rangerjockey

Yeah, sounds like there's a little home cookin' going on there. Anyway, nothing but respect for Gary Loomis. I don't think anyone who knows anything at all would question his contribution to the fishing industry. The problem seems to be how the company as a whole is being run. No one in their right mind would question his ability to design fishing rods. It will probably never happen but I would love to see Shimano/ Loomis bring him back to the company he founded. I think his rightful place in the industry is better than NFC.

We will see how long the boutique business model lasts. In my post I said IF you could do warranty exchanges in the store that might help. If you can't find posts about their customer service your not looking very hard. No question NFC builds a great blank. I have several Kistlers built on them but as we know Trey went with another supplier . By the way , a quick search shows a BBB rating of F. That's not very boutique

I agree. I always liked the VBS . If I had to fish the E series forever that would be fine by me. I have Aldebarans and Mets and they are nice but they aren't going to catch anymore fish than the trusty E's.

I had a couple and I liked them although I didn't keep them long and I took a beating on the resale side. I think they are having trouble trying to outrun all the customer service horror stories on both the Edge and NFC sides. If they will warranty them at the store where you bought them, that would be a big step in the right direction. I personally wouldn't wait 9 months for a light saber.

I've been using the Cast X 12. It's gone up in price since I bought it but it' good stuff. I'm not particular when it comes to leaders. Whatever 8-12 lb. flouro that I find first.

Yikes. But i'm not surprised. Those frog hooks scared me to the point of running a drill through the Hags. The Coikes aren't as bad but it's still dangerous. Sorry that happened.

I use the good ol' Pro guides for the trolling motor and usually get 4 or 5 years out of them. I did go to an AGM for the cranking battery but that's about as high tech as I care to go.

No, The Zodias has always been as sensitive as Expride in my hands. You are giving up aesthetics and the TB seal of approval.

Dobyns moving bait actions are among the best regardless of price. The 705cb and 734 were always my favs along with the 702 spinning rod. Back when I had a deal with them I got 50% but that was with Gary. If you get 35% that's a deal. Personally , I don't think the Xtasy is as good as an NRX or Steeze but at 35% off I would be giving it some thought.

Yum and the Shanes blades of glory are reasonable and good quality.

As of now on a casting rod and heavier weight I think the frog hook is the way to go for me. How to add the weight is the wild card. On the smaller size like the 13mm on a spinning rod I'm sold on the Talsman hook w/ the clip on weight.

One thing that concerns me with the treble or quad hook is that when you fish it like a jerk bait around brush it's fairly easy to hang up. From the first time I fished it that way, I worried get one deep and I'd really hate to tongue hook one.

Everyone seems to be speculating at this point, so I wouldn't rule anything out. But most seem to be putting the weight at the back of the bait opposite the line tie and holding it right against the body. I'm not convinced that the elastomer is the best material. It was fine when we were just basically neko rigging the thing but trying to shove frog hooks and weights like the freak-o through it is a PITA.

I noticed that Davis is releasing a new frog hook with a weight attached via a split ring. That seems like a great idea; I've personally been using a free-rig weight secured with a piece of a TRD worm to achieve a similar setup. While getting a standard frog hook through a typical Coike isn't too difficult, those Hags baits are definitely tougher than a Kroger steak!. I've taken to opening up the existing hole with a drill bit rather than risking a trip to the ER to get a frog hook out of my hand.

The Mann's are pretty easy to find on the auction site. Even the original double stamps don't bring much so they are still affordable.