WIGuide

Pretty hard to judge them without fishing them. Take your Avid out and give it a try and see if your opinions change.

Agreed, that's a very good way of looking at it.

As a boater with a smaller boat, it's appreciated that there are co-anglers out there who consider how much stuff they bring. I might suggest buying that big bag and then also buying another smaller bag as well as a few extra trays. You can keep all your stuff in the big one and then when tournament time comes around, you can talk to you boater ahead of time and find out how he's been fishing and bring what you think you need. You can use the extra trays to mix baits that you wouldn't normally have organized together, but it'll help you break things down for tournament day.

Graphite is thought to flex more so gears will not be perfectly in line under lots of stress. Not only does this make you fight the reel a bit, it can also lead to premature wear.

You're going to want to get yourself either a medium or medium/light spinning rod with either a fast or extra fast action. I'd recommend you give the VMC spin shot hooks a shot right off the bat. I use mostly the 1/0 circle hooks but that depends a lot on how you're going to rig you bait and what you're throwing it around. Weight wise your best bet is probably the cylindrical weights because they don't seem to get hung up as much especially in a rocker area. I'd suggest 1/8, 1/4, and 3/8. If you're looking for a good bait to start out with I'd go with the Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper Jr.'s they're cheap yet effective.

I'm assuming he hasn't had good experiences with the DS. Everyone has their preferences and both techniques have their place.

I'd say that's either St. Croix version of the Gary Loomis spiral wrap guides or someone was daydreaming of warmer weather while they were making it.

That all depends on who's using it. Since we all have different perceptions of what the perfect rod is, something that some people might really like others may hate. The shorter handle on some is probably due to the fact that some people find the longer handle impeding them from imparting the action they want on a lure. I mainly fish the LX's, LTB's, and Mojo's. I'm not worried about durability St. Croix's come with a great warranty, but their technology makes them very strong. Their Advanced Reinforcing Technology really helps to make them stronger along with their slow Fortified Resin System. I haven't had any issues with them holding up and don't foresee any issues in the future. Check out what makes them better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeJYCyOTPdQ Also, I see in one of your later posts that the guides are the same on the Avid's and the LTB's. They both have Alconite guide rings, but as far as the guides themselves they are different. Avids have the Fuji concept guides, where the LTB has the Fuji K-concept guides which are a tangle proof guide which also have titanium frames.

Use it to uncover spots on a spot. Say for instance, you are going to fish a point you can use it to 1) see if there's any fish on it before you fish it 2) tell what type of bottom composition there is 3) check for any cover on it or an irregularity that will hold fish. If we're sticking to the point example, I take a few passes to check things out and I find out that it's all just soft mucky bottom except for one spot that has a harder bottom, generally fish are going to be holding around that one spot on the point more than they will the others. Does that mean you can't catch them there, no but it will help you to narrow things down and fish more efficiently.

Bass Pro Shop Pro Qualifier in 7.1 to 1 and anything from a 6'6" - 7' MH/F St. Croix Mojo Bass.

Using a medium power rod will not cause you to lose fish. It should have more than enough power to drive the hooks home.

I would think you would be fine with that. Tie it on and start throwing it real easy, you'll be able to tell if it's too much for the rod.

PSH! no way man just check out the awesome video and there's no way you'll ever want to buy anything else! http://www.pocketfisherman.com/?gclid=CKLyuNnNib0CFYY7MgodvVsAYw Heck, after watching it I think I might just sell off my Croix's and load up my rod locker with these bad boys! And since it includes the handy storage I can ditch all my plano boxes as well!

Personally I think rod companies do this for 3 reasons: To help simplify things for people who don't know enough To help anglers by giving them what they believe is the best action for a technique Marketing-They're still in it to make money just like every company out there is I personally don't think rods have been downgraded to do this though. Technology is constantly evolving, and companies are constantly using it to give us better equipment. If you don't want to use something technique specific, then don't look at the name of it and buy it based on its length, power, and action. Those are all still listed on the rod.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/10727613?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227000020513&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42048720070&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=34819755670&veh=sem Good ol' Walmart coming through in the clutch for even less than the infomercials!

I found a little better image, the inner race would be the part with the code stamped on it. It's the part that will be in contact with the spindle. In the break down the bearing separated from that and the inner race is frozen to to the spindle.

Don't forget about the newest one that they've upgraded "time and time again" and still kept it at the great price of $19.95 plus outlandishly high shipping and handling! but wait there's more! Haha You can still buy these at walmart

If it doesn't bother the fish then it doesn't bother me...well unless if affects safety. I've fished in some pretty nasty stuff though that's for sure.

Bass that spend a lot of time in deeper water will have a bleached out look to them. Their lateral line won't be distinctive, and their sides will be more of a white color. Deep is also relative, because if the water is really really stained, they don't need to be as deep for that to happen. You can think of it kind of like a sun tan for bass. Remember if you start catching pale ones in shallow water that's not dingy it means they're moving up and vise versa. Sometimes that's enough of a clue to put you on a pattern.

Sounds like a bait problem. If the line is moving and pulling the bait towards you, You should be able to use a broom stick and it'll still dive right.

He had a typo in the beginning, he got a 7'1" mh/xf instead of a mh/f. The reference is down further in his post. It'd be good for spinnerbaits, swim jigs, light froggin', it'd still be a pretty good all around rod. Xtremes are where it's at man. Also, I know you don't want to break your girls heart, but I'm sure if you explain it to her she wouldn't mind letting you exchange it for the other one. She obviously wanted to give you the perfect gift given how much she spent on it, so I don't think that'd hurt her feelings. Otherwise, you could sneak away and swap it at a store without her knowing lol No matter what you do, congrats on your Xtreme they are absolutely amazing rods! I'm hoping to add one more to my arsenal this year myself!

It should be fine. I've had some for just about as long and I haven't had any issues with strength issues. Also, I don't think you'd have any issues with memory either since you'll be winding it around a smaller spool than what it's on so it's not going to come off the spool in a bunch of short little loops.

I used to use a M/MF and a M/F without any issues. The only thing I did was make sure my drag was set fairly loose. This year I'm planning on trying out the St. Croix LTB Small Cranker. It'll be my first time using a moderate action rod for crankbaits, so I'm excited to see how it goes.

The fast strike's were good motors as well as most of the 80's-90's Johnson/Evinrude lineup. The ones you want to be careful of are the FICT Johnsons even though as stated earlier, if it's still running it most likely was one of the better ones. Like any motor though you want to check the compression on it. Overall, a solid motor though.

You'll gain a little of both with a s/s prop. If you add in that plus the durability factor, it's probably worth it. A 4 blade would help but going from 3 to 4 blades isn't as much of an exact rpm change as going from a 3 to 3. I'm not sure they make 4 blades that small without going custom which I don't think would be worth the $$. This info should be at least semi helpful http://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=26628