Goose52

Was fishing a spot about 4 days ago with a Zoom Fat Albert grub t-rigged and weightless and got an aggressive hit on the retrieve - had the fish on and got him close to the bank and could see it was a nice size LMB but then lost him. Lost my Fat Albert too. The strike was sorta unusual as it was a solid, fast strike - not a "touchy-feeling" type of hit I've been getting with this bait. Yesterday, I was fishing the same spot, also fishing a grub, but a different brand and color, when I get an aggresive hit and land the fish. It was 16" LMB and while removing the hook I see a little plastic tail sticking out of its throat. I grab the tail with the hemostats, pull, and out pops my Fat Albert grub from 3 days before. Same fish, same spot... Hope I catch him again !

A coincidence as I just bought some PowerPro at Walmart for the first time a few days ago. What surprised me was that the 20lb that I bought was a 150 yard spool at Walmart, and BPS sells 100 yard spools in 20lb test. Sorta a no-brainer - 50% more for about the same price. Plus, the 150 yard spool works better for me as I can get two 75 yard spoolings out of it.

I have the Carbonlite reel, but the but the split-grip design of the Carbonlite rod makes it a no-go for me. Too bad, lots of you guys are giving them pretty good reviews : If Carbonlite rods have the same hook-keeper design as the Extreme and Bionic Blade rods - I love that design. Wish the other rod companies would shamelessly copy it

Another option is the BPS Pro Qualifier. Available in left- and right-hand in 4 different ratios. The PQ features dual-braking, having BOTH centrifugal and magnetic brakes. The centrifugal brakes mainly control the initial part of the cast, with magnetic mainly controlling the ending portion of the cast, thus providing better overall cast management than a single-braking system reel. Properly adjusted, the PQ can be cast nearly "thumbs-free" - other than stopping the spool at the end of the cast. A great reel for a beginning (or experienced) BC user... List price is $100, often on sale for $80. Search this forum for "Pro Qualifier" - there have been lots of threads on this reel recently.

I do it from time to time. However, instead of using another reel, or a large spool, I set up two wood "pylons" about 100ft apart in my driveway and tie the end of the line to one pylon and just walk around the pylons until the line is out - then tie on to the other reel, then crank it back in with tension applied. As LCM said, this is mostly for baitcasting - not for spinning. As a side note, I also use the pylons to apply the exact amount of backing under primo line like braid. Just yesterday I had a 150yd spool of braid and wanted to put 75 yards on a reel. I put the pylons 75ft apart, tied the braid to one - walked out the line for 3 lengths of the pylons and cut the braid. Then I taped the braid to the reel spool, cranked it all in, then tied a uni-uni knot with the backing, and cranked in backing until the spool was full. Then, I walked the line and backing back around the pylons, then attached the backing to the spool and cranked it all back in. A perfect fill. It's a chore but it works.

X 4 I do the same thing - cheap line for backing, then about 75 yards (or so) of "good" line on top. As was said, you'll normally never see the backing while bass fishing...but one time I had a 40lb+ grass carp on the line and I saw my uni-to-uni knot disappear into the water as the carp was taking line out against the drag so I knew I had about 80 yards of line in the water.........then I started thinking "how old is that backing?" ;D

Zoom Fat Albert (5") - I fish them weightless and t-rigged on a 1/0 EWG; I toss them with spinning gear. I've caught brim, crappie, warmouth, and bass up to 3lbs so far this season on this bait. It's actually my most used bait right now...

That's how I hold it on the retrieve. Once a fish is on, I may shift my hand for better control of the rod if it's a big fish and I've got time to do so....

Sure - it would work great for all those baits. My two favorite BC rods are both 7'mf and they are my "go to" all purpose rods. I fish pretty open water, hardly any timber or veggies, and these two rods handle just about all that I need to do. They have enough power to throw most of the baits that I use, to get good hook-sets with those baits, and plenty of power for any fish that I'm likely to catch (up to a 37.1lb grass carp I caught a few months ago). I've got the usual technique-specific rods, but end up using the 7'mf rods for about 90% of my BC duty. One is a Loomis GLX MBR842C - I enjoy that rod for fishing on-shore - mostly plastics and lipless cranks. The other is a BPS Extreme that I mostly use from my canoe (because I'm afraid to take the Loomis on the water and drop it overboard - arthritic fingers! ;D).

Just outstanding - you must have had a permanent grin for a week ! I can't imagine catching 600 fish in a week (or 600/2=300 ea) ! Here I was a bit jazzed in catching about 110 fish so far in the month of June... ;D

Great video - well worth the time to watch it. I saw it for the first time just a few weeks ago when I came across a post from Glenn where he linked to it. LOTS of great info on this board................

BPS Pro Qualifier. $100 regular price, now on sale for $80 (but nearly sold out). Available in right-and left-hand in 4 different ratios. Nice smooth reel with dual braking. Best reel and best deal for $100 or under. (Disclosure - I own 5 PQs!) Search this forum on "Pro Qualifier" and "PQ" and you will get LOTS of hits - there's been quite a few discussions on this reel... Good luck with your decision!

Yikes - that can be a controversial subject. Search this forum on "reel oil" and see what you come up with. One thread on this topic was interesting enough that I saved the link in a file - check out: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1268748197

Finally took the time to sort my "catch log" for this season. I've caught 374 fish so far - 198 on soft plastics, 174 on hardbaits (mostly lipless cranks earlier in the season). So - 53% soft plastic, 47% hardbaits. Now that summer is here, other than trying some deep cranking with crankbaits and heavy spinnerbaits, I expect that I will be using mostly soft plastics until the Fall. It will be interesting to see where I end up at the end of the season - but I expect it will be something like 75% soft plastic / 25% hardbaits.

Have you checked for lube on the bearings and spool shafts? I have 5 PQs (and 2 Rick Clunns, 1 ProLite, 1 Carbonlite) and my PQs are just a quiet as the others :-?

HAHA ! lol very very true!! well said Great response ! ;D I think that's a primary reason (although most wouldn't admit it) that people are jazzed on the split grip rods !

Full grip for me - for all the reasons already mentioned above. I am open to grip material however- I might choose something besides cork if it felt good to me...

Thanks! Had it out today - 17 bass and 1 warmouth ... 8-)

I have 5 PQs and 1 Carbonlite. If the Carbonlite had come out sooner, I would have about 4 Carbonlites and only 2 PQs. The Carbonlite is a great reel with features and light weight unmatched at it's regular price; at the current $99 price - it's a steal. I have my Carbonlite on a Loomis MBR842C and it makes a great all purpose rig.

I've bought some of those Cabela's specials, and have bought a number of BPS cranks and lipless cranks. In some cases, I'll replace the hooks, but otherwise they've given good service. I do tend to use the $1.99 lures in "high risk" situations - timber, etc. instead of the more expensive, and perhaps arguably more effective, baits...

Great bass ! Last time I fished the Alley and Tamiami Trail was in the late 1960s - I miss it ! My Dad had an airboat back then and we could get farther back in the 'glades as well...

Hasn't been a canoe or a 'yak on the thread for a couple of months so I'll contribute this for us small-water guys. I use this for my 11 local lakes - 4 acres to 201 acres. No wake lakes so I get where I want to go as fast as the bass boats

If you check the "Other Fish Species" forum you'll find another thread similar to this one... Anyway, while fishing for bass with a 7'mf BC rod, 10lb mono, and a lipless crank, I foul-hooked and, after 35 minutes, landed a 37.1lb grass carp. A week later, I had another hook-up on another that was probably even larger - 40, 50lbs, who knows. After 13 minutes, and with 80 yards of line off the reel, that fish wrapped the line around a rock and broke off.

I've been shopping for a new spinning rod to use primarily for soft plastics as well - but not with a rating as heavy as 5/8 oz - I'm interested in up to 3/8 - maybe 1/2. I've been looking mostly at the the Loomis SJR782, and the St. Croix Avid AVS69MLXF. St. Croix lists the rod weights on its web site - Loomis does not so you can't comparison shop based on weight unless you find someone that has the Loomis model that you're interested in and can weigh it. However, as a comparison, my Loomis GLX MBR842 7'mf casting rod weighs 4.4 oz - the comparible St. Croix Avid (7'mf) is listed at 4.1 oz FWIW. Weight is not the only factor related to sensitivity...

They certainly look great ! I was just getting ready to order a Pflueger Supreme 8030 - it already has a magnesium rotor and body - 7.4 onces - $100. Now, are these new models going to be THAT much better than the current Supreme ??? Decisions, decisions !