RichF

To be fair, I didn't give it much of a chance haha. Just not much of a finesse guy.

Well I gave in and tried the Ned and Neko...nothing on the Ned, only small bass on the Neko. They won't be used in 2018.

My biggest bass of 2017 luckily came in tournaments (both big wins). A 6 pound largemouth on a Spro frog and two six pound smallies, one on a 3.5" green pumpkin coffee tube, the other on a 3.5" Biffle bug.

BPS lost my business a looonngg time ago.

You'll have to let us know how it is. I was looking at that rod specifically for blade jigs. St. Croix rods are awesome and those Legend glass just look sick!

I'll often try and find prior tournament results at the given body of water. I'll look at the time of year and see if there are any consistencies in winning weights. This can help with bait/technique selection. For example: if your tournament is in the summer and you've found out that it only only took 8 to 10 pounds to win 5 prior summer tournaments at the particular lake, then you might decide that small baits or finesse techniques are probably the way to go.

Appreciate it!

It looks like there's a wedding in the works for me this year. I don't imagine I'll be getting out on the water all that much. To stay somewhat connected to the sport, I really wanna start editing more video and sharing my own content online. Maybe start a blog or website.

It's really important to be versatile if you're going to be a successful tournament angler. This is even more important if you're fishing as a co-angler. Not having control of where and how you fish forces you out of your comfort zone. If you're going to have any success, you need to be able to comfortably and confidently fish several different techniques depending on the conditions thrown at you. Whatever you do though, don't let versatility turn into over-complication! There are only 8 hours in a typical tournament day. That's not enough time to cycle through a hundred different baits and techniques. Having a couple confidence techniques you've really got dialed down will work for you most of the time. I've been fishing tournaments for 10 years now and have won about 85% (probably more) of my money on one bait. I've also blown away events on techniques I just learned that given season. So in short; yes, study and learn several techniques and yes, get really good a few. Keep things simple but be ready for anything!

Thanks man! Im about 45 mins away.

I suppose this would make sense if the warranty didn't specifically cover accidental damage and they didn't charge for the replacement. I think it's a good business model that works well for St. Croix. They get a lot of mine and my father's business because of their warranty. If you fish enough, rods are going to break; they're fragile toys. Last year, I broke the tips off a Legend Xtreme, Rage, and Legend Tournament at the same time during transport in a rod tube. That's close to $800. Through their warranty, I got them replaced (including an upgrade from the Rage to Avid X) for about $250. That's a great piece of mind when you fish as much as I do (or used to) and pour tons of money into the industry every year.

Skeet Reese uses cheaper rods than Scott. Many Elites sponsored by Pure Fishing are using Abu Garcia Veritas rods which run $100. Scott uses Okuma rods because he's paid to do so. I have no doubt he likes them and thinks they are fine rods...most $100 sticks nowadays are. His TCS rods are just made in China with cheaper components and lower quality blanks, that's why the difference in price is so substantial. Legend Xtremes are built in the USA with superior components. Scott used to be sponsored by Kistler (another more expensive, higher quality rod, built in the USA). He caught plenty with those too. Bottom line; his rods work for him because he's a good fisherman. Many folks just like using high end gear and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of advantages of $400+ rods over $120 ones, many of which have been discussed in the thread, so I won't rehash. Whether or not those advantages are worth the extra cash are purely subjective. So again, if you like expensive gear and can afford it, why not?

Seems silly unless you just don't like them. I would wager that the Croix warranty is somewhat built into the price of their rods. That's why they offer such a great program. Why not take advantage of a program the company itself offers?

I might be fishing as a Co again for the Potomac tournaments since I'm here in Arlington. @dam0007, if you can't find a link to those, let me know!

See St Croix's replacement program...You break your Legend Xtreme by doing something dumb, pay $15 for a Fedex shipping label from the website and pay $85 for the replacement cost. $100 total to replace your broken Xtreme. Pretty darn good deal IMO.

I don't understand why this is such a highly debated topic. If you like high end stuff and can afford it...get it, use it, and be happy. If not, just don't buy it. What's the point of telling others "they're wasting money" or "it's not worth it" or "I can catch more with my $20 rod than you can with your $400 one." To answer the OP; the Legend Xtreme is an incredible line of rods. There are few others out there that are on par with the build, strength, and sensitivity. They're also backed by a pretty incredible warranty. So are they worth the price tag? I'd say yes.

I imagine living in Mexico could possibly have something to do with that...lol.

That's awesome man. Some kids out there have it much worse than what they deserve. I think I speak for all of us in saying thanks for being a positive influence in this kid's life.

Don't listen to these jokers! Haha. I totally get what you're saying. Shimanos have the best sound, although, my Stradic FK doesn't have the same ping as my older ones. I just got a Daiwa BG really cheap and it has a good drag sound too.

She's a beaut!

I've been looking at getting a newer GoPro that shoots in 4K. With it, I'd need a new computer to do any kind of editing. The more I research, the more $$$ required. The 4K deal is probably not worth it unless you're pretty serious about editing/do it professionally. 1080p is def fine for Youtube.

That's incredibly impressive! Very few people that age are even saving for retirement! Well done.

They must pay much more for mowing grass now than when I did it haha. Even when I worked 60+ hrs a week landscaping during summer break, in between college semesters, I still didn't make enough to buy all those toys. Milk it while you can dude! Are we gonna see you on one of those TV shows documenting the "financial irresponsibility" of lottery winners?? HA!

Maybe if we all stop giving TW so much of our money, so willingly, they'll be forced to entice us with better sales!!

I'm kinda glad TW is only putting garbage up for the 25 days sale....keeps me from buying even more stuff i dont need!