CrankFate

Braid. Personally, I have never been able to cast a baitcaster with mono, I don’t know why so many people say it’s easier than braid???

This is why why you don’t need a $500 rod.

Good move. I consider the hook the most important thing there is. And hooks are extremely likely to be fakes. I don’t trust a hook, no matter how much it cost, unless it came from a reputable dealer or at least says “sold and fulfilled by Amazon.” The same with popular brand fishing lines. The owners and VMC’s you chose are a great choice. The best place to spend the most money on fishing, IMO, is on hooks.

I don’t really have any goals. But I would like to take a few weekend or short trips to fish in some new places in 2019.

Line capacity is overrated. But for some reason the USDM loves to see big numbers in the stats. I personally do not enjoy catching fish that feel exactly the same as attaching the hook to the back of a car that is driving away.

Sometimes you find the bait, but not the fish.......

I don’t either, but I have the spool and the reel, and since you insisted I risked getting in trouble for opening Christmas presents before Christmas and not only opened the box, but then opened the reel. It definitely fits. And if you thought the Tatula CT has tight tolerances, forget it, It’s not even close to the tolerances of the 2018 Tatula. I can’t believe how snugly the left sideplate fits. It’s completely reengineered and uses much nicer materials.

If you sit around all winter playing Alan Tani with your reels, you start to get used to the smell of all the different greases and oils.....

Hmmmm...I’ll see, I have both reels and the aftermarket spool that I use in the CT. I’ll switch them out and let you know. I think they changed the edges of the spool to keep line from running off the spool and into the gap between the spool and sideplate (because it does happen with super thin line on the CT, until you get used to it)

Berkely Powerworms, especially chartreuse tails.

Whenever I say I already know everything there is to know about fishing, it’s a joke, because I only say that when I just learned something I didn’t know about fishing, when I was 100% sure I wasn’t going to learn anything from whoever I learned it from.

It’s like cheating. You can see where the structure is.

Real. Always real.

Since I already know everything there is to know about fishing, I never listen to anything they say. The only reason I heard anything that guy had to say is because he stayed there talking to me the whole time I was trying to get him to leave.

As much as the internet ruined the brick and mortar stores, I think it actually increased the sales of most gear. Once they get a good YouTube buzz, we’ll all be talking about the products and buying them. Back in the day it was one or two rods and reels for a lifetime. Now you need 10 just to go on the internet.

DC is next for me. The new Tatula looks well engineered and crafted all around. My main concern is start up inertia. I can tell just by spinning the spool that it is going to slow down at the right point to prevent overruns. But there’s no way to know how light it will start up.

You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em....know when to walk away.....and....... When I feel demoralized, I put on one of these (Berkeley jigging grubs in white) and cast out to where I can’t get any bass, then slowly work the area of deep water just behind the tiny piranha sunnies but halfway as far as where I thought I would catch bass but didn’t. I landed a few blue gills that were over a pound this way. Sometimes a few on the same day. And catching one or two of those cures all demoralization. Merry Christmas.

Running a BT shop is tough. Plus, most fishermen are cheap. And they hate buying stuff. I’m glad we have the big stores, especially BPS. There’s just no way a mom and pop could do what BPS does. So as much as I get the nostalgia of the local Bait and Tackle shop, they’re only viable in certain locations. I seriously believe BPS is the gold standard of what a major retailer should be. I am always happier going there than some little shop that has overpriced everything. There’s no way a little store can stock every size, color and shape lure, plastic, rod, reel and hook. And still charge fair prices. I love the idea of small businesses, especially restaurants, but fishing gear is all big businesses now Daiwa, Abu, Shimano, Berkeley, Yamamoto, St Croix, etc. The days of the little shop that makes custom rods and lures are mostly over. I lose the tip on a rod, it’s going in the garbage and I’m getting a new one. And the reels, I have nothing to do all winter but service them myself and make long winded posts on the internet.

Everyone loves fishing, until it’s time to actually go. I hear everyone talking about some big adventure, far away for some giant fish. I have done that a couple times, but I don’t like it. And I couldn’t even think of being on a boat for a few days straight. I’d rather be in some shallow water catching regular fish whenever I want. And whenever I can, that’s what I do.

This. When I fish, every hour was really 4. 2 or 3 hours is like a whole day. seriously, it’s more like Die Hard With a Vengence Behind Enemy Lines. I say behind enemy lines, too, because You travel light behind enemy lines. I use a finesse type set up for everything and don’t carry a ton of stuff. Just the necessities.

They are great if you don’t take any measures to maintain them. But the drags need upgrading to Carbontex. I love when reels are way too small to be practical. It’s true. And I like Abu. But this is exactly why I have a love/hate relationship with my Abus.

A guy in Dicks once told me that in some stores, they don’t put them on display. Instead, they offer them as a special deal for the people who actually ask the salespeople for help. I never ask them for help. I only learned this because I happened to wind up talking to the guy in the store when I was buying a rod and some lures about two or three years ago. He was nice and actually really knew what he was talking about. He started talking to me because I was the only person in the store and I was taking a long time bending the rods and comparing all the guides and tips on the rod I was buying. Not academy, but you never know.

Could be the rod. I only have had this type of problem when therod doesn’t load with what I was casting. But there’s lots of other variables here.

Yes Virginia, it’s true. It matters. If you choose the color you like best, it makes you filled with the magical fishing spirit.

That would be the value of Berkeley soft baits, ugly stick, spider wire and Abu Garcia. Revenue of 80 million is a lot for a fishing company, but IMO, their biggest problem is too many products and a shrinking market. That plus zero innovation. 1.2 billion looks like more than 10 years of revenue. Kick ass deal for the seller if you ask me. http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.pure_fishing_inc.660d556e90bad6aa.html