baluga

2X But my fav..7" Fluke w/ 1/4 oz Scrounger Head.

Shimano CUC63H - Cumara Reaction rod w/ 20# Braid plus 8ft 12# FC leader. Love it!

Exactly my point on noisy line, you can actually feel the line rubbing the rod tip on the retrieve. It is sometimes difficult to isolate where the noise is coming from. You would think it is the reel that making that hacksaw/grinding noise and feeling but it's actually the line rubbing thru the rod tip guide. It sort of defeats the purpose of maintaining your reel to get that buttery smooth retrieve when your lines makes that hacksaw/grinding feeling on the retrieve. It's a good thing we have choices on the lines. As we always say, you get what you pay for.

Check this out.. Men's PacLite Stowaway Wading Jacket with Gore-Tex® from LL Beans. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/36449?pi=539132&catalog_id=TA&attrValue_0=Sandstone

Good info. I would like to try the Jerry Brown and compare it, thanks!

Sufix 832 . Got this in the Mail on weekday and had a chance to test it last weekend. Here's the outcome. 1. Soft and Smooth almost like the Daiwa Samurai. 2. Thinner than Fireline Crystal. At 20# rating w/ 6# mono diameter compared to 20# Rating w/ 8# Diameter of Fireline. 3. Excellent casting line. 4. Noticed some color fading but it does not bleed like Daiwa Samurai 5. Quite on the retrieve compared to Power pro and Sufix Performance Braid. 6. Best of all it does not break easy like Daiwa Samurai. I think I got a very good replacement for Sufix Performance Braid. At $20 for 150 yrds spool it's a steal compared to Daiwa Samurai. Got no complains but praises and of course a review will not be complete without a pix of actual field test result. Meet our willing model 24 Halibut.

Power pro is not the smoothest and it is noisy on the retrieve. Sufix performance Braid is less noisy. Sufix 832 smoother, softer and quite on the retrieve . Go with Sufix 832 it's a lot better than power pro.

There's no way you can keep the reel from getting wet everytime you use it. Always rinse you reel and rod after use. You need to have it serviced. Professional cleaning for those reels usually starts from $20 price goes up when parts/bearings are rusted and needed replacements. The first thing I do with new reel before the initial saltwater water use is disassemble them and brush on grease on the wall side of the frame and all metal parts. Lube the drags and oil the bearings. This keeps it from salt built up and corrosion from the inside. Always rinse the reel with fresh water and don't forget to tighten the drag before rinsing.

You can always ship it back to shimano for a free replacement, just give them a call on shipping arrangement. They would accept broken down rod in to small chunks for you to save on shipping. Here in socal, we usually drive to Shimano center at Irvine and they normally replace it over the counter otherwise they would ship the replacement to your door when they don't have it in stock available on your visit.

I personally don't mix lake fork magic shad w/ scrounger head, both have their own action/vibration by itself. Mixing them will result to too much action/vibration. You could even call them vibrator when mixed together.. . But if that is the kind of action you wanted on your lure, go for it. You'll never know until you try it. I use scrounger w/ zoom fluke and weighted hook or lead head for lake forest magic shad.

that's a great deal.. Pls let me know too.

So what happens when you get snagged? Does the leader itself break, or does it completely come off of the main line? It usually breaks on the knot on the hook. Since it is the weakest point between you and the fish. Hardly breaks off on the joint of the leader and main line Alberto knot fan here too.

I always replace the stock hooks for all hard baits right out of the package to a stronger hooks, Owner hooks ST41 2X. Unless I'm just fishing for trout and/or bonita fish.

I'm not sure what the size is but I usually just buy that multiple size in a pack from walmart and use the smallest one in the package. But for the nose split ring I get those oblong split ring like the ones in LuckyCraft LC FM110. Sorry can't give you the exact size.

Saltwater Ito 110 is slow float on saltwater but suspend in fresh water. The replacement hook is Owner ST 36 #6. If you want it to suspend in Saltwater use Owner ST41 2X #6. You can also adjust the sink rate by using ST41 2X #4. Drop it on a small aquarium to check the sink or float rate.

I go by the usual, murky water I either go with dark pattern or white . Clear water natural color like natural shiner, Hickory shad and Halo Green. As for size, it's also match the hatch and how deep I want it to dive. 110 Fast sink for deeper water and 125 Slow sink when they are active and also for shallow water. I love to use the 95 sinking when the bite is tough. But that's just me it all depends on the water you are fishing. Vary your retrieve, try to find out the speed they like.

I tried the Daiwa Samurai and use it in saltwater, the color bleeds and stained the cork handle on my phenix rod on the first day of use. It is so bad I have to switch rod to Cumara rod since the cumara has that black EVA foam, at least the stain would not show.

The pros are not always promoting the high end gear, but the popularity of pros has helped with sales of fishing gear. More sales means more companies coming into the business, and existing companies expanding. All this means companies can afford to make the high end equipment we love to drool over. yup.. that's why we have the JDM gears to drool on..

There's nothing really wrong about imitating the pros. But I don't think the pros are selling/promoting the high end gears like you were trying to say. They are more geared towards promoting affordable products since that is where the big chunk of market.

yeah, our local walmart have been carrying Gamagatsu and owner hooks and they even have them on sale every first quarter of the year. They also have the new KDV's square bill crank bait. Unfortunately they don't sell any KDV's shoes..

I better get that kvd shoes too, at least I would get skunk in style. ;D

For the record.. The previous owner of Sebile is French.. I'm just sayin. :-/ What an entrepreneur. Created a business, got his money, and got out. 8-)

spiderwire braid is flat and known to dig in the spool. Use a more rounded braid like Sufix performance, 832 or power pro. Most of my baitcasters are spooled with 20# Sufix performance braid and never had a problem with it casting and retrieving.

I'm pretty successful with Magic Swimmer hard bait: here's some results:

Yeah that old green CU100B still amazes me everytime I use it.