burleytog

Which is why line purchases should be made based upon diameter rather than arbitrary line test ratings.

I was using my 6'6 avid and I think it was about to break in half. I did manage to catch some fish in 15 ft on it though...deep cranking is really neat. Not about the rod strength, it's about casting distance. Longer rods allow for longer casts. Longer casts mean more time for the bait in the strike zone. With shorter casts, by the time a deep crank hits it's max depth, it will already be on the way back up. I spent a summer throwing DD22's and 3/4 oz. Hot Lips on a 7' rod. It wasn't productive. As for the Cumara Reaction, you're buying something specifically for big (>3/4 oz.) cranks, opt for the MH-F.

Don't go any shorter than 7'6 for deep (>13') crankbaits.

TX-17? Decent fishing boat. Would be better if it had a wider beam.

1100 participants or 1100 boats? I bet there wasn't an empty ramp parking lot on the entire lake.

Hopefully my experience was just due to poor QC related to initial production rush. That said, I won't buy anymore of them. If I can find them, I'll take a couple of photos of the paint.

I want to love the lake, just need to spend more time there. I like it more when the lake is somewhat full. Quite a bit of good stuff high & dry right now (lake is approx. 25' below full pool).

cymbal

I bought a few of the Manns Go2 series when they first hit the market. The paint was horrible, the hooks bad. The paint on both baits ended up cracking in several spots after being fished for one night and put back into a box. I wouldn't highly recommend them. SK Series 6 is right in line with their other cranks. Just doesn't run deep enough for me. Have some 6XD's on order, won't get a chance to use them until June or July. The deep FFS are decent baits. Don't have a lot of them. Others for you to look at would be the Norman DD22 (I've got three boxes of them, have had to tune two or three of them), Bagley DB3 and the Luhr Jensen 3/4 oz. Hot Lips (if they can take the rocks I crank, they can take anything. The Hot Lips are the deepest cranks around. They will hit 20' on 8 lb. CXX.

I was surprised to see that many empty seats. Guess it's not that tough of a ticket anymore.

You do realize that those distance casting competition reels are far from stock and the weights being used are in excess of 1 oz. It takes a lot of weight to get a big line-laden spool turning.

Sprinkling here on and off, radar indicates they'll catch a break. 150K lucky people over there, there will be fewer sunburns today.

If I'm not catching, it isn't fun.

If you want strength and abrasion resistance, you must sacrifice other qualities. CXX in 15+ is an acquired taste. I run 4 and 6 on a couple of spinning reels, the 6 is almost impossible to break.

I've not handled one that didn't feel far too whippy. Wouldn't mind to have the jig rod to give it a shot, but it is just too wimpy.

I foresee at least eight good wrecks today. Hopefully punches are thrown. Sadly, I don't think they will even get to run half the race. Rain already about 50 miles away.

Which ones? The Tour Elite KVD or the Tour KVD?

Fishing season... ;D

I wouldn't miss a road trip if Taylor Swift was going to be there. She can room with me.

:-? O RLY?

I would rather have a root canal than fish spinning tackle. There are two in my rod box, they rarely come out. And then only by necessity. Wish the SR-7 weighed more.

Kick the *** of every fish I come into contact with. Be as bad as I know I can be Give it as good as I get it Be all that and more Show the man that I mean business Work my voodoo on the lady fans Build a shrine to my own bad ***

Norman, Strike King, Bandit, Bomber

If you can afford it, I would go with the Maxxum over the Edge.

There are two TN lakes where you can keep 15" smallmouth (Boone, Watauga), one that has a 17-22" 'slot' which allows one under 17" and one over 22" per day (Norris). The rest are either 18" or 20". The TWRA has some strange notion about wanting the state to be a destination smallmouth fishery. Since the 18" regulation went into effect a couple of years ago, we've weighed an average of 2-3 smallmouth per tournament. Tons of 15-17" fish.