Lucky Craft Man

Thats weird....In the Bass Pro Catalog and at Academys ( where I got my Energy PT) it cost $189. Are you sure your not thinking about the price on the Accurist?? Or did I get robbed? I live about 2 hours from College Station. Have had lots of family members (7) graduate from there. The Quantum Energy PTi are spinning reels and cost $139.95. The Quantum Energy Reels you are talking about are baitcasting and cost $189.95 (which were actually $179.95 a month ago - that is some inflation).

I've had my Viento for a year and a half and never had a problem with it. It is actually quite durable and it seems you would have to try and break it. Very nice reel.

Ditto on ReelMech's book. I've cleaned at least 7 reels now using the tips and advice in his book. I would also recommend buying his oil (I've used three types of oil, and I like his the best).

Fishbear, I have seven Cabela's XML rods (both spinning and casting) and they are the best rods by far between BPS (which I have many different rods from as well) and Cabelas. They are very lightweight and sensitive. The rod balancing kit (which I have on all seven) stay very secure (unlike the BPS one's) and is out of the way (doesn't stick out like those rubber end caps you slide over the end of your handle to balance your rod with). One of my nephews stepped on the tip of one of my rods and broke the ceramic insert out of it. I took the rod back to Cabelas and they told me to go pick out a new one and that was it. Unbelievable customer service. I don't think you can go wrong with one of them (just my humble opinion).

Where is Wave Worm on the list?

I'm confused? Aren't they trying to eradicate North America of the Snakehead? Yet, this is one of the five fish they selected to be in the software (the other four being Bass, Trout, Bluegill, & Baitfish). Isn't that like having software with five cute little animals playing on your screen with one of them being a rabid raccoon?

I have been watching "The Bass Pros" tv show on Versus (Great show by the way) and is it just me or does Stacey King get overly excited at every fish he catches? He seems like a nice guy, but everytime he catches a fish he creams his shorts. It could be a 2 pounder an he is excited like he just hooked his first bass. What I also found interesting was in last weeks show Stacey caught an 11+ pound bass. He said that was the largest bass he had every caught. Now I have never caught a 10+ lb. bass myself, but I would assume for these pros who fish all the time and fish some of the best waters in the world would have a personal best higher then 11 lbs. Maybe I am just being hard on the guy, but I was still a little surprised by that.

The winner of the Classic does get a automatic berth into next years Classic, but they also have to fish all the qualifying events and pay for it. So it doesn't matter if he would finish dead last with Velvick, he would still be able to fish the Classic. The stories I heard on Clausen was that he immediately declined to fish the Elite Series right after his Classic win. I heard they approached him within 30 minutes after he won the event and he said that he wasn't interested and wanted to focus on FLW. That is hilarious. Though, I'm sure Velvick makes more money then all those other fisherman due to his announcing gig. If he has the goatee, I am going to say Kelly Jordan will win the Classic. If not, I would like to see KVD win it.

Here is a URL of when Lindner's Angling Edge airs. It is a great show. I think its even better then In-Fisherman. http://www.anglingedge.com/pages/schedule.shtml (Sorry, I don't know how to attach a hyperlink)

Just to follow up on what Al wrote, I know Cabela's will match the price. Cabela's had an internet only sale and I printed out the web page and brought it to the store. They matched the price.

I have several Cabela's brand rods (1 Tourney Trail, 1 Bigwater, 1 Fish Eagle II, 3 Fly Rods, and 6 XML's). I also have several Bass Pro brand rods (2 Spiral Pro, 3 Pro Comp II's, 3 Tourney's, 2 XPS Professionals, 5 Bionic Blades, and 4 Extremes). The best rod by far in my opinion (again, this is dependent of what you are using it for) is Cabela's XML. The Bass Pro Extreme rods are very good, but the weight balancing system of the Bass Pro rods seem to come loose easily, while the Cabela's weight balancing system stays in place. Also, I use my XPS Professional rod as a jerkbait rod, and I wouldn't use anything else for jerk baits. So it is a matter of preference, but if you find yourself with some Cabela's gift certificates and don't know what to buy, I would look at the XML's (especially if they are on sale for $99.99 like they recently were).

I have used senkos with a drop shot rig for smallmouth with good success.

Like Papa_Tom said, they look very much like the BPS Tornado. I have used the Tornado, which worked well. I've caught some very nice bass with the tornado (including a 6 lber two years ago) and I figure the Terminator Hybrid would work as well. The only thing I had trouble with using the Tornado was that I couldn't throw it anywhere near a weed. If I did, it would surely find it's way on my hook. Otherwise, great lure.

My suggestion would be to buy a combo from either Cabelas or Bass Pro. They put the backing and fly line on for you and match the reel up with the rod. I would suggest a 8'6" - 6 weight system. This would be good for bluegill (which are fun to catch on a fly rod), bass, and even trout (though, it may be a little heavy for trout). I even seen guys use a 6 weight for steelhead. In my opinion, that would be the way to go (and is the way I started out).

I need some advice on a drop shot rod I am considering. I am looking at the Shimano Crucial 7'2" Drop Shot Spinning Rod. Here is my question. Would you recommend the Medium Power (6-12 lb line - 1/8 to 3/8 oz. lure) or the Med-Heavy Power (6-15 lb. line - 1/8 to 1/2 oz. lure). I fish both smaller bodies of water where I will be casting and large bodies of water (Great Lakes) where I will be drifting. I was leaning towards the medium power, but the medium-heavy power isn't much stiffer and I think would handle the larger bodies of water, but I don't want to lose any sensitivity. Please let me know if you happened to use either on of these rods and what you would recommend. Thanks.

pathfnder, I don't know a thing about building rods, but I have 7 Cabelas XML rods that I purchased completed from the store. I have several 1-piece and 2-piece XML rods (I use the 2-piece for travel) and they performed extremely well for me. I also have a G Loomis IMX that I will say is lighter then the XML, but for $145 dollars cheaper, the XML is the way to go in my opinion.

I think my screen name gives my answer away. I also like the Wave Worm company. Good soft platics.

I'm no expert in jerkbait fishing, but I usually snap the rod two or three times and then pause (the length of pause depends on the time of year and whether of not I am fishing a suspended jerkbait). The only reeling I do is to wind up any slack line caused by the snap (or to reel in any fish that I am lucky enough to catch). I like a 6'6" medium action rod with a 7.0:1 ratio reel and 12 lb. flouro line. The truth of the matter is how you feel comfortable fishing the jerkbait. If you catch fish, then your method works.

Hey Jim, Its funny you made that post. I just bought my girlfriend the exact same reel off of eBay (she liked the color) and does seem like a nice reel. The reason I bought the reel for her is to keep her from picking up my G Loomis-Daiwa Viento combo, which she liked to pick up and try casting when I would set it down. Now she has her own rod and reel combo to use (and this will hopefully spare some of my equipment).

Deuceu72, If you are still offering the XPS balancing kit, I would be more then interested and apprecitive for it. Please let me know. Thanks.

I use these baits all the time. I fish them weightless and dead stick them. Bass love them. I must have gone through 15 packages this year. I even used the 4 inch version on a dropshot rig for smallmouth bass and it worked very well. I mostly use watermelon and junebug. Excellent bait if you can stand the smell.

Hahaha...I guess that would be one way to hold that sucker on there.

I've had the slide on ones come off on me while casting (I like to cast with two hands) and found it to be a pain. The screw in ones do come loose sometimes, but it's easier to tighten a screw then it is picking up butt cap weights and quarters (which you can also use in the slide on rubber cap) on the bottom of the boat.

I wouldn'y buy the other one (I have both and the XPS screws in and is much much better). I balanced one rod and loved it so much, now everyone on my rods are balance. Really increases the sensitivity of the rod IMO.

I have the Pflueger President Baitcasting Reel, which is a great reel, but if you are just starting out, I wouldn't get this reel. The Pflueger President has a centrifugal braking system, which maybe tough to get used to and use if you never had a baitcaster before. I would look for a reel that has an adjustable magnetic casting control. This way you can adjust the braking on the spool quickly while you get a feel for things. I think a good reel to start out with would be the Quantum Accurist PT. It's a nice reel with a magnetic control brake along with a flipping switch and it's not obscenely expensive. Once you get used to that, then you can add the Pflueger President to the line-up (because once the bait monkey gets a hold of you, you won't stop at just owning one reel). That is just my humble opinion on things.