MarkH024

Unless you have a pretty regular habit of snapping rods, I wouldn't be too concerned. You could always look into the LE models if you want life warranty. Now your dollar amount just doubled in spending. I've fished St. Croix rods exclusively for the past 10 years. I finally broke one, (6'6" Triumph and my first Croix ever owned) this year trying to swing a fish in like stupid idiot. Entirely my fault. Even their low end rods are tough as nails as long as treated with appropriate care.

If you fish with money as line, please come to my lake immediately and let me know the dates and where you will be. I'll have a landing net handy.

I always enjoy your wittiness.

Sorry to hear they let you go. That was pretty shady, but not surprising in these days. You seem more like a hands on type of guy so probably not some office job in the markets you're familiar with right? You should start your own business, make your own pay and hours, and fish when you want. I know...easier said than done. In any event, I hope it all works out for you. You could always try to go pro and win the Bassmaster classic! $500,000 paycheck will let you sit at home and punch the keyboard some more, for a little while anyway.

I have 2 Rage Rods. All around, I love the rod and the grips. I find them to be very comfortable to fish with. I was using the 7'1 MH/F for a jig/pitching rod last season. It was good to use around light cover and docks but not in heavier stuff. I have a Dobyns 766c coming for my new flip and punch stick. I'm going to use that Rage rod for jigs or lighter pitching or possibly a dedicated swim jig rod. I also have the 6'10" ML/XF Rage spinning rod as a drop shot rod paired with a Ci4 2500. Super light and great to fish with. It is very sensitive too. No complaints from me from the 2 that I own. Buy with confidence.

PM me the lake and I might be able to help with some pointers. Or just say it here....whatever you want to do. I fish mainly in Wisconsin as well with the exact same features you described.

When you start spooling, make sure you are guiding the line with your fingers and through the line guide onto the spool all in one straight line. If the line guide is traveling further than your fingers and where the line is currently laying down, you will likely get an uneven side. I like to start mine slow and when I approach the sides of the spool I go even slower to make sure the line isn't jumping around. I'm not 100% every time, but taking a little extra precaution helps resolve this issue for me. Sometimes if line spools up a little unevenly, just by fishing it, it will balance out. I've also seen this work in the negative factor of piling up even more to one side. I think just take extra care next time you do it and keep that line straight from fingers to spool and it should work out. That's the best advice I can give.

Winterized my boat 2 weekends ago. I didn't see any chances of me getting out again this year so I got it out of the way. Ice is forming thin on smaller water bodies here already.

Anyone ever told you, you resemble David Grohl from Foo Fighters? Nice fish btw.

I agree!

Not sure to be honest. I could be confusing the hooks on a few Rebel jerkbaits. I will have to double check next time I get around to using them.

Hard jerkbaits are not a go-to lure for me so I appreciate the detailed information. That was a good little read there, thanks for posting that. I'm sure others will appreciate it as well.

This topic is beaten like a dead horse. Seeing that you're new, try the search function up top and you'll find most questions have been answered at least once if not more. 7' M/Fast or 7' MH/Fast are great all around choices.

You using the stock hook? If not, what did you upgrade to?

Thanks for the details. Definitely a great option for me in the future. Not sure if I can swing it this season or not.

I have 4 of them, however I have barely fished any of them. The one or 2 that I did, worked as intended. I don't recall that I caught anything on them but that's not to say they won't catch fish. Stock hooks are junk so I'll be changing them out next time I throw them. I'm not sure what other info you might want on them.

Decals are still items they have to budget out for the year. They don't get them made for free. Some decals can be pennies, and some can be dollars depending on the quality of decals they're offering. Either way, the bulk of decals is going to go to fishermen fishing tournament trails before Jon Doe from BassResource.com. Like Tom said, you already purchased what they want so they could care less if your car/boat/equipment is decorated with their logos. They have 100's of guys on tournament trails already doing so with maximum exposure that they want. Some of the bigger companies do offer decals for purchase, some don't.

I have been looking at options for a club for almost the past 2 years. This is a great option it appears. Couple questions if you don't mind. These are single day tournaments correct? Not Fri-Sunday or Sat/Sunday? Do they hold meetings? How often if so? Does each member pay entry fee or is that just per boat? What division do you fish or do you mix it up?

Good fish there Mike. Do you think your punch skirts will go through ice? On my way to work today I passed a few little ponds with some of that hard stuff on the surface.

.......... more dots.

Texas rigged just like a worm or any other plastic. Rage rig works too but I use the Space Monkey and Smoking Roosters for that. A lot of guys throw them on a Carolina rig or mojo rig but that's not really my cup o tea.

The stroller my in-laws bought for our twins was $850 after all the necessities and crap you have to buy with it to accommodate 2. Cribs were $300 each which one looks like a beaver had a field day with it now. I can't even imagine how much money in diapers at this point. Still have a year to two to go before potty trained.

So Mike, how did the new stick perform?

I just picked up a new pitchin stick instead... I'll have to use my Columbia rain gear for now which does a great job too.

Why don't you email the manufacturers and ask them? I'm sure they'd be happy to supply that information to you.