Eric 26

@WRB-2.0 Tom I respectfully disagree with this statement about the hooks, I’m using the exact same pro finesse jig for at least 3 seasons and have caught many a bass on it and have never once sharpened the hook. Granted I don’t fish nearly as much as many of you and I’m certainly not fishing in rocky rivers such as @Bazoo is but to Pooh Pooh on a bargain jig hook that can be sharpened when needed which I don’t think is as often as you’re making it sound is not really fair advice in my opinion.

Pictures of the combo otherwise it doesn’t exist 😂🤣😆

I tried out a new to me beer on Thursday night. @MN Fisher I’m not sure if this is available in your neck of the woods but I believe you’re into stouts and if I’m correct you would probably like this one even though it’s a porter lager blend. Back when I was younger I’d frequent a really good Irish tavern in Tinley Park or a fun little place in Midlothian that knew how to make a proper black & tan with Guinness Stout & Guinness Harp lager.

Years ago my FAL had both knees done after putting it off for several years and said it was a great decision on his part to have it done.

I absolutely love the Strike King jigs. Especially the finesse jigs.

I’m going to put my .02cents in also. I fish retention ponds that although most people are fishing for bass the bluegill get skittish just due to the daily commotion. But what I have found that works for me is a slip bobber with a bobber stop and a small jig, I use 2 setups one with a 1/32 ounce jig and one with a 1/16th ounce jig which are both tipped with Berkeley Gulp Alive 1” minnows. I’ve found that it’s the best system for me and as a bonus my wife no longer yells at me for keeping worms in the refrigerator 😆

Knowing there is a plethora of aftermarket parts available for Daiwa reels I’m going to keep my Tatula Type R but I would be tempted to keep my Favorite Soleus as it just really works for me. As a ps I’d order all the aforementioned parts box them up and send said box with reel to Texas where the man who posted above me lives and be very happy when it was returned 😁

@Joedodge I feel the same as you do about the trade in program and I found that my local shop was willing to take them although they weren’t offering much more than 50%-60% either for a SLX that I know they would sell and they gave me $80.00 for a BPS combo that brand new sells for $220.00 but I only paid $120.00 for so much like @FrnkNsteen purchased his Ducketts and Dobyns that he traded in I didn’t mind and I knew I got my fair share of use out of the items and felt good that whoever bought them was going to get a fair share of use out of them as well. I will say I always look forward to the BPS spring sale and I trade in usually a reel or 2 as I’m upgrading but I’m pretty careful to try and maximize my value as far as trade in vs purchase price.

@MN Fisher As a matter of fact I have as I’m a huge Litzy Hale fan. And although I feel Lindsey Stirling is an incredible musician I sadly don’t follow her much. I will add that the reason I really like Lizzy Hale/Halestorm is they are clearly fans of all music but especially emphasizing rock in their music. Their cover songs are actually some of my favorites with my personal as of now being Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” which is actually another song I like along with liking Lady GaGa. And again @Kirtley Howe Halestorm pays respect to Heart covering All I wanna do (Is make love to you) which I like but don’t love. As a side note my older brother took me to see Heart way back in the day when they were touring the “Bad Animals” album and they were FREAKING AMAZING! I will say from that “genre” I’m still in love with both Ann Wilson and Pat Benatars voices and crank up both of them whenever I can 😃 And yeah I LOVE Nancy Wilson’s guitar playing also and feel she was underrated as a vocalist especially after seeing her at Alpine Valley music theater during the aforementioned concert.

@Functional I’m totally in step with your music tastes and don’t forget that not only does Lizzy Hale have a killer voice but she absolutely shreds on the guitar as well. I will also agree with you and @Jar11591 about Nonpoint and I usually wind up playing Breaking Skin when I feel the need to release some tension 🤘🏻 As far as my wife goes she’s pretty cool with whatever I like and we usually take turns playing whatever we want when we’re in the car for a longish trip such as picking up my daughter from college. I should also add I’ll listen to quite a wide variety of music but hard rock is pretty much my go to.

Although the recommendations weren’t in the form of a post my first 2 Okuma rod’s purchased were because of the gear reviews done by Glenn and others on here.

@TnRiver46 Were you using the moon eye whole? And if so what the heck were you hoping to hook into?

I really enjoyed this response 👍🏻 the only thing I will add is I’m a sucker for the latest rod/reel purchases thread so some pictures would be cool if you’re up to posting when you make your final decision 😉

I’m going to say if you don’t even know if you want to throw deep diving crank baits why are looking to spend top dollar? Just my opinion but heck there are a ton of options anywhere from the $99.00 13 Fishing Oath Crankbait Bait rods to Mega Bass rods that will all work and if it’s not your cup of tea you can sell the rod for a loss as it’s used or start out on the cheaper end and upgrade if it’s something you feel you like. Me personally I throw my crank baits on a couple of BPS crankin sticks and love em but hey to each their own.

I’m going to have to try at least one of these👍🏻

@FrnkNsteen I also have/had that issue . I thought at first it was because my rods spend the fishing season in the garage but they even broke when stored inside for the off season. So I just bought 2 packs of these instead 😉

I bought a pack of 30 of these on Amazon for around $12.00 a few years back.

No shame in the game if you’re catching them imho😉 I feel somewhat the same way at my favorite retention pond, but in all fairness I usually only stop for between 20-40 minutes at a time usually on my way home from work like I did today and it’s nice knowing I can count on something biting regardless of how well I know the pattern.

@redmeansdistortion I for one appreciate the heads up on the builds and cannot wait to see them.

As far as a warranty I couldn’t care less as I’ve yet to use one other than from BPS. I’m also in the same mindset as @MiceNReets in I’m all about saving a couple bucks when I can. As for my local shop I try to support them when I can and I do and my local guy even serviced my Piscifun reel which I found the part that needed to be replaced on my own and when I asked about servicing my JDM reels he replied with not a problem as the biggest difference according to him is the gear set being aluminum vs brass which seems to be the same consensus on here. Either way to each their own.

I always cringe whenever I watch any fishing show and watch them just drop the rod which usually falls right on the side of the boat at about the mid point of the rod or when they grab the upper 1/3rd of the rod to yank the fish in. Although I don’t own a boat I was taught both of these things are just bad habits that should be avoided if possible.

I’m not saying you’re wrong but I had the first generation SLX and as someone else pointed out I left 3 brakes on and 3 brakes off and I had zero issues with the brakes by just adjusting the tension knob to suit my lures fall rate. Conversely I’ve had zero issues on any of my Daiwa’s with the external brake adjustment either. I will add the Curado MGL brake system was the hardest for me personally to dial in but once I did last season I never touched them again.

The bait monkey is saying you need both the Lews AND the Slx😉 You can justify it by buying different gear ratios.