Alpha Male

its not closed you just have to drill through the 4 feet of frozen water to get to the liquid water

for my 2 BPS PQ's to arrive so i can put them on the veritas and Gndr Mtn GSX rods I have.

I have 5 casting and 7 spinning setups. I use both for everything. 1 of each for cranking, 1 BC and 2 spinning (one weightless and one 1/16th weighted hooks) for plastics, 1 BC for topwater/jerkbaits, 1 BC for flippin, 1 BC for jigs. I use 1 Spinning for spinnerbaits, 1 for dropshot/shakeyhead, 1 for walleye, and one for crappie. I havent noticed any accuracy difference but then I dont switch every other cast. I feel comfortable using both for anything. Though you should take some advice here and try and learn casting gear, though you wont have any less success or fun if you choose to stick with just spinning gear. Good luck!

Take this advice with everything as for as plastics. But as far as the plano elite... its worth it. I love mine.

I wanted the 5.2 but they werent in stock for a lefty.

So I just bought a pair of PQ's from the online sale (good thing too the sale price just went from 70$ to 80$) but they only had the 6.4 and 7.1 in left hand retrieve. I will be using the 6.4 for cranking do I just need to be conscious of the retrieve speed?

good to hear, I just picked up a couple of colors. I also bought some northland impulse "smelt minnow". tail seems like it will have some good action.

Short answer...yes! and the pros use them because they are sponsored. Long answer. I, however, have many other hobbies like, trap shooting, golf, and paintball. And in every one of them there are the "elitists", those who accept nothing but the best and look down on those who use lesser priced equipment or lesser quality. What those of you here need to realize is that you are the minority. millions of people go fishing and most do it with sub $50 combos. While i enjoy a life that affords me 12 combos ranging from $450-40, and i do notice the difference between a $40 daiwa laguna and a $200 Revo STX, I dont think less of anyone who uses cheaper gear. Paintball, I have to say, is far worse as far as looking down on others but you guys here aren't above it as well. there are a lot of shimano and daiwa fans that really look down on others for their choices. I'm not saying there aren't other "fanboys" but it seems that those two brands get the most. I dont really have much for brand loyalty as far as fishing goes but I do get it. I am a samsung "fanboy" for anything electronic. Anyway just my $.02

I would say St. Croix premiers for reaction baits and avids for others. Reels I like would be abu garcia, daiwa, lews, and BPS.

Bite your tongue!

When I purchased a couple of rods from them I got the gift cards on the spot.

Im looking at the veritas med-mod for squarebills and lipless. Now that im seeing a lot of people are using fast action for jerkbaits I will just use my 6'6" mh-f avid. Thanks guys

I've got that one. I just bought a koppers livetarget bluegill. Im hoping it works as well as it looks, because it looks amazing.

Up here in northern minnesota I cant go fishing without seeing a bald eagle or two. Lots of loons as well. But the wierdest would have to be a chipmunk. Yep, a chipmunk. He was making a, what I would guess, 100-120yard swin to an island in the lake. Took him about 15 minutes and my dad and I just kept watching and waiting for a northern to take him. But he made it and hopped up out of the water.

Im looking for a new cranking rod. was looking at the pinnacle series but I want to try and keep it closer to 100$. I am partial to st croix but most if their rods are either too heavy or too light. Looking for something around 7' or longer medium to medium-heavy with a lure rating of 1/4-3/4. I would like to use it for everything from lipless 3/4oz to 1/4oz squarebills. I "prefer" cork over EVA foam. Any recommendations would be appreciated. thanks guys. Also do any of you guys prefer graphite vs glass.

I used braid almost exclusively last year and still caught plenty of fish. You should be fine for anything but dropshotting or similar finesse techniques.

If your looking at the st croix mojo I would consider the 7'6" med-hvy mod-fast.

Im not even listening to the reviews. And yes I have never handled one. just like any other hobby there are too many competitors for me to worry about one company who wont come to the standard of others. while duckett might be a decent rod so are loomis, st croix, dobyns, and SOOO many others. so I will not lose any sleep because I wont give them a chance when there are so many choices that WILL list a line and lure rating.

Personally I cant get on the bandwagon if the company cant even put a line or lure rating on the rod. Its worse to me than the low end rods that only say "medium action". thats kinda where I draw the line as far as highend and lowend.

Not so much as a med=med-hvy. I have st croixs from med-lite to med-hvy and they all feel like I think they should. I do have some mediums that are floppy and I have a med-hvy thats stiffer than my avid.

Honestly Im a big fan of st croix but I really wanted a 7'11" rod so I went with one from daiwa just because it was almost half off. I felt that I wanted something from 3/8 to at least 1oz.

I was looking at the 7'11" mojo and it felt heavier than it needed to. I went with a Daiwa cielo 7'11" Heavy fast rod. Its still a heavy power nut not as heavy as a heavy st croix. you could go St croix med-heavy or find another rod in heavy. I am a fan of st croix as well, so the 7'6" MH versions of the legend or even the avid would be a good choice.

I have a plano 3771 full of hooks. I can say that I have Owners, VMC, Mustad, Gamakatsu, and Trokar. I have no idea which hooks are which anymore, but I have confidence in all of them.

daiwa strikeforce. if you can go to 40$ I would recommend the daiwa laguna.

Palomar is the best for braid. if that knot is slipping work on your technique. also wet the knot when cinching it tight.