Boomstick

Daiwa J-Braid x8 has been a solid line at a good price. If you need something more abrasion resistant try Power Pro Max Cuatro.

I have two Tatula SVs, the Pflueger Supreme Xt and a Shimano Curado K and some cheaper reels and the Supreme XT is probably smoothest reeling and the lightest (and also has the highest drag rating). It holds the line of a Curado K and is lighter than the Curado 70. It brakes almost as well as Tatula SV and casts further. It's definitely the best value of the above reels and just might be my favorite. I really can't recommend this reel enough especially if you can find it for $110. It's still competitive at its full retail price of $150.

I would think a well designed graphite reel should be fine. I wouldn't worry about it flexing too much one fighting a big fish or two, if anything the problem would be after a few years of use. My advice to you is if you are happy with how the reel performs, use it until it breaks. No need to run out and buy an aluminum framed reel just because you hear they're better but don't have any actual issues with yours. And if you do have a cheaper casting reel that does suffer from flex issues, well maybe it's time for an upgrade. Carbon fiber can be pretty strong - they make truck beds out if it, so I would be more concerned with the quality and design of the reel itself.

You can get a Tatula CT on eBay for around $100. I got a Pfluefer Supreme XT on ebay for $110 which I'm not sure you will find again but if you can, I'd be all over that. I had a 20% off coupon code around xmas to get it that cheaply, but I would say it's similar to a Curado and will put the Tatula CT or Casitas to shame. It's a lesser known reel, but a very nice one and having a six pin centrifugal brake setup, it's good for both pros and beginners. If you don't trust ebay or whatever, then maybe the Fuego. Lews also has some good offerings at that price point.

There's not much of a difference between those two. 7'1" and 7'3" are both longer frog rods where some people prefer a shorter rod, around 6'6" because it's easier to walk the frog.

I have a 6'9" ML/XF Avid X that I paired with a Daiwa BG 2000. The BG is a heavier reel but otherwise comparable to much more expensive reels and I will likely be able to will it to my kids someday, and let me spend more on the rod, and I haven't actually used this rod yet but I can tell you that the heavier reel balances very nicely with the Avid X. I have heard some people complain the Avid X feels tip heavy with lighter reels, and I believe it. The BG also has a nice large spool so it should help reduce any issues with line loops popping off. If you do opt for a lighter reel, I would go with the Pflueger Patriarch over the Stradic ci4+ because the bail of the stradic leaves little room for my thumb. The Patriarch might actually be a little bit lighter as well, but they're otherwise fairly similar reels.

It's stronger on fluorocarbon and maybe even mono but I don't believe it's quite as strong with braid because the palomar cinches down very tightly with braid. Still, was going to be the alternative knot I was going to suggest. I do use the uni almost exclusively with mono and fluorocarbon, and sometimes with braid, mainly when the wind is blowing or with a larger bait as it wastes less line then the palomar. It's extremely rare I have issues with my knots breaking regardless which I use. I usually give it 5-7 wraps -- I aim for 5 but occasionally I lose count. There is also the improved cinch knot which is really quick, but certainly not as strong as the uni or palomar. I find the uni is actually easier for meto tie if the wind is blowing my line around something awful. Occasionally I will put the bait through the loop on the palomar and the wind will blow it right back which sends me through a mental loop that results in me starting over, where I've gotten tying a uni on a windy down like instinct.

I always use the double uni knot because it's fairly easy to tie, and I have never broke off at the joint. The FG knot is stronger, but people make do with the alberto knot which is weaker as well, so I'm not too terribly concerned with this.

I am still surprised I managed to make it fit, still. I thought I would have a tackle bag plus one extra box to carry around. I guess I still will in some situations.

I'm going to bet the pike's teeth got the line.

I went home today and when I woke up, I felt a million times better than I did all week. At least someone missed me... I also received a large package I ordered before I went in the hospital that contains all new baits for this year (minus replacements for what I lose over time), which include neg rid and drop shot, owner beast hooks and keitechs, project z chatterbaits, and some KVD line conditioner. Felt good enough so I sorted it out and made it fit into my tackle bag -- unfortunately I'm starting to run out of room so I left my carolina rig tackle in another box as I don't fish them all that often but managed to make everything else fit nicely. Sometimes simple things make me happy

I had pretty severe carpal tunnel some years ago. I didn't fish at the time, but I couldn't play guitar at all or even make a fist with my left hand!!!! I quit smoking and changed my diet (ate more fruits and vegetables and less meat) and now the only times I have issues is when the weather changes from cold to warm to cold again, but it's minor - I can still fish and play guitar just a slight discomfort and stiffness in my hands. If surgery is out of the question, you may want to try quitting smoking if you do and looking up a carpal tunnel friendly diet because it really does work. I have read that most people are allergic to wheat and dont know it. Instead of getting sick, they just collect it in their system and put on weight. So if you had this form of wheat allergy then giving up wheat would make total sense. I will say that when I quit smoking and changed my diet around, I ate a lot of meat or fish, rice or potatoes and a vegetable and much less wheat as well for what it's worth any my carpal tunnel nearly disappeared. I lost a small amount of weight on this diet as well, but as far as weight loss it wasn't until I quit eating neat that I got anywhere near my target weight.

I have a similar sized reel with a M/F rod that I occasionally fish soft plastics with and use 20lb braid with that and it lets me add a 8lb fluorocarbon leader. I usually use this rod with weightless soft plastics, crankbaits and topwater and my girlfriend uses it a lot as she can't cast a baitcaster. If I had a MH/F rod paired with it, I would be using 30lb or 40lb braid instead, depending what I planned on using it for. The Revros should be a solid reel for you. Might not be quite as smooth as the BG or as light as the Tatula LT but I bet you'll have it for several years.

I could say buy the Daiwa because I'm admittedly a Daiwa fanboy, but on the other hand, I doubt the Lews is a bad reel either. Edit: I got a Daiwa BG for $75 on Amazon, which would probably be the way I would go.

Same with Big Game 12lb. It may even exceed 20.

This is actually fairly normal for my mom. On Saturday, the surgeon came in on his day off to ensure we had time to ask questions, and she totally dominated the meeting with her pro conspiracy eat vitamin c and forgo conventional treatment. As a result, I had real questions and did not get to ask them and he had to come in again on Sunday. Really nice guy for doing this. I told her she asked all her questions and if she came Sunday, she wasn't to ask anymore and if she wasn't going to respect that, I'd have her removed. She showed up and endlessly belly ached to the point nobody else in the room could talk, so we asked her to leave. She refused until I yelled security. I did get to ask all of my questions. Sadly, as you may have picked up from this, she does not respect boundaries and this behavior is fairly normal for her in a normal situation. she was a little upset about this to begin with on the day of the surgery and I think she took it out on my girlfriend.

Wow thank you. I may just do that. Currently, I am waiting for the oncologist to come by, in which case I will start to learn what my options are. I'm sort of hoping this is isolated enough where they can treat it with radiation therapy, which should let my continue my life as normal around appointments and hopefully not miss work and this summer's fishing trips with the boys which mean the world to me. But if chemo is a better route so be it. I am just hoping I recover enough to go fish next weekend. Might be taking a chair and using a vertical presentation to reduce casting, but I got a new ML/XF Avid X and a Daiwa BG 2000 to try out anyway. If I could sit on the shore somewhere and throw a Ned rig, I'll be happy. My belly still hurts from surgery quite a bit and when I roll to my sides, I can actually feel my insides shifting around. To make things worse, I learned about all of the drama my mom caused when I was in surgery and all of the blatant disrespect she showed towards my girlfriend. I had an idea when she wasn't there when I woke up, but turns out it went as far as the surgeon. I don't tolerate it and shut that **** right down, but to target my girlfriend because I'm not available was a new low, even for her (she is certifiable, no exaggeration). Sorry to vent s little it just bugs me that this is what I get from my own mother who once taught me that family comes first before she went insane.

I got the pathology report today and it's an atypical carcinoma, and they did the right surgery for the diagnosis and got all of the active disease. That's the good part. The bad part is that it is stage 3 and has spread to my lymph nodes, so I am not out of the water yet. The next step is to talk to an oncologist and probably chemo or the like.

I'll make this simple -- I also fish mostly from shore and if I had to have only three kinds of baits, I would pick spinnerbaits, squarebills and senkos. Lipless cranks and topwater are also good during the right time of day and year and chatterbaits are also a good choice if you needmore, but you can do pretty well with just those three. My reasoning is when I get them by shorelines, it's usually feeding times when they will chase moving baits. And for the times they need a little more enticing, that's when the senko comes into play.

I know exactly what you mean. I didn't sleep on Sunday night before the surgery because I just kept thinking what if something goes wrong and my boys grow up without a dad, which was honestly my largest concern.

I'm a sucker for Daiwa rods and reels myself, but the problem here is they don't make a great finesse spinning rod option (the ML/XF finesse rod they make apparently has a very week tip and there's way too many complaints about people breaking it, which made me go with a different brand for this purpose). So I might have to go with St. Croix rods and Daiwa reels. I could easily go with Pflueger reels as well, the largest problem is they don't make the Supreme XT in a 8.1:1 which sounds like a deal breaker, but that's a great reel for the price. You could also go with Shimano for rods and reels, but you might be breaking budget just slightly to pick up the Curados. That said, I wouldn't limit myself to one brand unless I got a sponsorship.

Sounds like this would be a great rod for casting heavier lures that we normally use casting rods for but for someone who doesn't know how to use a baitcaster. Could throw texas rigs, jigs, spinnerbaits etc on this rod. As Luke G mentioned, it would also be good for catfish and carp, and salmon too!

Latest update: I get to go home on Saturday.

I tried 15lb Fluoroclear with my oldest son's setup based on tackletour's review. It seems thin for a 15lb rating, and may have a little extra stretch. Haven't got a lot of eposire to it yet but I figure its cheap enough where I can got try some CXX or Yo Zuri hybrid if we decide we don't like it. One thing I will say is if I was going to use it in a low pound test for a finesse style setup, I would use 8lb instead of 6lb line. EDIT: This line has horrible memory. Normal memory is round loops from being on your spool but somehow this line got all sorts of squiggly line in weird shapes and I don't even know where that came from. Definitely not a fan of this line.

The Celtics were just too fast for them. Even the big guys are running circles around the very slow Cavs team that doesn't like to play defense.