FlipnLimits

We had 26" so you must have had a bit more. I'm just a few hours south of you. Either way, we're just not getting warm enough to really cause some damage to that base layer. At this rate, we're gonna have some cancelled tournaments. Work tomorrow, off to sleep! Talk soon.

Ah yes, good times! Sometimes gotta duck out of the way of those dinkers. Can't wait to get the season going!!

I know it well When flipping and pitching, with the slack in the line and a second to compose before the hookset, I'll swing with both hand on the rod and reel. My old partner always said it sounds like a golf club swinging away. Especially with a 7'11 generating the speed.

Exactly the same here. I prefer to set the hook with my left, and it's my weak side. Do you do same?

You can email it to yourself, save to a folder, then upload here. FL

I like the idea of it a lot. But agree with Mitch, some brands do things better than others. 2 brands might do the trick though. FL

lol, get heart pills, it never ends! Amazing how a rope hanging for a dock turns into a magnet to catch your bait.

Life is good, brother! Enjoy it while you can because it's going fast! So yes, very happy. Work is work, but since most of us need to work, I'm fairly happy with my job. Wife and kids are great and give me the freedom to fish as I see fit and how bad can it be if we are here posting about fishing. FL

Don't you hate when that happens Grab some loot and run! Nice pickups... FL

Well I don't drop shot much but won't spend time on it either. I flip and pitch a lot! I'll probably work on flipping more as I tend to pitch shorter distances because I'm not really tall and can't garner lots of line in my loose hand.....causing me to pitch not flip. So I'll work on flipping more to the end of my flipping distance. Accurate casting is always a must for me so learning about my new Ci4's and Metanium's will be a bit of fun. FL

Basically my seats are just lean-to's and not seats at all. They are concave on one side and semi pointy on the other. I raise mine to my lower back when I want it for balance in rougher water or wake from boats but it's not really for sitting on. Luckily, no back problems so far so nice comfy seats aren't a mandate yet. FL

Remember music class? Crescendo. Crescendo, it's a gradual increase in the tempo or sound of music. Apply to casting, it's a gradual pick-up of speed in your cast. This will give you a smooth cast with distance. I also always point the rod tip at the end of a cast to spot I want the bait to go....when casting a distance. This wouldn't work for some styles of casting but in general... FL

Fished Braidwood for 3 hours on Friday 11-2. It was quite windy and 50F. Luckily I had a jacket in the car because the hoodie and bibs weren't enough. Here are a couple pics of the lake and the single fish I caught there. I did better than I thought I would I did get to cast the new Crucial, and it's a nice rod but nothing like the previous series. The action is much softer. Spoke with a few fishermen (fishing for bass) and each said they caught one or two fish, this included some of the bass boats coming off the lake. This place can be real tough! The picture of the lake shows the Nuclear Power Plant on the right and an island on the left. On foggy mornings (most of them are foggy here) all you will see is the top of the manmade island. All in all, it was great to get out for a couple hours as the ice is not off the lakes around my area. Next outing will be with the boat, thank God! FL

Right handed, cast right, and reel right. I didn't know this was not the norm for many years. My fishing partner laughs and says I'm not as efficient as him but before the lure lands, the rod is switched to the right hand. FL

Great topic Electronics have come a long way in 20 years. From printer paper graphs to what looks like a color TV picture of the bottom. Bass boats and reels have nicely evolved too. FL

Was thinking the same. And he nearly broke that rod, it looked like.

Roadwarrior Your tournament water carries quality fish and a limit may come easy, so going for quality out of the chute is probably just fine I always hunt my limit first as the quality of my local water isn't as good. Your strategy of your partner filling a limit while you hunt hogs is a good one, for your scenario. Best of luck! FL

yeah, gotcha. Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow if I get to go casting and catching.

Hi Mitch The balance point is a couple inches ahead of the reel. It's slightly tip-heavy and feels slightly less tip heavy than the last generation of Crucial. I specifically checked for that feel and it's pretty close. I'm used to that feel so it's ok. One thing I really like is how the blank is completely exposed under the reel seat. It's a new feel to me and so far, so good. As far as the Ci4 goes, it palms nicely (I don't have big hands) and is reels smoothly. I've casted around the yard completely free spool and no brakes on and it cast well but that's not saying much as it was in the yard. So can't really give much more info than that. Initial impressions are good Tomorrow, I may go to a lake to cast around with the new TS rod and the plastique reel. lol

As soon as there's a chance to fish with it Still have over 2' of ice. I do not anticipate problems with this reel, well I hope not. Have you heard this from reviews or fishermen? I haven't read anything negative about it yet, so keeping the fingers crossed.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to fishing with it. Just need the weather to cooperate now.

For the Shimano fan in you...... Here's the new Crucial I am trying. First impression is reserved as I haven't fished with it. But I'm not crazy about the emo cork look but willing to try it. This is one of the TS rods which reads "Flipping" and it's replacing an older Crucial. The new Crucial are softer than the old but do seem to have plenty of backbone in MH. It's 7'7, so it's an inch longer than the previous Crucial. Also in the photos you will find the HG and slower version of the Ci4. It was very nice of Shimano to change the handle color and spool tension knob colors! When laid on the deck of your rig, there is no question which rod is armed with the slower reel, nice job here, Shimano. Of course, as I like some antique and older stuff, there's a 1920 Wondereel with its cardboard box and a price tag of $9! To round it off, an old Hi Tail and an article by Bob Wirth regarding antiques from a 1999 issue of BassMaster mag. Enjoy FL

Fine choice, sir! Enjoy. FL

A piggy, for sure! Nice quality video too. FL