Darren.
Super User
-
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Darren.
-
Holy smokes! If I had your budget when I was 15!!! I have 4 boys from 12 to 19, so my gear isn't quite as pricey as yours on the whole, but they sure do work! If you've got the $$ go ahead and spend it!! I'd love to have done that at your age. Expensive gear is not necessary, but can be very nice to use, no doubt. My most expensive gear is a $200 Chronarch 50e and a great Legend Tournament Walleye spinning rod paired with a Shimano Stradic. I have 4 Stradics, for the record, over the past many years. All bought on great deals. Listen, I caught my PB on a 6' rod from Dick's Sporting Goods with a Quantum Accurist casting reel I got during BPS Spring Classic (back when it was actually good). Total for that combo was *maybe* $120. I've recently bought 2 spinning rods from BPS, both Micro Lites, one a travel 5'6" L and the other a 6' ML. These are fantastic rods, to be honest. I've also got Carbonlites, Compres for spinning. They all are good, though I'd put sensitivity edge (in the less-expensive range) with the Carbonlite, then the Micro Lites. All that said, I return to my second paragraph. If money is no issue, get what you want. If you feel you are showing off or whatever, then tone it down a bit. Realize it isn't the gear that makes you a great fisherman, but YOU that makes you a great fisherman.
-
-
Welcome aboard, and great to have you begin adding to the conversation! I'm sure we can all benefit from your experience
-
-
-
I've only had troubles snelling Daiichi hooks, but that's about it that I can think of. The bend you mention too often has a "sharp" edge to it.
-
Whatever the other guys say on this one. Me? Welcome aboard!
-
LOL. Someone had to do it. At least we now know you read Mad Magazine. The Magazine for distinguished anglers.
-
Hat's off to a hero. RIP, Mr. Glenn.
-
-
Welcome aboard, Steve!
-
Welcome aboard! There are a ton of rods in that price range, so my best advice is to do what I did and visit some local sporting goods stores like Bass Pro, Cabelas, etc. There you should touch and feel each rod of interest and put your reel on each one to see how it balances. I found Bass Pro's Carbonlite rods to be very nice balancing.
-
-
Welcome aboard! I was going to suggest similar to @Sam's thoughts... 1.75-2.75# But what do I know! No matter what we say, it's a nice bass!! Congrats!
-
-
I, too, have scored at Walmart's bargain bin. Strike King tour grade tungsten bullet weights. I think they were between $2-3 for a pack of 4 when they normally go for $7.99 @ Bass Pro. Also bought several packs Daiichi and Gamakatsu hooks on the cheap.
-
-
Welcome aboard, @Dave Hopkins Jr.! I've got two Spirex reels, and they're solid. But my go-to reels are Stradics. To @HughCash, the deal on the irod Air is fantastic, and the Lews with it looks like they were made for each other. Hope the reel stays strong for you for years to come. Everyone has experiences good and bad with brands, and it is unfortunate Shimano didn't serve you well.
-
-
-
-
I'm afraid a non-landed fish does not count in the PB hunt--unless one wants to be *that guy* who caught an x# bass that was *this long* -- but didn't really... I've hooked bass and almost got them to my net but they spit the hook and danced off. I'm sure at least one was in the 8# range... But I only count the ones that I have weighed and/or measured. Every time a person tells me "Dude, I caught an 8 pounder over there at the bridge, but it got off..." I want to ask him how he knows it was 8# if he didn't weigh it. We are not the greatest judges of fish size or weight when using only our our eyes, or how heavy it felt on the line.
-
You're definitely in the ball park. I do all that and more, but the "more" is experimentation. As far as the Rod/Reel, both are fine, though I might opt for a ML, but I've used MXF rods for this in the past with no issues.
-
Welcome aboard! Give the articles @roadwarrior posted. They're full of great advice.
-
I use 20#, but you'd be fine if you are more comfortable with 30#. Issue some have with thinner diameter braid is digging in to the spool. This will happen when you are snagged, pull hard, reel in a fish, tight drag, etc. If you are aware of this possibility and periodically pull out line from your reel, you'll be ok (I don't have issues with 20# fwiw). As for leaders, I will use from 6#-15# -- you can go higher if you are in nasty slop, downed trees, etc.
