Darren.

Beautiful!

Indeed! Perhaps both of our teams' fortunes will turn for the better this year. Actually... at least you guys have made the playoffs 2 years running!

Welcome, Oleg!

That's so true. Want the snow footage to stick around, move to Watertown...

Exactly. Super-pleased with mine. Fantastic reel.

To piggyback on the topic LgMouthGambler (hope this is relevant to your original post because it got me thinking), does warranty matter at this $100 (or any) price range? I.e., Shimano's are over the counter limited lifetime, others are send-in/pay shipping, etc. Some say that warranties are added to the price of the rod, so does that make the Compre a better/worse value than say the Premier, Falcon or a TFO? Shimano's warranty brought me over to the Compre side of the fence (while looking at Avids... yeah, don't skewer me, please, I do want an Avid still).

LOL. Don't think I ever caught a fish on a flyrod, which is why I don't fly fish today. I was taught fly fishing on the Oatka in LeRoy/Caledonia NY where you couldn't use live baits. Never took to it. That said, I am very interested in Tenkara. Been following this for a few years (from a distance) as it's made entrance into the US from Japan. http://www.tenkarausa.com/

I would not use a clip on a worm hook. Nobody would stop you, but the worm hook would have a ton of action that you may not like for the worm. One of my boys tried it, though, and he did happen to catch a yellow perch. So yeah, it'll work, but it isn't best. On all my worm hooks I tie a snell knot. It is easy and super strong as it pulls the hook by the shank, not the eye. Here's a simple video from YouTube from a catfisherman that shows how easy it is: I use this on my wacky, and drop shot hooks down to size 4, too. TX rigged J hooks, EWG, etc, all snelled.

I would love to fish in the dark here in VA, but the local reservoirs are sun-up to sun-down and a stiff fine if you're caught after dark. Would have to travel further to find other spots. But I have fished private ponds at night, back when I lived in NY. Best topwater bite I ever had was on a jitterbug on a moonlit night. Cast out over pond, reeled in and BANG. Good time was on!

Great info...but I've always been leery of taking a reel apart myself. Am I the only one that always ends up with at least one screw left over after reassembling things?

I wouldn't discount a spincast, especially an underspin style. I've used them, have 2 ABU 276U and they're pretty good reels. They're easier to show a beginner. Kind of the click-n-cast thing, only have to pull the trigger, cast and you're good to go. They hang under the rod like an open face spinning reel, too, so balance is good. But yeah, for the same (or a tad more) money you could score a better open face reel and with a little more instruction, they may enjoy it more.

Yeah, I would like two rods in that instance, at least. Since I also do braid + leader + hook, I don't want to retie if I don't have to. So I'd have a second rod set up with a quick-change lure clip so I don't have to constantly retie there. In an ideal world, like the pros, you'd have a bunch of rods with different setups. For those of us with limited cash on hand, a couple rods can help a lot. If you go with only one rod, you'll have to retie... OR ... have different leaders (short) and use a single swivel at the braid end, and simply tie your leaders on to the other end. Hope I understood you correctly.

FWIW, you can find a Daiwa Lexa 100 on eBay for about $105-110. I took the plunge for one and it's my new fav. Excellent reel for the money.

Hard to go wrong with the Stradic. My FI's have served me well.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome! No tips for Wisconsin fishing, though

Nice review. You'll have some great trips and memories in that yak.

Not met any that I know of at my local BPS. But that's pretty awesome "SON!"

It seems since the Music City "Miracle" we've had so little to get excited about. And when we do, our hopes are dashed year after year. I'm holding out hope one more time...

I was in the stadium with you on a few of those games during the 4 SB era. Some seriously good times, though the end results were always painful. If only Scott "SCUD" Norwood curved it to the left... I remember listening to Frank Reich leading the greatest NFL comeback ever on the radio. Nearly exploded my brain that day. How I long to see greatness again at The Ralph. I'm optimistic, but after so many years of disappointment, until there are more W's than L's, I'll watch n wait.

Welcome, Rick!

I resist. Bait Monkey was handcuffed and confined to solitary after the overstockbait.com sale the other week. Thanks, tho!

Good stuff.

Yup. Unless he comes back as fast and determined as Adrian Peterson, but even then, he'll may never be the same. Wish the kid luck. We enjoy watching him on Sundays.