Chris at Tech

I've had my Tierra for an entire season now, and I've caught my 2 biggest fish of the season on the 2000 size. I like this reel A LOT. The Saros is pretty new, so it may be a little while before you get some significant feedback on the reel. But my opinion is that Shimano has been in the game a long time. Although the Saros is a 'new' reel, it's not Shimano's first entry into the spinning reel market. They make good reels, and I'm sure the Saros will be no different.

I thought this post was going to be your confession that you bought a Revo STX :-X

Booyah and MiniMe.

And here I was thinking each of those 12 rods on deck had a different color buzzbait on them Nice fish!

Needless to say when I'm able to put 7+ fish in the boat on this lake, a good fisherman will get 20

...we're gonna need a bigger boat... 8-)

Oh geez...this is like asking whether Daiwa is better than Shimano First question. Can you live in a cubicle, or is that just not a possibility? The answer could narrow down things a lot.

It's about time somebody threw Al, Peggy, Kelly and Bud some love... A fat woman clip-clopped into the shoe store today... ;D

No, that just means you need to take the 12 game regular season seriously EVERY Saturday. If you can't take care of business in conference, you have no reason to gripe about getting "overlooked" for the big bowls.

I always carry the following colors: watermelon green pumpkin junebug black white chartreuse

The best advice I can provide is just to read the articles and posts already available on this site. There's a a wealth of knowledge here...

NJfishinGuy, I'm sorry to see this. Not sure if you do any saltwater fishing, but you should also look at the ridiculous changes being made to the fluke fishery in NJ and other states. The quota has been slashed, the minimum size is 17.5 and the season was shortened. You can see a lot of the coverage in the Asbury Park Press in the fishing section, John Geiser's articles (app.com) The organizations leading this movement against the fluke fishery are using incredibly flawed science that directly conflicts with the reports of the fishing boat captains who are out there every day. By all accounts, there are more fluke in NJ and east coast waters than in any time in recent memory, but the flawed science suggests it's not enough.

Look around to see if you can find St Croix Avids on sale. Nearly everyone's been blowing them out so I'm not sure what's left. An AS68MXF would be a GREAT choice.

Similarly, the St Croix Avid 69MLXF would be a good choice as well...

G3 1548 welded jonboat

And the big boy of the day. Definitely tested the Zillion, Dobyns rod and Sufix braid with this guy. And I liked it

My father in law's best of the day

My father in law and I hit our preferred local lake on Sunday, JW Smith reservoir. We've only got a few more weeks before this lake closes for the winter, so we were determined to make it a good day. At sunrise, we couldn't get any immediate takers on topwater, flukes or spinnerbaits thrown at or near busting shad, but I coaxed a small keeper on the spinnerbait shortly thereafter. Then the pickeral made their token appearance. Randall took me out on this lake last year and was commenting on how the pickeral always bite. I didn't believe him last year -- I do believe him now Those toothy critters just maul the spinnerbaits and cranks I throw on every trip. And up until yesterday, I never saw a pickeral hit a topwater. I had one launch itself and my Spook out of the water. Somehow he hooked himself in the belly in midair. I don't care, they fight good As we cruised around looking for more activity, my father in law hooked one on a shakey head in the creek channel. That sucker shook the hook free at the side of the boat. Crap, I really don't want to throw shakey heads today -- I just don't have the patience. I was throwing a lipless crank and lost a bass and landed another toothy pickeral. At this point, it was shaping up to be another slow day. And that's when it happened. Right place, right bait, right time. The scenario every fisherman wants. We cruised to a real shallow, grassy flat and I started to throw the toad I had abandoned an hour earlier. Three casts, three blowups...three missed hooksets. It always takes me a few minutes to re-acclimate myself to toad fishing Good thing the fish were in a biting mood. Over the next few hours, the action was pretty constant. We got about 15+ to the boat, and missed just as many. Yes, we need to practice our toad hook setting. After many small keepers, we finally found better size. A 5.5er, 4.5er and two 3 and change fish made it to the boat interspersed with the 1 - 2.5 lb smaller guys. So today was a day of quite a few "firsts" for me... 1) first fish (er, many fish) on my new DObyns 704C/Zillion combo. I knew I'd love this thing when I got it in the mail. Now I can officially say it passed its test with flying colors. Gary Dobyns will be getting more of my money shortly 2) my first 5 fish limit over 10 lbs. While I may catch a good one here and there, I "specialize" in the 1.5 - 2.5 lb range. Our best 5 between the 2 of us would have gone around 18. And my best 5 would have been around 16 lbs. 3) the first time I used an entire bag of plastics because the bite was so good. OK, it was only a pack of 5 toads, but still... 4) the first time I can honestly say I lost track of how many bass I landed Additionally, I heart Suffix braid Lastly, what the heck is the deal with carp? They're all over this lake and the past month, they'd just swim off in a hurry when we got too close. Yesterday, it was like someone was dropping M-80's in the water. It would be silent and then an entire cove would erupt with carp shooting water in the air. I almost fell out of the boat several times because a few of these displays startled the crap out of me. A few of the bigger fish pics are attached and below.

You're in a tough spot. Let me say that higher-end baitcasting gear grants me a better fishing experience, so in that regards, I say go for it. But it does take practice and some getting used to. But if you haven't decided you're comfortable using casting gear, there's no sense spending the money. In conclusion, I have no idea

I'll play. St Croix Avid 69MLXF w/ Daiwa Tierra 2000 BPS Extreme 7' MH w/ Shimano Stradic 2500 BPS 7'6" MH Crankin Stick w/ BPS Extreme BPS Pro Qualifier 6' M w/ Shimano Curado 101D St Croix Avid 66MF w/ Abu Garcia Revo STX Kistler Mg 6'9" MH w/ Abu Garcia Revo STX Dobyns 704C w/ Daiwa Zillion Hopefully, I'll add another Dobyns shortly

What body of water is this?

A good coach does indeed play a big role. However, it seems to me you're completely discounting talent, which plays the larger role. Pete Carroll couldn't simply walk into the Temple FB program and be top 25. I stick to my statement that a coach's previous record does not directly translate to success. The talent needs to be there, and Tulane's talent simply is no where close to LSU's, regardless who their coach is. You SEC guys...sheesh

I agree. But should a top ranked team really have to make adjustments against Tulane?

Tulane first-year coach Bob Toledo while at UCLA for 6 years won 2 PAC10 championship and had a 20 game winning streak. LSU's defense took all Toledo could throw at them in the 1st half and then shut the Green Wave down in the second half. Steve Spurrier head coach of South Carline resume is as follows National Championships: 1 (1996) ACC Championships: 1 (1989) SEC Championships: 6 (1991, 1993, 1996, 2000) ACC Coach of the Year: 2 (1988, 1989) SEC Couch of the Year: 6 (1990, 1991, 1994-1996, 2005) LSU's defense took all the Gamecocks could throw at them and then shut them down as well; so I guess they aint that good. And what a coach did with a different team years ago means what, exactly? Chan Gailey won a Div IAA championship. What does that get me? It doesn't matter what Toledo did in the Pac10. Bottom line is his current team's one win this year is against Southeastern Louisiana. And they outplayed LSU for a half. Moral victories don't matter, but a much lesser opponent outplayed LSU for 30 min of football. Is LSU good? Yeah. Not sure how they jumped passed USC this weekend (Washington >>>>> Tulane), but that's besides the point. All I'm saying is not to punch your ticket to the big game quite yet.

Just for a little bit of levity here.... LSU didn't exactly set the world on fire in the first half against Tulane last weekend. And the LSU defense is good, no doubt. Then again, you haven't exactly faced any good offenses yet. VA Tech got its preseason hype due to defense and an unfortunate on-campus incident. Their offense hasn't impressed in 2 years. If you can get passed UF and UK (never in my wildest dreams would I imagine UK relevant in the world of college FB), then you can start making some noise