Stephen B

It's been brutally hot. Mostly been cleaning all my gear and spooling new line on all the reels.

That statement may be a tad far-fetched. The ALX Zolo rods are good rods (I have fished the ALX ZOLO Powerbolt and Deputy) but in my experience they are not as sensitive as a GLX. The GLX, Phenix K2, NRX, Megabass Destroyers, Legend Elite/Legend X, Conquest and Z Bones are the pinnacle of sensitivity for a reason and there prices reflect that. Anyways, the ALX rods do have a pretty good warranty and QC looked good as well. Should be a competitive rod in the $200-$300 range

All are great rods it just comes down to what you plan to plan to utilize the rod for. What size jigs or texas rigs do you plan to throw?

Since you have a GLX to compare I will say the FMJ fishes to me a bit more powerful than a 854C JWR GLX and the Daemos fishes similar to a GLX 853.5 JWR (if it existed). So, the Daemos is a touch more powerful than a 3 power G Loomis but not quite as powerful as a 4 power. It should compliment your 893 and FMJ perfectly. I doubt you will be upset with the Daemos. ?

Haha I was thinking the same thing. The guy that gets upset that he is hurting animals is not emotionally stable. There are only 5 people remaining so we will see who wins.

He may have won 2 seasons ago, but yes. I wanted him to win as well. When the show first started I don't remember them being able to bring as much supplies as they do now.

While I don't get upset, it is not something I would do or recommend. Keeping some fish is healthy for the overall health of the lake in moderation assuming they aren't keeping the bigger bass. The only thing that truly upsets me is over harvesting fish especially when they include big largemouth. This truly bothers me and I have to try my hardest to not speak my mind to those people.

I was actually talking about the same thing recently. I 100% agree that you don't see a lot of tubes thrown in the Southeast, which this may be a great opportunity to start throwing them.

There are a lot of good teams this year. Hopefully Atlanta has a good season. I watch a lot of NFL, but college football is what I watch the most. The biggest question is will all the adjustments made will Cleveland win any games? Hahaha. If not, they should just quit.

I am watching this weeks episode now. While the importance of being a good hunter & gatherer can't be reiterated enough, the thing that sets the winner apart from the rest is a person that is confident, head strong, and can easily self entertain themselves. Not having a giant bear/mountain lion around your camp helps to haha. As I would wet my pants. Last seasons winner, Alan, actually lives about an hour north from my town. He was a beast. Very intelligent in his approach of conserving energy and staying mentally intact.

Never heard of him but will definitely take a look at some of his videos.

I watch very little or zero YouTube fishing videos anymore due to many of the issues you bring up. The issue is a lot of them do not know enough about fishing to be educational, many of them are sponsored by fishing companies and hyping a rod/reel as much better than it is. We all know people who have channels like this. The only YouTube channels that I would ever recommend is BassResource, and a couple others. But there is a lot of videos from pros that are extremely helpful and beneficial.

I love the show. I started watching it last season when they were in the Vancouver Islands. While I think being on the show would be interesting, I don't think I could make it much longer than a couple weeks haha. I was shocked to hear that one of the contestants t his season lived weeks off of pine bark until he could no longer continue. I never knew it had any nutritional value. You learn something everyday.

Left handed reels are usually a month or so behind the RH reels unfortunately. But you never know.

Spot on post. We as a society are heading in the wrong direction. Some internet usage doesn't bother me as some internet usage can be beneficial for social interaction. However, if it consumes someone's life then something is extremely wrong. Like you said all kids nowadays sit on their phone and have no outdoor experiences like hiking, kayaking, fishing, hunting, swimming, etc. Everyone can rest assured that my kids will not contribute to the phone addiction as they will be rippin lips with me. ?

I'd pick the St Croix Mojo Bass over the others with the Fury my second pick.

The one thing that sets Dobyns apart from the rest is not only do the majority of there rods balance really well, but they are one of the few companies that have a multitude of longer rods for anglers. They make a lot of great cranking rods, flipping rods, as well as swimbait rods. I met Gary Dobyns and his family at the Bassmaster Classic a few years back and he is definitely a genuine guy. Without a doubt Dobyns makes great rods and can recommend them with a lot of confidence. Not many companies rival the customer service Dobyns has.

I have owned reel and rods from just about all the major manufacturers but I have only owned two Quantum reels and 1 Quantum rod and never had an issue. I know many people who love their Quantum stuff and I have nothing negative to say about the company. Their parent company is actually from my hometown so I know a good bit about Quantum. While Quantum isn't my first choice they do make some good products that I can recommend to others with confidence. I can't say that about every manufacturer but I am not going to name any names haha ?.

All I know is everyone definitely has a different palate. Most of the foods I don't like till this day were from horrible memories as a kid (brussel sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower, etc) as well. I'm not that adventurous of a eater... My uncle grew up as a kid on a farm in Iowa in the 50s and 60s and still to this day would never let a drop of food go wasted. I still can't name any food he won't eat.

Youre right that they try to use product that is affordable to relate better with the average fisherman. But I'm almost 100% convinced, as well as many others on the forum, that they are not truly fishing the rods they show. For example, for KVD I am sure they use there best blanks and put the graphics of a more affordable KVD rod. I am sure he also gets one of a kind rods for his setups to his desired specs. Another example to illustrate this is golf. For many years Tiger Woods used the Nike One Gold ball but Nike would label the ball as the Nike Platinum ball to promote the ball. I am 99% sure the top pros that are widely recognized do the same. I could be wrong but that's just what I think.

I have personally never handled the specific rod you mention, but it's important to know the type of cover whether moderate cover, heavy cover, etc and the lures you plan to use. Also, lure ratings are not always indicative of a rods suitability in a given situation as they are just general guidelines from the manufacturers and tend to not always be perfect. I recommend just trying the rod and seeing how it does and go from there. Experience with the rod is key as everyone has different expectations and differing situations. Hope that helps!

The main issue is that with the cost to ship and insure the package along with the price for a cleaning will be close to what you paid for the used reel. That is assuming nothing is wrong as a repair would be even more expensive. So unless you love the reel or the price isn't too much you'd be better off buying a brand new reel but the biggest determining factor on whether it is worth the repair is knowing what model Tatula it is.

Definitely has me interested. The new Powerpro Super Slick is much improved over the prior generation. Definitely interested in trying it and some of the Hitena braids. Which are you more impressed with Silky or Pureline?

Definitely haha. Back in the day when I used Stren Original my wallet was a bit thicker now I use high end fluoro.... Haha