Hooligan

Palomar is not recommended for fluorocarbon lines at all. Seaguar uses to have on their packaging that you were not to tie the Palomar because of its propensity to weaken fluorocarbon. Many, many pros no longer tie the Palomar for the same reason. It may well pass through the eye twice, but it also crosses on itself which is Terri me for fluorocarbon. It loses strength drastically, it used to be considered one of the strongest knots, but that simply isn't the case any longer.

I second what's been said. One of my favorite reels. As far as the mgx goes, I've not been overly fond of mine. Yes, it's a nice reel, yes, it fishes well. But it remains lacking. It's hard to describe. It doesn't feel as refined and it isn't as comfortable to fish. I've also had to replace the spool twice and spool bearings once. I like the theory behind the braking mechanism, but I don't like the practical application. It's unreliable at best.

Neither. Pitzen or San Diego Jam.

Hate the complete lack of action in a lot of beaver style baits. The profile and appendages of many hang up in heavy cover, too. The original is a great bait, I just hate giving them the business, don't agree with a lot that Andre has done and I can't get on board with that. I really like the Lake Fork Flipper and HyperFreak. I also fish the SK Rodent in a pinch, but it isn't my favorite. It's a one and done bait, which doesn't bother me much, but so often, it gets damaged on hanging up on vegetation. That bugs me, have an appendage torn off from pulling the bait through pads... I fish the Pit Boss more than any other beaver type bait, right now. It has great action, durability, and it has superb color patterns. Lastly, the Bass Pro Bull Hog has been a really good bait for me this year, too. Good colors and great subtle action result in a good flipping bait for multiple situations.

Hudds, 22nd Century, Mattlures, Roman Made, Castaic, Spro, Berkley... All make good baits. In a hard bait, I'm in love with Roman Made Trick and the Mattlures Hardgill right now.

I'm sorry but you're incorrect. They touted it as being the new and improved design, but they didn't invent it, or even originate it. There were several other companies in the USDM that used it on their conventional and saltwater reels. Also, Ryobi used a curved, or bent, or swept, or anything else you want to call it, clear back in the mid to late 80's. There were also a couple of companies in Canada and the US that made aftermarket handles for bass reels, three or four of which were bent. Again, the fact of Shimano not using bent handles has nothing to do with Daiwa or any other company. It has everything to do with the engineering, balance, and clearance of the reels in the first place. Case in point, Calcutta D. By moving the handle closer to the cranking center there is less torque loss and no need to artificially balance the reel by doing so.

Both work well. Abrazx for jigs and rigs in heavy cover, invizx for all around use. I use Abrazx a lot in 20lb for flipping, the primary drawback being that I change it frequently during the season.

I'll start with the bent handles. It has nothing to do with Daiwa- they had nothing to do with inventing it. The bent handles move the center of mass of the reel inward, as well as torque, and change the drag star clearance. Shimano doesn't need to do any of these because of the configuration, therefor there is no need of the bent handle. EVA knobs would be far less durable, or comfortable, than the septon grips that Shimano uses already. Shimano does utilize promotions from time to time, however, a large part of the reason those promotions are run are to get people to buy the product for the free stuff you're giving away. When you are already one of the top selling mfrs in a category, people are already familiar with the product and there usually isn't great need to sweeten the deal, if you will, to make people take the plunge. Yes they could gain a small marketshare by doing so, but the benefit would far be outweighed by the cost. Secondly, Shimano fishing operates wholly on its own, when compared to Pure Fishing's brand umbrella. Yes, the performance of the individual is considered, but the umbrella of profi is the driving force behind Pure Fishing. It covers the entire sector, so to speak.

Supposed to be a new series of rods from a semi custom builder. Built on a proprietary NFC blank with American Fishing Tackle guides. It's supposed to be pretty astounding performance for the money. I've only handled prototype rods from said company, and have been reasonably impressed. That said, I've heard nothing on them of late.

The whole thing with the 128 is figuring out the cadence that works beat with your setup. You can work it several ways, but matching the length of your rod twitches to the speed of your rod is kind of key. When you get that figured out, you're golden.

And I disagree 100%. The rover does things that no other topwater will do effectively. One of the big things that it will do is make 90-180 degree turns and cover large amounts of water, without moving forward. The 128 is better than the 95, but not by a whole lot. The Pro-Tuned rover, as much as I'm not a Scott Martin fan, is probably one of the single best walking baits ever made. It sits lower in the water and moves more water than other baits. It's much easier to walk consistently, and it has a tremendous ability to move 18-24 inches to the side with moving only an inch or two forward. You can walk this bait three feet, but move it only 5-6 inches forward on the cast. At the same time you can really speed it up and get it to cover a lot of water in a hurry. Definitely not another spook knockoff, it's improved and tuned to do what the spook previously could not.

Sure it didn't just stick the tails together and dry that way?

In terms of sensitivity, I have every bit as much faith in my A series rods as I do my GLX. I'm extremely happy with them.

The "company that produces" the Lexa, Aird, and Laguna is Daiwa. They don't use a third party manufacturer for those reels. Thy are the third party manufacturer for Many of the Academy reels, much like they produce a number of reels for Cabelas.

I like some Trokar hooks, but hate others. The Finesse worm and HD worm 4/0 down are what I primarily use. The flipping hook above 3/0 I won't use, same goes for any of the swimbait or mag swimbait. The reason I won't use them is that they punch too large a hole. I've lost a number of fish because of it. A simple test punching those hooks through paper will show you how large a hole they cut. It's so large that the barb does not catch, and as a result I've had many hooks back out. I've fished Moaner Swimbait hooks side by side with the Trokar, same rod same setup, same everything. Lost 17 fish in one day on the Trokar and caught every one hooked on the Moaner. The finesse worm and HD worm- never lost a fish. I use the finesse worm for almost all of my light T-rigs and even for light flipping in the larger sizes.

In theory, yes. But it is hydrophobic and as a result has much greater drag because of the flotation. Physics don't lie.

It's all preference. I've got 4 Curado G5 reels and have had zero issues with quality on any of the g series reels I own. That said a low gear ratio reel makes large cranks much easier to manipulate because they have so much torque. In general, it's zero issue keeping a bait moving with a cranking reel, I don't subscribe to that theory much at all. What it does is allows you to vary the speed of your retrieve much, much easier.

Wrong on multiple levels. Braid hinders depth because of its very, very high drag. It hinders depth because of very high flotation that causes bellying- which in turn increases drag.

Braid is extremely buoyant, as the material it is made of is 100% hydrophobic. It takes a large amount to get it to sink, in comparison to its volume. You're 100% incorrect about fluorocarbon not dragging down on a top water bait. Try fishing a 1/4 ounce Yellow Magic with fluorocarbon and the popper doesn't work because the line is pulling the bait down at an odd angle.

Palomar is the single knot that I absolutely detest. Everyone recommends it, however it is one of the very worst with fluorocarbon. The Pitzen is the best, and the single Uni is a good knot as well. Many, many pros won't use the Palomar any more. Marten, KVD, Evers, they all use other knots because of the inherent weakness of the Palomar.

Braid will not rot. It is completely impervious to water. It cannot dry rot, and it cannot rot due to vein submerged. The only thing that will damage braid is heat and uv light. Heat will destroy braid relatively quickly. Leave a spool of braid in a hot vehicle a few days and you see a difference. That said, all lines will suffer from that sort of heat.

Just variations in color. I've caught many fish early in the year that are brilliant white and the next is lemon yellow on the belly. I was once told that crawfish eaters tend to be more yellow than their counterparts that eat more baitfish. I don't know that I subscribe to that theory exactly, but I'm sure diet can play a part in coloration, too.

Haven't spent enough time with it to really prepare a well formed opinion. I fished ithe F5-75XX this past weekend and am not overly impressed, nor am I turned off. I think, at this point, that it does fit well in its category.

Here's the thing, as much as I love, and fish, the Lobster, Craw, and Baby, they just don't work for me in every situation. Regardless of how loyal I am to them, I also fish the Critter Craw, Craw Papi, and a handful of others including the Creme craw. One of the primary reasons I fish the Rage Tail baits is the fact that Big-O is as active as he is here. It's tough to find that dedication and experience anymore, even in an industry that relies heavily on that standard of information. I will tell you, as well, the vast majority of my trailers are rage tail baits because of how effective they are. I don't care how many I go through. If it means I catch one more fish in a day, then it's worth it. The title, after all, calls the bait an alternative. It does not say a replacement for. Lik

Don't wild card it. Send it to them, politely explain your dilemma and ask if they have a reasonable explanation. They're good folks, and I would be shocked if they didn't take care of you on it.