mllrtm79

IMO on a budget you can fish your ugly stik(s) until you grow tired of them or close them in a door, I fished for years with an ugly stik rod, and various cheap reels. They may not have the sensitivity of a higher end rod, but they are (in my experience) a durable and usable rod. Being that you're talking about being given a casting rod, I'd suggest one of the two bargain reels you have mentioned, the black max (which I have two of and they work fine) or the BPS pro qualifier, which is currently on sale and have good reviews for the price point (I can't attest to them personally). You will find multiple threads on here saying all kinds of things from varying viewpoints. There are advantages to having a baitcaster at times, but your personal experiences will vary depending on what application you are using them for.

I finally got all of my reels spooled up on Saturday, and situated on the rods I want them on (for now). I got to enjoy the weather and fish for a while Saturday afternoon and yesterday. Don't mind the duck, she likes to watch me fish.

Unfortunately they don't carry (and can't get shipped to DE, according to the site) Wiser's 18 year

hmmm. A drive to cherry hill to spend $90 on a fifth of whisky... maybe, if that's as close as I can get it. I paid $50 something the last time I got it, but it has been a couple of years

mmmm, bourbon. As my handle would imply, I do enjoy an adult beverage or "three" on occasion. I generally drink Beam Black when I am at my local bar and have a hankerin' for whiskey, sometimes with ginger ale. My liquor cabinet doesn't stay as stocked as it used to, but Evan Williams Single Barrel has been a regular. If I can get it, I'd much rather have Wiser's Very Old (18yr)... Unfortunately for me, they don't sell it in Delaware. A buddy was bringing some back from Idaho about every other trip when he was doing a job out there, and got me hooked. It's not worth me moving to a colder climate, but it's close. A few of the restaurants down at the beach have very good selections of whiskeys, but since I know it, Maker's Mark is generally a good fit with my dinner.

in a country where the powerball can get run up over a $billion, you should be able to get a single dollar from at least a couple people. Start a non-profit for the betterment of the life of bass in your live well. or something. Hmm, a Go Fund Me. I need a 18 ft Xpress because the fish would be much happier in that livewell... Now that is an idea.

The army has me in their (regularly unsecured) database, so I'm not too worried about who else would have it... of course the way I spread my "dna samples" around in my twenties, I'm kinda surprised that I only have one offsprung.

one of the ramps we used to get to where we were fishing for stripers in November is very short, and trying to put out at lowish tide we had to both get in the water and push the boat off of the trailer... brrr

I've been told Swiss and German, and with the Amish only a couple generations back I'm sure it's written down somewhere. I do know on my mother's side my great grandfather was the first one in that line born in the US, in 1889 I believe.

Honestly, most of my casts only need to be <15 yards. If I'm slinging the Plopper or a 3/4-1 oz lipless for stripers then I will reach out and touch something...

when you're throwing your whopper plopper downwind, and you see your backing mono... that's what I refer to as "casting a country mile" (probably 50+ yds depending what i've cut off since spooling)

Mine is a month away. Yesterday morning I was out at the shop with my gf's stepdad (he paints custom crankbaits) when a local tackle shop owner came by to place an order. One thing led to another during our conversations, and he walked out to the truck and got one of his custom rods (that he builds) to "show us the thread work". Lets just say that now the bait monkey is all in my ear about getting one, it was by far the lightest rod I've ever held, and starting at the price point that they do... Well it is doable, unfortunately for me. Worst part is, I know that I don't need another rod... but maybe if I sell one of the Vendettas, and the pinnacle, and the KVD Tour...

One of the things that I like about the black Max is the ability to change the brake setting easily, just a dial on the side. As you get warmed up you can dial it back... Or if you change to a lighter lure

The sports center theme seems to make the trash have to go to the bin for sure.

Nothing makes my gf's basset hound have to go out quite as much as the sound of the recliner footrest extending.

I stopped by the local fishing expo this afternoon... Not bad for $18

I should have taken a picture, but my hands were cold... caught one last night on a Livingston something or another that I got from one of the boxes. Hooked him just behind the lip on top of the skull. I thought when I pulled him up that the tail hook was in his eye socket, so I went to work on freeing him instead of taking a photo.

DE doesn't allow carry in state parks, so those ponds are out. But the other ponds, yes. The Nanticoke river I would, unless there is any chance we'd run down it into MD, in which case no way. I don't know how their laws translate to boats, but in vehicles... well, we just leave them at home.

the little farm pond 1 mile from work, where I get away at lunch...

Yeah, about that...

I saw a lot of hits before moving it and on first move, maybe I just wasn't used to throwing a crankbait and was fishing it slower, but if I was doing something wrong the fish didn't seem to know it.

I got a scatter rap shad in Ike's Mardi Gras in a MTB last summer, I caught more fish on that lure late last summer and into the fall than any other lure other than senkos. Even this little fella

@roadwarrior, this comes up on the "best reel" thread: Sorry, we can't show this content because you do not have permission to see it.

being local to me, if you want to check out before you buy i can throw some mono onto one of my black max's (LH) or my Quantum Burner(RH). Both are lower end reels, but would give you an idea, it wouldn't cost anything but time really... I am pulling one of the two off of a 7' vendetta this weekend, just about time to re-spool for the season anyway. PM me if you want to, we can set something up.

One thing that helped me was to use a right and a left hand retrieve back to back out on the water one afternoon. It gave me an idea of which one I found most comfortable or natural. I have a Berkley Lightning Shock 7' MH and really like it (probably will make it my topwater rod next summer), I also have one of their spinning rods (6' M). I haven't used them enough to know how the sensitivity compares to my Abu's (vendetta and vengeance) . For general work they seem to be adequate.