CDobber

I do appreciate all that have given feedback on my topic to this point. Got to go out and try a Symetre (on a stick) at Gander the other day and looked at a few others in person, though I didn't bother them to open a case and look at the Stradic FJ. Its pretty much between the two, and only if I/wife find the Stradic on a good sale, as I really don't need to own a $170 reel in my situation.

Have yet to find much success with them yet, though I did break my 3 month long skunk on a 3 1/2" chartreuse/pepper tube nose pinned with a metal arrowhead jig, even if it was only an 11". The more memorable one was 2 summers ago fishing for one of the first times on our new boat with my 9 year old son and Dad. My son had on a 1/2 oz gumball, absolutely no trailer, no skirt or anything in a lake that had completely drained in a breach just 3 summers prior, so the lake had only been recently restocked. He caught a decent sized crappie on that setup. Now that I have some semblance of what a jig is, and what it should be used for, it makes me laugh to think that he caught anything with it that day.

I've been looking into these as well, and while 7'2", M XF seems to be what Shimano recommends, I don't see why yours wouldn't be suitable. Its one of the few setups I haven't tried much of yet, and definitely seems to be one to have a dedicated setup for.

Thanks so far, all.....the Symetre was my leading candidate going into the question yesterday and doesn't seem to be changed.....though, like many of you, the Stratic was in the back of my mind as an alternative if found at the right price. Most of the gift levels our family does (sans spouse) are around $50, though my birthday is only 2 weeks before Xmas so they could be combined. I have been keeping an eye on the flea market here, just in case, but hadn't seen any Stratic's coming much under $135 or $140 but with the right sale (or gift cards) I would certainly consider based on forum posts in this thread and quite frequently elsewhere on this board. Nice to hear some features to look for as well....most I had posted did the line management system but the Xship was an unfamiliar term I will be looking up.

All: I'm researching a new reel to ask for at Xmas. I've narrowed down to Shimano simply to narrow it down in some way, shape or form...so this is simply looking for your feedback/expertise on Shimano spinning reels. I have read through other forums that discussed them on here but did not find any that compared them pros/cons to each other. I have a Shimano Compre 6'8" MHF pole that it will be paired with, and is my bass dedicated pole. I pair it with 25# Spiderwire braid. I largely use the pole from shore and am still very much in the experimental phase of lure usage, though I tend to prefer soft plastics with a jig, topwaters, frogs, shallow running cranks/squares/spinners. I consider myself novice, no intention of ever entering competitions. I am normally casting from shore, though it will see use on our boat. I believe the 2500 series is what I should be narrowed down to as well....and am looking at Symetre (RD and FD), Sedona (FD), Sahara (SH) and Spirex (RD and FD) though I wouldn't rule out others if suggested. I expect to pay $100 or less if purchasing it myself, though would guess it'll come as a gift. I currently don't have any experience using a RD, but also have not progressed skill wise to adjust the drag to anything but tight for all applications. I read some people finding fault with graphite bodied ones, which all but the Symetre RD appear to be...though the online reviews I've gone through on cabelas and amazon are 4 or 4.5 stars for all 6 models listed. Anyone with personal feedback, positive or negative, to narrow the field further?

Anyone try it yet? I like the look and price of it to use from shore, have not seen many reviews anywhere yet. I had been watching a similar product that's been in production for about a year but this company, being a board sponsor and well known name, as well as better graphics, seems like the real deal.

Its been a very slow late summer/fall for me, somewhat relieved to read threads on here today that it has been the case for many others across the country. Finally at least 'saw' some decent sized bass in the last week but no takers...3 swimming as a school in a creek between 2 of Madison's lakes (Monona and Wingra) that were each about 12" long, and a 10" follow in a former gravel quarry about 5 min from my house. I broke my bassin' reel on Sunday, so unsure if I'll be getting a cheap replacement from a buddy until I get a better one for Xmas...might be limited to t-rig on my ultralight to end the season. In reference to Devil's Lake, I've read good reports from friends on Facebook and from guys on lake-link, but haven't experienced any success myself. Know of a reliable spot up there now, but the one time I hit it a few weeks ago, it was quite windy and guessed they had gone deep for the day. Same spot holds trout in November, will be trying to get out there once or twice and see if I can break this 3 month skunk I'm on.

I personally love the idea of a pinned/separate sub-board, as I find myself fishing 85% from shore due to time constraints or the fact that our boat is a pontoon and that usually means towing kids around on a raft and/or them jumping into the water from one end of the boat while I try to fish from the other. I have looked into some portable fish finders but haven't yet come across one that got me to jump at it. I haven't developed enough feel to use a lure as my eyes....I can usually tell grass from something more solid...and am quite unsure if I'm correctly reading bites as its been months since I've actually landed a fish...and would love to use diagnostics to rule in or rule out some of the places I've tried from shore that haven't produced for me. One interesting one I liked the concept of was called ReelSonar (now apparently called iBobber), but it was still in a prototypical type phase and have never seen an update on the product...but it used a GPS/smartphone app, something I'm always carrying anyway. The wristwatch concept is equally interesting and not something I've seen yet, the closest I've read about was Humminbird Fishin Buddy, but that sounded like the unit stayed with you and you simply threw a line into the water. Amazon reviews of Hawkeye/Humminbird type portables were lukewarm the last time I looked into them. I have a quarry 5 min from the house that I just know holds bass, and have caught some smaller ones over the last 2 yrs of trying....and I can see a lot of interesting structure above and sometimes below the water surface, but the water clarity is usually pretty dark and thick, even though the max depth is probably 10'. I was out there on Sunday and had never seen it so clear, really hoping the clarity holds out where I can take some pictures and maybe even take waders out to grab some measurements and see where drop-offs are, how far out I need to cast to reach different areas, etc. I even had the thought of getting a bunch of holes in ice this winter to do this if need be, as I know it would help my success rate immeasurably, not that ANY catch would jump that rate right about now tenfold.

Good to know, and something I've never read about previously. Simple adjustment, will make this immediately....not that I have much season left. I think I already took adequate blame for my own naivety in the OP, take the warning on the quality of the gear at whatever level you want to, I don't feel it was very good quality overall and there are better options out there in a similar price point.

One other aspect that has not been covered yet is determining a preference for one piece or two piece rods. I was in your shoes at the end of July, looking to significantly upgrade my pole but wanted knowledge base and reviews behind my decision. I knew I wanted a 2 piece as I don't always want the rod fully extended in my car for transporting, especially if we're packing it full for a day on the pontoon and need seating for a bunch of people in my SUV. This ruled out brands like ***, that had incredible reviews on here, simply because they didn't make any. I was going for 6'6"-7' range as I do most of my fishing from shore and quite a lot of my locations (still looking for SUCCESSFUL ones) are narrowed between trees or brush behind and to the sides, and also wanted a similar cost range to you. I went in to look at Mojo Bass, ***, St. Croix and Shimano mainly, though wasn't going to rule something along the lines of Abu Garcia Vendetta or others that I'd read about. All seemed quite appropriate for my needs...but the store only had the Shimano Compre in stock at that time in the models I had narrowed down to (6'6" MH) in a spinning, 2 piece setup. It doesn't take too long to identify which poles are setup for baitcaster (reel slot on front/top side of pole) versus spinning (bottom side) but also a mental note to make. As I just posted in another thread, I'm now to researching reels which was on my to-do's for the offseason anyway...my cheap-o broke on me today so my Compre is out of commission until I either find a suitable cheap-o replacement as a backup or research/pick a more expensive one for the family to get me for upcoming birthday/xmas list. I will look for your thread on this and see what's there, though there are some good suggestions in this thread as well.

Last year I wanted to get more into bass fishing and had only owned one ultralight rod, which was also on the cheap end of things (Shakespeare Xterra). I purchased this Quantum Optix combo at a local multi-purpose store based on look, feel and price...and what little research I did into the setup at the time made it sound like the 3 ball bearing system was better than counterparts in a similar price range. I'm the first to admit that I was (and still am) very much in the learning stages of things, so more research could have been done to find better....but that's in the past. I was likely throwing too heavy of lures, in particular umbrella style a-rigs, on a graphite composite rod not built for it....and had the rod shatter at the two piece joint. I was able to cut it off and re-use it for some time, catching that bass in my avatar with it, earlier this summer. About a week after that bass, the pole continued to crack/fray, even with much lighter lure choices (more knowledge), simply from the torque of casting. I came here to research poles and went to a higher level hardware store that has the entire basement devoted to fishing gear...armed with about 6 choices based on brand name, reviews here, cost and that sort of thing and only found one of them in stock...a 6'6" Shimano Compre. I put the old reel on the pole knowing full well that I'd likely research and get a much better one this winter, and that was only confirmed by noticing how much easier and further I could cast my ultralight rod than my Compre/Optix. I tried a futile attempt to clean the reel last night to see if I could get the bail to function better (it would only click shut about 1/3 of the time with reeling) and cast further with a wipe down and fresh oil. When undoing the crank and handle, I found another, unknown broken piece inside...a gear of some sort (washer with teeth)....and while the reel functioned today, only for about 2 hours before the bail snapped off at the screw attachment that includes the spring mechanism. I will now be going through the forum to see what recommendations there are for a suitable reel to go with the Compre, but wanted to give a heads up on the inferior product in case anyone happened upon this combo. I take responsibility in some part for the breakdown and not using it entirely properly, but both pieces are now trash after only a year of use.

Hitting Devil's Lake in my old stomping grounds of Baraboo this weekend.

Welcome.....I have one or two friends from Hickory originally, can't remember if they were both from there or just one.

The only fluke I've tried is the Gitzit Fat 3.5" in Chartreuse S/P, nose hooked with a small jig. I like the way it swims upon retrieval (like a dolphin) but have only caught one 8" LMB with it, from shore, in very shallow, weedy water. This was long before finding bassresource.

I am in that mental gymnastic battle right now....sought out and purchased a new rod a month ago that could serve as a do it all so I don't have to haul multiple poles AND justify the cost of each. I do carry an ultralight with me in case of failure or such but it doesn't get used much. This forum isn't helping my cause, reading how many guys/gals have 6-8 rigs or more. I read a bunch on here about style, sizing and such before settling on the Compre spinning rod, 6'8", M/H, Fast and I intend on using it for most everything I try. I will learn to retie knots faster so I can go from lures to t-rig and such more efficiently. It has braided line with a flouro leader so I feel like its pretty versatile, now I just got to find some active holding spots and learn the feel of anything less than a chomp....had to reaction strikes last night frogging over lily pads but didn't have any opportunity to set the hook with either.

Congrats

Couldn't get any bass bites tonight but did have 2 reaction strikes while pulling frogs over lily pads from shore....close but not quite.

Welcome

I'm with you, which is why I find myself on this site for more than an hour or two a day. There's gotta be more payoff down the road, but it does get frustrating when the time, effort, money and gear are all present but the fish aren't. To tag onto what Lou said, it would also be helpful for the forum community to know a little more about the specs on your rod/reel/line as I've found many of those things come into play as well, for presentation/strength/depth and such. I know with me its largely 2 factors...not enough experience yet with 'the feel' of bites as many are subtle and I certainly haven't been on those yet and locations, I'm not up to reading the conditions of the shore fishing or understanding my FF when using the pontoon to relate to structure, drop-offs, travel patterns and that sort of thing. I'm improving but have a long ways to go, and experience will help a lot of that, simple man hours.

My local Mom and Pop is a family chain of hardware stores tied in with Ace. They just closed their store on the NE side of town (very close to our largest lake and one of its most popular launch sites), though I have heard it wasn't run well. The one I stop at isn't really by any lakes but the entire basement is fishing. I have spent too much money there in the last 12 months or so as I've gotten into the hobby but do feel good about helping out the little guy. We have NO BPS in the entire state, 2 Cabela's that are each 90 min/2 hr away, no Gander Mountain's closer than 30-45 min away, and Dick's seems expensive and is definitely limited in color selection/brands though overall has a decent selection. Its strange to me, we have 4 good sized lakes within the metro Madison area, plenty of whitetail deer hunting and various other factors with central location and such, and yet we don't have any of the big dogs in the market.

I've been looking into this some of late but am more limited than many. I wear glasses that have transition lenses which are fine for outdoor activities but aren't polarized for fishing and are useless for driving, not to mention that the coating starts to wear off around 1 yr in and leaves funny spotting in the visual field. I refuse to wear glasses that go over the top, think of any geriatric you've seen walking or driving around with these and you'll know why. I decided for $15 I'd give a pair of the clip on variety a try for now...and went with the GRAY tint because research told me it was more versatile and a bit better in bright sunlight, which is what I find myself having for opportunities more often than not. The browns/ambers were meant more for overcast conditions, the yellow for low light conditions. They happened to have some virtually the same tint/shape as my glasses so it doesn't really look all that cumbersome but not sold on the long term use of them...I got mine at Walgreens, Solar Shield brand.

I too haven't caught any bass since my PB in the avatar....and that was during the last full moon cycle, so there's hope coming soon.

Had this post in my mind yesterday...was on a salmon charter in Lake Michigan and something funky happened to the copper braid the crew had on. 1st mate did just this, and rebuffed my offers to pull in myself. Did get the coho boated either way..

Definitely an out for me...something I'm really enjoying the learning process with, complete yang to the yin of my noisy gym of elementary aged kids, getting back to nature, etc.

Nice job, great fish.