Infidel.

X2

Too cool! Thanks for sharing.

Just to throw another one in the mix, I love my 7ft TD-S crankbait rod. Paired it with a Lew's Speed Spool and just love it!

Widespread availibility? Really? It seems to me that they are a pretty hard rod to get a hold of. I have never seen a Megabass or Evergreen rod in person.

Toad of a Spot!

You guys up north are killing me. Way to go.

Very cool, I would like to see this on the backs of some crawdad patterns.

My first 6lber came on a Poe's crank. Thanks for sharing.

That's awesome! Makes me wish I had a pic of the huge redear I caught on a 1/2oz super spot.

I know you meant that as a compliment but I don't know if Jay will take it that way ;D

And Matt from Matt Lures... If I were buying another swimbait stick I would get one.

I'll be at the FOCL, don't know about Piru. Want to but Josh and I will have to see how money is. DVL would be great but Josh's boat has a two stroke. Will you be fishing those with Tom? Good luck out there.

You're going to love it. As far as the scratch goes, I'm sure you're fine. If it does end up breaking, BPS will take it back.

Yeah, its a chromed plastic drag star. I was indifferent about that. Plastic isn't always a bad thing. But in this application I wouldn't say that it serves any purpose but to save money and weight.

You couldn't go wrong with either one but I would leant toward the Revo mainly for the abosolute power that thing has. The drags on those things are great.

You are probably right and if I had not heard similar stories to mine in the past I would have figured mine was a fluke and never posted a thing. But I don't have the time to go through with it and I'll be adding either a Scorpion MG 1000 or an Abu Morrum SX 1600C Ultra Mag Forell to my aresenal instead.

But in reality it is a shallow diving jointed cank/rip bait. I have had a lot of luck with the bait at night. I like the Japanese Shad pattern. ABT is the original manufacture of this bait, along with the Kong. Guys from Strike King liked them so much they worked up a marketing deal with ABT.

I would have loved to have answered you last night but unfortunately the only chance I get to go on this forum is during my breaks at work. You would think that a fisherman would have a little more patience Now about the reel, It feels as if there are no bearings or oil inside the reel. Maybe this is due to the magnesium but I have fished Fuegos, TD-Z's, and Cronarch 50mgs and they don't feel like this. The left side plate doesn't mesh flush with the frame. If I hold the reel up against a white background, you can see a line between the two. The thumb bar flops around pretty loosely which I don't mind when the bar is pressed down but I do mind when it is at the normal position. If I keep spool in one place, the handle can move back and forth 10 degrees. The molded rubber knobs on the handle have way too much play for my taste. They fit loose over the shaft they are on, not to mention the fact that there is flash coming out along the entire parting line. Now if I were Alton Jones and I was getting paid to fish these, sure, I'd fish them. I caught plenty of bass on my first Zebco baitcaster back in 1990. You don't need top notch reels to catch fish, but I expect to get what I pay for. It just really bugs me because I know they could do a better job. I work for a machine shop in the US and I can tell you this, it costs almost the exact same to machine parts to +/-.002" as it does to machine them to +/-.020". There is no excuse I can think of for this reel to be like this. She's one in a million that's for sure

A week ago I tried to link an old thread that I started on this bait back in January but I couldn't figure out how. It is an owner bait. I have three of them now including a shallow version. Love the bait. That is a great color. The packages mine came in called them a Crank'n Shad though. Here is the topic of the old thread. Flat Sided Cultiva Crankbait.

Now I've heard a lot of horror stories about this reel but I didn't listen because I wanted to believe that someone in the US was making a good freshwater baitcasting reel. I figured that some since some of the best rods, ocean reels, and fly reels are made here, there is no reason for the Ardent to not be great. Well my girlfriend suprised me with one for my birthday and she had a sad look on her face when she gave me the gift, as if she knew I wouldn't like it. Well she was right. It is one of the cheapest feeling reels I've ever felt. It may perform great but I just can't get past the feeling of it. I mean, a $99 revo S feels better than this thing. Why? Couldn't they just make the frame out of expensive magnesium and use the cost difference in improving other aspects of the reel? It just kills me because I know that the US has the ability to create a reel that would blow the competion away but this is the best the US comes up with?

I don't have any experience with the spooling station, I always spool the reel either in my hand or on the rod but I have run across this issue in the past. Best fix for me is to just hold the line in toward the oposite side of the buildup.

X2 I also like the Deps Buzzjet.

I like 50lb P-line braid. Used to use Power Pro but the P-line seems to be more abrasion resistent.

War Eagle and Revenge are my favs.

Depends on the trailer. If it is a salt filled bait, I take it off as soon as I am off the water to keep the hook from rusting. If it is not a salt filled bait, I tend to leave it on.