Hooligan

Tatsu, plain and simple. It's worth the dollars you're going to spend. I've got some that is three years old, possibly four- can't remember when I got it, and it's like new. I've had to add some backing underneath, but the line itself is perfect.

I love the console thought process on the Gambler and Sterling; storage for 16 3700 boxes.

Big FTO box for the bag, in the boat I have all my tungsten in 2 3700 boxes and all my hooks in their original package in three other 3700 boxes. I use the FTO more as my rigging box and boat box, with the others being storage.

Yah, just use a microfiber cloth and wipe it.

Kent, that's bad. Just bad. I'm one of the lucky ones, I get along great with my mother in law. She's a pretty awesome lady.

Using "lens cleaner" on your Oakleys and Costas is one of the very worst things you can do. It is only recommended to use an Oakley Micro Bag or Oakley Lens Cleaning Kit to clean Oakley lens, do not use any other solvents, chemicals or third party cleaning kits because they have not been tested on our lenses and can possibly damage them. Directly from Oakley's website. Costa recommends a neutral detergent soap. From what I've found, however, lens cleaners typically have an additional wax coating that is meant to inhibit fogging. That, in turn, creates a coating that smudges far easier. I avoid lens cleaners at all costs, particularly those with any ammonia, as it can cause a problem with the films and coatings used to create a polarized lens. To answer your question, I've used L&L on my Costas for a couple years with no issue, on lensed that are both 580G and 580P. It makes the biggest difference on 580G lenses in the cold, it does a great job preventing fogging from the moisture of your eyes. I can't find it on Costas site right now, but their rec is a neutral solution, as long as it isn't over a pH of 8 or under 5.5. (And if I recall, most lens cleaners come in at around the Windex mark of 10.5-10.7)

My Stella's are the dumbest thing I've ever purchased. All it does is make me want to get ALL of my spinning reels as Stellas.

Uh, huh? I wouldn't even begin to fit a tourney load in one or two boxes. I mean... there are times that I have six crank rods on the deck with three colors of the same crank, in rattle and non-rattle versions. There's one box. Take that in three or four sizes and you're already over your suggestion, and that's for one color of crank.

Without a doubt my favorite reel is the one I happen to be holding on the lake at any given time. Now in terms of cool factor, I'd have to say my favorite is my Zonda 10L.

Absolutely agreed.

I don't disagree with you JF, but there is some truth that being able to delineate and differentiate the two. Let's use a large river system impoundment as a an example. A primary point, one being the closest point to the channel at the mouth of a well defined cove, will very often have fish stacked on it at different times of the year. If, in relation to said point a pattern emerges and you tell someone that fish are staging on points where there's current, they may take that to mean that there are fish on every point in the lake. However if you say that fish are on primaries on current side, or on top of, or in 20' on the backside of primaries... It becomes a lot easier to delineate the differences. The same can be said for secondaries, or minor points. The more info you're able to read into a point on a topo map, the better off you are in terms of that delineation process. As has been covered, a point that extends out into the water is what you're generally after. There will be cases that flat points on primary locations will be loaded with fish, but those times are going to be far fewer than finding fish on points of the other types. Structure on points is hugely important, as is cover. Bottom composition and the way current plays on the point is very important.

Sterling= Fast, Excellent handling, great behaviour on the water, huge decks, spacious storage, dry, dry, dry ride in pretty much all water conditions. Very fuel efficient hull design, did I mention fast and great handling? Ranger- The name. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) I've owned one Ranger that was spanking new, and I have no complaint other than how unremarkable a boat it was. From a money standpoint, it was also one of the very worst investments that I could have made in regards to depreciation and perceived resale versus actual.

I pitch 1/8oz jigs frequently on a couple different reels, but more consistently it's a 3/16oz jig.

Owner of your good local tackle shop is wrong. AGFC says that it's three max. From the states that I've talked to, only one state has said that spinner blades or lures without hooks are still considered as lures. That's TN. I'm not going to get into all of the states and responses from those states because I don't want to be the one you're seeking the info from, you should know your laws, or find them out. Another reason is that some states don't even know how they view the rig just yet. Some are saying that it's one lure, some are saying that it's five. Yet others are saying that it's over the limit of why they allow simply because of the ability to have more than two hooks, yet others say that it's not legal because it's not in their permissive code, and others say that it's legal because it's not expressly forbidden. Of the states that I regularly fish, only AL allows all five to be used, the vast majority of states are 3.

I'd be after a Curado/Chronarch. A Lews Team could be had for under the price of the Premier and I really feel it's a much better built reel. Edit: The JM Signature series reels would be a good one to look at, too.

I don't disagree, wholly, just in part. I really feel like the 784 is more powerful for the long haul than the 745 and I think a lot of that is from the portion of the rod from about 6" in front of the seat all the way down. I think you'll stop more with the 745, but you get in a tough spot and you can apply more pressure with the 784, even though it's slightly longer. Definite advantage for deep jigs, the tip speed generates tremendous force on the hook-set; a disadvantage of the NRX, sometimes. But then, the NRX is so light and powerful that you don't miss the extra length. To say the 745 is slightly more moderate is an accurate statement, for that matter, there's no better way to describe it. I think some of that, though, comes from the length difference in the two. Then again, the 784 is more powerful in the lower third of the rod and the 745 seems to carry significantly more power in the upper two thirds of the blank, if anything, it might be more even, in terms of where the rod loads.... Anyhow, the rods you're looking at are both superb rods, all three if you count the NRX in there.

When- always, anytime, anywhere. Types- Football- in wood, rock, shell beds, hard bottom, and deep water. Arky- Most versatile, by many standards. Wood, rock, weeds, grass, hard bottom, soft bottom, sand, gravel, deep, shallow. Alien- One of my favorites for wood, heavy soft cover (Not GRASS), hard bottom, chunk-rock, Really excels in wood/brush deep or shallow. Grass/flip- Grass, swim it, grass, heavy soft cover, light cover, docks, not the best in rock because of the line tie. Trailers- Anything as long as it's a Rage Craw/Lobster, Monkey, Rooster, or Hawg. Just ask Roadwarrior and Big-O, they'll tell you, too. (As will many, many, many others.) In all seriousness, though, it's very rare that I throw anything outside the Rage line as a jig trailer much anymore. When Success comes in 39lbs+ for a tournament bag, I tend to listen to what I've been doing. I've also caught more big fish on a Northstar/Rage combo than anything else for the past couple years.

I see what you're saying, Wayne. That could be a large part of it, the other, though, is that so often the plastic is just balled up on the shank of the hook, half way around the bend. It's like i get really poor penetration from them.

They just don't have the same shimmy on the fall as the rattling bait does. I've never caught a fish when straight reeling a RES, always on the fall. The silent doesn't shimmy, I don't think I've ever caught a fish on one.

I was dealing with a guy one time that had listed a '10 Megabass for something like $1800 and it was pretty humorous because he had no idea what he was really looking at. I mean...seriously? I ended up buying one for under $500 a couple days later. I watch this guy from time to time, and buy/resell in lots is exactly what he does. He had a HUGE lot of Rapala Warts that he was trying to sell as "vintage" and pass them off to an unsuspecting buyer as Pre-Rap warts. He's had literally hundreds of reels from various manufacture for sale, from Shakespeare to Megabass, for instance. The guy, generally, knows what he's doing, in terms of listings, because he never brings up how they're treated or the overall cosmetic condition. It's funny how he does it, too. He'll take a picture of all sides of the reel except the one that's just got all kinds of rash on it. He's good at what he does, I guess, because he's always got stuff listed.

Yeah, I've gone that route on a lot of mine. Shorties, Cleo's, and the like all have a single Siwash with either a double ring or, like you, an oversize. On my 1/2oz for instance, I use a #5 ring with a #2 Siwash, and they work really well. I've had really good luck with the Butterfly or Freestyle type of jig/assist hook in saltwater, figured it might work as well for a large flutter spoon.

No, see, that's perfectly...wait... No you shouldn't ever do that. Ever.

The best Mono I've used to date is Seaguar, older formula lines like Trilene and Stren are just that, old formulas. They might be the standby of years past, but there are much better lines out there for, in many cases, the same money or less. If I were given free Trilene XL for the rest of my life, I still wouldn't fish it. It has near zero abrasion resistance, is only marginally better than elastic in terms of stretch, and has quite low knot strength when compared to modern lines. Now, if you want a very good line, of modern origin, Trilene XL Armored is a fine choice. Not a lot of money and it's still got some decent qualities. I can't understand why, in so many cases, we'll go spend several hundred dollars on rod, more on reel, have thousands in gear, and the choice is still made to use an inferior product when it comes to one of the most important connections between us and the fish: The LINE!

Yeah, a single, though. I have had so many fish this year that haven't gotten a treble in their face it's kinda nuts. I had a spot hold a flutter spoon so long that I actually landed him without a hook in his face, just wouldn't let go of the spoon. I've tried the "let them hit it to kill it, then hit it to eat it" method and I still lose fish because they just don't get hooks on the set. I've tried waiting on the set... I'm looking mostly for flutter spoon use versus Shorties.

If you're looking for a rod to fish primarily grass jigs, the DX784 is one of the very best you're going to find. It's got a MEAN butt section with more lifting power than almost any rod I've ever fished. It's got great feel in soft cover. The reason I don't fish the DX is because I fish the NRX854. It's much, much faster and is just more sensitive in the long run. It's also more powerful but in a slightly different way. The Dobyns will pull a fish out of cover, but with the NRX, the fish just doesn't get the chance. On the hookset there's NO recovery, that head is turned and moving before they have a chance to think about it. The GLX is a very, very close contender, it's slightly more sensitive than the DX, but doesn't have the power.