Jason Penn

looks great!!! which mhx blank is that? composite?

i'm using a 7:1 with 15# fluoro on a 7' mh carbonlite micro for plastics. 5:1 with 12# fluoro on a 7' mh daiwa tds spinnerbait/crankbait rod for cranks. the one thing i don't like as much on the new reels as the old ones are the handle knobs. the new ones are eva also, but they're more like the pq. i picked up a few of the older style handles last year from bps r&r repair, so i just swapped out the handles.

megabass purple dragon for the rod, and don't know on the reel. i've had chronarch, tdz, steez, and i'm pretty much happy with my bps reels!

i took my 7:1 apart yesterday to grease the main gear, and those screws i don't know about. the older cl and the pqts i have seemed to have sturdier screws. i was really scared i was going to strip these out because they're so small and they were really tight in there. tore down, the new cl looks pretty much identical to the older model, as well as the 2 revos i have. i've only got to fish these 2 new ones (7:1 & 5:1) but i really like them! the 5:1 is really smooth, but the 7:1 was a little rough. i got the gears greased up now and it seems to be much better. hopefully i'll get to fish this weekend and see.

see, now all i can think of is marlon wayans in don't be a menace......what u say bout my mama?!

thanks for the info! johnny it's just a rod, why the aggression? i know you were a field tester on these, but it's not like he slapped your kid or anything!

i've had very good luck out of the bps reels i've been using the past couple of years, but they're all casters. i ordered a jcl750 on friday when they went on sale, but i won't get it in til next week sometime. hopefully it'll be as good to me as the carbonlites & pro qualifier tournaments!

actually the crankshaft is where most of the weight is. the brass gears only pick up about 1/3 of an ounce. you could probably do a crankshaft swap on a winch and get it down to the low 7oz range. i know at one time, the winch gearset wouldnt work in a premier. i'm pretty sure the pinion gear was the problem, but abu may have changed the winch over to the shorter spool shaft like the premier now.

bout the closest you can get is the new bps carbonlite, but it's a tad bit smaller. the lew's tournament pro is another option.

hard to argue with service like that.

i almost bought 1 the other day, but i just couldn't bring myself to do it. i would need to carry another rig with me to fish this thing, and right now i just don't want to. what are some of the lighter versions? if i can fisnd a version that doesn't really require a flippin stick or swimbait rod i might try it out.

i used to use 6'6" casting rods for pretty much everything, and then i bumped up to 7'. i'm going back to using a 6'6" mh bps crankin stick out of financial necessity this year for spinnerbaits, squarebill and topwater, but it just seems short when practice casting in the yard. i do kind of wonder sometimes if any company will make anything shorter than 7' in the near future. it seems in the past couple of years they just keep pushing it. a 7'2" is the longest rod i can fit in my rod box. i've still never bumped up to 7' on spinning rods although i don't really know why. for some reason the 6'8"-6'10" range just seems right to me.

you might not really notice a difference in a bps 7:1 and an abu (if it's a revo) 6:1. the pro qualifier/carbonlite has an ipt of 25-26" (depending on how full the spool is) in 6.4:1 and 28-29" in 7:1, and the revo 6.4:1 has an ipt of 27-28".

u'll get no argument from me praising the old carbonlites. i have 1 of those and 3 of the pro qualifier tournaments. i am impressed with the 2 new models i've got. whether or not they'll hold up as well as the older 1's is yet to be seen.

the new 1's. i bought the carbonlite micro rods for $119.99 each and they gave me the reels for $80 each i had actually planned to wait til the spring classic sale and save $20, but i was already at bps (about an hour & 15 minute drive) so i figured the extra cost would get eat up either in gas driving back or shipping.

i actually got these 2 reels for $80 each and didn't have to trade in anything!

my theory on mod action rods is a combination of what you're saying and how the fish get hooked. i think a slower action rod pulls the hooks in instead of jerking them in. i compare it to my first experience fishing a shakeyhead. i had watched all the pros swinging on the hookset like they do with a t-rig or jig. i tried doing the same thing and was losing a lot of the fish that bit until i realized i was ripping a hole in the fish. when i started just reeling and pulling i would get hooks pierced into the fish and they couldn't shake it loose!

i got the same combo yesterday, except i got it in 7:1. i couldn't believe it when i 1st picked it up! nclifetimer the cent brake is adjustable on the outside. when i 1st messed with the reel i couldn't quite figure it out, but there's 2 external adjustments for the dbs. in the center is cent brakes and the the outside ring of that is for mag.

pretty much every reel i have ever checked was about an inch less than what the mfgs advertise. i couldn't tell you exactly how much less than full i keep my spools but i'm sure someone really good at math can!

i would think 14# fc on the spinnerbait/crank rig. you can always change from a 4'-6' depth crank to a 6'-8' to compensate. i would go #14 mono on the topwater/jerkbait rod, be sure to check actual diameter of whatever line you choose. a lot of companies "strong" line (pline comes to mind) is actually quite a bit larger than other companies line in same pound test. when i used cxx i never went over 12#.

that's why fluorocarbon is crucial for me. maybe it's all in my head, but i just seem to lose contact with braid. hopefully one of these days someone will come out with a hi-vis braid that does actually work for me. i haven't tried the spiderwire fluoro-braid just because my eyes can't see green line. if it works as advertised, it could possibly be the perfect line for me in a hi-vis color.

i think with fluoro, pretty much any decent rod will work for me for plastics/jigs as long as it feels comfortable to me. i've got an old 6'6" m daiwa tds glass rod that will rattle your teeth out if you fish a squarebill on it using braid. sensitivity is not even a question there.

my techniques have changed more than my attitude about fishing. i've never been interested in the competition end of fishing, in fact i really don't like fishing with other people because "numbers" always seems to come up. i enjoy catching dinks just as much as big fish. i will take a day of 20 pound-pound and a half fish over a couple of big fish. i just like catching fish! my eyes have really changed in the past 10 years. i can see just as clear through either of my eyes, but together they don't focus. my left eye takes over for anything 5-6ft out and my right eye takes over in close. this has caused me to lose depth perception. i can't throw a spinnerbait or crankbait in the areas i used to be able to, so it has caused me to really not do very well with those techniques. plastics and jigs have really become my main baits now since i can pitch them pretty much anywhere.

i like a reel that has a 25" ipt. it's hard to just go by gear ratio because they're not all the same. a daiwa fuego has a 27-28" ipt, (as does a revo premier) whereas the daiwa steez 103ha has an 24-25" ipt. the 25" ipt seems to be where i'm comfortable, it's fast enough but not too fast, for me. i got on a kick a few years ago using mod action rods for all moving baits. i can't remember which posting board i was posting on at the time, but a few people kept insisting glass rods were the greatest thing in the world for all reaction baits. i had a 7' mh daiwa tds crank rod, so i decided to give it a shot. i remember the 1st fish i caught on it, the hook just pierced the fish and i had to actually use pliers to get the hook out of its mouth! i really think that's the whole thing with crankbait-type mod action rods. instead of jerking the hook into fish, they just pull it in. with all that said, i think rod action is just kind of personal preference. use whatever feels right to you!

try the closed eye wire instead of r bend. the terminator baits always worked good for me until i switched to a mod action rod, then i couldn't seem to hook'em as well. i guess the extra spring in the wire plus the slower rod was keeping them from getting hooked good.