MAN

I have had one in my truck since ICAST....darndist thing is I have had no excitement to go actually throw it. Not to many tarantulas and banana spiders running across our waters here in Texas. But I am sure it would work eventually if I can get it over a hungry bass.

So many rods....but no favorites. Not even my own developed rods.

Looks like that Menda(sp?) Fishing Lure that floated around for a bit about 10 years ago. Simulates a dying minnow.

It depends on the batch you get its hit or miss. Some of the jars I bought were playdough consistancy and would stay on the hook for 1-2 perch. And several jars are very dry and just inserting the hook will split the nibbles. I don't bother with them anymore.

I go perch jerking 3 times a week. This has been an issue with me as well. Putting on a piece of soft plastics doesn't work where I fish. I have been cutting up a fresh perch into little little slivers and will at least get a couple of perch per sliver. I am thinking tomorrow about going to the asian market and getting some squid peices. Cut those into little slivers.

Yeah never thought I would say this but I miss it in Vegas. Maggiano's restaurant is where we always have our first dinner in Orlando Icast.

Anyone going to ICAST?

Think $179. Released next month but on store shelves probably couple more months?

The SLX body will be used across 3 styles here in the U.S. Not sure what the Aussie's got going on down there. ☺️

It will be in the exact same size SLX frame with DC function.

SLX DC will be released next month. Should put it on par with those wanting a DC but not wanting to spend that much.

Since no one person can say they have one that has exceeded 5 years of use....I would say just accept the answer that "Its a Shimano...so it probably will with proper care and maintenance".

$50 will get you some really nice rods. Same quality rods fisherman used to win the Bass Masters Classics with.

They are about to release the SLX DC. Maybe trade up.

I have been slowly getting away from the plano 3600 3700 style boxes and going back to the old school 2-3 tray designs. Currently looking for an all metal design. I got tired of latches breaking, latches not closing, hinges breaking, hooks jumping dividers, plastic fading yellowing and cracking.

Maybe they realized they could make ABS perform the same and be just as durable....at less than half the cost? Cool lure by the way! Don't use it.

No in my opinion it does not matter. But having said that I am happy to see so many responses saying "yes". That for me... is job security ?

Fluke - Tried and true, no bells and whistles, made to catch fish not fisherman.

Saw quite a bit of new underwater drones at ICAST and Outdoor Rec show. Their coming to the market. Right now they all have to be tethered because the signal won't transmit through water.....so they are racing to see who can overcome that.

A simple pegboard can help you to find any variance

Yes as long as they are using the same mandrels and prepreg cuts/positioning during the wrap process. If there is any part of the process that can cause a slight difference its going to be the guy doing the positioning of the template cuts.

In my personal opinion...we are definitely seeing a consolidation of reel factories overseas very quickly. A lot have just plain gone under due to failing to innovate and keep up. Chinese EPA have shut down or forced some consolidation recently due to poor painting venitlation/filtration and waste storage disposal. I think one the biggest reasons is the newer generations either don't want to take over the family fishing business, and the newer generation doesn't want to start any new fishing reel factories becouse they feel it will be unprofitable and hard to go up against the remaining heavy hitters. So this leaves us with the conundrum you see above with a vast majority of reels coming out of Doyo and the likes. I think we will start to see more startups factories opening up in Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines that could pull a large chunks away from China Doyo and so forth as infrastructure improves. Especially if we see the 25% tarriff on fishing goods hit China.

In your opinion why do you think it has produced bigger fish for you? Thanks in advance

Glad to see such a young kiddo with the entrepreneurial spirit. I have been remelting and pouring my baits for several years now. Like mentioned above....its a mess and not worth the time if you are trying to pour anywhere near perfect colors. The salts and oils in the used baits cause discoloration and sometimes just plain burn and ruin the batch. Only reason I do it is because I like to just mix them all and make some dark color baits. They are ugly but they work because fish don't care. I wouldn't imagine me being able to sell them. You will need virgin plasticizer to get sell-able baits.

Here in southeast Texas we do not wade freshwater unless its a shallow river and you needing to get to a deep hole or something. Super rare. All our wading is coastal wading. We got gators in both, but not enough to worry much. Heavily populated gator areas are well known and people tend to be more careful around those areas where they gather. Me and my 4 year old son go fishing at our community lakes almost daily. His job has always been to spot the gators first before we hit the shoreline. As long as we can see them we are ok. Its when we can't find them that we have to stay further back from the waterline.