jdw174

All of my spinning rods have the TN handles. Personally, I like being able to put the reel where I want it. I fasten my reels with a layer of strapping tape, with plastic electricians tape on the outside.

The last new lure I bought was a SK Redeye Shad in sexy shad color and that was a couple of years ago. It's become one of my favorite baits. This year I may break down and get a pack of soft swimbaits and I'm considering trying one of the new Storm Kickin' Sticks. Outside of that....nada.

I watched the two opening episodes last week and was instantly hooked. The hero is a bodyguard that's a kind of combination of Jason Bourne and James Bond. It runs on Tuesdays following American Idol. If you like action...check it out.

Hathcock also hit a VC, moving on a bicycle, at close to a mile using an M2 Browning .50 with a scope mounted on it. That's from his book.

I can't begin to count the number of Lake Erie smallies that fell to my 1/2oz Silver Buddies. Mostly I cast it out and then ripped it off the bottom. Almost every fish came on the drop. There were many that I never even felt the strike. I'd just watch the line on the drop and if it started coiling on the surface I'd set the hook. The only "lookalike" that came close was one made in Ohio called a "Silver Lucky". Don't know if those are even made any longer. The SB is, IMO, the greatest blade bait ever made. One thing I did notice is that the newer ones made after the original owner retired didn't seem to have the same action as the older ones. The old ones had a plain, unfinished blob of lead on them. The newer ones I had were painted to match the blade.

If you're comfortable with spinning, why not use it? I use spinning for worming, shakey-headin', drop shotting, and occasionally for small CB's. I once fished with a kid who used a spinning rig for spinnerbaiting and he could plant that thing in a teacup and leave hardly a ripple. For med-deep running CB's I'd prefer a baitcaster. There are those who flip/pitch with spinning rigs. I say dance with who brung ya.

I'm kinda biased, since a 15 minute drive puts me smack in the middle of Kentucky Lake, or a 30 minute drive lands me on Barkley. So I've got two great largemouth lakes handy. I moved here from Erie, Pa, so my heart belongs there for smallies.

I've used a few Berkley rods over the years and I have to agree with you. The actions always seemed stiffer than others.

Up until the last couple of years, I followed Bill D's shows all the time. I think his shows were more enjoyable when he traveled around to various lakes/rivers. I remember when he would open his CB box and it was nothing but Bagley's. On top of his bass fishing, he did some very good shows on crappie. I always enjoyed Billy Westmoreland's show as well.

I have two of those. In tearing them down for cleaning I found that the insides appear to be identical to a Quantum Iron other than a couple of extra bearings. They've been decent reels for the past 15 yrs, but I'm ready to replace them this spring.

The Bass Pros Bass Pro Shops Fishing Lunkerville Schooled With J P DeRose (WFN) Bass Edge Bass Champs Fish PAA (WFN) BassMasters (ESPN2) Classic Patterns (outdoor channel) I'm sure there's a couple I've missed.

I agree that the Vendetta looks good. I have an AllStar Zell Rowland TWS that I've used for years and may just recruit it to handle this chore. It's the one rod I own that I'd probably shed a tear over if anything happened to it as I don't think they're available any longer. This rod had caught me a ton of fish throwing everything from topwater to small cranks to jerkbaits. It handles them all beautifully.

In the last couple of years, I've found myself using a shallow running crank around shoreline cover to the point I seldom toss a spinnerbait any longer. I'm looking for a suggestion for a rod to use for this. Should be not much over 6', with a tip soft enough to toss 1/4-3/8oz cranks, but with sufficient backbone to muscle work a fish out of the brush if I have to. Anyone have any suggestions as to some brands/models that I can check out? Would prefer to keep it under a C-note if such a thing exists.

Paranoid is right ;D It's just a question, asked out of idle curiosity, by an average fisherman.

without actually having seen/tested one? I, for one, will not buy any rod sight unseen, considering that there is no industry standard for rod actions. I.E. one maker's M is another's MH and so on. With the cost of rods these days, it's too much money to gamble on an unknown quantity. JMHO of course.

I've seen it, and it's definitely worth a look. The DVD/Blu-Ray is due out in the next week or so.

One of my local stores is affiliated with BPS. I can walk in, order anything I want from the catalog, and get it for catalog price plus sales tax...no shipping.

The only gripe I have with WFN is that they keep running the same shows over and over, and most of those aren't that new. Good programming, yes, but how about some new episodes?

When the Triple-Grips first came out, I received a couple of boxes of them to test (was outdoor writing at the time). I swapped them out on a few cranks and went after those good ol' Lake Erie smallies Those fish absolutely WRECKED those trebles. I was lucky to get more than one fish to a hook. One looked like a pretzel when I got the fish to the boat. I gave the rest of them away and haven't used them since. Whether or not they've improved since then I can't say.

I noticed that selections are down in name brands, while BPS is showcasing their products, esp in rods/reels. Still not a bad catalog. If you want to see a catalog that really shrunk down, check out last year's Cabela's fishing catalog. It was pitifully small.

Two more that you can walk are the Pop-R and the Chug Bug.

In my gunwriting days, I had one of the first Glocks to test for a write up. I fired 3500 rounds thru it without cleaning, including a ton of lead bullet reloads. It jammed once at around the 3500 mark due to the slide failing to fully go back into battery. Cause was a small ring of lead from the reloads that built up around the chamber mouth. I flicked it out with a pocketknife and fired another 3K rounds without problem. I bought the gun when I finished the testing and won a lot of "mouse gun" matches with it at the local IPSC club. I'm not a fan of "crunch-tickers" (DA first, SA followups), but the SIG is definitely the best of that lot IMO. Had a little P226 that I wish was still around. Fine firearms.

I carry a Kershaw Scallion. Kershaw is an excellent US made knife and holds an edge nicely. I also have a Columbia River M16 Carson that I carry from time to time.

If you can handle it, I suggest the 10 footer, both for stability and the extra room. I also suggest the addition of a fixed rudder to the rear to keep it from being blown around as much in a breeze. You can make one from a piece of plexiglass added to a bracket and fastened to your stern with a c-clamp.

When Lake Erie was my home waters, the Hopkins spoon was a staple in my box for vertical jigging smallies. Also, don't forget the Silver Buddy/Sonar type lures. The 1/2oz Buddy is my favorite vertical jigger for smallies.