

These are still "fishable" reels. My Dad (88yo) recently hung up his "fishing spurs" and passed on to me his prized possession - an early-60s vintage Ambassadeur 5000. I cleaned/lubed it, put 4.7:1 gears in it, and now I'm fishing it occasionally as it nears 50 years in service. The dang thing will just about out-cast my modern low-profile BC reels - and this without a single bearing in the reel. As Dave said above - lots of upgrade possibilities for these reels too if one is so inclined.

I usually recommend a BPS Pro Qualifier in response to this question...but as much as I appreciate the value of the PQ reel (espescially when on sale) you just can't beat the current Shimano Curado deals. I just got another Curado 50e for the $97.94 price and don't even have a rod to put it on - it will stay NIB for a while - the deal was just too good to pass up.

I am a fan of BPS BC reels (I have 13 of them)...but the current deals on the Shimano Curado 50E & 200E cannot be beat. You might want to reconsider your options...

I've had recurring back problems for more than 25 years - seating position is critical with me as well. One SOT kayak that has intriqued me is the Jackson Coosa that has a two-position (two-height) seat. If I ever get a 'yak to supplement my canoe...it will most likely be the Coosa. Jackson Coosa - YouTube

Got one this morning at the $97.94 price ...

Sure. I have two 5'6" spinning rods - one is a 2-piece light-power, the other is a 5-piece medium-light pack rod. Great rods - the 2-piece rod has a 33" channel cat to it's credit (on 6lb test). The 5-piece rod has been all over the country (and in several other countries for that matter). I have a 5'6" pistol-grip medium-power casting rod laying around but haven't used it lately (just can't get into pistol-grip rods anymore!). Then, I have some shorter rods - 3'm and 5'ul spinning, and a 5'l pistol-grip casting rod that has a spincast reel on it.

I use 10 lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid on my deep cranking reel...which just happens to be the PQ in 4.7:1 ratio. In general, the thinner the diameter of the line, the deeper you will run. More opinions on line for deep cranking can be found at this recent thread: Favorite Line for Deep Cranking

What's sorta neat about this bait is that it suspends (at least mine does - will have to get another to see if they all do). Having the bait suspend gives you more options on how to work the bait. You can toss it out and do a strait retrieve, crank it down to depth and dead stick it - then add some twitches. You can pause on the retrieve and then twitch a few times then restart the retrieve. It can also be worked like a mini-jerkbait... You just have to get past the dinks. At least I haven't caught anything smaller than 5" yet...

Don't think so. Most of my lakes are crystal clear and I fish Yo-Zuri green with no problems. You can't beat 50% off - go for it!

It's usually better to not mess with the hardware on the bait - just cut off the original hooks, then add the split rings and new hooks...

Here's an extract of a thread I started on February 21 of this year. I didn't say "last cast", but I had been fishing that cove for more than an hour without a bite, it was getting dark, and I was certainly only a few casts away from heading home. NOW, after this fish, you BET I made a bunch more casts to see if anyone else was home !!! I make quite a few casts around that cove to get the feel of the bait and when I'm making what was going to be just about my last cast (it was getting dark).........BAM. I got my 25 year-old Shakespeare spinning reel with the (marginal) drag singing and a BIG fish taking out line. Got her to the edge of the bank, lipped her, and got her out of the water. 25", 9.06 pounds, my new LMB PB

I don't buy rods by brand - I buy what I need to get the job done and look for what rod brand/model will do that AND give the best value. As a result, I have a couple of Loomis GLX rods where I think I need the most sensitivity. At the other end of the spectrum, I have 4 BPS Bionic Blades (all 2-piece) that I use as my travel rods. I've got a bunch of other BPS rods that have been great values at their price points (nearly all were bought on sale). My 9.06 PB LMB was caught on a BPS Extreme rod (you don't need an uber-sensitive rod to know that your chatterbait has been bit by a 9 lb bass!). In-between Loomis and BPS I have some St. Croix, Shimano, and an All Star that all fill a niche and were usually bought at a discount (hard to pass up an Avid for $96 new for instance).

X2 Check your WalMart for DD22s. Mine has a very limited selection of DD22s but the price is pretty good at between $4 and $5 depending on color. One color (Black Splat) they price at something like $3.96, the other colors they price at around $4.96 (go figure). I actually prefer the Hot Lips Express over the DD22 - they seem to dive faster and get at least as deep as the DD22. However, they're usually a bit more expensive than the Norman bait.

I brought this thread back to report that I finally did get my Strike King Bitsy Pond Minnow wet! My records show that I first caught a fish on this bait on April 13. I've fished it off-and-on since then, on the 4 different rods that I have that can toss the actual 1/12 oz weight of this bait. Results? For me, it's the biggest dink magnet that I have ever fished As of early this morning, I had caught 55 fish on this lure: 20 bluegill (5" to 10") 19 LMB (5" to 12") 14 yellow perch (5" to 10") 1 redear/shellcracker (8") 1 white crappie (9") HOWEVER, later today I finally got a decent LMB on this bait - 17" / 1.96lb. I had been concerned that the little #14 trebles wouldn't hook-up on a larger fish but both trebles were buried in the bony part of the jaw - I had to use my forceps to get one of them out; my 4lb mono would have broke before this fish could have got un-buttoned. I was using a 5' UL (mod-xtra-slow!) spinning rod and a 2 lb bass on that rod was a lot of fun. THEN, on the very next cast, I get a 5" bluegill. So, the bait does indeed work, but you sure have to wade through a lot of dinks to get the nice fish!

Yikes - yet another reel survey! Here we go again - reel wars, June 2011 version... I voted "other". For baitcast reels, "other" means modern (say post 2009) BPS BC reels for their overall value. I have 2 Rick Clunns (heavy but OK), 6 PQs (great value and features - unmatched number of models [i have all 4 ratios offered]), 2 CLs (incredible feature set at their price), and 3 "C" model ProLites (nifty little reels - I really like these). I also have a RevoS, Curado 200E7 and 50E, Ambassadeur 5000 (60s vintage), and a couple older Shimano BC reels. Nowadays, it's really hard to go wrong with BC reels above the $100 list price range - all are probably fine reels that will give good service. For spinning reels, "other" means, of all things, SHAKESPEARE ! I still have 6 mid-80s vintage Shakespeare Sigma 2200 spinning reels in front-line service with 3 more stored away (salt-water size). They still work, catch fish. My PB LMB (9.06) was caught with a Shakepeare 2200 spinning reel in 040 size. However, the lack of an instant anti-reverse is starting to bug me and my trusty Shakespeares will be gradually phased out with...PFLUEGERS. Right now, I have a couple Pflueger Presidents, a Supreme, and a couple Supreme XTs that are starting to replace the Shakespeares. There's the "non-mainstream" vote !

I've never had a carp take an artificial bait but I wish they would. We have grass carp here that go over 40 pounds and they are a great fight. I've foul-hooked big grass carp on lipless cranks about a dozen times now and have landed two - one was 37.1 pounds - the other was about the same size but I didn't pull it out of the water to weigh it. The 37lb fish jumped twice - it was great. Hope you get some more!

10 lb Yo-Zuri for me...but I like ww2farmer's idea of 20 lb braid...

I've been doing some web reading and I think you're right. One of the characteristics listed for a chain pickerel is a dark bar below the eye - visible in my photo, but not in the OPs photo. I should probably change my guess to a small northern as well!

Compare your photo to this one. I caught this in Florida and chain pickerel are the only members of the pike family down there...

Looks like a chain pickerel.

Great looking fish Shimmy!