Hooligan

I'm not a fan of the Phenix line. I've fished several different rods and haven't found one that will stand up to the competition in its class. They're heavy by comparison to almost everything in the same category and they're not very true in their actions. My money would go to other series first.

Rage or Paca near 100% of the time. Very, very rarely I will switch to a Little Critter Craw, and that's on about three lakes.

I really like the SuerNatural in terms of Mono. It's a great line for jerkbaits and topwater, the small diameters aid in casting distance and in working a bit. It does have more stretch than I really like, even for a mono, but overall it's very good. We scale tested some of it and the 12lb broke at just over 14. I wouldn't worry about that part of it.

The St Croix is a bit more powerful without losing the flex or the benefits of glass in the first place, it's also lighter than the KVD. I've always felt the KVD tour rods were under powered for the length and action. The 7-4 medium is a rod that's rated to a one ounce bait. That equates to a bait like a Little John DD. Try to throw that bait on the 7-4 and it's a fight, I wouldn't want to crank it all day. On the St Croix, though, it's not an issue. I do like the KVD rod, but find it's better suited to the lighter end of its rated spectrum.

I guess I'm the odd man out here, if there's one person on the face of the planet that would drive me away from fishing a tournament it would be Roland Martin. He's an egocentric bigot with very little class and/or tact in relating to the public. Having been a witness to his actions in the past, I would not endorse him or anything he does. We have fished out of the marina in the past, and have been treated so poorly that we vowed never to spend a dollar there again. In terms of what he's done for the sport, I've met not one person that is more lazy in his approach. Roland Martin thinks that because he has money, it justifies his rude, crass behaviour. I have witnessed him paying people for information and marked maps. I have witnessed him paying people for doing his pre-fishing. I don't like him, I never will.

Ive got a couple spools of Tatsu that's now in its third season, and a couple of r-18 that are going on 4. The longecity well makes up for the initial cost. I've got Toray that is in the same age range.

I didn't like the KVD at all in MH, it was very weak, didn't have enough bones for me.

IMO one of the best "bang for your buck" rods is the St Croix Mojo 7'8" Glass rod. It's a GREAT rod for big deep divers and for big squarebills like the BDS 4 and 2.5 size baits. I've been fishing it through the year and have been very impressed with it. It's not a Lamiglas but it doe a fine, fine job with those baits. It's also far lighter than a lot of the rods in that same class that cost a considerable amount more money. Another rod you might consider is the W+M big crank S glass rods. They're not a bad value.

I was in Manteca last week and they had them, if you're at Rancho have them xfer them up for you.

You expected something more?

Now that just makes me laugh harder.

I am a huge fan of the Knives of Alaska series. I've got the Steelheader and it's a great knife. It actually stays in the kitchen to be used as a general boning/butterfly knife fr regular use. It's 440C stainless, will take and hold a razor edge, and it's under $50. Best money I've ever spent on a fillet knife.

745 is a very, very nice rod. Not a terrible reel, either, for that matter. I'd throw a Metanium MG on it if it were mine, though.

I debate that, completely. Abrazx is lower stretch than Shooter, as is Upgrade. Tatsu is on par with shooter in terms of stretch and tensile strength. It actually tests higher in rated PSI in several sets of tests that I've seen. Upgrade finishes higher in effective strength than Shooter, the primary reason that Upgrade doesn't test as well is that it has slightly lower ratings in terms of break strength to actual. Shooter isn't anywhere close to the lowest stretch, or highest abrasion resistance, of fluorocarbons. Premium Plus from Toray is a line that kicks the pants off Shooter, too. It comes close to matching Tatsu in almost all ways, if not exceeding Tatsu, with the exception of clarity.

I disagree wholly. The quality of the paint, the bill thickness and durability, and overall finish of the bait is far, far less. The only difference, as someone said, is not the hooks. I broke eight Luck E Strike squarebills this year fishing the same places I've fished the RC Lucky Craft and I haven't broken 8 in the past ten years. They're out and out junk by comparison. The only reason I owned any in the first place is that I won some. I won't spend my money on them, I'll guarantee you that. I can't speak for the jerkbait, as I haven't fished it yet. I'm told it is about a one in 90 chance you get a bait that actually suspends correctly, and the same holds true with the paint and finish. I haven't really formed an opinion on them, as I've not fished them yet.

It's now discontinued. The technology has grown by leaps and bounds compared to that unit. You'd be amazed at the new maps.

The Lowrance units are a waste of money. They're hard to navigate, and the resolutions within the maps are terrible. The menu system is also terrible. The new Garmins are wonderful, when you get beyond a certain price range. I have a GPSMap 62ST and it's worth every penny to me. I would recommend it to anyone that wants detailed mapping and fast acquisition. The disadvantage is that they're not very good about high detail lake specific mapping. The second unit that I have is the Magellan 510, while not perfect, it's an excellent fishing tool. I use it as a secondary device for backing up my GPS unit. If anything happens with the console unit, I have ALL of my waypoints mapped and I can simply swap the card. The 510 is a touchscreen which causes it to be a little laggy, but that's a minimal hassle in the grand scheme. It is also faster than the Garmin in terms of satellite acquisition and positioning. There are a TON of things to look for in a hand-held, the least of which is the basemap or whether it will take a chip. you can do many things to get around that, without even modifying the base GPX files.

It's an interesting question, one which will vary from person to person. I've got to have some blue on my craws when fishing clear water. Blue is one color that is really prevalent in clear water craws. I think that's one of the reasons black blue works so well in clear water. It isn't my first choice for clear water, but it isn't my last, either. Green Pumpkin candy or green pumpkin red is far better for me, on average.

Gobig- Well thought, but flawed in terms of apparent size. The water displacement is going to be dramatically different for one versus the other. It simply isn't a valid point of reference as to the size indication and feeding.

The 1.0 has been out and available for two months now. I caught a lot of fish on them initially, then we got cold. The 1.0 is considerably smaller, it's a 1/4 ounce bait (roughly) and its shorter by at least 3/4 of an inch. Super bait for small forage lakes.

The Little John baits are one of the best series of baits ever built for deflecting off cover and banging structure. They're near impossible to hang, and they cast like a bullet. I've got one that has caught in excess of 500 fish, and it still has the majority of the paint left.

I've had them for some time, and they're a superb dropshot hook. I'm very fond of the lack of twist with the hooks, they're reliable for that. They're also sticky sharp, and quite strong for their wire size. I've caught fish up to 6lbs on them with no ill effects. As a Senko hook: No. They're fine for nose hooking, but the majority of large diameter plastics won't work well because of the length of the hook point. I don't think they would work all that great for a wacky hook, either, because of the tie point. If you want a new way to wacky without losing your baits as much try the Eco Pro wacky weight.

I don't think they're forage limited at all. What I do see, though, is that they're going to get the most bang for their buck. Often in areas we fish, as Northern anglers, the forage species that are present at different times of year are smaller fish. Sometimes the abundance of those two to three inch fish is what determines what they will eat. If the smaller forage is ever-present and they can get it relatively easy without having to run it down, they're going to eat it. Go to areas that have large numbers of five to seven inch forage and they're going to be eating that. It's based entirely on the greatest density of forage that is available, I believe there has been some research done on the subject. I also believe that largemouth are opportunists. If they see an easy meal, they can get their face around it, and it's within striking distance, instinct will tell them to eat it. That HAS been proven time and again from various points of study.

When I can no longer break ice to get to open water, I go south for a few days at a time.

Thanks for the heads up. I've been eying the Pinnacle since July; don't quite know why I haven't taken the plunge.