CountryboyinDC

I've heard that the new Experts and Lowriders are improvements over the most recent US made ones. I actually liked the US made Experts I had over the Cara T7s. But I haven't heard that it's a night-and-day difference. Regardless, I used Falcons because they gave great service (I've warrantied a couple of rods with them), I felt like they were priced reasonably for what you got, and they at least assembled their rods in the US. Now, they might do 2 of those 3 still, but my dollar is going elsewhere. I get it and I like that attitude, but that would be hard to find outside of corrugated fiberboard and high density polyethylene beads. Almost everything else has components from outside the U.S. So the label would be on less than a dozen products. I

The article differentiates that. Bottom line is if the blank is rolled here and it's assembled here it's made in USA. Assembled in USA means the blank was rolled outside of US.

No way that guy's married, at least not now.

Funny thing is 1/2 they fishing kayaks they introduced last year still haven't made it to market.

If it bothers you, and it did (and I guess still does) me, going on a weekday helps a lot. The weekends remind me of hunting public land here in the east. Even where I'm from, when they used to only stock trout once a year, opening day was a regular circus. On the other hand, there are a lot of good fish to be caught, and I've met some good people here too.

Usually 12 lb Stren Original for topwater plugs with casting gear except the Whopper Plopper and SK Mega Dog. I use 50 lb Power Pro for those. On my spinning rods, I'll tie a 8-10 lb Stren Original leader onto the 15 lb braid (Power Pro or Tuf Line 4orce yellow) for the really small torpedo baits and Zara Puppy.

For single tailed, I really can't see the difference in effectiveness between the Zoom Fat Albert, Big Bite Baits, and Case (they're all good). For twin tails, I only use the Missle Baits Twin Turbo for a finesse jig trailer. I guess you the Hula Grub is a grub too, and it has caught me a few.

Mine don't, in fact the label that came with them made no mention. I have only one other Loomis rod, and it's a spin jig rod I found at a yard sale years ago (GL2). It says made in Washington. I don't believe that Ardent has made reels in the US for a while. They were about the last company that did though. Lamiglas still makes a few rods here, definitely not all of them.

Hi @RichF. Everyone will have a different thought on that, but for me a good day is when I am not elbow to elbow with other anglers and other folks trying to enjoy themselves on the water in NoVA. It's hard to do that. I get a day off every 2 weeks, and so I try to go to the Shenandoah or upper Potomac then. I can either paddle upstream or get someone to shuttle my boat. If you live somewhere like Woodbridge to Feederickburg, you're already close to somewhere fishing is good on the tidal Potomac and some smaller reservoirs. The fish are educated. A good 8 hour day (and I rarely fish 8 hours straight, some of that's going to be unproductive due to the tides), 5 keepers would be good. Out on the Shenandoah, if you fish small baits, there are days where I stop counting at 30, but a lot will be 9-11" fish. The past year was bad for both the upper Potomac and Shenandoah. I was never skunked, but I never caught 10 smallmouth in a day.

Glad to hear someone's getting their bassin' on! I don't think that I'm going to get down that way for a while, but that gives me hope. I hope you get some good trap bite days down there - there's definitely plenty of grass on Kanes Creek.

I got an email from ALX about how they source their rod components, and I thought some folks might be interested in this. I know St. Croix is pretty transparent about this too. Others, like Loomis are supposedly made in USA, but my new IMX doesn't even have that on the rod itself. There are other companies like Fitzgerald that make some of their rods in the US, others not so much. I realize that not everyone cares where things are made and being made in the US is not the only way to build a good product (witness Gary Dobyns' rods), but for others of us, this actually influences what we buy. I know that I was buying Falcon rods until they moved all production offshore. Anyway, here's the link to the blog: https://alxrods.com/blogs/news/where-are-alx-rods-built?utm_campaign=Where are ALX Rods built blog post (VzExS3)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Active College Program&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJ2dGJjaG1tanJAanVuby5jb20iLCAia2xfY29tcGFueV9pZCI6ICJMTmM4cjIifQ%3D%3D

Got to remember the tides, that becomes a ditch at low tide. Are they still not opening that gate up at the park entrance until 0800 or whatever?

I've heard. Along with the casters for moving it once the trailer is folded are junk, as is the wiring harness. The price even not on sale is pretty hard to believe, when you consider what Yakima wants for a Rack 'n Roll, etc.

Not really tackle, but I know a bunch of kayak anglers love to use the Harbor Freight trailer kit. It's $80 off. https://www.harborfreight.com/1195-lb-Capacity-48-in-x-96-in-Heavy-Duty-Folding-Trailer-62648.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiOTI5Nzg2MDQiLCJza3UiOiI2MjY0OCIsImlzIjoiMjY5Ljk5IiwicHJvZHVjdF9p ZCI6IjExNDg1In0= &cid=newgetcpns040820h

I was looking at a Daiwa reel called the Kage in 2000 size, but the shop owner recommended I look at this one. It's a $60 job called the Regal LT (one of the ones you mentioned). This line is way lighter than reels I had used in this price range before (Pflueger Presidents, Shimano Spirex, etc.). I have gotten no farther than putting it on the rod, an ALX Zolo 7'LF, but if coronavirus goes away, the river smallmouth are fixing to see a grub go past their noses that's hooked to this rig. This balances (with a pretty light 7' rod) right where my index finger is in this picture.

I think that's a problem all over the world - people use the fish (and game) as a protein source to the point that there aren't that many of them. I guess I can understand that. Welcome Mattia.

So the gears finally getting mated up well sounds like a reasonable explanation. @WRB is definitely good at remembering relevant facts about bass fishing history. I like to read about improvisation of the time - who would of thought that Colgate was the preferred lapping compound of the era. I'm not one to hate technology, I've tried some reels from the BB1/OG Chronarch era and some saltwater reels from before. The stuff we have today is pretty amazing looking back.

Definitely before my time, but I've read that they were also the first with a disengaging levelwind. I do think that anglers liked them for cranking due to their slow retrieve, the distance between the spool and the line guide (casting distance), and them not having an anti-reverse. The last feature is the only one that I can imagine making any difference in the ability to feel what a crankbait was doing. I still use what Lews calls a BB1, but it's mainly because it's smooth, simple, and slow. I don't know what could be causing more sensitivity in your case, maybe the gears have worn to a well meshed-together state? I'm just guessing, I can't come up with a better rationale.

OP, what are you planning to do with the reel? Fish deep diving crankbaits, topwater plugs and buzzbaits, pitch jigs and Texas rigs to heavy cover, etc.? Do you have a reel you like now?

Sounds like you need to have some kids. You'll have more patience for your parents. The in laws, though....you're on your own.

I used to use all Abu Revo baitcasters. Of course I only had 3 casting setups at the time. When the new Gen3 Revos came out, I think that Abu lost a lot of customers, with me among them. I heard that they made light the most important thing, and some problems came up. I know that I tried a Lews Tournament MB during that time and kind of decided that these are right where I'm at. But the Abu reels have drag that the Daiwas and Lews never had. Tie the lines from an Abu and the beloved E Curados to a swivel in the middle. Crank the drags down as hard as you can and pull the reels in opposite directions. The Abu's spool won't turn a fraction of a revolution before you pull all the line off the Curado. I know that's not everything to everyone, but if you fish in the really nasty stuff it's important. I still have a Gen3 SX and a Premier that I've managed to keep going, butbafter sending another SX back 3 times because the thumb bar wouldn't engage after turning the handle, I just gave up. The customer service reps were always pleasant, but didn't seem to know the difference between a rod guide and a spool.

Those things are beautiful. What's between the bacon and pepper?

I see your ribs turned out pretty good too. I haven't done them because I never bought a stand for them (you can see the smoker's kind of a tight fit even for a 15 lb. turkey). I brine the turkey, I used to just use big ziploc bags, but now I use a brining bucket http://www.thebriner.com I bought to make some pastrami like a guy I go to hunt camp with. I haven't had much luck with injecting on a whole turkey, the breast dries out before the thighs are cooked. Here's the brine recipe if you want to give it a go. It's not mine, but I can't remember where I got it. 1 tbsp crushed hot red pepper flakes 2 tbsp boiling water 18 cups water ½ cup kosher salt 1 tbsp granulated sugar 4 thyme sprigs, bruised with the broad side of a knife 2 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed with a dowel or bottom of a heavy pot Three .18 ounce packets Goya Sazón Azafran Multiply by whatever number you need to immerse the whole bird.

Couldn't find a ham last time I was at the store, so this turkey gets smoked for Easter. I did have some ham hocks frozen down, so they're in a pot to which I'll add some collards later.

That's interesting. I've never tried myself, but Ive watched guys on boats do that. I've only seen 1 do it as you describe, and I assumed he didn't know what he was doing. Once you punch through, aren't you pretty well fishing just that spot close or close to it? I would have thought that would scare off everything for 20 feet or so, a pegged tungsten weighted bait screaming to the bottom after a substantial splash. Most kind of gently pitch it to a spot, and then sort of 'shake' it off the mat.