Hooligan

Nice pairing, the reel in particular. It's likely one of my very favorite spinning reels of all time, and one of the most rare to find now.

The Magic Stick is a very nice stick. I'd take that over the endurance. There's something about the tip on the Irod that makes it peculiarly good for pitching/flipping and casting frogs. Those are techniques that I don't usually like to use the same rod for, but with that rod they all fit very well. That said, if I wanted a rod at the $150 price that would flip/punch and pitch, it would be the 7-11 Punch rod.

I missed this. I gave my little boy his first "very own" casting combo this year for Christmas. He'd latched on to one of my Core 51 GLX combos. It so happens that I found an NRX that had been returned, so I put a Core 51 on that and it's now his. I knew I'd either have to get him his own or never see mine again, so that's what I did. He's likely the most well geared 6 year old I've ever seen; if that's what it takes for him to fish with me, I'd buy him a million of them.

I'm a flip flopper on this one. Technique specific rods I'd go with the Crucial IE: If you want a Jig rod, or a spinnerbait rod, or... you get the idea. If you want an all around, the Avid is a better generalized taper.

Sol all the way, as much as I hate to admit it. Tune a 51, however, and I would have to go with the Shimano.

I didn't like my Arctic Armor, and went with the Clam Suit instead. Yes, it lacks flotation, but it has better range of motion and I don't sweat my butt off in it like it did with AA. The Clam has been far better for me. In spring I'll wear that instead of my 100MPH.

Excellent list, simply excellent. The only one that I would add is from Robert Montgomery, "Better Bass Fishing". Much of what he writes seems like conventional wisdom, but it's stuff we just don't think about; it's also a great list of things we should revisit from time to time to get our heads screwed back on. Read that as I use it to get my head screwed on when I'm not fishing well. It's a good analysis book for me. It allows me to sit back and look at my actions objectively, critically and figure out if I did make the best choices. It's been a very good tool for me to utilize.

I learned to fish two more Deep South impoundments more effectively, placing very high in three and winning a fourth and fifth tournament on said lakes (I owe Catt and one "FishforDollars" a tremendous amount for their insight on one in particular.) I won a Table Rock tournament; I've been top 10 for years and just never could get the kicker, this year was the year and it paid dividends. Regionally was first place in one of the series I fish, would like to do the same next year. My partner and I finished second @ a Super-Regional level and qualified for a 50 boat national tournament in another, I'm stoked about that one. My greatest joy, however, was to see my son pick up a casting reel and start casting like he was born with it, he's now 6, he also managed a 4lb Spot and a 3-8 brown fish, along with a 6-6 green fish this year; those surpass anything I could ever hope for. I'm not going to list my goals, it's a superstition thing and I don't want to seem pretentious. Let's just say I want only to do well, and fish with my son as many days as I possibly can.

@ OP Aruku Shad does it better than anyone else, plain and simple. @ Deep: I rip them, I straight reel, I hop them along the bottom as a baitfish would along rocks, scrounging for food. I REALLY like them on ledges and deep drops you can fish them darned near like a jig in those situations, but that's all you're gonna get outta me in public.

They do no such thing. They contract directly with factories; of which there are only a handful in the world that do OEM manufacturing. At one point, nearly ten years ago, BPS reels were made by Pflueger directly, this is no longer the case. They're made in a factory that handles some of the manufacturing for Pflueger but Bass Pro Shops no longer has to go through Pflueger in terms of quality control. They're the end-all be-all when it comes to finished product, themselves. From testing and calibration tolerances on BPS reels are typically higher than their counterparts from Pflueger. Much, much more could be said in terms of the manufacture, but that's really not what the thread is about. DVT stated correctly that they're direct contract fulfillment now, and rumor has it, they're investigating the possibility of opening their own facility to further increase the quality.

I have 51's on everything from Cumara's and GLX to NRX. Some Crankbait rods thrown in, too. I use them for jigs, plastics, squarebills, shorties; in short I have them on rods and use them to catch fish. I've even got a couple tuned for tiny jerkbaits, topwaters, and jigs. (3/64 to 1/4)

They're replacements for baits that got donated to the muskie gods last year. worst year I've ever had for it, lost 4 Pop-Max to muskies, but the brown fish were all over them. Only topwater they wanted to hit, it seems the only topwater muskies wanted, too.

That's a pretty touching sentiment, Glenn. Merry Christmas to you and yours indeed. Merry Christmas to all.

Of those two, the Cumara is more sensitive, IMO. Now, throw in a GLXBCR855 and I'd have to sway towards the Loomis. Unless you're consistently talking about jigs over 7/8oz, the CUCX72MH is the better choice.

No pictures, but I got 4 Vision 110, 12 Pointer 100, 6 78, and 6 Pop Max (3 Tonomasa Frog and 3 Twilight). A few spools of Tatsu and some other odds and ends. Oh, and another NRX893.

Stick jackets, lure wraps, and reel pouches for all of my sticks in the boat. When I'm not in a hurry, I tend to remove all treble hook lures.

I have to add the Lucky Craft LV500. One of my favorite baits for deep weeds in spring. Hard to beat that one for ripping tips.

Oh, I do believe that fish are able to be conditioned to lures. But the one lure that I don't believe fish ever condition to is a TX rigged worm. Be it a straight tail or curl. I've seen far too many studies that show they don't, and I've been a participant is as many in grad school that showed the same. I've also spoken with some of the best known researchers in the US on the subject and it's nearly unanimous that the worm is the one bait or lure that it doesn't happen with. There's one case, actually, that a single fish was caught once a day for thirty days during peak feeding on the same worm. Same color, same rig, same style. I've seen it far too many times in my own pond, too. Drop a TX rig Augertail in front of a 6 year old green fish that has been caught on the same rig a thousand times, almost literally, and she's fool enough to eat it again. It's not about forage or base, it's just that they don't condition to the worm.

There are rods in the Cumara line that are more sensitive than their Dobyns counterpart, and vice-versa. It really depends on the rod in question. Most of the Cumara's are going to get the edge, but not all.

Of those you've got listed, the Cumara is the lightest and most sensitive. Second is the Loomis, then the St. Croix. AS a pure Shakey rod, though, the Loomis is the better rod. It's got a light, ultra fast tip that will be exactly what you're after for shakey heads. the other aspect of the Loomis is that it has tremendous power for being such an, otherwise, light rod. The Cumara is not as pwoerful as the loomis, which is where it loses a bit in my book. The St Croix is over-powered and the tip is far too in-flexible for for the purpose. It's a good finesse plastics rod, and dropshot, but I don't like it as a shakey or flick-shake rod. (Also, I don't believe the LE is 7-1, it's a 7-0 rod. Correct me if I'm wrong...) That all said, if you're missing fish on the 6-8 Avid, I can't really say that the others are going to be a whole lot of help to you. The Avid 6-8 is one of the rods I fish most for the technique. I like it as much as my 822NRX for shakeys. When I need a longer rod, the 7-2 Cumara is my first choice.

Very true. BB, I haven't been able to get my hands on the new Pflueger, though everything I read and hear is good. There was an initial problem with the sealed drag, but that has been addressed. That's a great reel for the money from all accounts.

Uh, if you're casting 30-40 yards, that's MORE than plenty of distance. I'd be willing to say that the only time I cast beyond about 60 feet is when I'm either cranking or fishing deep jigs.

Most Shimano spinning reels allow you to insert washers that will adjust the line lay pattern. It works wonders, too. Baitcasters- Mitchell is the only one I've ever seen that has a crossover wrap.

I can do the same. I've been a wood turner for years and have been turning the vast majority of my reel handles and grips from burl cork for a few years now. I think I even have a set of Calcutta grips done for a 150 that I sold and kept the grips.

I started fishing the Keitech on JFs recommendation late this season and have done very well. The trash fish is also one of my favorites. I very much like another handpour that is only available locally.