Goose52

I think the general consensus of the "BPS Posse" is that the entry level for BPS BC reels is the Extreme...and preferably the PQ if you can spring the extra $.

I have 4 BPS Bionic Blade 2-piece rods that I use for travel - 2 spinning and 2 baitcasting. They're above your price range but are great rods - regular price is $80 - on sale, they can be down around $60. Of the 3 models of 2-piece casting rods, the 6'6" mf would probably work well.

I use 360s. A 360 tackle bag is smaller, easier to tote, and fits better into a canoe. I rotate the 360s into the tackle bag based on what I'm expecting to do that trip. I have 360s for cranks (under 10'), deep diver cranks (10' to 30'), topwater, spinnerbaits/jigs/spoons, minnow/jerkbaits and traps, and swimbaits. Plastics are in their original bags in most cases. Another factor is that the smaller box is an attempt to slay the baitmonkey and I keep telling myself that I can't buy more baits than will fit into the appropriate 360 box ;D

1/8 to 1/4 oz in-line spinners on a light or ultra-light spinning rod.

I lost one off a dock - a spinning rod - guess I had a light grip on it and during the forward cast it just slipped out of my hand; fished it out with another rod I had with me. This season, I will be fishing out of a canoe and will be trying to keep a better grip on the rod :

I did a lot of comparison shopping and bought a 570 as well. I got the portable model for my canoe - it comes with a battery, charger, suction-cup mount transducer, and nylon carrying case. As was said above, this unit has the highest resolution in it's class. These don't seem to be discounted anyplace so I ordered it direct from the Humminbird web site - I had the unit 3/4 days after ordering it.

So, I already had quite a few lipless cranks (Spots, Traps, some BPS) but on my last Cabela's order I think of this thread and add a couple genuine Strike King Red Eye Shads (Cabela's web site stated: The bait that won the Bassmaster Classic). We had snow here last week and some ice on the lake but have a warm spell right now and water temps have come up from 42 degrees a few days ago to 50 degrees today. Time to go fishing. I had a Husky Jerk tied on one of my rods and grab that...then think about it, cut it off and tie on the Red Eye. Hit the lake, 4th cast, bam - nice little 2 pounder - my first fish of 2010. Magic bait...or coincidence ....................................... probably coincidence ! ;D

BPS Pro Qualifier. $100 regular price - often on sale for $80. 8 models - RH and LH in 4.7, 5.2, 6.4, and 7.1 ratios. 7 bearings and dual-braking.

I fish Roostertails quite a bit. The bass in my avatar was caught on a 3/8 oz chartreuse Roostertail. I use ball bearing snap-swivels with these. For colors, I use chartreuse, black, white, firetiger, and yellow - changing colors depending on water clarity and light conditions. For bass, I've used 1/6, 1/4, and 3/8 oz. Regarding line twist, you can mitigate potential twist by bending the line tie at an angle a bit. If you have a problem with the blade "stalling", you can put a slight bend in the tip of the blade to get more action. See the photo.

Check eBay - reel collecting is big and there is value in good condition vintage reels. I wanted to get a Mitchell 308 (to fish, not collect) to go with the Mitchell 408 that I already have and I couldn't cost justify it - 45 year-old 308s were going for quite a bit more than what a new Mitchell Avocet Gold goes for.

Look out...there's gonna be a new bait monkey in town.... ;D

If it has 5 speeds (or a low number of fixed speeds), it's not digital. If you have a variable speed motor (like the Minn Kota 'Digital Maximizer' or MotorGuide 'VariMax', it's digital.

I have 8 BC reels with swept handles, and two older reels with straight handles. I like the feel of the swept handles and have never hit anything while cranking. Like jagdbdg said, the theoretical reason for the swept handles is to move the cranking torque closer to the reel centerline, thus reducing the "wobble" induced by cranking to some degree...not sure that reduction is actually "feelable" though. :

I write it on the left side, to the rear (see photo). I use an Ultra-fine point Sharpie with permanent ink. I would write "2-5". We had some posts a few months ago about this and some said that they wrote the depth on the lip (underneath would probably be better than on top).

TackleTour did an interview with this guy: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewinterviewmattnewman.html

For me - in-line spinners. A great multi-species bait but overlooked for bass. Not good for tossing in the salad but since I fish mostly open water, I fish these a lot. While probably not a great "big fish" bait, the 7-12 bass in my avatar was caught on a Roostertail, as was a 20lb catfish I caught last year, so occasionally they work for big, not just for numbers. I thought it was interesting that Mike Iaconelli mentioned in a Bassmaster magazine article that in-line spinners were a fall-back bait for him when the usual producers weren't working.

For me - it's different depending on the weight and casting characteriscs of the bait and the force used on the cast. I've used 0, 2, 3, and 4 centrifugals on my reels (never had to go to all 6 for anything yet). On average though, 2 centrifugals are what I use with most baits. Then, I use the minimum magnetic that I can get away with. I also use very light spool tension.

Like others have said - soft plastics. I know that as a class they are probably the most productive bait...but it's just too slow and boring for me. I have vowed to try to fish plastics more this year...

Great summary by Crestliner2008 - all I can add is that flouro is probably the better line for "underwater" applications (since it sinks), mono is better for topwater (since it mostly floats), BUT the big difference is that flouro is MUCH more expensive.

3:10 pm.

Good job - thanks for getting that interview

BPS Pro Qualifier. $99 regular price and often marked down to $79 when on sale (a light-weight version of the PQ is on sale now in the BPS stores). The Pro Qualifier has an aluminum frame, 7-bearings, and dual braking (both centrifugal and magnetic braking). The dual braking feature (not available on any of the reels mentioned above), provides better cast management than single-braking systems, thus minimizing backlashes, and greatly reducing the learning curve. If you search on "Pro Qualifier" or "PQ" in this forum, you'll get lots of info about peoples opinion of this reel.

Search this forum for reviews and comments on the BPS ProQualifier. Good reel, good rep, and has dual-braking, a great feature to minimize backlashes... $79 on sale right now at BPS, $99 regular price and it will probably go on sale several more times during the year.

First time I read the term here I thought of fly rod roll casting too. However, with the BC rig it's a totally different animal. Basically, it's holding the BC rod horizontally out to your casting arm side and with a wrist action flipping the rod tip in a circular motion (clockwise if you're casting with your right hand) and timing the release of the bait when it's starting to rotate toward the 9 o'clock position. Not sure if that's the clearest description - perhaps others can chime in. It's a great medium distance cast and a plus is that you don't need room behind you for a backcast. I sometimes use this cast when fishing from the bank with a lot of brush behind or above me.

I think it could eventually happen Steezy. Why not, it's a great technology and adding the second braking system only adds about .3 or .4 oz to the reel (if you use the old and new models of the Revo Premier as an example) - a great trade-off for the added capability. The Carbonlite is on sale now at the BPS stores for $89