Goose52

I just counted and I'm up to 25 combos so I just about have everything covered without TOO much duplication. However, I have sorta standardized on 7'm bc rods as my "standard" go-to rig for most applications and have duplicates of that configuration - with more planned On hiding from the wife, I am preparing to build some rod racks up in the attic above the garage - my wife NEVER goes up there... ;D

x2 on the PQ...especially since it's on sale right now for $79. The dual-braking feature is great and the reel is offered in LH and RH in 4 ratios. Search this forum for "PQ" or "Pro Qualifier" and you will find lots of recent threads about the 2009/2010 model of the PQ.

Why do you need to take it off the reel before you put it on another? ;D Just tie it to the other spool and GET-R-DUN! Because of the smaller coils on the line that is at the bottom of the spool, and some compression effects on the line. Just seems better to put the line on the bottom of the first spool on the bottom of the second spool - especially with flouro. Now, if we were talking braid, then putting the top/used section of the line on the bottom of the second reel would be the way to go...

I do that from time to time. I have a 100 ft driveway and just set up a "pylon" at each end - tie off the line on one pylon, walk out the line around the two pylons until all the line is off - then tie the end of the line to the new reel and crank it in.

I've been using Excel nearly exclusively for all my mono applications on spinning and BC gear for a year now (although I still am using 4lb Stren for ultralight spinning). All my lakes are open water, with few rocks, so my fishing environment is pretty benign on the line. Not much memory, seems like it has good knot strength, and when on sale is a great value. I've used 6, 8, 10, 12, and 17lb test Excel. I change line once a season; more frequently for my highest usage rigs. There are probably better monos at higher price points, but for my applications, I think Excel is a great cost vs. performance value.

From 5 minutes to 6 hours. I have 11 lakes that I fish in my local area - the farthest two lakes are a 12 minute drive from my house. I'm retired and can visit any of these lakes at any time of day. I might head out for an hour or for 3 hours. I sometimes go out in early morning, then again in the evening. I sometimes make the rounds, hitting 3 or 4 of the lakes in one trip. I also keep a rod in the trunk of my car and when driving by a lake on the way to someplace else, can stop and make a few casts, then be on my way. It's tough being retired

I have 5 PQs - great reels for the money - especially when on sale for $80. I will get a couple of Carbonlites later this year when they get production caught up and put them on sale (BPS has had a heck of a time keeping these in stock...). If you search for PQ or Pro Qualifier in this forum, you'll find lots of threads about the 2009/2010 model of the PQ. There have not been very many posts about the Carbonlite. On casting lighter cranks - the PQ will have no problem - but remember the other two parts of the equation - line and rod. 10lb test (or lighter) and a medium power fast or moderate action rod will help toss the small cranks.

Like Marty said, lots of things to think about when selecting a canoe. Regarding potentially rolling the canoe - consider the addition of "outriggers". I just added a set to my canoe and I can practically sit on the gunwale and not roll the canoe. I got these: http://store.springcreek.com/Stabilizer-Floats/Stabilizer-Floats/Spring-Creek-Ethafoam-Stabilizer-Floats-Complete-Package-p1588.html

I ordered it from their web site. The color is "bombay and lime" and the image of that color is accurate on their web site. My photo has a yellow cast to it due to poor lighting on the bait. I just checked, and Cabela's is out of stock of ALL colors of this bait on their web-site (no wonder when they've got it marked down to $5.99).

More discussion on this bait here: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1265989897

Thanks for posting this. I've been using Rem Oil as I already had some for firearm use. Now I know why I have to re-lube my bearings so often. I had no idea Rem Oil was this light. I have some Reel Butter, perhaps I should switch to that :-?

I've been kicking around the G24 vs G27 size selection for a while now. I'm putting it in a canoe and a 24 can be as much as 10 pounds lighter than the 27, making it easier get the battery in and out of the boat - not to mention weight and balance considerations. I think the 24 has enough reserve capacity to suit my needs (the TM doesn't need to draw a lot of power to push a canoe around) so I will probably go with the 24.

I just placed an order. I was hoping the Carbonlite BC reel would be on sale - it's not only not on sale - it's listed as out of stock :-/ I was going to order another PQ instead - but then beat the bait monkey over the head and told him to be patient and the CL will eventually go on sale. I ended up getting a 7'6" MH Crankin' Stick ($10 off) and some baits...

Great reel and great value for it's regular $100 price - an outstanding value at $80. It's available in LH and RH in 4 ratios (4.7, 5.2, 6.4, 7.1). It has dual braking - a nifty feature not found on any other reels in it's price range. Search this forum for Pro Qualifier or "PQ" and you'll get lots of threads about this reel. Bias disclosure: At present, I own 5 of the latest model PQs...

Well, I don't buy too many lures in yellow and chartreuse, but I'll have to admit that my first bass of 2010 was caught on a SK Red Eye Shad in the color shown below I sorta forgot about that one being mostly yellow and chartreuse - I just remembered as I lost that lure fishing it deep the other day and was just ordering another one and noticed how bright the color was :

Where are you fishing? I thought all lakes in the Mid South had threadfin shad. I assure you, crawdads are everywhere, whether you see them or not. RW - I mostly fish 11 private, man-made lakes, from 4 to 201 acres. These lakes were created in the mid-70s or so, and have been stocked off and on since then. Of late, little stocking has been performed. Shad were never introduced here. As you say, there may be crawdads here, but they're not seen often. All of the lakes have some populations of bass and 'brim'. Some of the lakes also have some populations of yellow perch and channel cat. 4 or 5 of the deepest lakes have some remnant populations of walleye (very few), and rainbow trout. Grass carp were stocked in most of the lakes for weed control. It's not a native fishery, fish populations are probably lower than what you would expect for the sizes of the lakes, but there are some big fish. Probably 1/2 of the anglers fishing these lakes are catch and keep so that makes things that much tougher. :-/

Blue Streak - gonna drift off your topic for just a second Thanks for the tip. Yeah - that Koopers perch imitation is just great...but $11.50 for a crank is above my price range (hear that bait monkey). I did just get a couple of Rapala Jointed Shad Raps from Cabelas for only $4.50 each - one was the perch color below, the other was a "hot perch" color. $4.50 I can handle !

Good kids !

I have the 2009 model ProLite as shown in snoopy2's photo. Great reel - I wish I had bought a few more when BPS was closing them out at $79 last year. It is a bit smaller than the Carbonlite or ProQualifier and palms well. It has dual-braking and can toss light baits in windy conditions. I've got it on an ML rod with 8lb mono and can throw 1/6 oz baits well. One of these days I may put some 6lb mono on it and see how it does at 1/8 oz.

It's funny how a lot of thoughts go through your head in a short time. Within a few seconds of falling in that 50 deg. water, I thought of the chart in my PFD manual that listed the time before incapacitation at the various temps (about 60 minutes @ 50 deg - based on that table I had waited for water temps to get out of the 40s before trying the canoe), then I figured I should try the swim to the bank as if I waited in the swamped canoe it would be awhile before anyone could get out there, THEN, for some reason I had an image of Leonardo Dicaprio at the end of the movie Titanic, hanging on the side of the flotsam, turning iinto an icicle! Funny now - not as funny then :-?

The lakes I fish have a slot limit of 14" to 21" - you can keep 5 bass under or over the slot. Regardless of that reg, I have always C&R'd everything with one exception. Last week, for the first time since I was a teenager (40+ years ago) I kept a bass - it was right at that 14" lower limit. My wife had never had bass before and the two little filets from that bass made a nice sampler.

My watch was OK as it is water resistant down to a few feet. On the wallet, I must have had a premonition as I left it in the trunk of the car :

I think it depends on water clarity and forage. The lakes I fish have very clear water, there are no shad, and few craws. So, I mostly use natural colors that approximate bluegill and yellow perch. I do have some luck with yellow and chartreuse in-line spinners, but I don't buy too many cranks that are predominately those colors.

Good discussion and super relevant to me. I just bought a new canoe and got a non-inflatable PFD to go with it. While the non-inflatable is comfortable in colder weather, I was thinking that it would probably be too hot to wear in the summer. I was thinking about getting an inflatable PFD for summer use - otherwise, I had a feeling that while I would always have the non-inflatable in the boat, I probably wouldn't wear it since they're so hot. So, I was on-the-fence about the decision to spring the bucks for an inflatable. Anyway, I've had the canoe for 4 or 5 weeks and was waiting for water temps to come up to give it a maiden voyage. It was a nice day last Monday, and the water temp was up to 50 degrees so I cartopped the canoe to one of the local lakes. I put on my PFD, got the canoe in the water, and took off. Paddled around for a while - like most canoes it's not real stable but it was manageable (for fishing, I will be using outriggers). I was experimenting with paddling from each seat, checking out the balance/weight distribution, and while changing postions from the forward seat to the aft seat, I rolled the canoe - it happened in a flash. I was in that 50deg water, 150 yards from the nearest bank, and the canoe was inverted. I rolled the canoe upright, put the paddles in the swamped canoe and started towing the canoe to the nearest bank. Good thing I'm in reasonable shape or I couldn't have managed that swim. And boy, was I glad to have the bouyancy of that PFD. I did have a whistle attached to my brand new PFD so I could probably have crawled into the swamped canoe, blown the whistle, and waited for (maybe) the cavalry to arrive but thought I'd try to make the bank. I got to the bank, rolled the canoe over again to empty water, and luckily had a bailer and a sponge wedged in the canoe (1st voyage - I was thinking it might leak so I have the gear with me) so I cleared the water, got back in, and paddled to the other end of the lake where I had the car parked. That night, I got on-line and ordered an inflatable PFD (and also ordered the canoe outriggers!). Moral of the story for me is that I will ALWAYS have a PFD on while in this canoe, outriggers or not. I will wear the non-inflatable in cool weather and when it gets too warm, I'll wear the inflatable. Inflatable PFDs should be inspected/test inflated periodically as well so I need to make myself do that on a set schedule during the season and then inspect/test inflate again before first use in the spring/summer. While wearing the inflatable, I'll still always have the non-inflatable with me in the boat as well. Also, everyone should have a whistle not just in the boat, but attached to every PFD that they own. BTW K_Mac - strangely enough, my prescription eyeglasses stayed on the whole time, as did my ball cap. My cell phone was dead, but as soon as I got home, I pulled the battery, and reversed the flow on my shop-vac and blew air into the back of the phone for about 5 minutes - by the next day, the phone was working again !

The first gen reels are probably in the $30-$40 range. The 2009 model RC (blue) was discounted as low as $71 in December so that sets the ceiling. Spend some time on eBay to see what these 2009 models are going for. I'd say $50-$70 might be possible on these - especially if you still have the box and papers.