Goose52

And another: http://www.netknots.com/html/fishing_knots.html

I use 8lb mono on a BPS ProLite reel no problem. I'm probably going to put 6lb on it in the spring. I typically throw 1/6 oz baits on a ML rod and it works great!

X2 BPS ProQualifier - was just on sale for $80 for a month but is now back at the regular $100 price. BPS Rick Clunn - now on sale at $71 - but almost sold out. Both are fine reels. The RC will sell out soon; hopefully the PQ will be reduced again to $80 during the BPS Spring sale.

I think you'll like the PQ You might want to keep your Ambassadeur as a back-up reel or for another combo. If you do decide to sell it - check out the going rate on eBay - you will probably get much more for the reel in a sale on eBay or on the Flea Market on this board than as a trade-in at BPS.

As said above - maybe nothing. It depends upon the type of presentation you're going for, water clarity, structure/cover, targeted fish, line stretch vs. sensitivity, and probably other factors I'm not smart enough to know about : The other lines may have some advantage in some conditions over mono - the question is the degree of advantage, in numbers of fish caught over mono, to warrant having all those specialized lines and rigs. Another Bass board has a line recommendation page that only has mono for several applications and flouro for the majority with braid in the middle. Me too. I use Stren for 4 & 6 lb. I use BPS Excel for 8, 10, & 12 pound. I've used some 12lb BPS flouro on a BC reel and it seemed a bit "springy" (coil memory) to me. I got some 30 and 65lb braid to play with but haven't used it enough yet to have an opinion - my water is open with little trash/timber to work through so I don't have much application for braid anyway. So, mono is basically my standard.... My lakes are REALLY clear here and I'm open to trying alternatives. Based on RW's and other folks recommendations, I will be ordering some Yo-Zuri Ultrasoft in 6 and 10 lb in a few months and run that on some spinning and BC rigs in the Spring...

Are you talking about the gander mountain in jackson tn? Other side of the state - Knoxville. The BPS is in Sevierville. I live in Crossville... (lot's of "villes" here!)

Let's see - aluminum frame, 7 pretty good bearings, dual braking, an increasingly good reputation - all for $80 on sale. Seems like a good value to me....

6.4 works for me as an all-round reel. I'm hoping the Carbonlite goes down to about $100 during the spring sale and I will grab one to put on the MBR842 BUT, I will still be getting another PQ in 5.2:1 as well. That will give me 5 PQs...

In addition to the points made by Sanother siteBASSER, the PQ has dual-braking (both magnetic and centrifugal), giving more control over all periods of the cast, while the Extreme has magnetic braking only. Well worth the price difference IMO. Also, the PQ is now available in 4.7 and 5.2 ratios, in addition to the original 6.4 and 7.1 - giving a product range nearly as broad as the Extreme. As far as other reels in the $110 or under price range - some of the other brand "posse's" will probably be along soon... :

Yep - great deal and I bet that Steezy takes great care of his equipment so you will be getting a good reel. you should jump all over that! If you meant me ... I normally would but I thought I would give the OP a chance at it ! Plus, I'm waiting to get one of the new 5.2:1 ratio PQs on sale... :

Right on. When I first fished for bass in the late '50s, it was grab your one rod, with a couple of lures, and go to where you had luck before (although you didn't know why you had luck there), or to an area that looked "fishy" ... and you fished. We didn't know what we didn't know! Now, it's all very scientific with lots of baits for different conditions ... and different rods for each technique. The new technology improves the likelihood of catching fish for sure but also makes it complicated. I'm just now starting to learn this new stuff after a 40 year hiatus from bass fishing... Same here - most of my water is frozen over right now but when I find an open patch of water, the guides ice up right away

Yup - better advice than mine. You could start with 4 centrifugals, see how it goes, then go to 3 centrifugals (every other one), then if things are going well - go to 2. Remember, the centrifugals come into play more at the beginning of the cast, the magnetic coming in more at the end of the cast. If at the beginning of the cast you don't see any overun on the spool, you can try fewer centrigual brakes. Take note of the instructions that came with the reel about setting the centrifugals - they must be balanced. So, you can set 6, 4, 3, 2, or 0 brakes.

Yep - great deal and I bet that Steezy takes great care of his equipment so you will be getting a good reel.

See post number 4 - I was expecting you !

I do it all the time. I live in a small town - about 80 miles round trip to a decent tackle shop, 150 miles round trip to Gander Mountain, 190 miles round trip to Bass Pro. I shop the catalogs/web sites, read reviews, and put in an order. A couple of times I was disappointed when the rod came in, but generally I've had good luck. It probably helps that compared to others, I'm not as sophisticated an angler and don't have hands capable of determining 1/4 oz variations in rod weight I knew that online shopping would be necessary when I moved out of the "big city" ... and it's a small price to pay to live in a great place 8-)

Great - good start. You haven't said yet the weight of the object you're trying to cast - but a suggestion is to start with something about 3/8 oz. Now, using the instructions that came with the reel, take off the palm side plate and set 2 of the centrifugal brakes. Reinstall the sideplate and set the magnetic brake to about 8 or so. You should now have a pretty conservative, hopefully backlash free set-up for that weight of bait. When you cast, stop the spool with your thumb at the time the bait/weight hits the water (or ground if your practicing in your yard). With an "8" setting on the magnetic brake, you will probably be sacrificing some casting distance but hopefully you will have no backlash. You can experiment with reducing the magnetic back a click at a time to get more casting distance. At the time that you start to see, during the cast, the line on the reel start to loosen up as if it's getting ready to backlash, add back in a bit more magnetic. Adjusted properly, a dual-braking reel like your ProQualifier can literally be a "thumbs-free" reel except for stopping the spool at the end of the cast. Having said that, you should still have your thumb riding very lightly on the spool during the cast to stop the spool if your bait hits the water sooner than you expected or otherwise need to prevent a backlash. The reel CAN do most of the braking for you - but as you learn, you can also train your thumb to take over a bit if you want... Remember that if you change the weight of the bait, you will need to readjust your spool tension knob (on the handle side) and may need to adjust your magnetic braking as well. As mentioned previously, some bulky baits that can catch the wind may require more magnetic braking. If all of a sudden a wind comes up, you may want to add some magnetic. For most of the baits that you will likely use, you will probably not need to set more than 2 of the centrifugal brakes. Now, go fishing !

I haven't tried the BPS Lazer Eye Micro Spin yet - I have been meaning to add 1 or 2 to my BPS orders and keep forgetting. Another thing keeping me from ordering these from BPS is that I can get Roostertails cheaper at WalMart ($2.36) ,,, still, I guess I should try the BPS Lazer Eye. I did order a bunch of the regular BPS Micro Spins in various weights http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_29902____SearchResults but was disappointed in them as they were all underweight from their listed weights - for instance - the "1/4" oz Micro Spins actually weighed closer to 1/6 oz. I still have 4 or 5 in their original packaging laying around...

Still no link...

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Me too - I'm waiting for the Spring sale to get a PQ in 5.2:1 and a Carbonlite BC reel ................... then I will be done............. ;D

You might want to compare the specs of the new 2010 RCX reel - being sold for $109.99 - with the 2009 model Rick Clunn - still on clearance online for $71.82. It looks like all that has changed is the color/finish of the reel... The 2009 model RC rods are just about sold-out online... I haven't used the RC or RCX rods. I do have a 2009 RC reel, with another inbound right now, and it's a solid, quality reel with dual-braking. It's a bit heavy at 9.45oz but that's only about 1/2oz heavier than other similar reels and it does have a bit higher line capacity - 135yds/12lb. FWIW

...Abu Reflex - my last one shown below. I bought a set of 5 of them in the mid-60s and this is the sole survivor. Another great design - the corrugated blade promotes spin at lower speeds, and attach point for the treble hook forces the hook to run a bit off-center, reducing spin of the entire bait. Another bait I wish you could still get...

How many spools did you buy ?

$50 is a tough price-point to get a good, long-lasting reel. Some folks will come along soon and recommend getting a Garcia Ambassadeur round-reel on eBay. For a new reel, to go over your budget a bit, BPS has the Rick Clunn reel on clearance right now for $71.82 - this reel has dual-braking, making learning to use a baitcaster quite a bit easier.

You probably outbid me on the ProQualifier - I hope it's a good one! On the dual braking - you don't have to be new to baitcasting to like this feature - I think it's the wave of the future and you will see more and more reels adopt similar braking systems. It's good for everyone