CarolinaBoy4Life

In the summer time I have found the night bite to be significantly better than during the day. Your not having to deal with the heat or sun. Temps drop and the bass become a little more active. The issue is most lakes around here you must be off by 8 pm so you don't get to get on the night bite unless pond or bank fishing

Got one of the newer style BPS crankin sticks with micro guide 7'6 for my deeper cranking and its a great rod. May get the 7'10 for 10xd but honestly don't really need that as I don't crank that deep very often if at all

I use a lower ratio Pro Qualifier for both square bills and shallow running crankbaits

Gambler EZ series swimbaits. Have caught some studs on em with a weighted twistlock hook and the garlic scent its on them all day during use. Even went back to use one a week later and still smelled strong like garlic

Awesome fish and bait!

Rage Craw/Lobster, RI Sweet Beaver, Pit boss

BPS Carbonlite, BPS Extreme, Academy H20, Berkley Lightning, Abu Garcia Veritas, all great rod's I have personally used and cannot knock one bit. Majority of my rod's are the BPS Carbonlite due to weight and sensitivity but any of these will be great rods and some will even be cheaper than your listed budget

I know you have a preferred list of rod manf. but look into BPS Carbonlite. They are on sale right now and for that price it is a STEAL. Honestly I have posted this numerous times but I have more expensive rod's in my setup and the Carbonlite is just as light/sensitive/durable as any if not better than. If you must stick with the list you provided Abu Garcia Veritas is good have one for my frog rod. Berkley Lightning rods are a great budget rod as well and I have some of those

Those are some studs nice work

7' to 7'3 MH F action rod is easily one of the most versatile rods based on size action and lure rating.

Have no experience with it but I do the new BPS micro guide crankin stick. Great rod and is one sale right now

P-line CXX for my swimbait setup

Depending on the size of the chatterbait I use a gambler EZ or a rage craw. Most of my chatter baits are D&M customs so they come with a sick little grub plastic with a ribbon tail that matches the chatterbaits color pattern perfect

Both but I am partial and love anything Ragetail

Gambler baits are top notch. I use them ragetail and d&m baits. The EZ swimmers all sizes are great, the mega daddy is great T rigged or for punching, as is the flappy daddy. The ribbon tail worm is great, and the BB cricket. Love their stick bait to. Can't go wrong with gambler

I've never experienced this. You can typically tell a strike or bite from structure unless just starting out fishing. If I am fishing a Texas rig or a drag and reel bait when I get to structure and feel weight on the rod tip I watch my line reel up slack and feel for any other movements. If a fish has it he is going to give off vibration up the line, movement of the line, movement of the rod tip, and in most cases multiple tugs on the rod. I've never smelled bass on a bait though. On my cloths after a catch yes but a bass does not have protective slime in its mouth like it does its scales and skin.

I think the sale has ended on the BPS PQ. I scooped up three more of em at that price. Even without the sale its still a great reel. Best reel under $150 to me. I use it in a lower gear ratio for cranking and it works great

I will give you honest insight since I just last year purchased my first boat. I found an 18ft Quest center console. Had some issues with the engine (carbs). Talked to the guy and he didn't mind my boat mechanic coming out and checking it out. Boat mechanic went through all the steps, engine compression, testing the engine out, looking the boat over, checking the wiring and trailer and tires and all (he knew I was green when it came to these things so he did a pretty in depth look for me). Needless to say for $1600 my boat mechanic was down right giddy and said if I didn't buy it he would right on the spot. Bottom line is you CAN find a good boat that may need a little work. I came out way ahead with this boat and if you do the proper homework and checks you could too. Have an experienced boat mechanic check the unit out for you before purchase. He can give you a rundown of costs on what may be wrong with unit and give you an idea if its worth it or not. Don't just buy it too say you own a boat because without checking it you could make the worst decision of your life(at least it would seem that way)

DVT for sure

Honestly if you set your reel up correctly you won't have to really thumb the spool too much. I have my reels set to where I can cast them and only thumb the spool right before the bait hits the water to avoid over spin and backlash occurring. Just play around with the breaks and the spool tension until you find a happy medium that works for your skill level with a baitcaster. When I got my first baitcaster I literally hated trying to use it. Then I forced my self to learn to use it properly and now I hardly ever use spinning gear except for light finesse applications. Now I am learning to consistently be able to skip baits without backlash

I understand everyone will have their own reaction and feelings about how it was handled. Granted I don't take offense to much so my view can easily be different than the next mans. I just understand a lot of customers (not stating you) feel just because they are a customer they should get it their way no questions asked. It can be a two way street, not all customers are the best of the bunch just like not all dealers. I don't agree with the slamming of the door or losing his cool.

To be honest a lot of dealers deal with people on a daily basis who try to haggle pricing. If I post something online on craigslist and put $2400 firm thats what I would mean. If I put OBO or negotiable then theres room for bartering. If you throw out a lower # and I immediately state the price is firm there's no point in trying to barter with me. Just take this scenario into consideration, if you have something for sale you have price listed and I come to your place of business or home to look at it. I list off things to devalue the unit in hopes to get you to lower pricing. I throw out a # and you repeat you won't take less than listed and I continue to try and haggle and you must repeat yourself it would become quite annoying. Think about how many people do this with this dealer on a daily or weekly basis.

Siebert outdoors hands down.

I am using a 7' M Moderate for my square bills. I only go to MH when I am fishing deeper then 12 ft or so and throwing a larger crankbait. But that's just my personal setup I have found I like. I tend to use a slower gear ratio for cranks and square bills but I do have some 6.4:1 reels rigged with square bills just depends on what and where I am fishing

Just wanted to let you guy's know the BPS Carbonlite casting and spinning rod's are on sale for $79.84. With the BPS PQ on sale as well you could match rod and reel for around $150 don't think that setup could be beat for that price. Also the new titanium reel is discounted as well