mmoser52

I had no experience with G. Loomis rods before buying a GLX 843C MBR just over three years ago. I love it. I think the reel seat is one of the most comfortable of any rod I have ever handled, when compared against Dobyns, St. Croix, Megabass, and Kistler. The caveat is that the MBR rods have the full cork handle, and not the split grip found on the JWR in the series. I have no idea if this make a difference, as the reel seat itself is still the same. I think people's difference in opinion about the comfort of the reel seat stems a lot from the way that they hold the rod. I hold my casting rods with three fingers above the trigger, with the rod in-between my index and middle fingers. This vast difference in opinions about the comfort of this rod's reel seat has taught me that there is no real substitute for being able to handle potential rod purchases in person. I have used it for just about every technique possible within it's rated weight range, as at the time, it was meant to be my general purpose rod. I've used it for topwater, paddletail swimbaits, chatterbaits, swim jigs, finesse jigs, football jigs, flippin' and pitchin' jigs and texas rigs. I think that it did a great job overall. Overall, there is nothing I would change about the rod for the price I paid. I bought it when it was on sale for 20 percent off. I did break it randomly, after having it for a year or year and a half, stringing line one day, but G. Loomis was great about warrantying it. I had a brand new replacement rod in my hands in less than two weeks. This is one of the few rods in my current lineup, that if I broke it, or lost it, and it wasn't going to be covered by warranty, or insurance or anything, that I would go out and replace immediately, without a second thought.

I cannot speak to the specific conditions that you face in Florida, but I have three Expride As, and have been very happy with them all. I have the 7'2" Heavy, 7'3" Extra Heavy, and 7'11" Extra Heavy. The 7'2" Heavy was my first Expride, and has done a little bit of everything. I currently have it paired with a Shimano Curado K, and have used it for Whopper Ploppers, 3/4oz swim jigs, and 3/4oz-1oz jigs/t-rigs. No complaints with it for any of these techniques. The 7'3" Extra Heavy is currently also paired with a Curado K (though I will probably pick up something else during the Black Friday/Holiday sales) and is my dedicated frogging rod. The 7'11" is my do everything heavy cover flipping/pitching/punching rod. I have it paired with a Shimano Bantam MGL and love it. I don't think that you would be disappointed, or feel either rod was under powered, if you went with the 7'2" Heavy for 10" worms, and the 7'11" Extra Heavy as a flipping stick.

I have been looking at the Dark Sleeper quite a bit as a rod for my wife. What reel do you have on it, and how well does it balance? Secondly, how would you rate the power, Medium, Light Medium Heavy, Medium Heavy (Megabass rod power ratings always confuse me)? Her primary usage would be wacky worms and light Texas rigs. Have you ever felt that it was overpowered for wacky worms?

This may have been touched on before, but what techniques are you using the 7'3" medium heavy for? The listing of a regular-fast taper has been a little off-putting to me, and has been the only real reason that I haven't picked one up yet to try out.

It's interesting that our experiences have been nearly opposites! I got the Cuda 5" shears from Tackle Warehouse last year as my "boat" scissors, because they seemed like good quality, along with being reasonably priced. I have never had much luck with them. They seem to work okay, but I have problems with them continually loosening, so that then they won't cut cleanly. I've been planning on replacing them with the Gerber Neat Freaks mentioned above, and relegating the Cudas to be the back-ups to my back-up scissors. Meanwhile, I bought a Boomerang as my personal scissors that I keep on myself while fishing, and have had a great experience with them. If they wear out next year or the year after, I will gladly buy another pair to replace them.

Thank you! You just saved me $55! Four hours ago I ordered a Zbone 7'0" Medium/Fast spinning rod for 20% off, which seemed like a pretty good deal!

Boat Buckles all stainless, just installed them this spring. Love them.

We're going to have to start an unofficial club for people who "Didn't need another rod, but can't pass up a great deal." I was a little worried that the deal was too good to be true, and that my order would get canceled and refunded, but I already got the shipping notification! It says that rod will be here by next Thursday.

I was going to say the same thing! All he needs is a label maker! My label maker is by far my most used fishing accessory.

Well, I happened across this post this morning, and spent a good portion of my day on their website. This was a great catch, thank you! I did the exact same thing! Added everything that I wanted if money were no issue, and then went back to my cart and pared it down to the essentials. Ended up with a new iRod Air casting rod for 52% off, and a good selection of baits. I kept worrying that the baits and/or rod I wanted would sell out before I could place my order, because it was such a good deal.

Thank you for all of the great responses! I appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge! I am now planning on connecting it to my starting battery, as suggested. I do not have a power block, so I will be connecting the power cable directly to the battery. My new question is, does Garmin make a longer power cable than the one supplied, which is 6', or I going to have to run my own power cable from the battery to the bow, and then wire it to the supplied Garmin power cable? I looked on Garmin's website under the accessories that were compatible with my device, and didn't find much. The only power cable listed was the same length as supplied with the unit.

Exactly. Crystal color braid is white, not clear. As many members of the forum here can attest, I don't know how much of a difference a leader makes. I started fishing straight braid Berkley Fireline Crystal, and caught plenty of fish. With that being said, I am also now 100 percent braid to leader, except for heavy duty applications like frogging and heavy flippin' and pitchin' or punching. There are a few reasons that I now utilize leaders, in no particular order: 1) Using a leader preserves my mainline, and keeps my spool full 2) It allows me to provide some measure of protection to my rods, by using a leader with them that is in line lbs wise with manufacturer rod specs 3) I can adjust the lb weight of my leader for specific applications and techniques 4) It is not overly burdensome to tie connection knots now that I have become proficient The bottom line is do what your comfortable with.

Greetings, As I noted in my introduction here, being a boat owner has been a steep learning curve. My current project is wiring and electrical. In the bow of my boat, I currently have my 12v Minn Kota Terrova 55lb wired to a three prong marinco plug and receptacle, as shown below. The power for the plug receptacle comes directly from the battery, and is fairly heavy gauge, I don't know for sure, but I would say probably 4 or 6. I would like to wire my new Garmin Echomap Plus 93sv to this power source, and mount it in the bow. Assuming this is feasible, what is the best and most professional way to accomplish this? Thank you all for your time and expertise.

Hello from Kent County!

All of my spinning reels are 12lb hi-viz braid, normally Sufix 832 or Sunline SX1 to a 6lb-10lb fluoro or mono leader depending on conditions, such as water clarity and cover, along with the technique I am planning on utilizing. I have found that 8lb leader is my most used, unless I am fishing ultra-clear water, in which case I may step down to 6lb. I always use a lower pound test leader than the mainline braid that I am using, because if I snag and cannot get loose, the knot that normally fails is my terminal knot connecting my tackle. Then I only have to retie my lure back onto my leader, instead of breaking at my leader connection knot, and having to retie both my leader, and my terminal knot.

I bought the Toadrunners over the Teckels because the hookup ratio was supposed to be better, but that hasn't been my experience with the Toadrunners at all. I get tons of blowups, but I'm not actually sure I have ever landed a fish on a Toadrunner.

I heartily endorse both brands, but with two caveats. I don't normally wear a sunglass retaining strap while fishing, but I do while whitewater rafting--I haven't lost my Oakley's yet--and I also don't use the floating style. I normally use just the simple strap, like pictured below. Mine is long enough that you also use it to hang your glasses around your neck comfortably, while not wearing them. Bass Pro Shop and Cabelas sell "special" Chums/Croakies, and maybe their own brand, for fishing. The ones that I saw were made out of thick monofilament fishing line, and looked like they would work just like the ones I already had. The one pictured below is the Chums Mono Orbiter. It's shown in black, but it comes in six or seven different colors. I was able to find them using a quick Google search from several different online retailers.

My setups and experiences are nearly identical. I fish jigs primarily on 40lb braid to 15lb-16lb mono or fluoro leader with no issues. My leaders are a little bit shorter, normally only about 18"-30", connected with a double-uni knot, but still never have any problems from the connection knot going through my guides when casting.

I have had great luck with their Gunmetal Tungsten Flipping weights.

The dock on the east side has been hit or miss for me. The main boardwalk normally seems more reliable, but also seems to see a lot of fishing pressure.

I am 100 percent straight braid and/or braid to leader on all my casting and spinning setups. 20lb braid is the lowest pound test that I will use with casting gear. I use 20lb braid to leader for all my crankbaits and jerkbaits. The specific rod and reel setups are listed below. I do not normally have any problem with the line digging into itself, assuming it is spooled appropriately and tightly. I have had only one issue, with Sunline Xplasma Asegai in 20lb, but I think that was user error, in that I did not have the reel dialed-in quite appropriately, especially since that line has received pretty widespread good reviews. The rest of my rod and reels that are spooled with 20lb braid are listed below. Shimano Chronarch MGL, 20lb Sunline SX1 to 12lb fluoro leader, G. Loomis IMX-Pro 843C CBR Medium/Mod. Fast (squarebills and shallow cranks in sparse cover or open water) Shimano Chronarch MGL, 20lb Sunline SX1 to 12lb fluoro leader, St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass 6'8" Medium/Fast (jerkbaits) Shimano Chronarch MGL, 20lb Sufix 832 to 12lb-14lb fluoro leader, Kistler KLX Crank, Rip and Twitch Medium Hvy./Moderate or Mod. Fast (lipless crankbaits, deep divers upto 6XDs) Daiwa Zillion SV TW, 20lb Sufix 832 to 10lb leader, Kistler Helium 3 Light Medium Hvy./Fast (weightless wacky worms)

No kidding! I'll have to check out some of those lakes this summer. I took my boat out on Clifford when I first got it, but that's it. I want to check out Duck Lake east of Crystal. I've heard some good things about it.

Yep. Jeremy?

I'm familiar with the Stanton area, and would like to check out more lakes in Montcalm County. I fished Nevins Lake once last summer, but that's it. What lakes are you fishing in the Stanton/Montcalm county area? Pickerel is where I normally fish from shore, and were I caught my PB last summer on topwater. I certainly do not mind a hike. I hiked 2/3s of the way around Pickerel Lake last year, because--apparently outdated--satellite images on Google Maps show a second boardwalk on the northwest side of the lake. I went looking for it figuring that it must get way less fishingpressuree. It turns out that it's not there anymore. I have also fished the Grand River from shore at Donald Lamoreaux park off Coit Avenue in Plainfield Township. I appreciate the information about other shore fishing opportunities!

I have never fished any lakes on the east side of the state at all. Do you have favorite lakes over there?