FishTank

I have had great success with their tubes as well. I like the Black w/red glitter Big Shots the best but they can be pricey. http://www.venomlures.com/

I might have a long list. 1. Megabass Destroyer Rod 2. A Daiwa TD Ito 103HL 3. Daiwa Steeze Rod 4. Shimano Calais DC 5. Daiwa Pixy 6. 2008 Shimano Stella 2500 (for a whole day) 7. St. Croix Legend Elite I did get to try a reel today that would have made this list but a sales guy was nice enough to let me try a Revo Premier. In one word> amazing. Light weight and casts a country mile. It was just a fun reel. I wish I could have actually caught a fish with this reel to see what it was made of but on a just a few casts I could tell this was one serious fishing machine.

Here are my favorites in order. 1. Lucky Craft Flat Minis 2. Rapala DT's 3. Bomber Model A 4. Manns -1

Picked up one of these today. It's sort of my last/late Christmas present. Have you guys used one of these? This is my first hard swimbait. I am not sure about the prop at the tail but will see. Thanks for any thoughts.

I am not an art person but that is pretty cool. My mother made one when I was a kid and it about drove us nuts. My father and I made mold and pored the concrete for a large flower pot. It was about 2'h x 5'l x 2'w. She went to Chicago to purchase the glass from a specialized art dealer. We could not afford new glass from him so she purchased used old pieces. Little did any of us know that the glass was something special. Years later a guy stops by our house during a garage sale and offers us $1000 for the pot. My mom looked at him and smiled and said "No, it is a family project. It doesn't matter how much you offer me." A few weeks later another guy shows up and says I'll offer you $5000 for it. My mom could not refuse. None of us were able to move the thing so we told him he had to take care of it himself. He then went to his car and came back with a hammer and chizzel. He only wanted the glass. We asked why and he told us the glass had come from an old burned up Cathedral in Chicago which had come from a church in Germany that was destroyed over 400 years ago. We had purchased what was left from the art store in Chicago. The glass, from what I heard, has been returned to it's home at St. Micheals church in Luxembourg where they made every effort to restore the church.

I have a 777 and it is very heavy when fully loaded. I found it to be to much to lug around when I was pond hopping so I started using a Jansport 2 Day Hiker backpack. I can load tons of stuff in it including lunch and few drinks. One great thing is that I can take out what I don't want to take so I can decrease the weight much easier than I can with the 777. If I am going out on a boat the 777 is the ticket. It organizes everything but I tend to forget to put the top down hard enough and end up dumping it sometimes.

I sold a 1991 Mitsubishi that I purchased in 1993 from a used car lot here in Indianapolis. It was the first fast car I had ever owned so I was a little naive about what speed was really like. I had been in some fast cars before hand but nothing quite like this one. I started to dig through the car and found all sorts of reciepts to Indy Imports and a Custom specialist from Paducah, KY which included an engine swap ($4000) for a V-8 Mits. ($?????) engine (prepurchased), 2 twin turbos ($2500), frame weight reduction and new racing seats, and an automatic racing trans. ($3000). I have no idea what else this guy did but this car would blow away just about anything I put up against it, including a buddies 1994 Corvette Callaway, my neighbors Porcshe 911 and my other buddies Mustang Cobra. People would always ask what I did to it and I would say "nothing, the previous owner did it all" but the problem was I never knew who much TLC a car like this took. I eventually had to sell it. I could not afford the all repairs the car needed to keep it running in top shape. I took quotes from various people and it always come up over $3000. And for a car that I payed $8000 that was just to steep. At the time I was stilling paying on it and I had put 3 sets of racing tires and new rims on it in less than 3 years. I was lucky though, I sold it to a guy who bought form me it for the same price I payed for it. I came out about even in the end but I sure do miss seeing that look on my buddy face when I would blow away his Vette. I have been doomed to familly cars ever since. Someday when the kids get older, I plan on fixing my mid-life crisis with an awesome sports car.

I have got whatever bug is going around. My kids just got over it as well. I have a fever, my sinus are pounding, throat hurts, and my body aches all over. It really sucks. I hope it goes away soon.

I came home with the new Stradic today. Awesome reel so far. I will post more info as I get to use it more.

I went shopping today to get rid of the giftcards that were burning a hole in my pocket and came home with a new 2008 Shimano Stardic 2500FI. Before I purchased it I explored all my options at both Dick's and Gander Mountain. After looking at several, I came to the conclusion that the new Stradic was the best bang for the buck. It is as smooth if not smoother than my Sustain and the biggest difference I have noticed so far is how well the reel is balanced. I had a chance to play with an older Stella, Pflueger Supreme and a Quantum Energy pti-a 20 and when you crank all these reels at a high speed they tend to wobble. The new Stradic was the best of all the ones I looked at when came to this wobble effect. It also felt almost as smooth as the Stella. It did cast it a few times today and compared to my older Stradic 2500, it cast farther and it is smoother on the retrieve. The real test won't come until spring, when I can actually put it through a whole day of fishing.

Yes, the older Shimano Stradic if you can find one on clearance. I went to Gander Mountain today to look for a new spinning reel and the Supreme was one of them. At first glance it is super light weight for a spinning reel and is as smooth as most other reels that are more expensive but I had two today that had the bail fail to go back into place properly. The sales guy also pointed out something I probably would have overlooked but the large drilled holes in the spool is a air magnet for dust and dirt. Many other reels have the same drilled holes but he actually had one behind the counter that was perfectly clean on the outside and full of dirt on the inside the spool and on the shaft. If I was serious about buying a Pflueger, I would look at the President. It looks to be just as equal as the Supreme with exception of weight.

That thing is a monster. Got to love those Fords.

Some village is missing their idiot. He is lucky that he didn't blow his hand off. If I were him, I would have probably !@#$ my pants. This guy didn't even look phased by the explosion.

When everything is working and the fish are just hit like cazy, I go to a Booyah buzzbait and a Lucky 13. It doesn't get any better than topwater.

I had a Triumph and at first it seemed like a nice rod but after a long day of fishing, it was worthless. I would save your money and go a different direction. If you look hard enough, you might be able to find a St. Croix Avid on clearance. As far as the Stradic goes, sounds like a great deal.

I have been finding them at Dicks Sporting Goods.

I have some more gift cards to use and I can't make up my mind between the new 2008 Staradic $159 regular price or the older Stradic for $79.99 on clearance. I already have one of the older Stradic and love it. But is the new one worth shelling out the extra money? It is hard to pass a good deal but I can't help but wonder if the new reel is a huge improvement over the old one. I had chance to play with one and it reminded me of my Shimano Sustain, smooth, well balanced and strong. Anyway, any thoughts would be a big help.

I got the highspeed Zillion earlier this year for frogs, buzzbaits, topwater plugs and jerkbaits and I love it so far. Easy to palm, light weight and powerful. It is the best workhorse reel I have ever used. I would highly recommend it.

They look like the Flat CB's to me. I thought they had been discontinued. I have seen them from time to time on ebay.

I have a Shimano Calcutta 251 and I have tried it on a few different rods. The one that I have found to work the best is a G. Loomis MBR844C IMX. It just seems to balance correctly with this rod.

The IMX is the way to go. It is a fantastic rod. You won't regret it.

Now that's what I call great service...... It's stories like this, that will make you a customer for life. I wish more stores would offer such great service.

Welcome the forum. You will get several informed answers on your question. IMHO, both are great reels but my personal preference is Shimano. It is best to get both out of the box, mount it to the rod you want and see what feels best. Good luck......

I went to Dicks today to use a gift I got for Christmas and there it was, another St. Croix Avid AS66MHF on the rack. It was sent to that location by an instore stock transfer, along with other clearance items. It was marked $159.99 and it rang up $74.99. After a rewards coupon and my $40 giftcard, I only spent $15 on this rod. What a deal... I am going back tomorrow to pick up a Shimano Stradic 2500, also on clearance but as usual there was no one in the department to help me get it from behind the counter. I hope in rings up $75 like the last one I bought.

The last time I was BPS in Louisville back in June, they were restocking the some of their house brand reels and a sales guy their made a comment about how many reels they get in from their distribution center that are returned and still have line on them from the previous owner. For instance, he opened 6 Johnny Morris Reels and 4 of them had string on them. He seemed very discouraged that he had to go through all of what was supposed to be new and pull the string off several reels he had gotten in. This gave me a clue that not all is right with BPS but for me personally, I have never had a bad experience with the stores. If I have had a return or a problem, they have gone out of their way to make it right.