JunkYard814

Berkley Amp

I've had my eye on that President for the last week. I get paid tomorrow, so that will probably be the first thing I spend my paycheck on....after rent of course.

In my opinion, yes you were being irresponsible with the cards. You were counting on future paychecks to pay balances that couldn't be paid by the end of the month.

I completely disagree with that statement. I've had a credit card for 5 years, and had access to a parent's credit card for 6. I've purchased a number of things on a credit card and I have had 0 problems paying it back. I also don't have a single friend who is in credit card debt. Credit cards in the hands of irresponsible people is a disaster. Not all young people are irresponsible.

Shimano Compre is on sale at Cabela's right now.

It's going to be difficult to get a low APR on any credit with no credit history. Having said that, you do need to start building credit. I'm not sure if credit builds if you pay off the ending balance at the end of every month, but it is a good practice. I have a Cabela's card, and I never spend money I don't have, but that doesn't always mean I pay off my ending balance. I make a few payments and I know I'm building credit, while I have the money. A few tips for when you do decide to get a card: Don't get a card with an annual fee. Check the fine print, because sometimes the first two years will be free, and then all of a sudden they hit you with an annual fee, whether you use the card or not. Canceling credit cards will lower your credit score. It doesn't make any sense, but that's how it works. Having too many credit cards will decrease your credit score. Not only will reaching your limit be bad for your credit score, but once you pass the halfway mark, your score will also go down. It's a great idea to start building credit now. It will help you in the future if you want to apply for a loan for something like a car, student loans, or when purchasing a house.

Thanks guys. I was leaning towards the 30. And my main appeal towards the Compre is the life time warranty, plus it's a cheaper rod.

Looking at purchasing a new finesse soft plastics rod, probably something in the 6'6" ML/F range. I prefer split grip rods. What are your opinions on the St. Croix Premier compared to the Shimano Compre. Also, if you have any other suggestions I'm willing to expand my budget a little in either direction. The rod will be paired with a Pflueger President, either the 6730 or 6735

The more you keep practicing, the less you'll need the breaks. I don't use any breaking on my reels, and a lot of times I turn my spool tension down lower than recommended. I get some really good casting distance, though I'll admit sometimes I do get a little over confident and take it to far and eventually find myself picking out a bird's nest.

I put a lot of thought in picking rods and reels to go together. I'd be lying if I said I have never turned away from some rods simply because it didn't match the color of my reel. Best: I have a Shimano Catalyst PT (orange) mounted on a Berkley Lightning Rod Shock and that looks pretty smooth. Also I have Lews TSS on a Powell Diesel that looks nice. Worst: Shimano Curado E on St. Croix Mojo. Purple, black and green just looks horrible.

Pflueger President

I was looking at them because of the sale mentioned above. I have a Quantum Catalyst and absolutely love it, so I figured I would at least look into this. When I picked it up in the store, I found it to be heavy and almost laboring to reel. I was immediately turned off by it because I felt the Shimano's, Lew's and Abu's around the original retail price would perform much better (probably why the reel was on sale). So while I can honestly say I've never fished the reel, I probably wouldn't buy it.

I was looking for a Pflueger Medalist spinning reel at Cabela's one time. It was on sale, but there were non left in stock. I needed the reel for that weekend, and the guy at the reel counter directed me towards the Cabela's Salt Striker. He told me that Pflueger made Cabela's reels for them and that it was the same reel, but with a different paint job. I was in a hurry so I bought it without thinking too much into it. Biggest disappointment I've ever had. It may be a good reel for something else, but for my applications, I absolutely hate it.

I don't have a rod over $110 although I'm slowly building my way up to them. My reels are around $150-$180, but usually purchased for much less as I visit Cabela's, BPS's and TW's almost daily and wait until something gets put on sale. I should also add that I spend almost half the amount on my spinning reels than I do on casting reels. I am planning on putting a finesse soft plastics set up together and looking at a reel between $60-$80 and a rod between $150-$200.

Also, check out the St. Croix bargain room. They have some crazy deals in there and you get probably put together a set-up worth closer to $500 for a little less than $300

I was going to say the same as upnorth, but with the Lew's Tournament Speed Spool.

I bought a MH/XF Powell Diesel. I haven't fished it yet, but I do like the feel so far. I don't own any rods over MH

I keep all my rods standing in the corner during the winter and I haven't had a problem yet. I try to keep them as straight as possible, with the lighter power and faster action rods nearly upright. I agree rod racks are definitely the best. I've been trying to build one, which is why they are stored in a corner at the moment. Also, I highly doubt 3 days would be long enough to damage a rod leaning against the corner of a wall.

I bought Berkley Fireline Fused in I believe 40 lb test. I absolutely hate it. It's thick and it feels like I'm fishing with wire. I'm not impressed with it's castability and I'm throwing mostly 1 oz spoons on it. Definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone, and it's now rigged only on my loaner rod. Also I first lined one of my spinning reels with just straight fireline and it was slipping. I put a small amount of mono backing and it and it fixed the problem.

Berkley Amp here. I couldn't believe how sensitive the rod was for only like $30 bucks.

I use a 6' 6" MH Fast just because I didn't like longer rods when I first started fishing. I would go with a longer rod though because it will help you cast further and cover more water. If you're fishing really heavy slop, then maybe you want a Heavy, but again, I barely like fishing MH so I don't own any H rods.

So I've been looking at the new Lew's BB1 and I hear a lot of good things about it. The question I have is, how does it differ from the Tournement Speed Spool. The only notable characteristic I see is that it's an ounce lighter. I looked at the specs, but most of it is a different language to me. I'm not very mechanically inclined, so if you could explain any advantages one has over the other rather than just stating what the specific difference is, I would appreciate it very much. BTW, I have the TSS and I absolutely love it, I find it hard to believe that $10 could get me that much more. Thanks for your help.

If you set your casting equipment up correctly, it takes very little time or effort to figure out how to use it. If you utilize breaking systems its even easier. On a cheap bait caster I bought a couple years ago, I learned to fish it pretty effectively on the second and third time out. Do I still get birds nests every once in a while? Of course I do, everyone does. But a majority of the tangles I've had were able to be picked out within a minute or two. Only one time did I ever have to cut line off of a reel, and that's because I landed a jig into a tree on a set up with 50 lb braid, and I basically tried pulling the tree down to get my jig. It buried the line so far into my spool that I couldn't even find where it started. I learned quicky never to do that again.

Definitely depends on what you plan on doing with it. Also, power varies among rod manufacturers and models. My MH St Croix Mojo is about on par with my M Berkley Lightning Rod Shock, whereas my MH Powell Diesel I would probably classify a little towards the Heavy side of the spectrum.