Dr. Watson

I'm getting that erie feeling that this thread is going to get locked soon....

Rage Chunk, Rage Craw, Reaction Innovations sweet beaver, netbait paca chunk, Havoc Pit Boss, Double Tail Grub, and Yamamoto Kreatures are may favorites

I have a pack of their 10" worms that I got about a year ago and have yet to try. I've heard decent reviews from the Linder's...lol

I'd say you need a dedicated soft plastics rod (6'8" - 7'1" MH, Fast-extra fast) to go with your jig rod, but that's what I fish the most besides jigs. Pair that baby up with a 7.1:1 reel and off you go. Can double as a good spinnerbait rod too.

I can see it, I don't blame ya, but it could have been a fluke event too.

I'd look at the Fishing Flea Market on here first, you can pick up some great deals and usually the other members are looking to help each other out. Sounds like a great B-Day gift, I'm sure you'll like it more when you get it out on the water.

I can see that, but in general most RC cars/trucks have ABS or Polycarbonate gears (some even carbon fiber), not brass like fishing reels, unless you buy a separate gear upgrade kit. It will be interesting to see where this new MM gearing goes like you said, "in terms of longevity."

I have that exact Teaser rod, very versatile, fishes weightless lures like nobody's business and make a pretty good topwater/frog rod too. New version or old, I don't think you can go wrong. Here, is a TT review on an older version of the Teaser: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewstcroixteaser.html

I always use a double uni knot to tie my braid and flouro together, keeps a nice low profile. If you do end up using a leader try experimenting with different knots, maybe you'll find one you like.

I'm not sure about the new gearing in terms of durability and such, because I still have older Shimanos, but it's my understanding that HEG is still in all of their mid to mid-high grade reels. X-ship is the new support system for the gearing, so it works in conjunction with the gearing system. The new gearing system that I am aware of is "micro module," which replaces HEG on the higher end Shimano reels, like the Metanium and Antares.

Siebert Outdoors on here makes great, high quality, jigs. Just saying you might want to support the locals here on the forums, you'll more than likely get more than you ask for in terms of quality and value.

I've cleaned some of mine with line still on them; I usually reel the line all the way in then use a little electrical tape to hold the line down to the spool, this makes it easy to remove the spool for cleaning, without messing up a bunch of good line. When your done cleaning your reel, you just slide the spool back in and off you go.

I don't see a problem with using straight braid, besides the end won't last as long from rocks and such, but I would back off on my drag a little to compensate for the lack of stretch. Just out of curiosity, why don't you like a leader on a baitcaster? Is it from the knot going through the guides?

I used some Yum F2 Craw scent that RoadWarrior gave me; I really didn't notice any difference in hits/strikes between that and no scent. However, I saw a big difference in hits/strikes when I started using Megastrike exclusively.

I've never heard anything bad about BPS branded lures, but then again I haven't fished with them either. Their cranks are decent, have a few buddies that use them; but their soft plastics seem dull and cheaply poured to me. I usually stick to Yamamoto, Strike King, Culprit, Reaction Innovations, Netbait, Berkley, and Xcite when it comes to soft plastics. Edit: I forgot Lake Fork lures too

well that's different looking, I'd even go as far as making some small cuts on either side of the tail end to get some flapping action from the sides. Neat grub

Can we all stop thread jacking and just call them "Reel X-rays" now back to the lube....

I use 832 braid with about a 15' Seaguar flouro leader, works great for me.

Like the others said, "deal with St. Croix directly." That being said, they are very easy to work with and will usually go above and beyond to help any way they can, even if it is just a simple question about a rod or what to fish with. They really genuinely care about their customers and have top quality rods to prove it. I have never had to send in one of my rods to them, but if I did I'm confident that I wouldn't have a problem.

I use Remington dry teflon lube on my worm gear, Ardent bearing lube on all bearings except for the spool bearings, Quantum Hot Sauce on spool bearings, Reel Butter on main gears, and a very light film of Reel Butter on the drag. This works extremely well for me and has lasted for more than a year on my reels with moderate usage.

The only one I could think of would be Gary's North Fork Composites HM, but that's just from reading not from experience.

From the sound of it though, it should be a better reel than the G.

So your saying that my NRX 802 is closer to an 803 in GLX? kind of how St. Croix rods are more powerful than advertised.

Well, I can't really speak for the Champion Extreme rod, I only have a Dobyns Savvy; but I can say that my NRX is absolutely the most sensitive rod I have in my arsenal. I wouldn't say it's a great deal more sensitive than the GLXs that I've fished with, but it is great. The only other rods, that I own, that I can compare the NRX to are my St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass and My G. Loomis IMX and they don't really even compare in terms of only bottom contact sensitivity, unless I'm fishing with braid on them. The NRX is just so light, especially when I've got it paired with my Core 50Mg7; I can feel when my lure is on top of rocks, moving through grass, or slithering through a muddy bottom. The only way that your really going to find out is if you fish your Champion and an NRX side by side. By the way, my NRX is the black and blue, I like the look, but then again those are some of my favorite colors. The rod color is always going to be your choice, the color of the rod doesn't bother the fish.

Well, let's see here: Dream exotic setup: Megabass Destroyer X7 6'8" Cyclone Advantage with a Team Daiwa Ito 103M Megabass edition Dream regular setup: Gary Loomis Edge 7' MH Mag Bass with a Shimano Chronarch CI4+