EvanT123

I've had some surprising success when the river is flooded and chocolate milk throwing a pop r parraell to the bank.

Powell Endurance 683 200e7 40lb braid. Booyah!!

Beauty of a fish nice job on the pb!

If there is no industry standard. How does anyone know the true power/action of a rod? In my mind setting a defined standard would lead to companies possibly trying to adhere to it. What's the point of all these different rod companies if the action/power/taper feel all the same? Or would bass fisherman have to split rod specs down to the tiniest differance?

I used to fish all the time out of a flat 1236 on the Mohawk Riverr. There where many times where once the current started it up things would get very squirrelly. Once we went camping on a lake and the only way to get to the campsite was by boat as my friend was transporting people too and from in the boat by himself the bow was bouncing 4-5 feet in the air pretty scary stuff. Not to mention two guys trying to cast 6ft plus rods was always interesting. Say birds nest much? We did it for years was it worth getting out on the water absolutely at the same time we were young enough not to know any better. My advice save your money or stay home when's there's chop on the water.

Why not just yelll from a hundred feet away; I'm calling the cops ??

Work meetings. People who talk out of turn and others who dont let people talk.

Awhile back A-Jay posted or started a thread the 13 habits of mentally strong people. I took that and printed it out and made a bunch of copies to hand out to my clients (unemployed) however I find myself looking at it more then giving it out. It's hard sometimes to hear all these people horror stories. These stories can definetly make you realize how good you have it but at the same time can be pretty dam depressing ie. how am I going to feed my kids? I'm losing my house; kinda stuff. Sometimes I think of happiness not as an emotion but a disposition. Ya know the old glass half empty half full kind of thing. Once I get my morning bottle of water I generally consider myself to have a happy/positive disposition

Bonz, I have the symetre 1000fl, stradic 2500fj and lexa 2000. Really you can't go wrong with any of them. They all get the job done. I'll elaborate but I only fish freshwater so my needs maybe different than yours. The stradic to lexa comparison isn't really fair the stradic is what $50 more and in my opinion is marginally better. The thing about both reels is you can find them for less than retail so keep that in mind. You asked about bearings the stradic come packed and ready to go. Bearings in the line roller and on both sides of the drive train. The lexa has them on both sides of the drivetrain but not the line roller. The stradic is also direct drive handle while the lexa is threaded. I have a bearing on order for the lexas line roller which cost me a dollar. Is a bearing in the line roller crucial ? No but I like it. I was watching a daiwa Australia video on YouTube where the diawa tech said he prefers a bushing and they fish a lot of salt and brackish water. So it's personal preference and need. The lexa to the symetre is a fairer comparison but still not close. Really the best comparison is lexa To saros. I'll leave it up to you to compare those. The symetre is graphite; has a line roller bearing but a bushing on one side of the drive train. I again replaced that with a bearing and I have to say the symetre is the "smoothest" and is the easiest turning out of the 3. Again is bearing a necessity? No but I like it. So I guess what I'm trying to say is like I said in the begining you can't go wrong with any of them. There will always be a plus and minus and you have to decide what works/feels the best for you. IMHO I really like the shimanos they have great cranking power and are super smooth. At the same time I am in love with the drag and sound on diawa and the hard to explain connected feel they have. Ahh too many reels too little money. :-/

Nah man just trying to find some smallies or walleye. Op Sam listed some great advice right there. One thing off that list is I always let a family member know where I'm going and expect to be back and let them know when I'm home.

That's pretty funny my man. At the begining of the season it takes me awhile to get my fishing legs back. Ive been out 3times and tripped on a rock and put a nice gash in my shin, ripped my jeans and skinned my hand and haven't even caught a fish yet. By the end of the season I'm like spider man on those rocks though.

I had a friend spool some on a reel of mine after my braid got low and he casted it all off. Wasn't really happy when he did it I'm a power pro fan. However I didn't have any complaints. I found it to be like others said strong and manageable. I used it for around 3 months before selling the reel it was on and no complaints here. I'd use it if I were you. Edit: I was using 10lb

Social Media? The internet? I haven't been around long enough to know the biggest innovation in fishing but like almost every other aspect of life the internet has probably had an enorumous impact on fishing. I've been fishing seriously for about 12 years and using the internet for the same or longer. Only around 2-3 years ago I thought to put them together and what a ride it's been. The positives: learning from other peoples experience and wealth of information, using gps and internet to find and mark new spots and of course all the tackle. The negatives (for me atleast) sometimes failing into the trap that you need the best of the best to catch fish and everything has to be perfect. To me you can prepare all you want but there is still some luck involved in catching that trophy fish. (See 20lb walleye thread lol dam) We all know the big brands but the internet has also provided the little guy to get there baits, rods; etc out. This has given fisherman an overwhelming opportunity to get what they need and be creative. Op mentioned in your thread the influence of japan. I'm sure before the net the japanese had an influence on fishing but the internet has probably accelerated it. Ie shimano turning to global platforms. At the same time you can find old VHS be tapes on YouTube iof japanese guys drooling over Charlie brewer so it can be relative. So yea I'd say the net but like any other tool or bait for that matter it's all in how you use it.

Chuck Norris doesn't always fish braid but when he does he cuts it with his stubble.

So we all know most crankbaits come with treble hooks. I read in the thread on circle hooks that some companies use them on cranks and have seen them on lures mainly in Australia. I've had fish throw hooks quite a bit on my smaller topwaters and don't really like that thought of treble hooks coming at me a hundred miles per hour. Two questions what are the pros/cons of using non trebles on hard baits and can you use non circle style hooks ie a straight shank worm hook? Thanks ahead for any insight. Edit: auto correct mistakes

Two nice fish and a nap can't beat that. Nice.

Alittle off topic but still relevant. There was a documentary on PBS a few weeks ago which is available on their website. "Generation Like" which focused on cell phones, social media and the younger generation. Pretty eye opening stuff and might be of interest to some of the parents on here.

Like above yes but the major retailers will try there hardest to steer you away from that option.

Funny you asked this, at my work meeting last night the same topic came up and people were saying 7. Im not a parent first off but was in shock. I think 13-14 would be more appropriate and just a regilar flip phone. I dont want my kid rotting there brain on candy crush or whatever. Two things i remember my parents saying when we complained about being bored growing up. Read a book or go outside. I dont think thats bad advice.

What I like to call beginners luck.

There was an interesting thread awhile back in the tackle section on tubes. Guys weight a tube any where from 1/8-1/2 maybe more. First question you have to ask yourself is what weight tubes are you throwing and where.

Not a cork turning pro here or an everyday user of powers tools. I did research this a lot though and put it into practice. You can turn the cork grip on a steel rod without a problem; cork is much softer than wood. I don't know what you are trying to build but I would recommend a drill with a key chuck to get the mandrel secure into the chuck. You have to support the other end of the bar with something. Or at x rpms that end is going to go crazy. Like I said I'm not a pro at this stuff but I researched a lot of it from a non rod building perspective. Research real lathes for wood and metal and homemade cork lathes. To a guy like me a lot of the lathe terms might as well have been Greek but the main idea is to reduce vibration in the tool and make it as safe and fool proof as possible. Try and find a balance, make sure you are/can find a competent tool person and always wear eye protection.

I have an old one. Well not that old since it doesn't have the webie reel seat but old enough. It's a great rod imx mbr 783 especially at half price which I purchased it for. Some say it's the rod all other mh rods are judge against. I don't know if that's true since I haven't fished all the other rods but it's sensitive, has a taper I like and can fish almost any regular bass bait great. When I say regular bass bait I'm excluding baits under 1/8 and over 1oz so basically anythjng in its weight range 1/4-3/4. I researched it long and hard and had already tried a number of 6'6 mh rods and I am extremely happy with it especially at the price I paid for it. There are threads on here almost daily regarding the best 100 dollar rods and the same old usual suspects show up and they maybe great rod but My advice buy used; way more bang for your buck. Edit: didn't see the question in ops thread.

I would say yes to an extent and depending on your definition of high end. In my opinion the right rod and reel for the job is more important. Example this summer my buddy and I were fishing a private lake filled with weeds and stumps(perfect frog country) he was using a medium action ugly stick combo and me a 6'6 mh rod and baitcaster. I caught about 20 to his 0 the fish would blow up on his frog but there was no way he could set the hook and land those fish. I watched that happen almost as many times as I caught fish. He also stripped the gears on the shakespere reel rendering it useless. Back to the original question. I think the gap between a $50 reel compared to a $150 reel is going to be much greater than say the gap between a $150 reel and $300 dollar one. If you have the dinero and that what you like great have at it but in my opinion it's not going to catch you more fish. Especially since the competition between companies is predominantly in the 200 and under range you can get a ton of bang for your buck. I have friends that pay 200 for sneakers and fish ugly sticks. It's all relative depending on what you are into and decide to spend YOUR money on.

Man I dont know what kind of of fishing you are doing but any reel will get the job done. Your ttechnique with the finesse will land the fish not the reel. Buy the reel that feels best to you and be done with it. I've never spent over 100 dollars on a reel and they all land fish. When the fish is on the line the brand goes out the window it's up to you to get it in