MN Fisher

(sure - you send me the money for it, I'll buy one - that sucker is half my yearly fishing budget)

Never had the need for them...I've always direct tied even when panfishing with bobber&worm except for two techniques where I use barrel swivels without snaps. Double-Fluke (Donkey Rig) Carolina Rig

I've gotten a few things from DSG - only because either no one else had them, or they wanted outrageous prices (Yes, even DSG does better in some things) Strike King Banshee series - DSG exclusive far as I know Zoom Goby - DSG was 30% or more cheaper than anywhere else I could find them.

Despite me now having 5 Furys in my arsenal - I've never paid more than $90 for a rod...get them on sale. And even with 2 Fuegos and a Patriarch - still haven't paid more than $90 for a reel.

Well, with BPS buying SW - watch SW go the way Cabelas did.

Kent - tried that twice, stated a max budget...and almost all of the rods recommended were 1.5x-3x my stated max...so gave up and researched on my own.

Ya - drives me nuts too when searching for a rod on TW for a specific application.

Considering how bad I was on a 'board when younger - I would have required a hospital visit.

Kinda like my last Scheels visit. Went there specifically because the Avocet RZTs were on discount and wanted a few. Spent 45 minutes wandering the fishing section...walked out with only the RZTs I'd gone there to get.

Couldn't have been seeing me when I went 'active' then.

Medium-Heavy/Fast is the most versatile rod for casting. While it won't do everything, it does several things very well, and a larger number adequately.

Look further up the food-chain. Their prices are set by law, they keep saying they don't make enough money on what they're legally allowed to charge, but the morons 'upstairs' keep voting down the price increases that could make USPS at least break even.

Our one DSG is about the same - with the difference being the rods are on floor-display racks instead of atop aisle rows. Locally from DSG we got a Cabelas about 30-35 minutes, a Scheels about 15-20 minutes, a SW about 35-40 minutes and a Joe's about 25-30 minutes. So maybe it's not about proximity to other shops...

I've run Coopers for years. Latest set on the Silverado are the Evolution HT as I don't do any mudding. They've been good year round and next time I need a set, I'd go with them again.

And the legislators - way our systems works here...DNR can submit proposals, but it has to be voted on in the legislature and signed off by the governor.

What's the power/action of that rod? A Medium-Heavy/Fast is the 'Swiss army knife' of rods - does a lot of things...some of them well, others adequately. More rigs gives you more options...even when I was broke and could only get 'cheap' rigs, I still had three to cover different techniques.

Ya - all dependent on which manufacturer has the larger advertising budget.

I'd go further - I don't put more than 70yds of mainline on any of my reels - the rest is filled with backing...yes, even on my spinning reels.

It's legal under two conditions (yes, I looked it up) 1: Only two of the arms can have hooks/lures, the rest have to be 'dummies' without hooks. 2: There's no more than 9" between the hooks/lures, as measured from one hook/lure, up it's arm to the juncture, and back down the other arm to it's hook/lure.

The line rating on reels is just to give you capacity information. You can put just about anything you want on that spinning reel - from 2# mono to 50# braid. Though pay attention to the line diameter printed on the spool - I wouldn't put anything that's thicker than .012" on that reel. The rod rating a general guideline, not a hard limit. You can use higher strength braid on that rod...in fact I'm putting 20# braid on a rod that's rated 6#-12#.

I think of it like this Structure is the hill/canyon/cliff that's built of rock/earth Cover is the grass/bushes/trees that grow from it

I just carry the original spools of what I use for leader material in one of the pockets of one of my bags (in the canoe I have 2-3700 bags and 2-3600 bags). I start with 6'-8' - don't discard/tie on a new leader until it's down to 3' or less.

Never had any Sammys - couple Puppies, couple Spooks and a couple Super Spooks...that's it for walking baits in my collection.

I plan on taking what time I can get on the water between ice-out (mid-April) to bass opener (mid-May) to just learn it and map out some spots that look good with the online maps.

Ya, I got this one too - though my 'upgrade' isn't as fancy. Old: Lowrance Hook 2-4 (not even GPS on that one) New: Garmin Striker Plus 7cv (ya, only DI, no SI) Still, it's a learning curve.