Hooligan

Hey now, don't go showing that purple rubber jig to anyone at the ROck. Keep that one under wraps. would ya?

I've said it for years, too. Can't remember where I heard that line first, but I've loved it ever since. Definitely a 5% guy, likely higher. I wonder what the total percentage of anglers catching fish over 10, 12, and 14 pounds is. It would be neat to see that breakdown, really. Multiples of those big fish, too, would be interesting... I caught seventeen fish over 5 last year, certified weights only, not counting those fish that I've caught and weighed fun-fishing. I know this because I just looked at my little book of tournament stats that I keep. I caught well over 2000 fish last year in tournaments, again in the black book. Considering the small number of fish over five that I caugh in comparison to total number, that 5% mark may be quite generous.

If you want an exceptionally good line for not a lot of money, look into Yo Zuri Hybrid. It's a great line on the cheap. If you want a pure fluorocarbon, Seaguar is the only way to go.

Sunline is decent line, there's no denying that. I've been less than pleased, however, with the consistency and durability of Sunline. particularly with the higher end of their lines. Shooter hasn't impressed me any time I've used it. Sniper, though, is an alright line for the money. It's between a bevy of lines in terms of abrasion resistance and handling, as well as knot strength and durability. It's not super high quality and it's not a low brow piece of crap, either. Bass Pro XPS line flourocarbon is somehting like the best of the worst. There are so many lines that are better that you're better off with them. It's OK as a last resort, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Just because it's extruded by Toray doesn't mean anything, it just means that it's extruded by Toray. It's too hard, has low knot strength, and little abrasion resistance for how hard the line is. It's got terrible handling properties and will have considerable memory issues within days of spooling it.

Superb reels. They're absolutely excellent performers, and they will last for generations. I have something like 14 Calcutta reels in everthing from 50 size to 700. I use them for everything from light freshwater to medium saltwater. I've caught bigeye and yellowfin up to 150lbs on the 700s, and they're bombproof.

Green fish- Falcon. Brown Fish- Ashland, WI on the shores of Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior.

The Zillion completely obliterates the Revo in every way. It's a better built reel and it's far more durable. It's also smoother and more powerful, and much more pleasurable to use all day.

Lube reels as needed. Fully disassemble and/or have them professionally cleaned annually. How often you need to lube depends on the lubricant, your use, the conditions... Many variables are in that one. I lube my primary reels at least every two weeks on the spool bearings and usually handle bearings. Not as often for internals and levelwind.

Open to everything but Seaguar? Well, you've ruled out the very best fluorocarbon lines out there. Nothing, simply nothing, compares to Tatsu. Shooter isn't even remotely close.

Seaguar extrudes Cabela's line. Toray extrudes Bass Pro.

In the past, I've had very, very good things to say about Ardent, their primary drawback has been that they've not been a sleek, light reel. They've typicallly been ugly and heavy. They are, however, among the best casting and performing reels I've used. They have a great breaking system, they have excellent materials, and they have very good construction. They interest me greatly with the new designs and I'm anxiously awaiting my reels. From everything I've read and all those I've talked to, the reels are well worth the retail. The only bad I've heard of the new reels is here in this thread.

I didn't like the KVD frog much. The body is soft and it tears pretty easily. The hooks aren't that great, either. I tore the hook out of two of them in about three hours. I'll stick with the SPRO and Jackall.

I'm making the trip, though I have no idea why. I'm not going to be able to practice and the lake is wicked high. The usual patterns won't be anything close to regular. I'm sure that there will be some quality fish, but staying on them will be a tough one. I can't imagine that the open water baits will be effective, particularly with the lake rising 5' recently. There's going to be a TON of water that fish will be using. The lake fishes so small, usually, the extra water may help that. It could also spread fish out of typical areas and make it a lot harder to get on consistency. We shall see, I guess. I'd sure like to be going to Grapevine on day three...

The only knot I tie anymore in fluorocarbon is the Pitzen. It's easy, it's efficient, and it's more than effective.

Rage all the way. I've really come to like the rods.

Look at the calendar from today's date. March 20 is in that six week time frame, give a couple days. It's ALWAYS six more weeks of winter, regardless of what that little ball of fur says.

Shakey heads aren't just finesse tools, btw. Fish a creature bait on one of these: http://www.basspro.com/Chompers-Flipping-Shaky-Head-Jigheads/product/10230701/230667 in the junk and it's deadly. (Works like a champ for bedding fish, too.

#1 Popmax #2 Mouldy's Hawg Wobbler (the 7/8 ounce) #3 Yellow Magic #4 Sammy #5 Spook

You're searching for two different rods. A moderate action rod can be used for all treble hook lures, and other moving baits. The reasons include protecting your hooks once they're in fish, casting distance, and rod forgiveness when fishing crankbaits. It's completely untrue that crnakbait rods have no feel, most have very good feel and allow you to detect just what's going on with your bait. If you can't feel that, you need a different rod. A jig rod, or any bottom contact application, should be a fast action, at the least. A fast action rod will allow for greater power in hook sets and will also be able to move fish from cover with a little more force in a hurry. It will also allow you to work a bottom contact bait more effectively; a moderate action rod would load up when trying to move a jig, whereas a fast would load just the tip and then move the jig. A jig rod a crankbait rod does not make.

Two of my spinnerbait rods are 6-9 XF, the reels on those two rods are 3.8:1. Two of my spinnerbait rods are 7', the reels on those two are 5:1. One spinnerbait rod is 6' and has a 5:1. I don't, generally, throw baits under 3/4 ounce, there are only a couple instances in which I do. My Stand by rods are the 6-9 with the 3.8 reels. It's impossible to slow a 7:1 reel down to fisha bait like the 3.8 will, but I can still wake a 3/4 ounce bait. (IN most cases, I can wake it a LOT easier because I have more torque in the lower gear ratio...)

They said this last year, though, too. Pretty much the exact same thing. If they're back, GREAT, they do have a quality product for some of the market, but this "We're back! Oops, too soon... We're Back!" is frustrating. I hope, for their sake, they are and they can meet demand.

I agree they're decent lines. This one, though, is a line that I don't like at all. It's got far too much stretch and much too low an abrasion threshold, if you will. It seems counter productive to take the best qualities of fluorocarbon line and cut them in half; rather, the most sought after qualities. I've heard from a number of people fishing the line that it's also not the greatest on the reel, which seems odd. It should be just fine on the reel, based on how it handles otherwise. I'm also a little amused at their touting the specific gravity of the line; almost all 100% fluoro ranges from 1.78 to 1.9, so there's nothing new there.. (Invizx is exactly 1.78, as are some of the other "handling" trended fluorocarbons.) The other thing that is rather interesting, and there are many sources that you can find this- Seaguar is the only line manufacturer that has the technology and capability to extrude dual structure fluorocarbons. It leads me to believe that the new line is extruded not as a dual structure, but as a copolymer which can lead to separation. That's a different track, and a very, very unlikely occurrence, but there's a great deal of transparance missing in the advertising. In my most humble of opinions, they have good lines in Shooter and Sniper, with Reaction they're trying to compare themselves to Invizx, which they've failed at in this case. (Truth be told, they're trying to compare reaction to Tatsu with the double structure bit, but again, a tangent...) If you want a very good line with a good degree of protection, while still having excellent abrasion resistance and handling, Invizx is the better choice. Actually, Trilene 100% is a better choice, too, I'm finding that I really like the line for moving baits. Yet again I digress... And I don't get all the good stuff early. I'm still waiting on Fat Smashers and Kopper's Square bills. Not to mention my Ardent Edge Elite that was supposed to be here a month ago. Edit: I'm sorry, I failed to directly answer you. Yes, I've fished it.

compared to CXX C21 is a lot more supple, smaller diameter, and easier handling. It's got similar abrasion resistance without being as hard a line. Compared to Big Game, I'm really not sure how you'd classify it. It's been so long since I fished it it wouldn't be a very fair comparison. What I recall of BG is that it's a good mono. I think the diameter of C21 is better, as is the handling. Other than those two items, I really can't give an opinion, it would be shooting from the hip.

Early Thin N and a Fat Boy. The newer style Thin N has a little different lip, but that's the bait for certain.

Might be the best picture ever, there. One problem, though, you're missing Wagin Hasu!