Eric 26

@jbmaine Back when I was 18 I worked for a guy who’s daughter was a huge animal lover who had a friend who was a baggage handler at either O’Hare or Midway airport and she gave her an egg that was on the runway from a spill. His daughter raised a full blown turkey that she kept in a huge dog crate and that thing was so attached to her it would hop on the treadmill with her every morning. I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes and I’ll tell that bird protected her and her Pomeranian like they were it’s own children.

@12poundbass I live 1 town to the East from that race track and I’ll tell you I’ve never seen anything like that before.

Although I haven’t felt the new 13 fishing Oath 7’-4” med heavy mod fast I handled the 7’-3” med heavy extra fast and at $99.00 I think there pretty nice. As far as reels I would look at the new Tatula 100 as @FrnkNsteen said. That is just under $300.00 all in.

@CoryRobertLowe Although I’ve said this before to others who have not responded, I sure hope you keep everyone who has responded updated with your decision and I feel that you were given quite the range of rods with plenty of reasons why some of us would/did choose what we chose or recommended. Not trying to be a jerk but more I’m sincerely curious.

My daughter and I just attended a concert this past Saturday, on Sunday I read a local news story about a 50 year old man who left the same concert and went missing. It turns out he tragically jumped in front of a semi truck on a 45 mph road that night killing himself. As @volzfan59 said people go off the deep end and unless you are/were extremely close to the person none of us will probably ever understand why.

You didn’t mention a budget but I’m going to throw my recommendations out there also. I have 2 BPS panfish Elite rods that I absolutely love, my ultralight is a 6’-8” model but they have an ultralight available in 6’-0” also. Next is my 6’-0” St. Croix panfish series rod which I bought instead of the aforementioned BPS rod and they also have a 6’-9” ultralight. Last although not an ultralight I have a St Croix Avid panfish series rod which is also available in a 6’-0” ultralight model. The prices vary and again you didnt mention a budget but I feel you can’t go wrong with any of these three or even the rods mentioned before my choices.

Welcome from Illinois. As previously mentioned start small for panfish specifically bluegills that are generally easier to catch with smaller hooks or smaller jig heads under a bobber using worms, or in my opinion wax worms are extremely effective. If you have a local fishing shop start by visiting them and explaining that your new to the sport or visit your closest Bass Pro Shop and bring the boys if you do go to BPS as they always have a giant aquarium that’s fun to check out.

You sound a lot like my other friend @bulldog1935 with talk like that. I wish I had 1/2 the skills you and the aforementioned friends along with others on here have to be able to partake in the purchasing power of buying certain reels or as you’re planning a frame and adding/swapping of parts to create a reel that is exactly what you’re after without compromising. Best of luck and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next .

I’m in the 6:? speed Camp as well although I think I have more 7 speeds currently 😬 As far as my spinnerbait rods I use a 6’6” medium/fast Galyans branded rod and a 6’-10” Lews Carbon Fire medium/fast action but I will say both are a bit more moderate which I like. I have one reel spooled with 10 pound Suffix Elite Mono (6’-6”) and the other with 14 pound Suffix 21 low stretch Mono (6’-10”) and I like them both.

I picked up a mixed IPA 12 pack from Lagunitas last night and although I’ve had all but the “Beast Coast” prior they are all excellent as usual. But the star of tonight’s session is the Rogue double IPA that my friend/co-worker gave me as his BIL owns a grocery store and when the beers are reaching their do not sell date or just aren’t selling in general he distributes them to family and friends and fortunately for me my friend doesn’t like beer😃

Although my friend @MiceNReets beat me to it I will add that as someone who loves a good color matching combo that right there kicks it up a notch 😎 I hope it fishes half as well as it looks.

My first “real nice” reel when I got back into fishing was a BPS Pro Qualifier, I still have it and sent it in to BPS for service which I wrote about how pleased I was with them. Here’s mine and I still have the XPS rod that’s in the catalog photo also.

@A-Jay Your organization is very impressive. And those are some good looking bass your wife caught as well.

Please refer to my post above yours as I added content just now.

I wound up buying a 2000 shallow spool Miravel that is paired with a 6’-8” ultralight rod and had 8 pound Daiwa J-Grand X8 braid. Notice I said “had” as it now has 6 pound Suffix 832 which I haven’t tried out yet. The reason for the switch was using a 1/16th ounce road runner head and a crappie tube for a body I was getting to the end of the spool on long casts which is what I need to get past the weeds that exist in the ponds I fish. I’m not sure how long your casts need to be but for me there was no way to utilize the 2000S on my 7’-1” med light rod as planned which instead received a BPS Johnny Morris Platinum Series 2000 with the aforementioned 8 pound braid. I’m going to add that my Miravel 2000S states 105 yards of 4 pound USA Power Pro braid, no disrespect intended to @MN Fisher.

Welcome from Illinois 👋

Welcome from Illinois.

Thank you for asking what I was afraid to ask 👍🏻

Although technically speaking I enjoyed a few of each of these 3 over the past couple of nights. I will also add the Honey Brown Lager is the exact beer I mentioned earlier in this thread just using a different name than JW Dundee.

I saved this earlier but didn’t include it but will now. Although I don’t know much about this combo I will add DO NOT get your son a cheap baitcaster, when I say that I mean a lower quality baitcaster and that is on you to figure out as I do not know your budget but I will say I tried going down the road of “budget” baitcast reels and it’s not worth it. I will say the Abu Black Max was mentioned earlier and although I don’t own one and have never used one for me that is as low as I would go. Here’s the “budget” spin cast combo I would suggest and I welcome any and all criticism as again I’ve never used it but it would be my first choice in @Bazoo’s situation.

Me and my older brother both received these as a Christmas present years ago. And yes I caught some fish on it 😃

I’m going to add my 2 cents and somewhat echo @bulldog1935 in that I don’t feel you should “upgrade” his equipment until he’s ready. Although I don’t know you or your son I remember my (2) at 5 years old and although your son seems like he enjoys fishing way more than mine did until he learns not to lay into a snag, put down the rod and reel in anything that could cause problems (which is probably next to impossible) and shows he’s ready for the next level which would be spinning gear in my opinion I would stick with your current plan of rotating through the Zebco reels you own. Also if you are going to upgrade his current reel bulldog had some pretty nice things to say about the Zebco Omega awhile back if my memory is correct.

I’m not sure what kind of actions you’re looking for or what techniques you’re planning on using them for but I’m going to suggest looking at 2 brands and choosing your price from there. The first is 13 fishing a brand I own along with a handful of others on here including at least 2 who I know are way more experienced than me and have the catches to prove it, I will suggest the Oath lineup at $99.00 and even though I don’t own any sticks from this line I’m definitely grabbing one or two for myself soon. The second brand I’ll suggest is Okuma a brand that I feel is a great value for the price. I will say I have 2 TCS A rods and they are worth every penny and then some in my humble opinion along with a EVX B that I feel the same about, and although I don’t own any from the Cerros line both casting and spinning models look pretty darn nice at the $99.00 starting price point. Good luck and happy shopping.

@IcatchDinks