RemyL

Welcome

They make one standard model in 3600. It's killing me. I'm all 3600 and love the design, but can't use any of the cool toys. I understand that the market for the specialized stuff is mostly boat folks with room for 3700's, but I can still hope for the future.

good to know. I'll stick to finer hooks and less bulky retainers. If a fish beats them up directly I'm ok with that, but having my hardware destroy something is worth avoiding. They do look fragile but so do a lot of the newer plastics, I'm used to the old stuff that was pretty firm and was more rubbery than life like.

I haven't tried them yet, but I got some Keitech Swing Impact 3" trailers last night and they LOOK like just the ticket for what OP describes. Big enough to interest a bass but small enough to also attract larger pan fish. Easy to use on a small jig head. Saying 3" doesn't do them justice, they're pretty slim too, a good fit for smaller jigs. I hope the tail works as nicely as it looks. I'm just rolling back into things from a long time away but I grew up doing mostly jig/grub fishing for panfish and would have LOVED something like these to attract the larger stuff along with any walleye in the area. I have to guess that it will work well on bass too.

*sigh* I don't even have that good an excuse. I did bring lunch. I just usually eat it on the fly and use my lunch break as a time away from the office. Cabela's is just close enough to go, browse/try things and make a purchase and make it back. It's very dangerous. About the only saving grace is that the "instant" background check and other paperwork means I can't do the same thing with firearms.

Got some plastics for jig trailers and some misc hardware. Strike King Baby Rage craw in pearl and the Half Shell in sexy shad. I'm really curious how a white craw shape performs. Then some small stuff. Karl's Dub Grub in Pearl and Chartreuse Pepper. The Catch Co Quiver Tail in Albino rounds out the plastic. Hardware was a mix. Some small neon jig heads for trout, some split shot, then some smaller fine wire hooks for trout rigs with the smaller plastics or even live worms. I also picked up a Curado K and am getting the rod for it this afternoon. I THINK that is it for a while, I'd like to get some of this stuff wet before I buy more.

That's pretty much my plan. The rod it's on now is more suited to single hooks and more oomph, so I'll use it for that and the Curado is going on something a bit lighter for crank baits and anything where I don't have a big heavy hook or a lot of weight. I figure the reel will be fine, but I do tend to be that 1% that gets the screwed up one when the warranty won't extend into the actual use. Even if I do wind up fishing off a boat, it won't be mine or will be small/basic enough it doesn't really have room to store a bunch of rods. I'm not interested in the hassles. An occasional rental or going out with someone else, sure, but that's a different story. The exception would be a kayak, those are definitely possible, but I'd probably limit myself to one or two rods in that scenario.

Oh, I can imagine. It wouldn't be so bad if I had decided that casting reels were not happening. On the other hand, my goal is really to keep it to a fairly small set, since I'll be shore fishing and have to carry the darn things. So a small set for trout and then a small set for bass, hopefully with a little overlap. That's one reason I am happy about the Curado. That's a high quality reel that is perfectly able to handle the whole range for bass. I got the 7.4:1 so if I need some speed I've got it but still some power. It's definitely the nicest in the current collection.

Thanks. I probably do need a support group. lol I figure I'll keep the Pro Qual 2, the money saved would just get re-spent when I get a second rig anyway. I accept my problem. I'm just not sure I really want to be cured.

You guys got me a bit paranoid about the BP Pro Qual 2 I got. I probably wont get enough casts on it to know if it's a bad one or not before the return window is long gone. I decided that there was an easy solution, upgrade. Lunch break turned into a trip to Cabela's and I played with the basic SLX and the Curado K. The Curado K they had on display clearly gets a ton of abuse but has held up. The SLX not nearly as well in some ways but better in others. The deciding factor was that the Curado gives external fine adjustment of the spool braking. The SLX only has the primary internal adjustment. The feel on the Curado was also better, it felt like a high quality reel. The SLX felt like what it is, an intro tier reel for a high quality range. So the shape and general vibe was good, but it wasn't as polished. Obviously that is purely subjective and based on very beat up examples. I played with a new from the box Curado but not the SLX. Now I have to decide if this means returning the Pro Qualifier 2 or keeping it and just adding a second casting rod. I was considering a second one anyway and even if I have a bad one there's the warranty... Hell, who am I kidding. This is a good excuse to get a nice worm or jig rod.

You guys are making me paranoid. I got a PQ2 to try out casting rigs and now I'm wondering if I should return it before the 90 days is up and just spend a bit more money on the next tier up. I've got a few dozen practice casts with it so far but not enough to really have any idea if I've got a good one or not. A base SLX isn't significantly more in price, or I could spend another $50. I didn't wanna spend the money originally because I didn't know if I'd get the hang of it enough to actually want to use it instead of spinning gear. I got over that worry fast enough, just need to improve accuracy now.

I don't know, as fast as some of those guys like to cast, I may be able to win after all their reels lock up. I figure that will take about ten casts per rod, so if they have a dozen rods on the boat... nah, never mind, they'll still catch more.

If I had to pick? Pirates. But I haven't paid attention in ages.

I've been picking spots in the yard, no actual target set out, but I have put that on pause. The grass is a bit long since I leave it with a bit extra for the winter, and most days it's chilly enough to basically be semi frozen. I found out real fast that you can stick the weight real well and have to walk out there or off to the side to get unstuck. I will get back to that once things are thawed a bit. Targets in the yard are how I learned to fly cast too. mostly old tractor tires my grandmother had out as planters. Half buried with little flowers in them. I had a small but bright fly with no "hook" on the hook that I kept tossing in there. I don't remember doing anything for spinning rigs as a kid, but I assume I just organically got better over time. Right now it's almost comical. I actually ordered some orange mono so I could more quickly see what was happening. I need to get a bright colored weight too, or just spray paint what I have. A little grey blob vanishes real fast. I can kinda keep it in about a 20 degree arc with a regular cast (side arm mostly since I'm not going to long distance right now). Practice practice practice. No substitute. I've probably only got 100 casts in since coming back, between spinning and casting rigs. I'm thinking I may practice a little flipping in the basement, I've got a room filled with those padded puzzle tile pieces and may setup some targets for that. If I can get the casting reel setup down well I'll definitely add another. The one I have is a Cabela's Fish Eagle medium heavy / fast 7', so pretty general purpose casting setup, but if I'm using a casting setup for most of my non trout jig fishing I'll want something better. I didn't wanna spend much on something I may not even be good enough to use reliably this year. I did spent a bit more on the BP Pro Qualifier 2 reel. Good value for the money on sale. If I get another setup I'll probably go with something a bit nicer but it seems to work well from a casting reel newbie's perspective.

Hi folks. I'm in the Bloomfield, CT area and am just getting back to fishing after almost twenty years. I'm focused on freshwater, so primarily trout and bass. My plan is to wait until things warm up a bit (ironic since it was 68 degrees this weekend) and then start trying things out. I'm just starting my google maps and driving/hiking exploration to find spots but I'm sure once things start defrosting more and water goes up I'll have to adjust. Right now I've got light and light medium for spinning setups since that's what I grew up with, but I got a medium/heavy casting setup that I'm learning on and will use for heavier stuff and learning casting rig specific techniques. So far so good learning to cast it without bird nesting every time, I just can't hit the broad side of the barn from the inside yet. Anyway, glad to be here, I had been lurking for a bit soaking up knowledge but figured I should actually join and say hello.