Dr. Watson

totally slipped my mind, but yes armalite does make a quality weapon.

Not true, ALL of my company's M4s are FN, because FN creates an MP model. M16s are pretty much phased out for the entire Army, there are a few here and there usually given to transpo units . Some of my Infantry buddies have been issued bushmaster M4s and some of my FA (Field Artillery) buddies have been issued Colt and DPMS government M4s. It's all dependent on the supply guys that order the weapons and parts from the main Army supply depot.

For a carolina rod I would go with the 7'9" HF, just cause your going to want a little stiffer tip when dragging the bottom. You might want to check out the actual Carolina rod they have in the line, too. Also, St. croix blanks are a bit stiffer than everyone elses, so a heavy is going to be an extra heavy, a medium is going to be a med. heavy and so on. However, so I don't sound retarded, when I say that they are stiffer blanks I don't mean that they have stiffer actions, their actions are usually right on. I have an Avid and LTB "teaser," Love them both, the technique specific rods like the teaser seem to do what they were made to do and then some. Hope this helps.

Great baits, the Sweet beaver 4.20 is probably the best jig trailer I've used, also works well texas rigged or even wieghtless. Hematoma, watermelon red flake, and black w/ red flake are all good colors that I have caught fish on.

Rod slicks have worked well for me, slip on and off really quick.

Suffix Elite is the only true mono line I have used, it's great, but I mostly fish co-poly lines like yo-zuri hybrid and florocarbon like Seaguar invizx and Vicious Pro elite.

that's awesome, I guess we will see when someone grabs one up. I was surprised to see that it still pulled Best of show freshwater rod even with the lower grade guides.

quote from a rod builder: "Hardloy is just a slightly better-grade aluminum oxide, and the difference in performance between the two is small. If you like the looks of aluminum oxide, by all means use it, because you won't notice any performance difference between it and Hardloy." Plus, since i'm making a jig setup, i'm probably going to use braid. I have heard, Aluminum oxide guides will stand up to braid just fine. So, what's going to be the difference here is the feel in the hand and the sensitivity between the two rods. Since they aren't in stores yet, can't really try them out in the hand, as for sensitivity I know SCIII makes a great blank, but only a handful of people are going to know what the new GL2 blank is like.

The Citica E is really hard to beat, great reel, also try looking into the Shimano Caenan... really surprised me at how Versatile it is and how well it holds up for the price point.

But isn't this the reason that they have rebuilt the GL2 series from scratch, because of the original GL2 being so mediocre. I'm not looking at getting them any time soon, have to go on a mandatory vacation to a sandbox first, but when I come back I was looking at getting one, might just stretch and go for a used GLX. Any other thoughts?

since no one else has mentioned it and it's in your price range. Try out a St. Croix Legend Tournament "Teaser" rod, I have one and love it, works awesome for anything weightless, especially senkos. Works well for buzzbaits and shakey heads too. Mine is paired with a Curado and just feels right in the hand. Check it out and see what you think.

I prefer Cork, either split or full. It just gives a rod that classic look, also seems a bit more elegant than foam and a bit more sensitive IMO.

Hey all, So, I've been looking at ICAST and decided I want to create an exclusive setup for jigs. Here's the dilemma I'm having, I have a St. croix Avid and a legend tournament absolutely love them. Saw the new St. Croix Rage coming out and said that's awesome, jig rod... but then I saw that Loomis re-did the GL2 series and I have been wanting to break into the Loomis rods but couldn't understand why they charge that much for their rods. Granted I have some expensive stuff, but I could usually find it cheaper, but not so much with the Loomis gear (it seems to hold its value). Anyways, off of the tangent, I guess my question is, should I go with the new St. Croix? which I am pretty used to working with, or the new GL2? which will be something different.

Anschutz 1913 Super match .22LR stainless steel barrel, aluminum stock -10M open sights, standing, 20 shot group using Eley Tenex Utimate EPS

FN Makes all of the M4s we use (MPs), if I'm not mistaken the rest of the Army get mixed manufacturers M4s. In my opinion the FNs have a lot better gas system and are a lot less prone to failure, for the civilian side I would take a look at Stoner (the original), Rock River Arms, or Fulton Armory. They all make a pretty d**n good AR, but there are an endless amount of aftermarket parts out there for ARs so you can make it your own, usually better than a stock AR. It's all about what you're looking for. Personally I would want a 6.8 caliber, M4 Carbine with freefloating barrel and forged upper and lower, Trijicon acog, flip up back up sights, front grip, wolfhook sling, SOPMOD integrated cheekrest collapsible buttstock, and a balancing system.

I love my St. Croixs, but I would love to have a free G. Loomis NRX or GLX with a Shimano Core. Pretty much all of the better rods today are made out of graphite. To answer your Daiwa question, it seems like there newer reels are made cheaply and you have to pay a heavier price to get a quality reel with them. All of their reasonably priced reels that I've tried out have horrible gears, they slip very easily. As for the best reels, I would have to say you can't go wrong with a Shimano or Abu Garcia.

that's pretty wicked, I like to try it out, hope it's better than the Revo STX. Still like my Shimanos tho

make sure that the line isn't stuck between the spool and the access plate, also make sure that the spool is completely seated in the pinion bearing. That's all I can think of for now, otherwise I would look at talking to Shimano over the phone, they have some great customer service.

to answer your question, the Citica and the Curado are both great reels you really can't go wrong. the main difference in the two is that the Curado 50 series is going to be lighter, but have less line capacity. Also, the Curado is going to be a smoother reel, cast a bit further and be more comfortable while reeling in with the bigger knobs on the handle. The Citica is still a great reel, just not as refined, it doesn't have bearings in the knobs, and it doesn't have a bearing on the drive shaft. As for other little amenities the Curado has a metal star drag, the Citica's is plastic, and the green paint on the Curado is really not that bad, It changes colors in the sunlight, it goes from green to like a bronzeish color. I have a 200E7 on a Blue Legend tournament and it still looks good. In my opinion though I would go with the regular Curado just cause you can always slow down, but you can't get the speed if you want it with the lower gear ratios, it just widens what you can do with your setup. Plus they are on sale at BPS for $139.

So far I own more St. croix rods than anything else and I love them, so I gotta go with the Croix. Some day I'll get a Loomis though then I'll have to go insane on which I like better.

7'0" Med. Fast St. Croix Legend Tournament Teaser rod with Shimano Curado 200E7 for finesse, weightless, and buzzbaits 6'6" Med. Fast St. Croix Avid with Shimano Citica for texas rigs, jerkbaits, light jigs, and crankbaits 6'6" Med. Heavy fast Dobyns Savvy 663C with Shimano Caenan for Texas rigs, jigs, spinnerbaits and senkos 6'6" Med. fast Falcon Bucoo spinning rod with Shimano Sierra for light finesse

Currently in the Army, 31A, about to go across the pond.

Hey all, Well the weather finally warmed up here in Mizzery, so went to Lake of the Ozarks FLW rec area for some fishin. The water temp. was actually warm enough to support life, and racked up 4 largemouth bass, biggest only being around 3lbs. and 3 crappie, largest being around 1.5lbs. also had 2 thrown hooks and countless short bites. Overall, I called it a productive day. Not to mention fun. ended up catching everything on either a 1/4 oz. green pumpkin chart. tail beetle spin or a 1/4 oz. chartreuse road runner. I used mainly a varied retrieve, the fish seemed to be favoring an erratic presentation. Tight lines, -Alex

Sorry guys, been really busy (ARMY STUFF) but will be here for another month, so if your interested in going out, message me and I'll give my cell so we can work out a plan. life sucks with less fishing.

Hey all, It's been awhile since I've been on the forum because of super duper secret squirrel stuff, but I am in Ft. Lost in the woods and am looking for someone in the area that might want to fish sometime, i have all my permits. I will only be available certain weekends tho so send me a PM and we'll work something out. thanks in advance.