Zeeter

That never occurred to me but it makes perfect sense. Thanks!

No trout gear and I'm not ready to be a fly-snob yet It's at Lake Francis, which is a small electric-only lake.

Don't get me started on braid! I got some new 10# powerpro and put it on my two best rods for today's fishing trip. Complete failure on the one of them. Probably due to the reel settings, but if it had been mono I'm pretty sure I could have gotten the birds nest out. Braid is great until it fouls. Not to mention the tip of one of my g. loomis rods broke off during a cast. It's 10 years old so I'll have to pay for whatever they do to fix/replace it. All in all a pretty lousy day of fishing! Not a single bite.

I'll be fishing the Adirondacks the first week of August. That's probably not the ideal time to go for Pike and Walleye, so does anyone have any suggestions? I've gotten a few spoons and big, fluffy spinners. They also have smallmouth and catfish up there and supposedly landlocked salmon.

I hate when people throw out suggestions that aren't in the choices the OP provided, but if I had it to do over again I would start with a Shimano Curado. By far the easiest to use baitcaster I've had. I had given up on baitcasters after buying a few cheap ones to see if I'd like them. Bought the Curado on a whim and never looked back. I have four of them now.

Biggest catfish I ever caught was probably an 18" channel, which is an ok size at best. Caught a small striper once. I'm going after Pike and Walleye on this trip in a couple of weeks. I won't have the boat by then but the place I'm renting has one with a trolling motor.

That's a nice boat. I'm looking at Lowe now. My only issue with the ones in my price range are that the rod lockers are too small. I need at least 7'3" and they only go up to 6'6". I can't angle them into that space. It seems like a minor point, but my Colorado can't fit rods in the bed without them sticking out, and keeping them in the cab is pretty uncomfortable.

I was looking for a way to upgrade the trolling motor but it just doesn't look possible with this one. Maybe when I talk to the dealer. At least a 65, if not a 75. I had a Ranger bass boat, used, about ten years ago. First boat. The first time out I didn't put the plug in. Didn't know it had a plug. Pretty embarrassed until I talked to some guys who said each one of them did the exact same thing with their first boat.

I'm looking at a Tracker Pro V-16. Bear in mind that cost is a factor. This is not specifically a bass boat as I want to use it on the great lakes and some of the pike lakes in the Adirondacks. Is there any specific reason why I would NOT want to get this boat? I remember hearing bad things about Tracker about ten or fifteen years ago, but have heard recently that their quality has improved.

Yeah - just the same I'm going to stick with my giant spool of cheap Cabelas mono as backing. Reels are too expensive to risk them getting scratched by braid.

I like the setup Rippin has, however I'm putting a tonneau cover on and that won't work. Diagonal won't work as they'll stick out. This 5'3" bed really is too small. I have to put my rods in the corner of the back seat and up through the passenger seat. That's the only way I can get the up to 7' rod to fit.

I realize this is an old topic, but I have to ask. Doesn't braid backing scratch up the spool? I usually add mono backing and then braid, and then the fluoro leader.

This is the closest forum I could find related to the subject. I have a Colorado with a 5'3" bed. Not big enough for rods, and having them inside the cab isn't very pleasant for the passenger on long trips. Does anyone know of a rod holding system for a truck bed? I've looked, but most all I can find is rod holders for fishing off a truck at the beach.

Senko, of course. Also a lucky craft pointer or a spinner, depending on what I see going on.

Thanks fishnkamp - question for you since you're local. What size Senkos are they biting on this time of year? Back in PA we would use 4". Maybe a little smaller late in the season.

Hello fellow fishermen and women. I moved to Maryland about two years ago and am just now getting back into fishing. It's been over ten years since I fished regularly and I have been enjoying it the two times that I've been out. Thus far it has only been at Loch Raven Reservoir, but if anyone knows of some other spots please let me know. I don't have a boat, so it would need to be a place where I can either fish from shore or rent a boat. Also up for getting together with some of you fine people and heading out to a lake somewhere. Look me up if you need a fishing partner some weekend. I might be interested in joining a club, as well. Like I said - new to Maryland and so it would be good to get out and meet some people.

So I wound up getting the IMX 853C JWR. Medium-Heavy, Extra fast, 7'1". This will be used for worming and jigging, freeing up my 843C for crankbaits and spinning. Thought was that I really did want the IMX but the Avid is $100 less expensive. I'm going to be using this thing for quite a while, so to me it makes sense to spend the extra money on what I really want rather than regret getting the less expensive rod. Nothing against the Avid - it's a great rod. I just like the Loomis better and from what I've read, no. It's not $100 better, but it is better.

Ok - yeah. Let's get together for some fishing. I'm up for it! PM me and we can set something up.

Would like to hook up for some fishing. Not familiar with Middle River at all. Being without a boat I'm somewhat limited to where I can go. So many places have "no shore fishing" signs posted. I just moved down here from PA 2 years ago and don't know the hot spots yet. Was thinking of joining a club. PS: It's my son; not my grandson. Hopefully I have a few years left before I gain that title.

I have the IMX now and like it very much. They're probably not worth $300 but they are certainly great rods. I'm researching the E6X now. Sounds better than the GL2 but I'm really looking for a full step up from that; not a half step. Yeah, I'm not sure what he was doing, but my guess is that he wasn't paying attention to the lure prior to casting. I had to keep telling him not to reel it in all the way to the top. I think he was doing that and it was getting caught on the line on the rod between the tip and first eye. Then he tried to cast it that way and all heck broke loose. Hopefully he learned his lesson.

You use it for surf fishing; how is it for bass? Bob - I see you're from Baltimore. I'm in Aberdeen. Do you fish reservoirs a lot? I go to Lock Raven as the boat rentals are so inexpensive. Caught two really nice LM last week there before the heat sent them deep. I didn't have my deep rigs so at that point I was done.

You're saying to use braid on the spinning setup? Two issues I have with that. First is that if he snags then that line isn't going to break off until I cut it. Second, I don't see him tying leaders on all day. I need to keep it simple for him or he'll lose interest.

G. Loomis IMX 843C (7', MH, Fast) with a new Curado 201HG 7:2:1 (yes...should have gotten the 6:3:1). Spiderwire 10# Braid and a 10# fluorocarbon leader (can't remember the brand). Standard size on the reel. St. Croix Triumph (6'6", M, Fast) with a Bantam Curado CU101B low profile. This one has mono 10# and the reel is about 12 years old. St. Croix Premier (6'6", M, Fast) with a Bantam Curado CU201. Same line setup as the Loomis rod and the reel is about 14 years old. Both older reels are well maintained. All of the line has been newly added this month. I intend to change out the line on all of these setups as I'm not happy at all with the spiderwire braid and I had an...incident...where I Iost about 25 yards of the mono. I don't want to get into that as it's embarrassing, but I did get my Lucky Craft lure back!!

I haven't been bass fishing in over ten years. Currently my arsenal consists of three Shimano Curado reels (one new, two ten years or more), two St Croix Premier casting rods, and a G. Loomis 783C. Typically the Loomis is rigged for worming, as it has the greater feel than the other rods, and for the price I would hope so. Yet the reservoir we fish has very little shoreline fishing where I would typically worm or jig. We spend most of our time using crankbaits and spinners. The distance I'm getting with the St. Croix rods on casts is not that good. I've cleaned the reels but to no avail. Switching out the worm to a crankbait, I got some great casts with the longer Loomis rod. Probably a combination of the rod length and the newer reel. So...I'm looking at rods again. My sites are set on either a St. Croix Avid or another IMX 783C. There's about a $100 difference between the two and I have no experience with the Avids. My question for those who have tried both, is the IMX $100 better than the Avid? Assuming that I am an above average recreational fisherman (at most an inexperienced tournament fisherman), will I miss fish with one rod or the other? My Premier rods are 6'6". Should I maybe stick with one of those but at 7'? Lately my son and I have begun a fishing renaissance. Call it bonding or whatever. I notice that after every ten or twelve casts he needs to spend about 20 minutes untangling something that he's fouled up. I have him using my Shimano Stradic and a fairly cheap Quantum rod which may have been part of a combo. A lot of this is carelessness and inexperience on his part, such as not keeping an eye on where his lure is and getting it tangled with the line on the rod. There may be some line memory going on there, too, which could be adding to the problem. I'm considering getting him a 6'6" St. Croix Premier spinning rod and a Shimano Sienna which is a great reel for the price! Not a Stradic, but for $130 less it is well worth the money. Plus...he's 17 and hasn't put in the time to earn a better reel. Can anyone think of a better setup for the price than that? Yes, I want to get him onto baitcasters eventually, but if he can't keep from tangling a spinning rod then he's nowhere near ready for a baitcaster. The GL2 and GL3 seem grossly overpriced. So to summarize: 1. Is a G. Loomis a $100 better rod than the St. Croix Avid? This will be an all-around rod as I don't have the wallet to get a rod for every fishing situation. 2. Is the Sienna with a Premier 6'6" a good setup for a 17 year old or can someone think of better? I realize the St Croix vs G. Loomis question has been asked about 1,402 times, but I can't find anything recent. I'll get all my questions out at once. My order contains PowerPro Braid 10# green, Berkley Trilene XL Smooth Casting 8# (for spinning), PLine CFX 10# fluorocarbon leader, plus some other odds and ends. Any suggestions on why I should consider other brands?