Darren.

All time fav. But gotta have bacon. Thank God for IHOP and 24/7 breakfast!!

Welcome, grizzly! Plenty of good info and opportunities to contribute your own experience!

Reels...

10lb. And I use this on all my spinning gear. Caught my 7.5lb PB during spawn last year in thick slop using 10lb braid and a 10lb leader-on one of my baitcasters. No worries. Gary Yamamoto has an article on going down to 10lb test, very good read. http://www.insideline.net/weeklynews/2008/08-0529.htmlhttp://www.insideline.net/weeklynews/2008/08-0529.html

No doubt about that! Would buy a nice boat, a house on a lake, and all the fishing gear you could ever use. That is, if you or I were still healthy enough to fish...

Top it off, down here in VA, it is a requirement for nurses, techs, doctors to get the shot now. My wife refused before, but no longer can at her job. (An RN) My two youngest sons 11, 8 got the inhaler vaccine, but my eldest boys and I have not gotten the shot yet. Like others, I got the flu after the one time I ever got the shot, back when I lived near Rochester, NY. Not had it since. But I've had a few nasty bouts with the flu over the years which makes me think about it every year. Still haven't decided about this year. Wondering if the spread here in VA is slowing down or not. You got me thinking again, Fish Chris....

Welcome!

Welcome aboard!

The Magic Eraser would have been good. Just had two tip tops replaced (today) on my Compres and it was suggested to me to clean the cork for longevity, etc. Used low-odor mineral spirits to clean the cork. Worked great. Then applied coat of U-40 with a toothbrush. Soaked in as expected, quite pleased so far.

I use both when necessary. A Boga is on my wish list for sure. I have a knock-off right now that works great. Never seen damage to the fish. In fact, I think we do more damage when we lip grip and lift the fish to hold it horizontally, torquing the bottom jaw out of whack. The grip will spin if the fish thrashes, too, minimizing damage. Just my .02. Toothy critters, a lip gripper is essential IMO.

Welcome aboard, Austin!

10lb Power Pro, pulled in huge logs with it, but better yet, big bass too. Have tried many brands, PP my fav.

Or y ou could save some money (sort of) and make your own transducer arm + mount. If you're handy with tools and such. Buy some nylon cutting board (black if you can find it), a couple lengths of 1/2" square aluminum posts from HD or Lowes, some stainless nuts, washers bolts, etc. But as flyfisher mentioned, there are pre-made xducer arms that may be easier all around.

Well, fortunately for me the baitmonkey wasn't on my back in December. Thanks for the details.

Ah, thanks RW.

I'd agree, but would give a big edge to the Shock in sensitivity. Briefly had a Shock, liked it but upgraded to the Shimano Compre. Still have my Ugly Stik Lites. Great rods for float fishing, beginners, or heck, really anyone who likes them. Always amazed at people who slay bass with "cheap" stuff. For example, Pat Cullen http://www.bassmaster.com/node/96838 "In December 2009, Cullen caught his 1,100th bass heavier than 10 pounds." And "One of the most impressive aspects is the simplicity of his approach. His tackle (for the last three decades!) is a collection of 6-foot Ugly Stik and Ugly Stik Lite Rods and Ambassador 5500C reels spooled with monofilament, In recent years, he has switched to Vicious line." Don't know about y'all, but he puts me and my Compres, Stradics, Daiwas to shame....

Sorry, what giveaway?

The Bass Pro near me had both the new and "old" 6'10" cork drop shot Crucial rods and I def preferred the cork feel. I was bummed when Shimano changed out to the EVA grips, but that said I've never fished the new stuff... So it is interesting your take. In fact both of my Compres need tip tops replaced, and I'm gonna pay a local guy to do them for me since I can't get them warranty-replaced with identical models. For one, Shimano doesn't make these lengths anymore...

x2. Love to see 'em hit the James or Chickahominy! I'd attend for sure.

I have no info on float-n-fly model, but I do have a 6' ML ... well, now it's around 5'10'. It is a good rod, not exceedingly sensitive, though. But it is sensitive enough to detect a lot of bites. I don't use it for bass fishing any longer, it's used primarily as a crappie, etc. rig with a sliding float. Still catches bass, though, as my boys can attest. For the price it's a good rod if you don't want to drop a lot of $$.

I need to correct myself. The models of Compre that BPS carries stops at M power. The "Bass" series goes down to M. http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/rods/Compre_Family/Compre_Bass_Spinning_Worm.html But the standard "spinning" drops down to ML. http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/rods/Compre_Family/Compre_Spinning.html Either way, I still say you're good-to-go with a M or ML.

I hands down prefer braid on spinning gear. Line management issues virtually disappear. And I tie a leader on about 99% of the time. Baitcasting is either or. I like both and use both.

Shimano compre, current model stops at M, but the warranty is tops. I finesse with previous gen compres in M/XF and love em for weightless plastics down to a Zoom Tiny Fluke, a #4 Gammy finesse wide gap hook... Works great. Buddy has a 6'6" St. Croix Premier in ML that he absolutely loves. You could go either way and be fine....

According to this report they're proving elusive. Only 21 so far, as of the article posting. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fla-sponsors-python-hunt-everglades-article-1.1242665

Love my Lexa 100 in 7.1:1. Great reel. Picked up on eBay as well, for $10 more and free shipping.