MarkH024

I agree. We live in an extremely sensitive society now and it's rather ridiculous. I'm not for exposing kids to bad habits, murder, violence etc etc....but something like this is just ridiculous. There will always be someone out there analyzing the best and worst of what kids are being exposed too and they will drop the hammer down on anything negative. I think a huge portion of it is so they can gain recognition for themselves. The only recognition they're getting is that they're an idiot.

Where in Central Wisconsin are you fishing that produces 7lbers regularly? A 7lb inland lake bass is a monster in Wisconsin. My PB was around 7lbs in central Wisconsin and it seemed like a freak of nature compared to the rest of the bass that I normally catch. I'm not saying that there are not 7lb+ fish in Wisconsin but they are far and few compared to our southern states where that number becomes closer to an average/good size. Find some legit proof that these people are actually catching a 7lb bass. Some fishermen's "mental" scales are way off my friend. I caught my PB bass on a frog in heavy slop. Lily pads and milfoil mats. If you look at some of the milfoil mats it would seem impossible that fish would be in there hanging out, trust me, they are there. Fish the edges, fish the tops of them, fish through them. Most of my bigger fish come from frog fishing. It might be because I fish a lot of frogs/topwater or I simply am in the right place at the right time. I've caught equally sized big bass on wacky worms, swim jigs, swim baits, crankbaits... Keep at it...just don't expect 7lbers as a regular occurance in inland lakes of Wisconsin. If you're just out fishing having a good time, and the day you do land that 7+ it will be even more special to you. The element of surprise.

Thanks. I love it. Hopefully you didn't just jinx me. Lol

Pike up north will eat your shoe if you tied it on the end of your line. I've lost more lures on the account of pike than snags, hands down. They are active when the water is freezing cold to blistering hot. A lodge owner up in Canada was telling me that they're so plentiful in Eagle Lake, and a lot of Canadian waters, that the indian reservations go out and collect as many possible and they grind up the whole fish (minus the guts) and make fish patties for the reservation schools. Imagine that instead of sloppy joes and taco tuesdays.

Does anyone have a Curado DSV 300/301? If so, did you ever experience about a 1/8" to 1/4" reverse turn on the reel? I have been discussing with Mike from DVT on how to remedy it and a thorough cleaning didn't solve the problem. I'd like to be able to fix it myself as I'm finding that I enjoy working on my reels and I have ALL winter long to do it. However, this might be out of my reach and I'll be sending off to DVT anyway. I use the reel for a musky set up so it doesn't get nearly as much use as my bass set ups. The reel works great other than that slight problem, and it is more of a nuisance to me than anything. Any insight would be appreciated.

Awesome fish! I am jealous!

Mike has been helping me verbally with my Curado DSV 300 tear down. Had a little hiccup and he's been a great help. Not a lot of people will go out of their way to offer their services for free, especially when that is how they make their living. I just wanted to say thank you again, Mike, for all the help you have given me. I will definitely send my reels out to you if I decide to super tune them or need further maintenance. You da man Mike! After Roadwarriors comment, I just might have to send those Shimanos out for sure.

I was at the game. First half was brutal. A win is a win but that was ugly! Da Bearssss!

Great point Hydrilla. Laminating your vinyls is a must on the boat. Between water and sun, it will take its toll. Depending on vinyl quality it will last a season to maybe 5 or 6.

Mine are relatively the same, except most of my rods are just past the first guide but that is just a couple inches. I guess I won't stress it that much then.

I have this same rod for pitching and flipping. I love the rod, it is really light. I have a Smoke 7.0 on there so it is an extremely light set up which is great. That sucks yours broke. I have yet to break any rod I own from St. Croix.

Well if that's the case, then that is great news. Thanks. Interested to hear more from the others.

My rod storage space is pretty tight at home, I have next to none when it comes to storage space. Currently have my best rods/reels on a horizontal wall rack. I have read that they will develop a natural bend in the rod over time if stored horizontally. Like any of you, I do not want that. Until I figure out a better solution, is there a proven time frame on how long it will take before any change actually occurs in the rods? If it's years......I won't sweat it too much. If it's a season length then I'm starting a project this weekend. lol. Hoping you rod building guru's have a good answer for me. I used to store my rods vertically in my spare room before it turned into my twins room this year. If I had only one baby, they'd still be in there.

X2. coudn't have said it better. You make it drama filled, the sites don't. There are literally dozens of fishing give-a-ways and contests announced on Facebook every week or day for that matter. I have been lucky enough to win one or two things just by being persistent and always entering the contests. one was an FLW tshirt, the other was a fishing novel. Yeah, small items but still...free stuff is always cool. A lot of the blogging from pros and other fishing related distributors make great reads. Other than that, i share photos of my kids, fishing, other events with my family and friends. I rarely converse through it. The people I want to talk to have my cell phone. I keep in touch with old friends and college baseball buddies. That's about it.

Those are very cool. It's not cheap, I'll guarantee that. I work in that field and its about $17-$20 a yard for the carbon fiber vinyls.

It is something like if you buy a $40-$80 rod/reel you get $10 off. $80-$120, $20 off...etc. The thing is, you can trade in a combo that was $15 bucks from Wally world or wherever and get a discount on anything your choice. I traded in rods/reels from when I was a kid, they were old and plastic but worked. They give them to youth programs to give to kids.

If you have an old reel or rod in working condition, you can trade it into BPS Spring Classic and they will give you a discount towards your purchase of a new rod/reel. I usually wait to buy most of my stuff until this because some of the savings are huge!

I have a Gen1 Revo S sitting in a box unused, which I'm debating to sell off or keep it for my own use. I have no experience with any of the Revo products so I can't comment on what I like better. I like my Quantum KVD reel, it works great, I'm just questioning the longevity of the reel. Some of the pieces are cheap on it. I take really good care of my stuff so I expect it to last a long time. If you're going by looks then I guess the RevoS Gen 3 is your choice. I like my stuff to look nice when paired up too, but it is never a deciding factor for me when putting a rod and reel together. I could care less what people think about how my gear looks. As long as it performs well, that is all that matters. I would openly admit, that I have a few ugly combos but it matters not. They catch fish.....that's what matters. Good luck with your decision.

If you'd like, I will take a picture showing you how to get it open and adjust when I get home this evening. That wouldn't be a problem at all if you can not figure it out. Just let me know.

I was saying NO to this statement you made. You are correct about the 3 adjustments. It's overkill in my opinion, but I still like the reel myself. So under your reel you'll see a sideways switch, pull that to left or right and rotate the sideplate down. You'll see the cent brake system there. Set it at 2, then click it back shut. Start with the mags at 3, or on FREE. Use your cast control knob as you would any reel.

Beauties! Everything is awesome except that Flyers shirt. Hawks baby!

Awesome fish! Nice hat too.

No. There is a switch to rotate the side plate off. From there you will engage/disengage the brakes as you need them. When I got mine, none were on and that spool spun lightning fast. I turned on 2, took Mags off and control knob set accordingly and it casts like a dream. I know a lot of people don't care for Quantum reels, but I own a few and they have all worked great for me. I have an old Shaw Grigsby quantum reel from Dicks ( my first baitcaster) and I still use it today. I still prefer my Shimano's at the end of the day but I wouldn't overlook Quantums. I have a Smoke reel too, which i'm very fond of.

If they are Rapala, they're probably on the light side compared to everything else on the market. That would be my guess. Any other brand of jerkbait usually will cast a mile. I will X2 Jeff's recommendation. A little more finesse, creates a lot less of a mess.

I have one of these reels as well. You are aware that this has dual brake system right? The internal centrifigul system supplies the best portion of the braking on this reel in my experience. I don't even think I have the magnetics set as I didn't notice any big difference by having them on or off to be perfectly honest. They probably could have done without the magnetics on this reel. It's not a bad little reel, I'm just curious to know how long it will last me. I treat my stuff great so I think it will do good for a long time. Like the others have stated, centrifigul brakes and the cast control knob is really all you need. Any reels I've owned with Magnetics are either set to free or 3 and have never needed to have them on more than half or full.