PondBoss

I just hope that in the future the spectators will be more conscientious of the angler they are following and stay out of his space. I can see the camera boat being close, but the spectators need to be outside of the camera boat. An angler should never have to bob and weave his boat through the people to get to another spot. On another note I may not be super concerned with the combos they are using, but I know how to work a jerkbait and lets be honest 99/100 people that saw the footage were thinking I wonder what kind of rod and reel he is using. I remember when the Veritas first came out, it was all the buzz on every fishing forum site, everyone had to know what the new awesome white rod was. I will give credit where it is due, and I also did see 4 different types or jerkbaits being used, but oddly enough not the Jackall that gets the credit for the win. I also read that due to the awesome number of fans the Classic may just come back to Grand. Personally I hope it does so I can go again and take my family.

I will do that in a pinch, but usually braid to mono.

If you fish a deep diving crank in shallow water you can crank it slowly and still get to the depth you'd like. I would do that or slow roll a spinnerbait with a big Colorado blade. They produce more lift and can be retrieved at a slower pace than willow bladed baits of the same weight.

Any word on who will be fishing it? I assume the usual suspects?

That sure doesn't look the any of the Vendetta's I have owned. A full cork handle on a Vendetta? And a totally red rod for Palanuik? Not to sure that's a Vendetta either. I'm on board with the reel though.

glad you guys got on to the real reason that I posted the questions.....the equipment. It was totally obvious that the jerkbait he was using was a rogue, and he caught most of his fish on a jig anyways. lol

HAHAHA "The Ocho"....great movie. They did have extensive coverage a few years ago on ESPN, my guess it wasn't what they deemed sport worthy. On a different note....Was that you getting your picture taken with the hystery tackle guy? I thought it was kinda funny when Ike was driving his boat through all the spectator boats seeing excuse me pardon me. He really wanted to say GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY! I can understand watching, but do it from a distance, can't believe people don't get it.

I guess it would be described as junk fishing. I just fish and adapt accordingly or at least what I feel is accordingly. Whether it's structure of cover it makes no difference, it gets fished how I think is best for that particular time and place.

You can use a 7.1:1 reel for everything. Personally I use it for everything other than deep cranking. Jerkbaits, Topwater, T-rig, C-rig, Frog, Squarebills. THe way I look at it is I can always slow down, but I can only reel so fast.

I have them on my Lews reels and they work great. They will leave marks on any reel handle, but since they grips are meant to stay on the knob I'm not sure how that is an issue.

H2O Xpress Ethos rods, the newer version have micro guides, the older models have semi micro guides. Newer versions are $80 but when on sale $60. THe older versions $60 on sale $40. It's a great rod plus I like the blue color.

The dicks here blows, 3 isles of nothing! Oddly enough it does work out for me since I'm a huge bomber guy and they always seem to have $3 bomber/Xcalibur baits.

Watching the footage of all 3 episodes made me think of a few questions. Perhaps you came up with the same questions or maybe these will make you wonder. If nothing else it should bring some good discussion. 1. Is Grand lake a huge drum lake? It seemed like all the time when someone would get a big bite they always said "it's probably a drum". 2. Cliff Pace was promoting the jackall jerkbait, but it was pretty clear he was throwing a rogue, sponsors can't be too happy. 3. What red/black rod was Ike using? 4. What red rod and red reel was Brandon P, using? 5. Do spectators not understand not to drive your boat up right on what the angler is trying to fish? Have a little respect!

1. Big Bite Yo Mamma 2. Big Bite Yo Daddy 3. Big Bite Cane Thumper 4. Big Bite Bush Pig

6.3:1 and 23 IPT that would be the slowest 6.3 ever.

I was messing around with the Ethos 7'3 heavy at the Classic and it was pretty darn sweet! Personally I will be picking one up this week for sure, at that price I'm not sure how I can afford not to. I will say all I did with it was pitch what seemed to be a 3/8 practice weight with it, but it had plenty of tip to skip it under the makeshift dock they had set up. Personally I'd save the extra $20 and buy baits with it. Pick up an Ethos, I did and never looked back.

You can use my reel when you pry it from my cold dead hands. HaHaHa Actually not running braid on, had it spooled up with 12lb Vicious fluorocarbon, and a half spool at that. lol I can only imagine the added length of the cast when there is enough line on it. I'm ready to get back on the water this weekend and win some money!

I worked in the Pinnacle booth at the Classic expo and was given my choice of rod and reel for my efforts. Selfishly I chose the newest Optimus Xi. It's light weight, tipping the scales at a whopping 7.1 oz. It comes stock with a carbon fiber handle and drag star. Audible spool tension knob, and dual breaking. Not to mention Big awesome EVA grips. (big fan of these) Now I know what you're thinking..... I was working in the Pinnacle booth this review will be biased, on the contrary! Around the same time last year I received a Pinnacle Optimus X and have had nothing but problems with it since day one. After further evaluation, unbeknownst to me there was just too much lube in the magnet area and was keeping them from engaging, needless to say I was not a fan. Now to the topic at hand, the Xi. Pros: It's super smooth, and casts stupid far. The retrieve is also very smooth and at 7.3:1 gets whatever you are fishing back to you in a hurry. It's light weight, but not so light that you actually gain wrist fatigue because you rod doesn't balance well. It's a complete aluminum frame so it's strong as an ox on steroids. Cons: It only comes in 7.3:1, so if cranking is what you need a reel for, square bills and traps better be on your agenda. Price, it is expensive, but like I said I got it for free and was totally selfish when I chose it because it's not a reel I can normally afford. Summary: If I had the money, I would for sure put this reel into play with more than a handful of setups. I could totally see this reel being on any and all of my flipping and pitching rods, as well as my jerkbaits, shallow cranks, and traps.

at the Classic they were on sale for $1.79, I knew I should have picked some up. d**n it!

Wrong hook, they haven't sold the hook I like in the US for a few years per the mouth of Cyrille Mathieu VMC hooks VP of sales and marketing.

Tubes/Worms: Watermelon/Red, Watermelon Candy, Black Blue Spinnerbaits: White/Chartreuse, White/Red, Chartreuse/Blue Lipless: Chrome/Blue, Chrome/Black, Red/Orange Jigs: Orange/Brown, Watermelon/Red, Black/Blue Honestly with the lipless I could get by with just the chrome/blue and on spinnerbaits just white/chartreuse

VMC Barbarian out barbs are probably the best treble I have every run across. But since they are impossible to find I use a lot of KVD hooks.

Profiles are totally different, but I'm a bomber guy all the way. Favorite colors are Chart/Blue, Orange/Brown, Olive Shad

Also what I think is a great tip: Study up, but don't take what you read as gospel, Every piece of water though it maybe similar is different. Trial and error will be your biggest learning tool. Take me for example, I totally tend to do the opposite of what most people on here say to do. I still catch fish and do quite well. Fishing is Apple to Oranges but when it comes down to it it's still fruit.

H2O Xpress Ethos $60-$80 it's an awesome inexpensive rod, comes in many lengths and strengths.