RockvilleMDAngler

I own high-end rods from Loomis, Dobyns, St. Croix, Shimano, E21 and Falcon. I have more Loomis' than any other and if forced to pick a favorite it would be Loomis (especially the crankbait rods, they are sooooo good).

I am slowly losing my effing mind. I have been looking at buying my first real bass boat so looking online takes up a lot of my time but after I have looked at every possibility and realize that it's only 2:00PM I start to get really antsy. I have reorganized my tackle so many times that I am getting carpel tunnel syndrome. I drove down to my parents farm last weekend knowing full well that it would be 18 degrees but I still brought 3 rods just in case. No luck, everything is still iced over. :-[

Crankbaits: 12lb Pline Fluoroclear (hybrid) Jigs: 20lb BPS Fluoro Soft Plastics: 15lb PLine Fluoroclear (hybrid) or 20lb BPS Fluoro Spinnerbaits: 50lb Power Pro Braid Flipping: 50lb Power Pro Braid Frogs: 50lb Power Pro Braid Poppers: 15lb Mono

I absolutely love this rod. I have two mounted with Curado 101s and they are a joy to fish with. They are not good with deep divers (Norman DD22's and Rapala DT16s) but they are amazing with shallow and mid diving baits.

Thanks for the heads-up Dave!

Well I have $150 worth of gift cards to Bass Pro so I will head over there tonight and check out the MG51 and some of the Diawa competition. I might have to take a serious look at a Steez since I can get one for under $300 with the gift cards....

I don't think they make a Lefty Core yet :'(

I forgot to mention that I use lefty reels and I don't want to spend $450 if a $300 reel will do almost the same thing.

I just got an E21 rod for Christmas and I need a lightweight reel to match with it. I am normally a flag-waving member of the Shimano Posse but I am not opposed to opening my horizons. Most of my rods are Loomises and I have Chronarchs or Curado Ds on most of them (with the exception of a TDZ but that reel was one of the Cabela sale ones that sat on the shelf too long and needs a servicing and I haven't gotten around to sending it to the Reel Mech yet), but this Carrot Stick is SOOO light that I think a Curado or Chronarch would not be well suited. I am looking for a high-end LIGHT reel that is smooth (so far my TDZ is NOT smooth). I am considering the Shimano Core and various modified TDZ's I have seen on the internet. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I wake with Mann's Baby 1- all the time using my 7ft Medium Loomis crankbait rod (graphite) and I have no problems.

You are right about the high performance aluminum boats, but I am not in the market for one of those. The G3 HP series and the Tracker Avalanche series would be more than I am comfortable to tow but the G3 175 weighs a lot less than a Fiberglass boat of the same size.

I am not able to afford a glass boat at this time unless it is an older boat and I have too many other things that require my attention to buy a 1991 boat that will constantly require maintenance. I am in a bass club and have fished out of 21 foot Champions/Tritons/Rangers but I also fished out of a 16.5 foot Bass Tracker with a 25hp motor in the Potomac River in November. The ride was obviously slower and rougher in the Tracker but we got where we needed to go and caught a ton of fish. I will be doing most of my fishing out of two local reservoirs that are electric only and don't have too much current but I also intend on hitting the Potomac when the weather is nicer. Luckily most of the Potomac fishing will be done out of the Smallwood ramp which is in the middle of Mattawoman creek, there is very little current in the creek and there is tons of grass and big fish. On the calm days I could easily get to places like Occoquan and Nanjimoy but if not I can still catch fish in Mattawoman. Either way I really want my own fishing platform that I can take friends on and help store my tons of fishing tackle. The tackle storage alone will allow me to use my basement again so that will be worth it ;D Since I doubt my Equinox could adequately tow a glass boat with a 150+ motor I think an aluminum boat will definitely fit my needs.

Thanks for the info! It really seems to be a lot of boat for the money. If I end up buying this thing it is going to be torture waiting for winter to end!

I am looking to buy my first boat and I think I am going to buy a G3 Eagle 175. I found a 2003 with a 70hp Yamaha and I will be going over to look at it in the next few days. Is there anything I should be aware of with the G3's? Will my Equinox be able to tow it (my car is rated to tow 3500lbs and the boat & trailer are around 2000lbs)? Is the 175 a good value compared with comparable trackers/tritons/war eagles? Thanks!

I have a pretty solid assortment of Loomis and St. Croix rods but I need to buy at least 2 budget 2-piece rods. I am going on a canoe trip on the Upper Potomac with some buddies this weekend and I don't think I want to bring my 7' GLX's etc. and a rod holder will just get in the way. I would like to get 2 2-piece rods, one for crankbaiting and one for tubes/worms/jigs/buzzbaits and I would like to spend under $100 per rod. Anyone have any suggestions? Oh and I would be using a baitcaster on both so I would prefer a trigger rod.

I have a Sea Eagle SE-9 with the fishermans dream package and it works great unless there is a lot of wind. The Sea Eagle is about tripple the cost though.... I would look into a jon if I were you guys.

Ikas are great baits but I usually have to get the Palm Trees unless I want to wait for shipping (BPS has the Palm Trees). I love the Christmas Tree color but green pumpkin works well too. I have had no luck (except one carp) with the reddish gold color.

I use a 7' ML St. Croix Avid for drop shotting and some shakey head fishing.

I tried that a few times with no success; but after I lost the leg of one I pulled it off the hook and threw it in and I saw something blow up on it when it hit the water. I re-rigged with a fat ika and pitched to the same spot and caught a nice 2 pounder and it had part of the paca craw sticking out of its throat.

I was fishing in a local farm pond this afternoon and I really whooped up with a PACA craw but after a fish or two I seemed to always lose one of the arms. Has anyone else had this problem? I must have gone through 8 different lures in an hour with probably around 18 fish caught. I eventually switched to a trick worm so I could save my stash of Craws.

I fish the same way, I grew up on spinning reels so now I use LH Baitcasters because I don't like holding the rod in my left hand. Buy LH baitcasters and you will have the best of both worlds. I reccomend the new Curado, it is a great reel for the $.

I bought one RH baitcaster and hated it. I have 5 left handed baitcasters now and they are all I use. I have a Daiwa TDZ 105, a Shimano Chronarch 101, a Shimano Curado 201BSF, a Shimano Curado 101D, and a Shimano Curado 201D. Using you left hand to reel means you are ready for the bite the moment the lure hits the water.

As someone who had a lot of trouble learning to use a baitcaster I will say that the best advice I received was to cast smooooooothly. I was snap-casting and trying to launch the lure a mile and I kept getting backlashes, someone finally said "Cast overhand and make sure to use a very smooth motion with no hiccups or jerks and just let the reel do the work" It made all the difference. Now all I use are baitcasters and I am casting farther than ever before. Just be patient and gentle and you will have success.

Good work! Where do you fish on the Potomac? I live in Rockville and usually fish the reservoirs but occaisionally hit the Spoils or Mattawoman creek on the Potomac.

Great advice. My only issue is that apparently the "no-stretch" aspect of fluorocarbon has been greatly exaggerated. Check out this link for great reviews and a debunking of the no-stretch myth: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluorocarbontest.html