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Gander also has Humminbird 698 for like $380 online plus a rebate of $50 or $75(not sure without looking it up). It has gps, si, and di. The Gander nearest me has all 600 series birds in a clearance bin, so if you have one near you check them out. Of course the Gander near me also has a 598 and 798 on display, but for some reason not on clearance, I asked about them but the guy working there was clueless.

There is a Walmart near me that up to a year ago had a citica d, an e, and a g all sitting together at $120 apiece brand new, but I think he just meant to look for a good used one.

This time of year I like short arm Colorado blade by Stan Sloan Zorro lures or big beetle spins (listed as saltwater version) or War Eagle 5/16ths finesse spinner baits with colors depending on water clarity.

I believe your talking about frames, the Kaenons I have are Italian made, and I know Smith Optics and others are too. My Wileys said Taiwan. Not sure about the Costas. Lens material can be quite a bit different though and patented even if it's from the same lab. And I don't pay retail, I buy off ebay.

I use to use wileyx, they are nice for boat rides with the gasket and look cool. Then last year I bought Kaenon c-12s, they have a trivex like lens that is clearer than the wileys when it's bright out. Gave my friend my 3yr old wileys when I visited him in florida. This year I bought Costa 580gs in the Jose model green mirror. Going outside on sunny days and briefly doing some bank fishing I don't see where they are any clearer than the Kaenon. I will make my final judgement when I get my boat out and fish some clear lakes but right know I'd say the Kaenons might be best all around between clarity/toughness.

Not sure if they are exactly the same, I was catching em on a xr one knocker and my friend was casting the boo yah one knocker that took its place and was getting skunked.

Gamma and Mccoy are both great lines.

RC finished 2nd two years ago at Falcon, so maybe a few knew who he was.

Mississinewa and Salamonie bass like lipless crankbaits. Ive caught em on brown/green pumpkin jigs on wood or hollow belly swimbaits at times too. I catch more on Sally though, maybe the bass are dumber there.

I don't think kvd has slipped at all, but let's face it he is kvd and he has to make more appearances, do more ads, more TV shows than anyone else, and that really hurts his practice time. Now mlf doesn't have practice or allow way points so he still kicks butt at that.

It's still slow but check out the Hoosier thread there are some good ones being caught.

They sure are fun to target when green/brown fish aren't active. Yellow bass too.

This with your favorite tube hook when stupid jig won't work.

Daiwa Exceler $59 at gander mountain plus their in house advantage rod for $30.

Look on ebay for an as pc3, bought mine for $40 for my two 700 series.

Id like to see rules for the so called best of the best where they don't get si/di sonars, or hydrowaves, or other latest greatest gear and see how they do. Like Clunn said back in the day tournament anglers were better, they had to figure out a pattern, let's see who would do well the old school way.

Orra and Supreme are both nice reels, get the one you find cheaper.

I have went previous years, it's fun to go see. I did go last month to kokomos outdoor show, plenty of boats, kayaks , fishing gear and Edwin Evers was there too.

Paca craws have the most action imo, but tear very easily.

I have wiley x with gasket for boat rides, but use Kaenons for fishing.

I use to have a 6'6"mlf premier, but I just looked it up on croixs website apparently it's discontinued. They still have the avid neo in 6'8" m/f in their shop on closeout.

St croix 6'6" premier mlf is probably what you need. It is basically like most med powered.

I have a red original c400 and it's never broke, once sent it to dvt for cleaning and he said it was like a curado on the inside. Now the edge series received bad reviews, but the original 400/600/1000 series was ok.

Look up specs and pics of a Pflueger Supreme xt and an Abu Revo sx. Almost exactly the same. Same look, line capacity, drag, and bearing count. One weighs 6.5 and has centrifigal brakes, one weighs 6.7 and has mag brakes. Both are great reels, I just liked it better when Abu and Pflueger had their own styling.

Ffo tackle still has them for sale. I think they are doyo like all pure fishing reels.