Johnbt

"Why try the new Hammer, when a well known brand like Falcon already makes an identical looking rod?" Why? Maybe Hammer knows how to spell beaucoup. See, odd colors don't bother me, but odd names do. And it's "bo-koo (IPA bo'ku)" John

My 1960 freshwater casting rod is white. I suppose I was a trend setter. I have to admit that I would use it every summer for small black sea bass and those little inch long sections of bloodworm we used for bottom bait on #4 hooks would make a mess of the rod if I wasn't careful. John

"the painted Sound Balls provide a loud rattle that is ideal for stained and dirty water " Sounds like my kind of fishing. "will also stand upright when sitting motionless on the bottom, making it very easy to fish ultra slow" Slow is good. I'm slow. I love spinnerbaits and floaty rattlers, so what more could I ask for in a new bait. Oh yeah, it comes in chartreuse. I ordered seven to get free shipping. They're due Monday evening. I'll give one each in three colors to my buddy and I'll keep the other four. The only decision left is 4" or 6" grub tail. I've never heard of a dancin eel, maybe I don't spend as much time on line as I think I do. I've used live eels for rockfish/stripers in the bay and red surgical tube on wire for bluefish, but somehow missed the dancin' eel. Did it come in chartreuse? John

"the painted Sound Balls provide a loud rattle that is ideal for stained and dirty water conditions" We'll see. My kind of fishing. "The Knuckle Bait will also stand upright when sitting motionless on the bottom" I love spinnerbaits and floating rattlers, so what's not to like. I ordered 7 to get free shipping. I'll give my buddy one each in three colors and I'll keep the other four. They're due at my door Monday evening. Now, which trailer, the 4" or the 6" grub? I've never heard of a dancing eel. Maybe I don't spend as much time on line as I think I do. Used some live eels for striper/rockfish fishing in the bay and red surgical tube on wire for bluefish, but no dancing eels. John

I've had good luck with the few Triple Fish spools I've purchased recently. Fwiw, as of at least 2015, it's made in Portugal with German technology. I used to use their mono/Perlon camo line that said made in Germany on the label. I think a buddy still has a couple of thousand yards of it. I see the new spools say made in Europe, so who knows. http://www.afwhiseas.com/product-p/triple_fish_relaunch.htm "AFW (American Fishing Wire) and Filkemp S.A. announced the worldwide re-launch and distribution of the original Triple Fish® brand of monofilament, fluorocarbon lines and leaders starting June 1st, 2015. Filkemp S.A., a world leader in monofilament and fluorocarbon production and technology based in Portugal, owner of the registered trademark Triple Fish, has appointed AFW," etc.

Weight is one of the important factors. If they won't publish it I wonder what I'd be ordering sight unseen. I found an online review of a 2012 NRX 873C CRR. MH Fast, 7' 3". Price then was $500 fwiw. Weight = 4.2 ounces. That's light. In fact, it's the exact same weight as the 6' 9" MH ModFast Sniper Spinnerbait I'm waiting on. John RX 873C CRR

"Sounds nice, doesn't it?" Sure, but if they'd publish the actual weight of their rods we wouldn't have to rely on guessing when we're shopping. As it is, I have to stand in the store shaking one rod after another and guessing. That is if they even stock the rods I'm interested in and happen to have one left on the floor. Online shopping is even more difficult. I hope I like my St. Croix LTB Sniper Spinnerbait when it gets here. I looked at the NRX and GLX rods on a number of web sites, but there weren't enough hard facts - only percentages and marketing. I'm sure they're real nice though. John

I suppose it's all about feel and how that affects performance. Or simply what you're used to. Growing up using metal rods they all feel good to me. I don't have any St. Croix spinning rods, so I had to look them up. A Mojo Bass rod MJS71MF 7'1" Medium with a Fast tip only weighs 3.8 ounces. That seems light to me. The MH worm rod listed under it in the chart is 4.7 ounces. That's the same as my MH Fast 7' Avid casting rod. Could be lighter, but it fishes more like a Heavy than a MH. St. Croix casting rods are like that. There's no industry standard.

"tend to reel left handed if they started with spinning gear, and right handed if they started with casting gear" I've seen a lot of that, too. I started with right handed casting reels many years ago, but now prefer left handed ones. Sure, I've used a lot of saltwater spinning reels during the past 35 years and still use them with the crank on the left side, but it just seems to work better for me when I lift the fish with the rod in my strong hand and reel down. Lift and reel, lift and reel. I don't winch fish, not even something like my biggest bluefish off the beach - 17.5#. Of course, maybe I'm slightly left handed. My father was right handed, but batted and golfed lefty. Bunch of uncles and cousins are purely left handed, so maybe I'm touched with it too. Maybe it would all be different for me if the old freshwater casting reels I grew up on weren't about as crude and clunky as the metal rods they were mounted on in the '50s.

I ended up ordering a Legend Tournament - TBC69MHMF Sniper Spinnerbait 6'9" MH Mod. Fast I can't wait. Most of my spinnerbait rods are MH Fast action with lure ratings up to an ounce. This one is 1/4 up to 5/8ths. We'll see. I'm sure I can find a use for it. John

I just put a Legend Elite casting rod in my basket. $400 marked down to $340, but only in the basket. Now I know.

I don't think that works anymore. The current Merc 9.9 Fourstroke is 208 cubic inches. The current Merc 15 Fourstroke is 351 cubic inches. So is the 20. www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/engines/outboard/fourstroke/15-20-hp/

Thank you for the kind welcome. Have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. John

Thank you. Feel free to ask. Although I will tell you it's easiest to ask at the tackle shop about what's biting and where the day you get to the beach. At least two of the guys working at Hopkins (a local store) are serious about it. They were showing me their custom heavers the other day and talking big sharks and such. Meanwhile, I'm resizing photos. Here's my buddy's big fish from 3/9 this year at Sandy River (a 9.9 hp restricted reservoir.) It weighed 10.5 on my digital scale. That's nowhere near his biggest bass, but he was still excited.

Here's a pic of my 1648 when it was still clean. Maxxum 70, glued down carpet from Lowe's, 3 batteries, and an aluminum deck extension in the rear. This is in my buddy's garage. We didn't even put it in the water when it was new; figured it would be easier to do the carpet while it was clean. It's heavy and slow, but the seats are 9' apart and there's plenty of room to walk around.

My name is John and I've been retired for a little more than 4 years. I've been fishing my entire life, starting when I was tiny and my father would fish for catfish during family picnics and hand me the pole. He never really let go because I wasn't big enough to hold it. This is back in the day when rods were metal and inexpensive casting reels didn't work very well. I still have a couple of outfits sitting in the corner collecting dust and rusting - probably from pier and inlet fishing for sea bass and such in the late '50s and early '60s. I've spent a lot of time surf fishing the Outer Banks of NC, and slowly got dragged into bass fishing over the past 30-some years by a buddy who used to be a semi-pro largemouth fisherman. Three years ago I bought a Grizzly 1648 for primarily electric and 10 hp restricted lakes. I modeled it on my buddy's old PolarKraft. He doesn't even own an outboard anymore. Anyway, I've been lurking and reading for some time and have learned a lot. John