SimonSays

x2, I bought one, in an attempt to tighten the thing to my rod the plastic clamp broke as well as the screw. Tossed it all away and used my high tech toe.

Yep, it was, I'm glad you made that recommendation =D I've been trying to keep the name out of my posts and only refer to the general fredericksburg area so it shouldn't come up on searches. Gotta keep it on the DL! 8-)

I'm getting my new Kayak this thursday and I was looking for a place to launch it for my maiden voyage! I've always wanted to fish swift creek on a craft of some sort, does anyone know of a public launch area? Or possibly any other bodies of water (near richmond) you think would be good for my first trip out =D? Thanks!

So..what does one need to do to get some of these samples? It looks pretty amazing!

I question the number of rod builders you spoke to on this. All professional builders have a policy for warranty replacement... however, most charge for car doors and stepped on rods... as they should. True warranty situations are pretty rare. And in those cases you are likely to pay a little for your replacement, just like many factory rods. If you buy any particular rod because of the 100% replacement warranties, you are not a good candidate for a custom rod... In all my years of fishing and subsequent few years of rodbuilding, I have come across exactly 2 defective blanks. (and one was actually a friend's rod) which makes it below 1% for my own experience. So even if I'm twice as luck as the average guy, that's about 1 in 150+ rods with actual defects. If you count operator error as such, warranties are just not an issue. If I abuse it and break it, I should have to replace it... not the factory that sold me a quality product that I shut in a car door. Ok, I'm off the soapbox now. You're right I haven't talked to any rod builders about warranty, but I've read their policies. The situation I'm referring to is not one where there is a defect to the blank or workmanship. In fact if ANY builder or manufacturer didn't replace a rod due to blank/workmanship then I, and most certainly many others, would look to another rod, so that's a moot point. The warranty I'm referring to is the car door/stepped on policy. You maybe right, I might not be the best candidate for a custom rod, what are the requirements? I love my rods and try to take as much care of them as possible, but accidents do happen. For example I fish in some pretty secluded and tight areas, recently I set the hook on a fish and slammed my rod into a large rock near me. Yes it was my fault, but it's not like I wanted to snap my rod in 2. In this case I'm out only $50+shipping whereas if it were a custom rod maybe $150+price of a new rod. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing at all against custom rods, in fact I'd love to have one made by you, reelmech or any of the other fine rodbuilders on this site but for me I love the extra peace of mind I get from a manufacturer warranty.

we left mid day at around 12. Andrew and I boated three, 1 and 2 respectively. There were a ton of boats out there today. Afterwards we went wading for smallies, when I left at around 3 Andrew and I got pretty much skunked ... even though we were targeting panfish, lol. Our friend Jeremy did get a good 2lb 10oz smallie though!

my custom rod that alpster built for me has a warranty. if i dont like it or whatever, i get a full refund for the labor charge. ;D i didnt pay any labor charge if you were to beak it how easily could it be replaced? how about again? and again?

yay for insomnia right before a 6am fishing trip...

I'd like to also use custom rods, I love the artistry of custom rods and the ability to customize them for yourself. The one MAJOR killer for me is warranty. Off the shelf rods have pretty much 100% replacement policies. If you break it you pay a little and get another. Custom rods on the other hand do not have this replacement policy and that's a deal killer =(

when I was using the 8lb for small mouth i didn't have any problems (average size smallmouth here where I fish is like 4oz...) when I tried it for bass I broke off a bunch of times. I really like the trilene maxx...you should give that a shot.

I'm in!

x2, nice fish =D

Welcome aboard! Hilarious video, I can't wait for what else comes along!

OOoOoo Toothy critters! where there any in there of size before they stocked? or is this the first...stockage?

Loveee! not hate! ;D We'll get some soon =D

2lb 15oz, in Fredericksburg tossing a watermelon red coffee tube off one of those weighted tube hooks. It put up an AWESOME fight! I'm loving the smallie action!

I also fold my seat down and stick them through the trunk. I bought a rod tube and just stuck that through.

yea, I hate when they just zoom by without any regard for people around them. My balance sucks so if I were to go overboard I'd have to kill somebody ><

I went again to see if I could grab some more...looks like some of you guys have been there too =D But what's sad is that it seems the price was an error and someone might have tipped them off by buying too many as the price has returned to $2.00 - $3.00 a pack which is still a decent deal. Some do still scan as the old $1.xx price so many you'll get lucky!

I love your baits! but I have to respectfully disagree, I've bought about one or two packs where the skirts were not attached straight. I'll see if I can find them but they did not seem at all like they were poured all at once.

You're pretty good with the small inline spinners!

You'll be fine, they'll end up just turning black the deeper you go. Also the red does rub off readily.

I was at the Shortpump Walmart tonight and saw they have some Mustad Ultra point hooks for sale at 1.25 and 1.00 a pack, ranging from 1/0 to 4/0 size. They come in the Ultra lock and the Mega-Bite series.

Nice pattern on that fish! We haven't caught any too big yet either. Looking for a nice 2+ also

I wish they had a 6.2:1 ratio for the curado =/