sharrison

I have a Black Max that was given to me as a gift a few years ago and the Mettle is way better IMO.. Smoother,Cast further, feels better,ect.. I have had a few Mettles for 2-3 years that get fished alot with no issues. I do pull them apart when new and get the nasty black grease out of them and flush the bearings. But I do that to every reel I buy. And also clean/lube them a few times a year. They just had them for $29.99 on sale a month or so ago. I bought 8 during Black Friday last year when they were $25 each. And I had 6 already. The only reason they all aren't Mettles is gear ratio. My 5-1 and 7-1's are all Pro Qualifiers.. Academy is great on returns and they have told me that any house brand reel or rod will always be warrantied. I also have a few of the Ethos rods. Great rod for the money, And if it does break then I can exchange it as long as it's not my fault it broke. Not gonna make a company pay for my stupidity, Even though they would without question..

Nice looking rig chromedog.. How stable is it when you're standing up front running the TM? I have been looking at a smaller boat as well and like the V-hull but was worried about the stability.

I agree 100% with this as well. A stray round going into a neighbors house wouldn't be good... I have several choices, but my 12 gauge will be what I reach for first if I ever need it. Mine is loaded with #4 Also I recommend to put some sort of flash light on whatever gun you use. Chances are it's gonna be dark.

I bought a 6 pack of them all different colors on sale last year and have had good luck with them when I do throw them. None of them roll over (I don't burn them in super fast though and use a 5.2-1 reel) and i'm even still using the factory hooks without any issues. They are still sharp and not bent. They aren't very loud like others have said but I personally like that. Here in Fl we have a lot of clear water so no need for a super loud rattle, and when i've tried loud ones it seems to spook the fish. I have had good luck with every H2O bait i've ever bought. Only issues i've ever had was a square bill crankbait was cracked at the bas of the bill and they swapped it out no problem. It was that way in the package and I didn't see it untill I got home.

Congrats on the new truck.. You'll love it.. I have a 08 4wd TB with the 290 hp I6 4.2 and I love it. Pulls great and good mpg for what it is. gets 20-21mpg driving in town. 25mpg if I keep it below 70 mph on the highway.. With around 2000# (two bikes and trailer itself with gear) behind it running 70 mph the whole way I got 18-19 mpg when I went to Tn mountains with the bikes.. Never knew it was back there even with the elivation changes and big hills once you get to north Ga. A tune will gain 1-2 mpg and wake it up big time.. pcmforless.com is a good place for a tune if you don't have anyone local..

PM sent..

If you haven't been fishing in Jax the last few days since it's cooled down you should. I went out to a pond on the Southside that doesn't seem to get much pressure Saturday and caught 30 bass in less then 2 hours. Non were huge all in the 1-3# range and one 3.5# but had plenty of action, Almost every cast I was catching one it seemed. Also caught 3 big blue gill and 1 ticked of turtle. All the fish I caught was on my magical h2o express blue gill colored square bill crankbait.. Best crankbait i've ever personally fished. It always seems to catch fish. They need to make it without a rattle.. I did have some blow ups on a Black Spro frog but I didn't hook up with any of them.

I have several Mettle reels and they do cast well. Only thing I would suggest is opening them up and cleaning the black nasty grease they use in them. I flushed and relubed the bearings and tuned them and it made a huge difference in casting distance and smoothness. Best $50 dollar reel around IMO..

I agree. I have even spoke to the manager in Orlando about it and told him how much I hate being bothered when i'm giving his store my money. He acted like he didn't care very much.

I've had good luck with a cheap H2O express bass colored popper. Seems to work better then any other one I own for some reason. Before I tried the H2O espress one my favorite was a Zell pop

Just saw this. I went out to Pritchard Saturday morning (7-10)and struck out. Not even a bite. I've been out there 4 times now and never left without atleast catching 2-3 fish. So i'm gonna let it rest for a while and hit it again once it gets cooler.

It looks like a Spot to me, But it's hard to tell in that pic. Another way to tell a Spot is the scales around it's eye/cheek are smaller then the rest of the body scales, The LMB has the same size scales all over it. The pic makes them look smaller and smoother.. Also the dorsal fins are more one long connected fin on a Spotted bass. The LMB is connected but has a gap between the front and rear fin.

Orlando store won't do it because on the BPS website it says online only. I called them and was told that and my buddy lives in Orlando and he asked in person and was told the same thing. Makes no sense at all to me, They should be begging for any sale these days..

Wonder if they will honor the price in the stores? I know on the main page it says online price only, But if you go to reels and click on the extreme it doesn't say that. I tried to call the Orlando store today but the fishing department never picked up the phone..

Everytime I fish near the town center I get kicked out. I got some secret spots on the southside but you pretty much have to have a small boat due to overgrown banks. I have a 8' pond jumper style boat and it's perfect for the small ponds.

I hit up the ponds on Pritchard earlier. Ended up catching a few small ones, one a little over 4# the bite slowed down so I was fishing a weightless fluke and hooked up to something that broke my cheap lightweight Berkley Cherrywood spinning rod in 3 pieces and broke 12# test. Fought it for 5 minutes or so and never saw it so no clue what it was. Probably a big catfish or maybe a huge turtle. It was pulling drag even with it almost tightened all the way up. Figured it had to be getting tired so i was slowing the spool down with my finger to give it some tension then it just took off and snapped he rod then the line. Totally my fault for the rod snapping, I knew it would probably break but had to find out.. Oh well gives me a reason to buy a new one. I've had that rod for a few years though and caught some 4-5#ers on it without any issues. But they are known to break if bent over too far. I'm gonna hit them up more as it cools off some. From what i've seen of them they should be real fun in a month or so..

Ended up fishing one of the lakes at the resort for only about an hour and a half and ended up catching 10 LMB ranging from 1.5#-4.5# in weight. All on a H2O Bluegill colored square bill Crank. Tried other lures with no real luck, but they loved that crank. It was real windy the other days so I didn't get to fish near as much as I wanted. Next time i'll hit up some of the bigger lakes and rent a boat or bring mine. We just didn't have the time for it this trip..

I have a few each of the PQ and the Mettle reels. The Mettle is a very good reel for the money, But with that said I like the PQ better. If Academy put the Mettle back on sale for $25 bucks like i've read they have done in the past i'll pick up a few more just to have. But until then I'll pay the extra money and get the PQ. The added magnetic brake and cast smoothness is worth it to me and they come in different ratios where the Mettle only comes in 6.3-1.

We're here on vacation at Fairfield Glade and been trying to find somewhere to bass fish. The lakes here are mostly for boats it seems. No structure near the bank to fish. Anything in the area I can hit up?