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I haven't used an Advantage but I've sold a few and messed with them while I had them. Had the Revo's not come around I would have definitely used these reels. Very nice. The straight 150 series are also great reels. You can get them on Ebay in like new condition for $50-65. A steal for that reel.

Since I've changed to RealLine I've been buying all the bulk spools I can find. Darn the luck the company isn't around anymore, I really like this line.

Don't get me wrong. I think the power drive trolling motor is a good idea but the end result needs many more changes before it would ever be taken seriously as a bass fishing trolling motor. 1. Head turning speed needs to be increased substantially and it shouldn't be effected significantly if the motor is on high speed or not (currently, the higher speed the TM is running on the slower the head turns.) 2. A reliable, easy stow and deploy system. Currently, having to bend over, unlatch that thing, slide it thru the power head while tilting down is cumbersome. The MK Genesis motor with the automatic stow and deploy was a great idea but apparently was full of gremlins. To think about shutting off the big motor, hitting a button on the dash and the TM in the water, ready to go when I got up to the front deck is a dream. I'm sure we'll see something again that works right next time. 3. The flat foot pedal was great on the back but got fouled up easily with the weather and dust and grit. The long cable was also nice. I could easily forsee a voice operated trolling motor in the future. 4. The power drive design itself has a real major flaw. Where do you route your transducer cable for your TM mounted graph? Due to the shaft having to slide through the head unit you can't wire tie the cable onto the TM shaft. You could purchase a internal transducer model but then you're stuck with that brand graph for the life of you owning the TM. It's a good idea in theory and has some real applications in fishing right now but not a TM I would ever recommend for anyone that bass fishes.

I never got around to fish the jetties simply because Chuck and I got such a late start taking off. Because of his leg injury we had to load on the courtesy dock. By the time we were getting stuff situated the takeoff had happened (you were already fishing that bank right by the ramp cove). Several boats were already well on their way to that jetty by the time I even was ready to take off. Because it was a just for fun tourney it didn't really matter. I merely started fishing in a couple areas know one was at. Had that been a more serious deal I would've made sure I was on that particular jetty first thing. As it was, I saw you and perhaps at least another boat on and off that thing most of the day, rather than horn in on your water I let it go. I did come up on another pattern on the west side with a mud line formed along a bank due to the wind. I had hoped to pick up some larger fish working that bank but it was much like everyone else that day, smaller fish. I guess it was a matter of life giving me lemons and I was trying to make lemonade. I will agree with you on Dixie though, with the upper end of that lake not much more than a mud flat the quality of fishing and areas to fish has diminished. In all honesty, our little group that fished there that day was too many for that lake. There just aren't enough quality fish nor areas that hold decent fish for even a 4 boat tournament on that lake anymore. I can certainly see why the Little Dixie Bass Club no longer has a single tournament on their clubs namesake lake.

I agree. In fact I don't like getting to much info about areas from locals. You have to trust what you know. In my classic this weekend I did have a guy from this forum go way out of his way to help me. I went to one of his spots, and it produced. Not in the way he told me to fish it, but according to the pattern that was working that day. I was thankful for his help, and I was able to apply my knowledge to that spot. So in other words, you used the advice of one of the lake fisherman to find a spot he had already found and utilized it to score success. In another example, had you just showed up at Little Dixie, without any information or pre-fishing knowledge, would you have keyed on those jetties like you did immediately or would you have possibly ventured into other areas of the lake and expended valuable time eliminating non-productive water like many others did that day? What I'm saying is this, a bass fishermen is only as good at fishing new or unfamiliar water as the amount of time he puts into pre-investigation of that body of water. Whether studying maps, pre-fishing, talking to locals, etc. Drop him onto the water without any prior knowledge and he is forced to eliminate unproductive water just like a Lake fishermen, who's never fished that lake either, would have to do. How good either does is directly proportional to how much time and energy they've spent learning how bass relate to any body of water throughout the entire fishing year. If Mr. Lake fishermen took off his learning cap because he fishes Lake A and only lake A and pays little attention to anything else, he may not do so well. But if he's become a student of bass fishing and learned how the fish reacts to given circumstances on a body of water then I don't really think he'd be at any more disadvantage than the bass fishermen. BTW, it's those lake fishermen that are the ones that find those spots that aren't on the map. Lots of guys can read maps and those high percentage areas stick out like sore thumbs. They're also pounded because most anyone that can read a topo map winds up hitting them too. It's those subtle places that look like absolutely zero on the map but in fact have a subtle structure or cover feature that those lake fishermen stumble on by accident by just going along and flogging the bank. Sometimes those can be the best spots on the lake since so few know of them.

I'm gonna disagree here Mike. If you drop a lake fisherman or a Bass fishermen onto a body of water neither is familiar with, they'll probably both go about methodically trying to catch fish by process of elimination via using techniques to locate fish mostly based around their knowledge of seasonal bass movements. Granted, a bassfishermen who doesn't spend a great deal of time on a single body of water but gets around may have an advantage strictly due to having to adapt all the time he's on the water but I don't think the Lake fisherman would have a problem unless he completely has tuned all other fishing possibilities out except his one lake he fishes. He may tend to gravitate towards structure or cover that's similar to the lake he fishes primarily but I have a feeling he'd be able to locate the fish. A pattern fishermen first has to find the "spots" that are holding fish. If I have a monday thru Friday job and can only get to the lake to fish for one day I'll definitely try the spots first. They've proven in the past to hold fish and I'm all for cutting down the search time as much as possible. If those don't produce then I'm forced to change up. I may fish those spots differently or I'll change locations completely and fish new water. Getting back to your scenario, a guy who goes down to the lake to fish a tourney and has no time to pre-fish doesn't have much choice other than to spot fish, at least for the good part of the day. Since he really has no idea when he hit the water just exactly what the fish were doing that day, just venturing out and trying to find fish based on limited knowledge of location and water conditions is pretty hit or miss. He's probably better off gunning his spots and taking his chances that way. One other thing, it's not uncommon for Pro anglers to move onto a lake and literally beat up the locals on their own table during any of the major tournaments. It's not because those pro's didn't do their homework, they did. They may go onto a body of water better equipped than the locals. They've probably fished the lake all the way up to the cut-off date. The reason they win so often is because the local "Lake fishermen" run around for the first couple days of the tourney to their "spots" and milk them dry. By the final days of the T, they're out of ammo and forced to run around and find fish like everyone else. The Pro's, having properly prepared, mop up by fishing the lake differently than the locals do. I've witnessed several BASS tournaments at LOZ and the one thing the winners had in common were they weren't fishing normal patterns and techniques for the lake given the time of year. They brought their own style and interpretation of the lake and fished accordingly. But it wasn't without a great deal of preparation. Those pro anglers are intense fishermen and quite talented but drop them onto a lake with zero preparation or knowledge and they can struggle just like anyone of us. Just go through the "Day on the Lake" series that's run in bassmaster over the past few years. Those guys aren't approaching those lakes any differently than you or I do if we have no idea what the fish are biting on that day. Their results over the years has proven that.

They're actually rubber o-rings and you can find them in the plumbing section of most hardware type stores like Lowes or HD. I don't have the exact size but you want them slightly smaller than the thickest point on the Senko (or knockoff). By wacky worming this way you can re-use the bait over and over.

There's a gal who answers the phone there who's a real sweet heart. She has on more than one occasion, slipped a couple parts in for free that she didn't have to and has always made sure I got a reel schematic for any reel I didn't have one for. Wish I could remember her name but she's answered the phone on more than one occasion when I've called to order parts.

I have one rod, an old BPS Bionic Blade pistol grip IM6 rod I got off of Stacy King when he was cleaning his closets out. Using that rod is like putting on an old comfortable pair of slippers.

I'm not familiar with any of those other than the BPS rod. The Extremes are great little rods, especially if you can catch them on sale. A little heavier than probably most of the others listed but a solid, sensitive rod for the money. Now STAYING WITHIN THE OBVIOUS BUDGET you have set by looking at the selection listed, I'm going to throw another out there. A Team All Star TAS 846C. 6' 8" Med Hvy, Fast. I've got one and while I've never used it for throwing T-rigged soft plastics it could easily be used for that purpose. $99.95. If you really want a great rod. Try an All Star Platinum P806C. Same specs as the TAS rod but the rod is incredibly light and the sensitivity is out of this world. At a mere $150 at Cabela's or Academy, these are easily the one of the best bargains in fishing today.

I've had this situation happen before. It was usually caused by one of a couple things. 1. I had just put a new strap on. Regardless of how tight you think you've wound that thing it becomes apparent the first time you trailer your boat that there was still room for the strap to wrap a little tighter around the winch spool. Anytime I put a new strap on I'll stop a couple times on the way to the lake and check the tension. Invariably it has loosened. 2. If I've put the trailer in too deep and the boat doesn't snug into the bunks when reloading. This happens most often on very steep ramps, lousy ramps or where there is a problem, usually due to obstructions off the end of the ramp where I can't get the trailer right in the sweet spot. I've had to re-back the boat into the water more than once and re-snug it into the bunks to get it right. The last thing you want is a boat bucking on the trailer. If it starts doing that you're losing the center of gravity and this could lead to handling problems as you're driving. I would definitely suggest learning to power load your boat onto the trailer. Wait for a time on the lake when the ramp is not busy and practice doing it a few times.

Way to super tune that Zebco Dan!! ;D

Zebco 202 rod and reel combo. My first bass fishing was a Garcia 5000 matched up with a 5' 6" MH Lews Speedstick.

The couple of small operations that are making it in my area have as much or more hunting equipment than they do fishing. Fishing sales are alright for around 6 month's, the other 6 months the hunters take over.

It's a new 1 man bassboat I'm working on. You ride it like a surfboard.

Listen to your parents. That $2000 bass boat will wind up costing you far more by the time you're done fixing everything that needs fixin. Priorities. Education first, then a job, then buy yourself a boat with real money.

Same thing with my F-150. There's a fuse block under the hood that has fuses for the trailer electrical outlet.

Storm Wiggle wart Norman N series Rat-L-Trap

Oh yeah, the Don Iovino reel site. gorgeous, and only $1500.

"when he said he has been fishing SHIMANOS since 1997 i thought wow i got Garcia reels way older then that" I've got my first baitcaster, an old red Garcia 5000 I got for my 16th birthday. It's retired but aside from a regular cleaning and lubing and replacing the drag washers once, that reel NEVER needed service till it started making a clicking noise a couple years ago. I could probably spend a whole $30 bucks and get it fixed but decided to let it rest. It served me well. I'd love to figure my cost per year basis on that reel. Reel cost (free) + parts and lubes ($20 total) / 31 years = 65 cents a year! ;D

I owned one of those Eons. I had it for about a year and a half. That particular model had the removable palm plate that allowed for access to the spool and brakes. That removable palm plate had a nasty habit of coming off in mid cast and sinking to the bottom of the lake. At nearly $40 for a replacment, I tossed the thing in the trash. It was smooth. It cast a mile. The mechanics on it worked nice. It was exceptionally light. The drag knob was sorta funky. The way I palmed it, the levelwind would come over to the palm side of the reel and pinch the skin on my thumb....ouch! But personally, that reel just didn't feel solid. It felt cheap. I have the same opinion of the Torno series as well. I owned a 3006 for 2 years. Man that thing would cast a mile but the overall design and feel of that reel didn't inspire the same feeling I get fishing with a Revo, or even an old 1975 5000 series reel. I still have a 2005LP reel, it's nowhere near the reel as the Revo but the Revo's don't have a model with a flippin switch (unfortunately).

Here's a whole page of tips http://bassresource.com/fishing/buying_first_boat.html and this whole section is on just about every bass boat topic you can think of http://bassresource.com/fishing/bass_boats.html happy reading!

I'll pass. Those reels look like a bread box with a handle on them.

Well, to be fair to Abu, I have a feeling they've known who they wanted to be for quite a long time but the average Bass fisherman in America wasn't the person they were aiming for. At least not to the point where their product line was being specifically designed for a market like the Revo's are now. I'd also suggest the in-shore line of Revo's is specifically targeting the Redfish tourney trail. When bass fishing first started taking off in the 70's Abu basically had the market by proxy. There was no one out there selling quality baitcasting reels capable of the demands that bass fishermen were putting on them. Abu was primarily selling to the Europeans and the light saltwater market. That's where they've put their emphasis over the years. If you look at Garcia's first LP type reel, the Ultra Mag XL Plus, it was an outstanding fishing reel. It was also nothing more than a modified European reel redesigned to sell in America. Later versions of those early LP reels (more like a cross between a round and the LP reels we know today), built specifically for the American bass fishermen consistently missed the mark. They also were one of the first to start using graphite in their LP reels, not a good harbinger of things to come. All that time their round reels continued to be built with the same quality and reliability (I'll be the first to admit the round reels of the 1980 and earlier vintage were built far better than later round reels). In the meantime companies like Daiwa (with the Millionaire series), Pflueger, Lews and finally Shimano entered the market or built equipment as good as what Garcia was putting out. Many may not remember but the reels Shimano started selling in this country weren't exactly great reels. The reliability of them left a lot to be desired. The Daiwa Millionaires also had issues. I owned a couple of them in the 70's and they were a POS compared to Garcia 4 and 5 thousand series reels of the day. For whatever reason, Garcia never took the bass fishing market as seriously as they should have. They've never really had touring pro's pitching their equipment, never spent much money on trying to reach the bass fishing market and more importantly, never seemed to take that market seriously enough to build a reel worthy of mention within the bass fishing reel market. They just put their round reels out there along with some pathetically designed LP reels and let it be. They've finally hit that mark with the Revo. Skepticism by many, especially those that spent way more on a reel than what the Revo's cost, is to be expected. I expect some will ignore them for fear of finding something better at a cheaper price.

I'd suggest putting a spool of braid on one of your reels mounted on a BPS rod and see for yourself. Braid can tend to make any rod feel more sensitive due to its zero stretch properties.