buzzed bait

i'd think if you heat and bend you'll run the risk of deforming the plastic that you actually want to keep. i promise you the file and sandpaper method will make you like the rod again....

said no reasonable person.... ever! the only reason i suppose one would stay in Kansas is if the feds sent you to Leavenworth.... even at that, it would only make breaking out that much more enticing!

WOW, forget about close or not... that's ridiculous! Just goes to show you how easily a small mistake can have a HUGE impact. Honestly glad that's all you've got to show for it. Did you at least tell him you wanted him to buy you a new sweatshirt?

i had one quite a while back and couldn't stand that ridiculous trigger, but the rod wasn't bad. I ended up taking a file to it and getting it down to a reasonable shape. then some medium, fine and extra fine sandpaper to get it smooth again. Worked like a charm for me!

Went to the pond for a short spell on Sunday until the rain and lightning pushed me off, but managed a couple bites and one bass. Missile Baby D Bomb and the 4" pumpkinseed senko were the baits of choice. Last night i went back and managed 4 bass and had 3 jump me off (one of which was between 3 and 4 pounds ). However, they did not seem to care for the 4" pumpkinseed, but instead wanted the 5" sprayed grass senko, which they were tearing up! I picked up a new spinnerbait rod last friday from BR member @Grantman83 and was trying to force them to eat the spinnerbait, but it just wasn't happening. So instead i was going with the flow and sticking them on the phenix recon 683 (4" senko) and switched it up and tossed the t rigged baby d bomb and the 5" wacky senko on the DX703c I picked up a couple weeks ago from BR member @kickerfish1 ... and FYI, both are good guys to deal with! noticed the top jaw was broken on this one guy so i can only assume someone else had caught him and used some kind of Hercules hookset on the little guy....

Nice work Kyle!!

agree with this.... i have a kitchen scale that i use to weigh some lures from time to time and you'd be surprised the difference in advertised weight and actual. often times they are just giving you the weight of the head, maybe with the hook, but not the whole lure (wire and blades). if you have access to something like a kitchen scale, try a few of your spinnerbaits and see which ones actually fall in line with the lure ratings.

WHAT?? you mean @*Hootie is using it? hahaha, i had to.....

use it more like a "warning" so to speak and not the stone cold truth.... if they say chance for T storms, i'll keep it to the banks or stay fairly close to the ramp with the kayak until i'm pretty certain it's either coming or gone...

LOL.... maybe i should have shopped around a little more on the wife, eh??

if you're considering one of those 3 and have the budget for them, i'd buy the Lew's LFS and never think twice about it. I've used a black max before and my buddy has the kast king royale and i've used his and they both will work, but neither of them can compare to the Lew's LFS in my personal opinion.

looks like it broke right at the guide/thread wrapping which is kind of odd to me... i've had a couple rods break on the first trip from a manufacturers defect and they broke like right halfway in between two guides, but never right at the guide like that! if TW doesn't take it back, does phenix have a warranty on these rods?

nice catch man! guess it's about time to break out the frogs since i'm just down the road, eh? in fact, i've got a buddy coming down from NC in a couple of weeks and i believe we'll be hitting the lily place you put me on before.... FROG CITY!

look at some under water video action of both of them in use.... you'll notice the difference.

dude, nice catching!! that bottom smallie has some awesome color!

12 or 15lb big game has never let me down! That said, i just picked up some 12# sufix siege to give it a try.... but mono certainly works for most applications, but i'll probably still stick with braid on the frogs. trying to drive those larger hooks home on a bombed cast with mono can be a little cumbersome... as for what folks in the tackle shop usually say, meh, everybody has opinions.... i don't generally listen to them though.

right behind the seat = USELESS

i agree that it's not necessary. BUT i did find a pflueger patriarch on sale a while back (like great sale you can't pass up) and am so happy i bought it. not that it's a huge difference honestly, but it is just buttery smooth and pretty light too. that said, i really like my trions too.... MUCH cheaper and they do a fine job for their intended uses!

it really will eat through about anything!

sounds like you guys killed it! way to not force the bait you wanted to throw and make the adjustment! i'll be pulling for you come time for kentucky lake in August!

i'd say keeping the rods bent all day and a new PB is killing it....

i bring wayyyyy too much stuff with me, but that's just how i roll.... i'll take 4-6 rods and not even think twice about it. i've had all my plastics sitting behind me in the crate and never really had a problem with it and i'd be willing to bet the intense heat down here in GA is a bit more than the intense heat in WI... as far as "extras" i have a pair of rain pants and rain jacket in a dry bag in the front hatch in the hull. if it's going to be a really cold day of fishing (reverse situation here though, colder up your way) i will put some dry clothes in a dry bag and put them in the hull. i also keep a small dry bag in the small hatch under my seat to put my phone, keys, wallet, etc. into and it's clipped in to avoid any disasters or lost keys!

i'm with chris on this one.... whichever of the 3 is on sale is what i'm buying. i'd say 20lb would be well suited for the 4000 rig.

PVC and tape those end caps up like you would want someone to do to a rod they were shipping you.... i spare no tape on the ones i ship!

NICE! definitely bigger than the little ones i've caught in the river before!