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Gotta realize 2 things about fly rods though, they can be up to 9 feet in length. It may be hard to carry arround a 9 foot rod (though not impossible). And as far as sensitivity goes and detecting strikes, the flyfisher doesnt nessecariy rely on the rod but the line or strike detector. So using a flyrod argument for multipiece bass rods is a little different I think. Vic

A few things that helped me learn a baitcaster in the begining is A) releasing the lure a fraction sooner then what you are used to with a spinning reel otherwise your lure would spike into the water a few yards from you. learning the proper wrist postitioning where your holding the rod and reel with your thumb facing sideways in the begining and the backcast then rotating upwards during foreward cast. C) to help me clear out birdsnests a little easier, I peeled out about 20yards then placed a piece of electrical tape on the spool so that no more line comes out. This didnt make it nest up any less but it did localize the nest keeping it from going past the peice of tape. Otherwise I had nests that took me forever to unwind. and D) After tossing out the lure, I learned the point where the lure hit its apex in speed. After that I started to apply thumb pressure to slow the spool down. for me, if the lure was going slower than the spool, i noticed that was when I was nesting up the most. So just before the lure slowed down in the air, I hit the tumb pressure. Ohh! and setting the correct tension on the cast control knob. Eventually this wont matter but in the begining, set it properly for better nest control. To do so, let the lure drop off towards the floor and keep your eye on the spool. Once the lure hits the floor, the spool shoulndt continue spinning to much more. Set the knob for that speed. If you want to see why this is important, just keep the cast control knob really loose and then let the lure drop to the floor, it will be an instant nest. You will need to set the knob for each lure in the begining. Again these are things that helped me learn better. Have fun! It was a blast for me Vic

My friend says he doesnt like 2 pieces when he is tournament fishing because its just one more thing to worry about when fishing. Im sure that there are other reasons also. Whenever there is a break in a rod i am sure that you are increasing the chances of a break point. I dont know about loss of sensitivity or anything like that though. I like 2 pieces because I dont tournament fish and I like to fit the pole in my car lol Vic

Hi Yuengling I personally think that you are making the right choice in a rod. St Croix is a good bet. I would probably go for an Avid in that line. The Gander Mountain arround me has them on clearance right now for about 100$ Great deal. I also like 2 piece rods and I like 6'6 because there are some low trees by where I fish and a 7' rod might be to close to the branches for me. Vic

I did my first mod a little while ago and posted it in the tackle making forum. But I guess I can show it here also. It was my first attempt so I just purchased a 50$ clarus to practice with. What I did was added an extension handle and split the grip. Then I wrapped it in blue nylon and put some flexcoat on it. Ohh I also balanced the rod and removed that front cork piece. Here are some of the pictures. Took about 5 hours total but was a lot of fun Vic

Hi Mikystyle! Welcome to the forums I would recommend going to a local bait and tackle store to try out different baitcasters. At lest hold them and spin the handles a few times to see if any stands out to you. A bait and tackle store wont lead you wrong if you tell them you have about 70-100 dollars to spend. Get one that you really like and feels good in your hand. Hold a few "cheapies" if the store has those also and you will tell a difference right away in the quality. There really isnt much to really "Stay away" from except for the 20-30 dollar reels. But that is my advice There are many brands that will fit your fishing needs. You probably wont get a good concensus that everyone will agree on, but I think anyone can agree to stay within the main brands such as daiwa, shimano, abu garcia, quantum etc. Bottom line, try each out in your own hands to see what fits nice Vic

Palming a baitcaster is when you control the rod while holding the baicster sideplace with your palm. In other words, instead of holding the rod up with strictly the cork handle, you are holding your rod by the baicaster itself. Now one of the benifits of this is for the same reason you palm a fly reel. You can use your thumb more effectively to help control the fish by putting pressure on the spool. Here is a link to a picture of palming a baitcaster. From TackleTour: http://www.tackletour.com/images/picpresident7.jpg Vic

I have to say that I love this line. At first I never gave it a second thought until I was at the store one day and saw it on the racks. I said to myself "ohh this is the line that I keep hearing about" so I give it a second look and feel the sample lines. I couldnt believe how soft and limp the line was. Now its the line on my primary spinning reels. I love the stuff. I did notice that it works better when I stretch it a little before spooling. But to your questions, I personally don't use backing and I tie it on the spool with al Arbor knot. For hooks I use a Palamor knot, treline or sd jam. Vic

Thanks Sal! I take it as a trial and error hobby But total about 5-6 hours. I did a few hours here and there. The hardest part was removing the epoxy that was inside the bottom of the clarus blank to insert the balancing weights. That and trying to shape the cork just right. I still want to improve on that a lot. But I have a whole bag of cork dust to mess arround with later lol Vic

hi everyone! During the off season I decided that I wanted to try to modify a rod to fit my fishing needs. I purchased a second hand Clarus to give it a go. It was a 6'6 MH casting rod. I wanted to use it throwing worms and spinners. I like two hand casting and wanted a little more leverage. I extended the handle 6 inches and balanced out the weight with some lead tubes inserted and epoxied into the lower portion of the handle. I love the way it casts and the balance makes the rod feel lighter when working the worm Wrapping was hard for me at first until I got the hang of it. I enjoyed the process and I think I will get a few more rods and goof arround with them some more. But here are some pictures. It may look like a hack job but it sure was fun Vic

I think everyone is making good points here. And it is sound advice. But think of it this way... there are two guys and Guy A has 50$ to spend on a combo now to fish with. Guy B waits a year and go for 100$ combo that would be better and last a bit longer. Well now, Guy A with the 50$ combo is fishing now while Guy B is waiting for the better equiptment is watching from the banks dreaming of a better setup. I dont know, but I'd rather be Guy A fishing and having fun with cheap equiptment that may not last but 3 years than Guy B who is on the banks watching. Sure there is a reason to spend extra money on better equiptment. But if thats all you have to spend, I wouldn't wait and just start having a good time. They weren't heirloom rods and reels but they still caught fish! My advice, if thats what you have to spend then get spending and have fun. Then when you can get more funds up, then upgrade at that point. In the future you will earn more money to spend on things that you like better, you will only enjoy them so much more. Vic (Guy A)

+1 8-) +2 Fastest knot that I know.

Hey! I was thinking about what you were looking for and I remembered that I had seen an article in field and stream a little while ago with a baitcaster that might fit what your looking for. Its 25$ and it got a good review there for the value. I dont know if it is anygood or how durable it is, but it is your suggested price range. And it spares some cash for a rod also. Here is the link. Just click the "next" button right on top of the reels untill you get to number 4 of 7 the "shakespeare synergy". again its 25$ and got a good review on field and stream, but I never fished it and would recommend with the others and wait a little while. But here is the link. http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/photogallery/article/0,13355,1608752_3,00.html good luck! Vic

Well you are certainly right about that. But what I think is great is that so many people (new posters and old) is that this forum brings together people in a major way. This site, at lesat to me, is built as a place for people who LOVE to fish can get together and share ideas. People new to fishing, people who fished for a lifetime, or even people who fish professionally enjoy this place and come together because of their love for BASS FISHING Where else can so many people who share a common interest come together. 15 years ago NOONE could have guessed that a place like this could exist. So, at least to me, sure there are people posting who arent really experts, but its a place where people who love to fish can at least "try" to help others who love to fish. Even if the advice may not be the best, I still think its a great think that at least people are trying to help newbies with their love of fishing Vic

Balance and castability are another few reasons to go quality. Casting has a lot to do with rod your are using as well as the reel. Vic

Well I have been seeing a lot of posts on "what reel should I get" or "what rod/reel do you think is the best for XXX$". Maybe its because the season is about to start up again shortly. I am not pointing anyone out in particular and I think this is a great place to get information on a product before purchasing. I guess my question to everyone is, Do you believe that your confidence in a rod or reel impact your ability to catch fish? In other words, you always hear about going to your "confidence bait". Well is there a confidence reel? Do you think you will catch more fish using a BPS baitcaster than you would if you had your Curado? Would telling someone that they should get a XXX brand reel make them feel like they would enjoy fishing less if they had a YYY brand? Personally I fish with whatever rod and reel feels good to me. I try not to let brand names enter into the equation, but it sometimes does. I like quality equiptment and after fishing for a while you get to learn what feels like quality and what feels like junk. Well this started out as a question but ended up a soapbox i think lol Sorry for that just wanted to toss it out there I guess and to remind people that uggestions are great, but don't let it be your only source of information when choosing equiptment. Vic

I'll x2 for the pflueger President reel. I like the balance and they are smooth. Perfect for the weekend fishing guy like me. Vic

Ill throw my vote in here and say go for a Shimano Clarus. A 6'6 rod will run you about 60-70$ They have a good reputation of being a good value at that price range. Also there is a lifetime warranty. Its what I started with with my first baitcaster and I still use it today after some modifications. If you want to go up in price about 100-130$ you can try St. Croix Avids. I have read some saying carrot stick but I have never tried those so I dont want to comment on that. I am just giving you what I have tried and what I have loved fishing with. Vic

Is Micro lite the same as Ultra light? Vic

Yea cycling through all the colors would defeat the purpose of a green or red light at night. Once it hits white, your going to lose your night vision. Vic

Easy answer here. Get a TACTIKKA XP by Petzl It comes in a few variations but it has 4 colored lenses. Red, green, blue and clear. Its interchangable so you can see which you like the best. If you decide on a certain color then you can always leave that lense on. Water resistant, easy on switch, lightweight, and uses tripple a's. Cost will run about 40-80 dollars depending on variant. Heres the link with some info on it. http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesProduits?Produit=606 Vic

Ok I just checked my reel and its 165yards of 2 pounds. Vic

Ill check how much 2pd line its rated for as soon as I get home for you. Also it depends on what line you use. But really, how far are you going to cast with an ultralight that your going to need more than 100 yards of? That is a football field lol Well I guess if your fishing trout, they can make some mad dashes. But I bet they will tire out before 60 yards right? Vic

X2 on what Franklin said. I have an ultralight president on my avid and it casts and fishes wonderfully. The reel is small and pretty light (but still solid feeling) , perfect for backpacking. Vic

Well, I contacted BPS to see what was going on with the "sale". I worked in inventory before and I think that something might have gone wrong when coding the new Avids in. If you look at the description, these are for the new Avids. I know that they had last year's Avids on sale a few weeks ago since I was close to picking one up. But I cant find those anymore online at BPS. These new ones use SCiv graphite. But here is what I heard from BPS. Ill update again when they clarify for me. But im thinking its some mixup with the old avid sale. Response (Amanda) 01/27/2008 08:50 PM Victor, Thank you for contacting basspro.com. We appreciate your business. We apologize that you feel you are being misled. I have contacted our IT Department about this, so they can look into it. I will contact you again when I have more information. Best regards, Amanda Bass Pro Shops 2500 E Kearney Springfield, MO 65898 1-800-BASS-PRO