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I bought them many moons ago when they first came out. It's easily been more than 20 years ago. IIRC, they were balsa construction, not sure about now. I used them primarily on clear water lakes where fish could visually key in on the bait after being attracted by the vibration and not the clicking of rattles inside. They might have worked a little better than say a Wiggle wart which has been a springtime mainstay for years. I don't have them anymore, sold most of them for premo money on Ebay.

The Eagle Fish easy 350 is also $220. That and the Hummingbird are the cheapest I've seen. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10200082_250003001_250000000_250003000_250-3-1

I've heard the same things about the Boat Buddies. I suppose if you went to the same ramp everytime and the water conditions were always the same and you knew the thing would work there it would be a minor time saver. Otherwise, steep ramps, shallow ramps, water too high, water too low, etc. will all play into whether you can drive the boat onto the trailer properly to get the thing to latch properly.

Around 38 for me. :-X

There's guys on those CSI shows? never noticed.

Some of the older AT's had an issue with the plastic pieces in the head that hold the cable drive plate down breaking. If you order a new upper and lower head assembly you get the new beefed up version. IIRC, you also got a new gear? Maybe not, anyway I had the same thing happen to my AT 55. Not a real big deal to change out.

Seriously, I've fished with several of the Extreme reels. So have quite a few others around here. Unless you have something against green reels, (I don't care for them) they're a great reel and will give you a lot of service. The cast really well, are very smooth and the ITB braking system is fairly easy to setup and learn. One thing for sure, don't go any lower than the extreme series in BPS reels. Anything below that winds up being a graphite framed reel that probably won't hold up over the long run.

I don't mind paying property taxes. It's personal property tax that burns my butt everytime I pay it each year. Given I paid a sales tax on the item when I purchased it, to charge me a yearly tax for owning a boat trailer or a car is nothing more than a government money grab.

Gas drops to a low, low price and the stations around here jacked the prices yesterday to around $1.69. :

Curious. I've always paid state tax when ordering from Bass Pro Shops because the HQ was in Springfield. In fact, on every order form there was a box for figuring Mo. tax for MO. residents. I haven't noticed them adding any other state even though they have stores in quite a few. Does BPS do this same tax thing to anyone else if you order?

A lifetime warranty on a rod does you absolutely no good when your favorite uber sensitive worm rod, that you payed $300 for, breaks on the first day of a week long fishing excursion and the fish are biting on plastic worms. You can drop down to the mid 100 - 200 dollar range and get a great rod that frankly, isn't that much off in sensitivity or weight of the high dollar rod and actually have money left over for a spare in case that one breaks. Just my 2 cents.

I've got a custom 7' I got from David Green here (Reel Mech) Love the rod and the spiral guides but I'm still not sold on the split grip deal. Don't forget the All Star ASR's. http://www.allstarrods.com/as_asrseries.html

No. $$$$$$$

100 series. For really close range fishing. 50 yd line capacity with 10lb test. With the really light drag on those reels a large bass could actually spool you. 200 D series reels. A behemouth, like a Brontosaurus mounted on the rod handle. E series. Aluminum frame with graphite side plates. Imagine ground-up pencil lead compressed into the shape of a fishing reel side plate and painted sparkly green. 300 series. Got great reviews in Catfish Pro magazine.

I've had some quantum spinning reels and no problems. Had a Quantum Iron and that thing was great. The finish seemed to come off way too easy though. Had a very early version accurist. The level wind drive gear broke off a tooth. 3 year old reel and the part was no longer available. They seem to be an OK reel, my experience in selling them is the finishes on the reels just don't hold up. Their resale value isn't worth squat either.

I'm more curious to hear your reviews of this reel. This is basically a Revo/Pflueger reel in disguise.

Great job! Did you get the windshields from Custom mold and tint? One other thing, I would definitely replace the livewell overflow hose on the rear livewell whether it needs it or not. I know it's a pain in the arse to do but those things were known to crack due to age and the fact that the overflow thru hull fitting is normally underwater while the boats in the water is not a good thing.

The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQtPkl88In8&NR=1 The crowd is asked to remain silent though it's rarely necessary. Don't step over the rail! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-dBwdeJSGo&feature=related

I know that All Star dropped their prices by $20 on the TAS line and $30 for the Platinum series rods. Sooth sayers or just trying to get a bigger market footprint?

I wonder what the reasoning is behind this? Will these things sink if non-inflated (manual models)? It would seem that an inflatable PFD is just as useless if not worn as a regular PFD also not worn.

The $200 will make a nice down payment on a nice $600 - 1000 new aluminum small boat with trolling motor. Let's get real. It's going to be a challenge to find an old, used aluminum boat with a trolling motor for $200.

Just a note. Bill Dance, one of the great T-rig plastic worm fishermen, once gave a tip for those using longer rods for worm fishing. Basically, work your rod like you always do and then look up at your rod tip to see just how much it's moving the bait. His point was, what may seem like subtle movements down on the reel while you're working the bait is actually moving the rod tip quite a bit more than you thought. The longer the rod, the more action at the handle end winds up moving the rod tip quite a bit. Try it sometimes. You may find you're actually moving your worm along a lot more than you thought you were.

Actually, it doesn't make me mad. The Patriarch is an incredible reel. The best part? It's sort of a sleeper and not getting the attention the Revo's, especially the STX are and thus, the prices on them have been real low, especially on Ebay. I've picked up 5 of them now and not spent over $125 for any of them shipping included. These were all NIB BTW. That's an 11 bearing real, aluminum frame and both side plates, Titanium deposition finish, dual braking, etc. Honestly, a better reel than the STX built on literally the same frame with the same parts for way less. I'm happy. 8-)

Here's one more I'm adding This a Johnny Morris Signature JMX10HC, this is the one currently selling for $170. I left the main drive shaft and pinion gear in this shot. While a casual, quick comparison would seem to indicate thay're the same reel as the other 2 it's not. The reel assembly itself is significantly larger. There is a difference in the way the spring release is designed with a small bar held down by a screw which one of the springs fits into. (At the 1 o'clock position in the picture at the top) Another thing of note, the main drive gear on the Morris reel is BIG. Significantly larger than either the Pflueger or Garcia main gear. The drag stack though, besides being physically larger due to the main gear size, is identical to the Revo and the Patriarch. I have no doubt this reel is probably made with some machining that's used on the Revo or Pflueger. There are some parts in the mechanics that could be interchanged. The reel uses the pushbutton style palm plate release vs the newer thumbscrew release used on the Garcia or Pflueger. I'm betting this is an older Pflueger based frame used in the now discontinued Supreme and the Summit. The Patriarch as well as the new President seem to be borrowing the Revo mechanics with some minor differences. I'm betting we're going to see the end of the Pflueger reel handle attachment and see the Pflueger, as well as the BPS line go to the nut screw handle attachment that comes on the latest President and newly introduced BPS Pro Qualifier. The other reels for comparison