punch

Lews Tournament Pro LFS (latest tournament pro) is $139.. https://www.sportsmansoutfitters.com/products/lews-tournament-pro-lfs-speed-spool-baitcast-fishing-reels Heck of a reel for the price. I have two of em.

Megabass restricts dealers from discounting rods officially. However, I have had luck getting 20-30% off at local tackle shops that are authorized dealers. They won't advertise the discount, but they will do it. Online, the only place I've ever been able to score deals is KTP with their generic discount codes. Sadly they only sell the Levante. This is why a lot of people buy them used, but there's a danger with that because you need a receipt from a MB dealer to do a warranty claim. They literally ask you for a copy of it before they give you a replacement if you break one.

Yes! The 7'm is a fantastic ned rig rod. It's really a solid "all around" finesse rod. It's very sensitive for bottom contact but you could even use it for jerkbaits or shallow cranks (especially anything balsa wood). I use mine for wacky senkos, ned, small swimbaits (4" and less), shakey heads, finesse jigs and small jerkbaits. The soft moderate action of the 6'10ML would limit the presentations, I'm pretty sure they designed it with dropshot in mind. I think the 7'M faster action opens the rod up to being way more versatile.

Nope, no hook keeper. What I do is order generic fugi keepers off eBay. You can get 10 packs from China for like $3.

They're just that good. Dig around in any pros boat and I bet you'll find a couple.

I own both the 6'10ML and 7'M Expride spinning rods. The 6'10ML is a VERY soft moderate action rod. It's specifically a Dropshot rod IMHO. For senkos/Neko/ned rig I would not recommend it. I would very very much recommend the 7' M Expride for what you want to do. This rod is fantastic at all finesse presentations (you could even Dropshot with it). I'm a spinning rod snob and I'd consider the 7' M Expride to be one of the best spinning rods I've ever used. It's a fast action but it's very crisp and the tip is perfect for dock skipping. I'll make an Expride video today. Definitely grab it over the 702sf.

I think 7' to 7'2 is a good length for accurately casting squarebills shallow. A lot of people really like the St Croix legend glass 6'10s for all around shallow cranking. A general 7' Medium rod is really all you need for squarebills. IMHO 7'4 would be a bit long.

No.

Anyone hit the river yet?

I have both plastic and glass lenses as well. The plastic ones scratch WAY easier than the Glass. I've dropped my glass ones many many times and there's zero scratches. Not so much the case with my 580Ps.

I'm a long term costa addict and i've had basically every lens type & color they make. I'll break this down really simply. The mirror color of the lens isn't important, what's important is the BASE lens color. Amber or Copper lens = best for bass fishing shallow. They let in the most light thus giving you the best contrast. If yo want a lens that's best for seeing fish in lakes, these are your colors. Sunrise mirror also falls in this category. Grey lens = these are fine for fishing BUT they block more light than amber/copper lenses. These are better for "every day" use as they do a better job of blocking light BUT they do have slightly less contrast than amber/copper. Honestly if you're buying a pair to get the most bang-for-the-buck while fishing, get a copper/amber/sunrise base lens. Then pick whatever mirror finish you think looks cool. My favorite pair is a Green mirror (copper) Blackfins. https://www.costadelmar.com/us/en/performance-technology/lenses

I fish a lot of lakes where smallmouth is a forage, so I told myself I needed it! Looks a lot like a smallie to me. I will tell you one thing though, BUY respect colors you like because once they are gone they are gone forever.

I love mail days from Ben. Yes, Megabass makes spinnerbaits.

Croix's "sales" always suck. It's just them dumping outgoing models that nobody bought.

Honestly.... I need some Musky rods!

It's 100% personal preference! Use whatever feels good to you. The fact that a BPS employee in the fishing department is suggesting to people which hand they should use for a reel is kind of troubling.

They did it again. Word I got was the 3M product they were using was purchased outright by Pure Fishing. So they had to find a new supplier.

I've caught several largemouth over the years that "spit up" old senkos & creature baits when I get them in the boat. I had one that had a massively swelled 5" senko T boned in it's throat one time. I got it out pretty easily but it looked like it's been in there for a while. These fish were still fat and healthy looking and obviously eating (because I caught them). Fish definitely either die, or have a much harder life after eating one of our plastics. No question about that. All we can do is try to dispose of plastics properly AND use some kind of wacky rigging technique like O rings or tube rings when we senko fish to keep the bait on the line. Another alternative is to fish like KVD and only use hardbaits! haha

Want a cheap lure that'll catch fish? A scum frog. You can get em at any walmart too!

Buying dark sleepers on-site is never a bad idea.

There is a NEW version of the NRX that came out recently, they updated the resin/glue on the guides (due to Pure Fishing buying the 3M product they used to use). They also dumped the fish logo from the blank. Top is the old, bottom is the new look.

FYI these are perpetually on sale on that site. They go in and out of stock randomly. That site is a drop ship company.. so you're getting a reel directly from Daiwa.

https://www.bfads.net/stores/cabelas/ads/black-friday It's out.

No kiddin! However, there's still lots of good fishing to be had this winter. I'll be hitting the riverbank in Monticello for smallies & poppin holes all over the north metro chasing crappies & LMB. I'm actually getting excited to hit the ice. It's looking like an early season this year.

They do, i'm 6'2 about 215-220 and sims Large bins & coats fit me perfect.