DaveT63

If you want to save some money for the bait monkey, Tackle Warehouse has the 2009 ABU STX in lefty on sale for $119.99, and it should be free shipping. Tough deal to beat on a great reel. I paid that for mine used and was happy. Still am!

I'm pretty new to baitcasting reels, but has used both. I would HIGHLY recommend the STX over the Citica, especially for the same price.

Many of us here have been in your shoes. It wont be long before you try to justify replacing ALL your lower end rods with better quality. At least you can lessen the pain a bit by buying used through the flea market forum here. I've gotten Avids for under $100, and a St Croix LTB for $120. Great rods of all brands show up there all the time. Just have a little patience and you can upgrade at MUCH less than retail with no buyers remorse. Dave

OK, so what are good quality snaps? Brands/types to buy? To avoid? Thanks, Dave

Do you use the same colors and models as you use during daylight? If not, what do you use? Thanks, Dave

Also, before you buy anything new, check out the flea market forum. I've seen plenty of sedonas, saharas, and even symetres for not much more than a new sonora. Same goes for rods. You can sometimes find great rods for about half price.

As others said, depends where you are fishing. In pretty openness water, i use a St Croix 6'0" Avid ultralight to fish wacky. In open water with a wacky rig, i've had no problem setting the hook and landing fish with it, including 3 so far at 5lb+ this year. BUT, i also snapped that same rod in half trying to get a smaller fish out of cover (their warranty is great, by the way!). So, the heavier the cover, the heavier the rod.

Thanks for the suggestions, all! I was actually on my way dick get the okuma today and passed a dicks. Found a 2-pc 6'6" medium fast triumph with no price and a shimano sienna reel on it in the combo section. Since im kind of partial to st croix, i asked the price. They looked for a while and couldn't find a combo price on file for it. So they let me have it for the price of the rod only. I know the sienna is at the lower end of the quality spectrum, but its a free reel and will work fine for now, at least!

I am in the market for another relatively inexpensive yet half-way respectable 2-pc rod to throw in the trunk of my car. There is a sporting goods store near me that has a 6'6" Medium Fenwick Eagle GT for $49.99. They also have a 6'6" Medium Okuma Reflexions rod on clearance for $27.50, normally $54.99. Any thoughts or recommendations between the two? Or, I could get a Quantum Tournament Series (I think that's what it is) 7' Medium at Walmart for about $44. Again, any thoughts or opinions would be highly appreciated! Dave

St Croix does make an Avid 7ft ultralight, which has already been pointed out. I have one and really like it. But i prefer the 6ft Avid ultralite for some reason. I use mine for bass fishing. Wacky rigged worms, mostly. I've pulled in 4 bass so far at 5lb+ this year on it, and another 3lb this morning. I would highly recommend either one.

Thanks for the info, all! Guess i need to try more than just baby -1's then, since i haven't had much luck with them.

I put a 5hp on a 10ft bps pond prowler. Kept taking water over the bow at anything faster than idle.

What is the general concensus on shallow cranks? Is shallow considered 0-3 ft? 0-4ft? 0-6ft? or does it depend on relative water depth. Like, if the water is 40ft deep, does 10ft count as shallow? Thanks, Dave

Considering I've never caught a 6 lb bass, I agree wholeheartedly!

I ran across an old Made in France 300 a couple months ago. Still in great shape and works like the day it was new. I'm looking at putting it on a rod and using it, as it certainly does bring back the memories.

I love Stradics, but I personally would go with the President on the UL rod. I have my Avid 6' UL paired up with a Stradic CI41000, and it seems perfect. I tried it once with my CI4 2500, but it just didn't feel quite right. As far as having "unassigned" reels, why not post them for sale in the flea market and make some money to pay for that CI4 you liked?

I think first thing I would do is jump on this over in the flea market forum, then find a rod there to go with it. That's a bargain price on the patriarch. You could put a sweet combination together in there! http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1281382112 Dave

As RW posted in another thread, the CI4 is on sale. For a few dollars more that the Stradic FI, you really can't beat it. And I don't have a problem with the handle. It all comes down to personal preference. http://www.reedssports.com/Category/custom.taf?cpage=132

Thanks for the info, Tom. I'll have to remember that in the future! Dave

Sorry for my ignorance, but I just can't come up with all the threads Tom posted on a search. I searched both "banjo" and "banjo minnow" with no luck. Meanwhile, I will leave this subject go and ask Glenn to lock the thread and beg his forgiveness. Dave

OK, so I screwed up by not reading the FAQs on this first. But I did a search TWICE. Once I got 1 hit, and the second time I got 6, two of which were in this thread. And NONE of them had any information. So while I may have crossed a line here, I can't find the reason for the line being drawn. Dave

OK, according to TV, these things KILL bass. I did a search on "banjo" and found one post. So, has anybody tried these things? If so, what is your opinion? Thanks, Dave

I don't know what breaking the bank would be, but I would highly recommend the Stradic CI4 2500. Great reel, and light weight to boot. You can cast that thing all day long and not get tired.

If you are stuck on the Ugly Stik, I would at least go with the Ugly Stik Lite with the cork handle. It's a lot lighter in weight than a regular Ugly Stick, and usually only about $10 more.

For $35 I would also recommend this one in the 500 or 1000 size. I've had one for a while now and love it. And when I was researching it, I couldn't find a bad review on it anywhere. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10204449____SearchResults