Randy Price

Has anyone else noticed that Cabela's/BPS is out of stock on many mid-priced Shimano/Daiwa spinning reels? I live almost equally from the Cabela's Hoffman Estates Ill, Cabela's Sun Prairie Wis, and Gurnee, Ill BPS stores and they do not seem to have much in stock.

I believe that many of the BPS spinning reels are made by Daiwa. A couple of years ago I purchased a Johnny Morris Platinum spinning reel that was being clearanced out for Black Friday. I've been happy with it although it's not as smooth as my Shimano's.

@heartpats, got you. I wasn't knocking Dobyn's rods BTW I was just disappointed in the Fury line.

Are you settled on a Dobyn's? The reason I ask is that last year I bought a Fury 703SF and was disappointed with it. I returned it and bought a SC Mojo Bass and have been very pleased. I'm not trying to make this a SC vs Dobyn's just my experience.

To answer your question no. I'm like you I prefer to touch/examine the actual item that I'm going to purchase.

Has anyone used one of these? I am looking at the 68 ML spinning model.

Primarily SC because I think they make a great product and I usually stop by their factory once a year on the way to my musky lake. If I have any warranty issues I prefer to take care of them in person.

I've never been disappointed with the fit and finish of my SC rods.

I remember seeing the "Killer" in concert at Six Flags in STL back in the mid 70's. Even as a kid I knew he put on a hell of a show.

I'm a St. Croix guy for a few reasons. I like to support local American made products (I fish in N. Wis. all the time and visits the factory a couple of times a year) and I think they make an excellent product. I would never say they're the best or criticize anyone for using another name brand.

Buy what you can afford and enjoy it!

I think we all are guilty of thinking we have to have this name brand rod, this power, this action, etc... When in reality many of us growing up had one 5' fiberglass rod with a Zebco 303 on it and caught many fish.

Like the title says do you guys keep stuff you no longer use or hang onto it? I have a modest but nice fishing boat that I haven't had in the water in three years. I pay $ 25.00/month to store it. Every time I think of selling it I think well maybe when I retire I'd use it or the boys might like it. Same thing for many of my firearms and fishing gear.

I guess it's just a geographic thing but here in the N. IL and pretty much all of WI you can't find Dobyn's except at Scheel's. St, Croix or G. Loomis are the choice in nicer rods.

I'm a SC guy and have been very pleased with my LE's, LX's and L-Xtreme's in spinning rods.

Spend the extra money for the Victory, you will not be disappointed. The Victory line is a big jump up from the Premier line in terms of the blank, components, and sensitivity. Earlier this year my Mojo Bass broke (my fault) and SC allowed me to upgrade (for extra $$) to a Avid-X. I'm glad I did.

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A few years ago I got a really nice bonus and bought 6-7 Legend Elites, Legend X-Tremes, and Legend Tournaments when I had the money tp spend. Now I have too many nice rods and not enough time to enjoy them. Just the opposite of when I was younger.

I grew up with 1 fishing rod until my mid 30's. A friend introduced me to St. Croix AVID rods and Shimano Stradic reels back in 2000 and I've never been the same. I've since purchased almost 20 high end AVID or higher SC rods. Now when I go fishing (multi species I generally only take 2-3 rods) and the rest just sit. I'm making a short story long but does anyone else have too many rods and they're not even really enjoying or using them? I've thought of selling some but I then think I might have sellers remorse. Thoughts/help????

I'm 56 and have seen the increase in longer spinning/casting rods. I bank fish a lot and most of my multi species rods are 6'6"-7'2". My musky rods and 8'0"-9'0". For transportation purposes anything over 6'10" is kind of a pain in my GMC Terrain.

I use straight braid all the time for both BC & spinning.

I have some SC Rods that are >$ 400.00 and Shimano Reels in the same price range, however, I have found that the best ROI is a Shimano Stradic reel and a SC Avid rod. Roughly $ 400.00 for the combo. Once you get past that the point of diminishing returns starts to occur.

I've been a musky fisherman for over 20 years. I caught my largest musky bass fishing with a #3 Mepps with a silver blade and black skirt on 8# Berkley Nanofil line, no leader, using a 68MXF SC Avid rod and a 2500 Shimano Stradic.

I agree with @FishTank. The 68MXF is my go to plastics rod in a Legend Xtreme, however, I do not kayak.

Yes. In Canada a number of years ago I caught an 'eye that had a tumor or something near its eye. I released it and a few minutes later caught it again.