jdw174

Used nothing but Silver Thread lines for years and never a problem with any of it. Never had it break and some of the bulk spools I have date back about 15 years! Low diameter for line strength.

My mainstays are Zoom, Strike King, and Hag's. I also have some Mizmo tubes.

I've been setting on the fence over the claims for FC line for some time now. The worst factors to consider were cost and problems with knot strength. I got rather tired of the pros telling me that I just couldn't fish without FC. That's well and good for those who have line sponsors and get it by the truckload for nothing (or next to it). That said, last week I decided I'd give one spool a try. I chose 20lb InvisX because I'd run out of my 25lb SilverThread copoly that I'd used for years for pitching and heavy cover use. I'll give it a fair shake this year and if I don't see any difference in performance from my old friend ST, I'll go back to it in a heartbeat.

Just bought my first two bottles of KVD. First thing I noticed was the "Don't let freeze". They're both in my closet....waiting for a bit warmer weather. Question: What if you treated the line on your reels in your boat.....would that freeze up like the bottles do? :-?

Same goes for drum. I can tell in a couple of seconds when I've got one of those on the line. Couple of strong runs, then it's almost like pulling in a log. Had a 15 pounder on a drop shot rig this past fall that did give me a workout though

I don't know if I'd worry that much about it being smooth. Earl Bentz wrote one time that in his racing days they would actually roughen up the hull with sandpaper to get better speed. If you like the idea and it works.....go for it.

I use the hooks that come on them. Like every other crankbait I get, I take them out of the box, test for sharpness, then hone them if necessary. Haven't lost a fish on them yet. As for TripleGrip trebles, I received a couple of boxes to test back in my outdoor writing days. I'd heard a lot of good about them, so I set about swapping them onto my favorite cranks. The first 2lb smallmouth that loaded on turned those hooks into pretzels !! I'm talking bent and twisted so badly they had to be tossed. When I got home, the old hooks went back on again. To be fair, the new short shank KVD model looks to be a lot stouter than the originals. I may give those a shot if/when the originals are worn out.

I went into the same one. However, most of the stuff everyone is saying that is on sale isn't at the Clarksville store. I'll go back and look today and see if they added anything, but my guess will be nothing has changed. There was only a limited amount of items that were actually on sale in the fishing section. Nothing like what everyone is mentioning. I didn't find anything like what others are mentioning, either. Considering the area and the popularity of fishing, their tackle department was, IMO, woefully small. Of course, I saw lots of empty pegs in the markdown section so I'm sure that there were at least several others there before me ;D

Thanks guys. I like the looks of that 16-20 so will be giving that a try along with the Palomar. Now if things would just warm up a bit...

I was the backwall manager (fishing, watersports, camping) at the first Dick's built outside of NY state(it was the 13th in the chain). I have to say it was a job that I really enjoyed...to a point. While in training at their Buffalo, NY store, I got to make a trip to corporate HQ and meet with the buyers. I was told that I "would be listened to" when it came to ordering merchandise and that my "input was valued". (Yeah, right : ) What happened was that they would put sales flyers out for every weekend, showing items on sale that would never show up, resulting in irate customers and issuing rain checks, knowing that we'd be lucky if we EVER saw the item in question. We were constantly sent fishing equipment that wouldn't sell in that area if we GAVE it away, and calls from me were for the most part ignored. Dan, I don't know what they're like to work for now, but I could tell you horror stories about the store manager I had to work with. He was the reason for quitting my job there. The district manager loved my work....the store manager didn't and made things really miserable.

He did die in the Magnificent Seven tho. He also died in The Mechanic....

It's the Team Daiwa-S model with the green handle. Frankly I can't remember if it's the 6 1/2 foot or the 7-foot that's out in the boat right now. I've had it for a few years. Nice rod for shallow to med running cranks.

I dropped $20 on a spool of Seguar InvisX fluro in 20lb test for pitching worms/jigs. Read a lot of confusing stuff about which knots to use to tie to the hook/jig, so which knots do you fluro users use? I've used a Palomar for years with copoly and never had a hint of a problem, but apparently lots of people here don't think it's so great with fluro. So how about some suggestions?

If I want to get max depth, I use a Team Daiwa crankin' rod and a 5.3:1 reel spooled with 10lb line. If I want to keep the lure shallower, I run another rod with 17lb line.

Let me guess.....Oakland Raiders fan perhaps?

Depending on conditions, my first choice would be either a shallow running squarebill tossed parallel to the riprap, or a jig.

I used nothing but co-poly for years. This past year, I added braid to my three spinning outfits but still use the co-poly for leader. Yesterday I was overcome with insanity and paid $21 for a 200yd spool of Seguar InvisX 20lb that will be used on my pitching outfit. Whether or not it will stay on there remains to be seen.

I had the "Cap't Morgan stance" thing for years and would go home with my back killing me. I finally added the recessed pedal thing this year and it's the best thing I ever did. Couple of months ago, I swapped out the MG for a new Fortrex. It's a GREAT motor. I would check with your Lund dealer about installation of the recessed tray. Some boats have a support under the deck. If your dealer doesn't know or isn't sure, I'd call Lund direct and ask them. Installation took me about 40 minutes on a glass boat. Local "stealer" tried to tell me it was a 2 hour job (at $75/hr labor).

Never fished with the Bucoo's....have only looked at them in local stores. I do own three Excels, two casting and one spinning, and really like them. The spinning rod is the 703S that I use for dropshotting...it's one of my favorite rods. The casting rods are both 705C's.

With clothing, I wear what I like...not what somebody else thinks is "hip". If I tried to keep up with the pros on everything they tout, I'd be in the poorhouse.

I stopped in the one in Clarksville, TN this morning. It looked like a plague of locusts went thru the place. Still, I managed to grab several bags of YUM plastics for $1.48 ea. They had some Rapalas left....couple other things, but nothing interested me that much.

There's far too much talking and not enough fishing on either one of them, but the BASS production is better, IMO. I would hope McKinnis takes the TV back to the "thrilling days of yesteryear"....the way it was when Bob Cobb did the commentating.

BPS, Strike King, and Bomber cranks. Caught a lot of fish on those. You can get some really good prices at Lurenet's website on Bombers. None of those will break the bank. I have a topwater box, and perhaps the best producing lure in there is a BPS knockoff of a Sammy, gotten when BPS would offer their "5 lures for $5" at the beginning of the year. In soft plastics, the Zoom Trick Worms is hard to beat. They're not fancy, but they do the job. I carry several different plastics, but they're always there. I don't have any WalMart SB's, but I have a box of others, some more than a few years old..and they still produce. My favorite is the Mann's Hank Parker model with twin Indiana blades.

Mostly on reviews of a bait, and whether or not they fit into my fishing style. For instance, I like to fish shakeyheads, and when I read the article on the Hag's Tornado I ordered a couple of bags. It quickly became my favorite soft plastic for that, so this year, I ordered several more bags. Over the years, I've never listened to what a pro was pushing in the way of lures.....until KVD came along with his RedEye Shad and the Sexy Shad color. I've caught a bunch of fish on that lure and it remains my favorite lipless crank. I also listened when read about shallow running square-bills and now throw those in place of spinnerbaits most of the time. Thanks to a gift certificate I got this year, I now have several of the new KVD 1.5 and 2.5's and have high hopes for them. As for price, let's just say that $7+ spinnerbaits give me a pucker factor of +10, not to mention $15 cranks. If you like 'em and can afford them, drive on, brother. As for me, I stick with Bandits, Bombers, SK's, and a couple others. Heck, I've done very well on BPS copies.

I used the Hag's a lot this past year. Just got a bag of 8" to use for c-rigging. I use the 5" for shakeyhead fishing. Love 'em 8-)