deep

X2 Those paddletails can catch big fish, as can spinnerbaits and cranks. I wonder, though, how many true trophies those baits have produced, compared to real swimbaits, big worms, jigs, and live bait. I like to believe that a true trophy fish (size of trophy fish changes not only from state to state, but probably from lake to lake) is intently tuned to its environment. It not going to bite your lure simply because it's in front of her. All artificial lures give off negative cues; well, because it's "artificial". Some more, some less. Our task, as trophy anglers, would be to minimize the "negative cues", by shutting off the trolling motor, making less noise, etc, and of course, by using more realistic lures. Using the right "tool" (the right bait) is only part of the puzzle of catching a true trophy fish, of course. We can throw traditional lures all day, and catch a mess of "good" bass, or spend all day in one spot, with the right lure - like Bill Murphy did - waiting for the trophy fish to feed. P.S. JM $0.02. Not trying to step on any toes.

IMO, it's just easier, mentally, when you want to retrieve the bait slower; and I not just talking of crankbaits. For me, with a slower reel, I can reel at my own pace, let the bait do its thing, and concentrate on the fishing. The flipside is you can't pick up as much line when you actually want/ need to.

I talk aloud to myself a lot, like Santiago. Does that count?

DVT, that's so very true, as I found out this evening. I got the reel today, and tried it out on my local lake. Before I get down to a little mini-review, I got a couple of questions for those more familiar with Revos. #1. The reel makes a singing/ humming noise on every cast, started from the first cast. Is it because of the non-disengaging levelwind? I'd like to get rid of the hum, if possible. #2. There are six centrifugal brakes, alternating pitch and "non-pitch" brakes. If I wanted to set two brakes on, and four off, how do I do that? On a Shimano, I'd set the 12 and 6 o' clock brakes on, but if I did that here, I'd be setting one pitch and one non-pitch brake on. Okay, here's my little review. Revo Toro Winch 51, 4.6:1 gear ratio. When I took the side-plate off, I found that the gears on the palming side are literally drenched in grease. huh? I cleaned what I could with an earbud dipped in alcohol and spooled some old 15 lb test Yo-Zuri hybrid onto it. Mounted the reel on my Mattlures swimbait rod, and I took along one single 7" Osprey to the lake. I was not planning to fish, just test the reel. I set the spool tension pretty tight, much tighter than I'd on the Shimanos, set the three non-pitch brakes on, and made a tentative overhand cast. So far, so good; no tendency to over-run. So I successively lay on the next few casts. With minimal thumbing, the reel behaved very well. Not a single overrun! I'm impressed. So I turn one more brake off- I normally use two brakes only- and try out some more overhand casts. Pretty nice. I'm liking this reel. Casting distance was comparable to my Curado 301E, no problem there. Then I tried some skipping with the three pitch brakes on, and it skipped just fine. In fact, if I may say so, with a tight spool tension and 3 pitch brakes, the reel required no thumbing at all, and that's while skipping. Seems to be a winner. I played some more with the reel, trying different combination of brakes, and pitching a bit. Casting was consistent. Distance wasn't out of the world (a 100 feet max I'd say), but as I said, it's comparable to the Curado 301E, and that's no more than I hope for. I only wish that the next time I go fishing, the reel would cast as well. I'm loving the low-speed thing too. The reel picks up 22.5" of line per handle turn at full spool. I don't have to consciously reel super-slow any more. Now I can really slow-roll a hudd. Big bass, look out! I have to detach the whole sideplate to change brake settings, which is a minor inconvenience. But I can live with that if the reel casts like that. Retrieving, of course, is a moot point. I guess all Revos are silky-smooth on retrieves. To summarize, I'm not a Revo-convert, nor do I see myself becoming one. If Shimano made a low-speed 300 size LH reel, I would have bought that. But I'm glad I gave the Abu reel a chance. It seems to be a very good lo-profile swimbait reel.

About the realism aspect; this thread was a nice read, especially Matt's posts.

The certified weight for that bass was 15.875 pounds... Caught by Regina Womack.

Made by Jeremy Anderson (of Black Dog/ Lunker Punker/ Shellcracker fame). http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220866036058&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:US:1123#ht_625wt_1039 I don't know the seller. Just thought it was something interesting to share, especially after seeing an youtube video of a pike busting a little duck. No reason why a bass won't try to eat a duckling either..

The Big Bass Zone: Bill Siemantel In Pursuit of Giant Bass: Bill Murphy

A fast-taper is what you want, IMO. Power depends on the weight of lures/ cover. Length: idk. All my rods are 7' or longer. Trust me, I've no problem walking a Punker (think of a giant spook) with a 7'7" rod. Spinning or casting: your preference.

Just couldn't get it to consistently cast as well as I'd have liked. That was the second Abu baitcaster I fished, and both were very "temperamental". Or maybe it was just my uneducated thumb lol. My thumb works pretty well with Shimanos though

What strikes me is the "visibility" of the fluoro line in that photo.. Not much more invisible than straight braid! But then, who knows what the bass sees and thinks

Dude, I'd save cash until I have around $150 or so before I buy a bottom contact rod. I'd rather have one good rod than two "economy" set-ups. JM $0.02 of course. What's wrong with your baitcaster? Why not try and fix that before running to buy another set-up? 1/4 oz jig (+ trailer) is definitely baitcaster territory. BTW, if you still want a $50 spinning rod, the 3 suggestions that will come up are the Berkley Shock, the shock lightning, and the tec spec. In that case, this is the thread you want to read: EDIT: Also this:

Can't go wrong with any of the rods mentioned, I'd go with a Powell Max or Endurance. I'm surprised no one's mentioned Dobyns Savvys or Kistlers yet. It's also surprising to see Clary recommend a Powell; last year round this time, he was all over Falcon Bucoos and BPS carbonlites lol.

I have a 733 MXF, rated for 6-12 lb line and 1/8-1/2 oz lures. I won't throw anything lighter than 3/16 oz on it. The tip is perfect for stationary single hook lures. Mepps spinners come in all sizes though, no? If you find one that loads the rod properly, the OP should be okay. I have thrown poppers and other treble-hooked/ moving lures with my Powell, but that's not what it excels at, nor is it meant to, I think. P.S. I have 6/30 Samurai braid with a leader on it.

A NIB Revo Toro Winch 51 for $181 shipped to be exact. It's probably going on a Dobyns 795ML rod; still looking for a deal on one. Let's see if I like this reel any better than the Revo STX that I had to get rid off last year.

Ordered on 09/16, got them today.

No, TW is not a sponsor. But that doesn't make them any less awesome. Of course, BTD is just as good. And an oops moment; I guess BPS and Cabela's ARE sponsors of bassresource.

Why bother about BPS and Cabelas when they charge you sales tax and shipping? Support our sponsors. *** is awesome as well.

http://www.swimbaitnation.com/nationtalk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=29210

At least they could have come up with a more original name lol. OP, 6" hudds, hudd 68s, weedless hudds, 6" baitsmiths, 6" and 7" Osprey Talons, matt's bluegills and tournament series baits, 316 mission fish and K-9 are some of my favorites, and they all work great. Take your pick. Matt's baits, especially, have a lot of profiles and colors for you to choose from and match the forage.

The mattlures rods have a very moderate action, which is ideal for treble hook hard baits. The MH rod is rated for 1-4 oz lures, it's perfect for matt's hardgill, 7" slammers, 6" triple trouts, 6" BBZ jrs etc, you get the idea. I find it a bit too noodly for walking Punkers, but I've done that too. The heavy rod is rated for 2-6 oz, and it's a good rod for matt's hard bass. I have the MH rod, and I'm pretty happy with it. BUT, I'm probably never going to buy another, 'cause I hear Matt never got any royalty from Reaction Strike for designing those rods.

My $0.02 would be to stay away from reaction strike lures, as far as bass fishing is concerned anyway. http://www.calfishing.com/reviews/swimbaits/reaction_strike_bass_harasser/index.html

Sold out! Hopefully whoever wanted to try them out placed an order.

how about calling the customer service then?

If you haven't already, try the last 4 digits of your phone number, i.e if your number is xxx-yyy-abcd, try punching "abcd".