Further North

Yup. I run 30# braid to 8# co-poly all season.

Curious, why would you feel the need to tie direct?

Re finesse and braid: think line diameter, not line test, and a fluorocarbon (or mono) leader. Thin braid is just a good way to spend money filling your spool, cutting your fingers and breaking off if the rough edge of anything touches your line. IMO, of course.

Doood...made me laugh out loud...

Your 1st paragraph, IMO, nails it. There's a subset of fishermen who want to be able to deride folks who can afford high end gear and choose to buy it. There's another subset of fishermen who want to be able to deride folks who settle for lower priced gear. Both groups are, IMO, worthless. Sorry if that offends, but if you look in a mirror and you see yourself in either of those groups..ask yourself why you're there... The whole concept of fishing...for fun, or for $$$, is a cost/benefit proposition. Do what works for you, what you can afford and makes sense for where you are, right now...and blow off any Gomers who tell you you're wrong. They've got no idea where you are in your life and have no business telling you what's right or wrong.

There is, IMO, not much better than a custom built rod. They can often coast less...far less...that retail offerings, if you are specific about your wants and needs. There's a young guy I work with who has saved me hundreds of dollars while producing exactly what I've been looking for...it's all about leveling expectations up front and having a very, very solid idea of what you want. Going back to a previous post of mine, same goes for custom built shotguns. When your gun is custom stocked and balanced for exactly the way you shoot...it shoots where you look and you don't have to think about it...or aim...for even a micro-second. See bird, mount gun, pull trigger...or more graphically: Butt, belly, beak, bang! You won't even remember mounting, swinging or even pointing the gun... Fishing rods can be the same and cost a helluva lot less... Good choice.

Makes sense, I guess. I don't fish tournaments so I don't worry about times when I'm not fishing them. I booted my Legend Xtreme over the side of the boat on Lake Pepin...only the fast action of my fishing partner...and the fact that we were in about 2 feet of water...saved it. The reel alone weights 9.3 oz...

Take a look in the manual.

As long as it continues to offer incremental improvements, that'll never happen.

One of mine has three seasons on it, the other has two. Not quite as bright as the photo, but close.

@Turkey sandwich You nailed that, from my perspective. ...the more I fish streamers (which is probably 80% of my fly fishing, or more) the less I'm concered about fish seeing my line. I fish a lot of pike and musky with flies and I don't believe they care even a little bit. @NHBull My perspective on your original question: I am a braid to leader guy, for almost all my rigs (might be a habit stolen from my fly-fishing where the lines are way thicker than gear lines and are often florescent), and one place I specifically use High-vis braid (I like the bright green/yellow Suffix 832 in 30#) is on my finesse rigs. There's usually 6' - 7' of flouro leader on those rigs, and I watch that high-vis braid like a hungry hawk on the drop...if it does anything odd...hookset. Most often not a cross-their-eyes hook-set (I don't want to yank the offering out of the strike zone), but enough to know if there's a fish on (Sometimes it's enough to just stop the drop and feel what's there). Two of my top 5 smallies came in situations just like that...one under a swim platform, one behind a great big hunk of rock structure...couldn't see the take, but the line moved...

Nailed it, IMO. I found your example interesting, because I had a young guy near me build me a rod specifically for in-line spinners...specifically #5 Mepps or similar. Why? It's my top search bait, and I want to be able to feel the blade spin...and when it stops...and be ablt to tell (most of the time) if it stopped because it ran into a weed, clipped a sunken tree branch, bounced off a rock...or got sucked in from behind by a 3 ft.pike... PS: I'm 55, going on 56...funny how that works out... They work better too... Less unsprung weight improves a lot of things on a car...

I find this really interesting...why the difference?

I own a Legend Xtreme spinning rod. It's got a reel of comparable quality/cost on it. The whole thing, rod, reel, line, leader...weighs about 10.5 ounces. It's crazy sensitive and I can tell you what I'm pulling my bait through...you can feel it drag over a rock, tell when the bottom transitions and pick up the tiny change when a finicky smallie picks up a 1/8 oz. jig and react before she spits it back out. It's really well balanced, and I could fish it all day, no problem. I've got a similar BFS rig, and it does exactly what it's supposed to do...Let's not even talk about fly fishing gear... One thing that's worth talking about is that high end equipment often isn't useful to beginners or casual fishermen...they probably don't have a skill set that allows them to use the incremental improvements in away that even remotely makes up for the cost differences. ...and you're having a ton of fun doing it! That's all that matters.

Yup. The culture is different - way different - than it was when I started fishing, and that's kind of expected these days. Lotta folks trying to buy the "best rod" and the "best reel" and the "best lures" and the "best line" thinking it'll help their fishing more than getting a decent rig, hitting the water and figuring out what they like, what works best for them and learning the "how to" side of things. ...that's how I got my boat...guy thought he'd go out and get a really nice boat, with a lot of high end equipment on it...and go start catching fish like the pros.... 8 years later, I bought it for 1/4 of new $$$, with less than 10 hours on it...

My Mom used to get all wrapped round the axle when she'd be driving along, about 5 MPH over the speed limit and someone would pass her, "Why do they have to go that fast?" she'd grump. One time, tired of the same old, same old and being a teenager, I replied, "Because they can." I earned a "look", but I was right. Same thing with rods, reels, gear, boats cars, trucks... All the "stuff" we buy sits on a curve that's called incremental improvement...and every increment along that curve comes with a price increase...and the price increase isn't linear. Is a $400 rod 333% better than a $120 rod? Nope...but it is better. I used to spend a lot of time shooting, buying, selling, trading and generally wallowing about in the world of SxS shotguns... The price differences there make fishing equipment seem like nothing...you could buy a "functional" SxS for under $1,000, shoot just fine, enjoy life, and be OK as long as you didn't let the green eyed monsters of envy and jealousy get in your head. You could also without a lot of work, spend $1,200, $2,500, $5000 or $7,500. Were the guns better? You bet. Better wood, lighter, faster, custom stock dimensions, really nice 100% coverage in hand engraving began to show up at the higher end of that curve. Was it worth it to everyone? Not a chance. You could also, without a lot more work, double that and spend $15K. Better? Sure. At this point you begin to get wood to metal fit so good you can see it, but can't feel it. You get engraving that'll knock the socks off anyone with any appreciation for art, craftsmanship and attention to fine detail...along with everything on the $7,500 gun. You could also, without a lot more work, pretty rapidly ramp that cost up to $20, $40, $50 or even $100,000...but every step was a very steep incremental improvement. The difference in engraving alone could be several hundred hours and delivery of the gun could be a couple years out from conception to delivery. ...and no, nowhere near all the folks buying those guns were stuffy, arrogant captains of industry, or royalty. I know a guy who worked as a tradesman his whole life who has several custom made Fox shotguns that are as fine as anything made by Purdy, Boss, or Holland & Holland. Wears jeans and work shirts, scuffed boots, drinks beer and lies about fishing just like the rest of us... With any of this stuff, it's all about finding the place on the curve that best suits you and being happy with it. Happiness ain't getting what you want it's wanting what you've got. Sorry for the ramble, too cold to do much else today. PS: I never spent anywhere near top end money for a shotgun, not by a several decimal places...but I've got a couple "keepers" that suit me very well.

Regarding getting a good education and a good job... IMO, we send way to many people to expensive colleges (way, way to expensive!) that leaves the kids in debt up to their fannies and competing for jobs that pay nowhere near enough to be be able to start a family, get a home, and fund their hobbies...so they go deeper into debt... There are other ways of "getting an education" than college. Plumbers, electricians, builders, etc. all make great money, so do lots of other trades. The guys that run our presses make good money, and the ones that want them have boats, ATVs, campers and cabins up north and most will retire comfortably (unless they do dumb things with their money, there's no cure for that)...and didn't start life $50K in the hole... Culturally, we have turned the trades into "dirty" jobs for the most part...and that's a shame. ********************** On the "hole in the water" aspect of boat ownership: I've never experienced that...but I buy smart, take care of my stuff and make sure I'm well insured. Sure, it's an expense, but my boat maintenance costs a lot less than my car maintenance...

I don't have the Antares, but have an (older) Calais DC. I've tried the "X" setting a few times...and just don't see enough benefit in distance to make up for the increase in other problems (backlash, loss of accuracy, etc.). ...but I don't have any situations where an extra few yards are ever going to make a difference in catching fish. Obviously the technology could have improved since the Calais.

Class act...we can all have that impact, we just have to take the time to do it.

That's the bottom line, right there. We can split hairs on which knot is "better"...but it's all angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin silliness. Alberto knots work great, that's not (knot?) debatable. FG knots also work great and are smaller through the guides, that's not debatable. Uni-to-Uni get 'er done just fine too, that's not debatable. Personally, I can tie an FG as fast as an Alberto...or close enough that it doesn't matter...but I practice...a lot. The FG might take a little longer to trim up and finish...but who gives a rip? Any of these knots last for days, if not weeks...or in some cases, months (see my pics above, and I've got rigs with FG knots that were tied with wire before that....). We're not talking about a knot we tie twenty times a day, because tying on a new leader that often would mean we've got something else horribly screwed up. Getting back to the original post...the PR knot made me chuckle, for it's absolute over-the-top approach that struck me as an answer in search of a question that wasn't being asked. 80 wraps? Really? I wasn't kidding when I said I tie flies with less...

Great post...I think you nailed it. I use the more complicated FG knot because: I'm multispecies (primarily pike, but I'll settle for musky) before bass. Even if I'm fishing for bass, our lakes have a lot of pike and musky and I dislike donating lures. The FG goes though guides much better than the Alberto or Uni-to-Uni when using higher test (larger diameter) lines. I hate tying the Uni-to-Uni. See above...I can't tie that thing well to save my soul, but can tie an FG that's a thing of beauty in the same time.

It might work better bumping up the line diameters. I don't worry about the line being visible on rig like this. No finesse needed on an in-line spinner that big.

If you're right handed, learning to do hook sets left handed is easier than learning to cast left hand. ...but once you get there it's all muscle memory.

If you're right handed, learning to do hook sets left handed is easier than learning to cast left hand. ...but once you get there it's all muscle memory.

Here's a way to look at it: $2,000 8 times a year. Another 15 years ...that's about $17 per outing. Not cheap, but reasonable...