Alex Ball

I do not assimilate. I am what I am. It works for me. Here, fishing is definitely high class. Your boat determines your status etc...

My friend explained it all. Really quite efficient. It was a funny night. I owned my lack of knowledge. We ended up singing karaoke to the worst of the 90s. It was hysterical. I'm not anything more than blue collar but I work around people who aren't. It's interesting to see the difference in upbringing.

I want one bad! He needs to get that ML Cherrywood. I got it. It'll launch an 1/8 beetle spin.

Funny story. Background I grew up in the nastiest part of Little Rock Arkansas. Up until I was 30, low end jobs. Went to culinary school. Met a famous chef. Got a job with him. Moved to Bull Shoals to work for an icon locally. Learned to fish. Spend all my hobby money on it. Story A girl I like is a doctor and as such, has fancy friends. Went to a real dinner party. Butlers, service, knew the chef. Got to the table and there was an obvious problem: what the h*** are all these forks and spoons for? Server asks for my drink order and and I ask for Shiner Bock. We only have Stella? What the h*** is that? I'm outclassed everywhere I go and it's obvious. Everywhere except the water. I get oohs and ahhs because of my rods and reels. Levels the playing field. I'll never be high class, but that's part of what my charm is according to my fancy friends.

Yessir!

Hey I have a Modelo bassman! Traded a guy a Berkley Cherrywood near Cozumel for it and a good spot to fish. Best trade ever. Hung it up on my Dad's wall.

3-5 times a week if weather allows. I'm definitely more confident with my higher end stuff. Catch the same number of fish. Feels better. Just not $140 better imo.

My personal definition is this: I have a good job, but grew up obviously poor. I spend money on things that scream status. I do it because I can afford it and because I'll never forget having to skip bdays and Xmas to eat. It's pretty common with those who successfully get outta the hood without doing something illegal. I go home once a month and give away rods and reels to my old elementary school. It's also about countering the notion that banging is the way out. " I got everything he has, and I don't have to worry bout the 1 time (police)". This is my definition of booshie.

Not comparing so much as pointing out that the differences aren't always massive. A G Loomis blows the doors off just about anything I mentioned. I know that. This is more to see how others feel about it. I laughed so hard!! I grew up in a warzone of a neighborhood. I most definitely present myself as above my upbringing. I will also revert and the booshie comes off. LoL. Awesome post. Ya for bottom contact, I'll stick with my Denalis. I can feel the subtle changes. Everything else can be less expensive. Got bit by the tackle monkey!

Don't get me wrong, I can certainly feel the difference between a Ryker and a Lithium. I'm also involved in selling rods and reels so I have access to nicer setups at lower prices. But I'm not a tournament guy nor do I plan to be. If I can feel it hit the bottom and the contact when it moves, I'm good. Having said that, you're right about the advantages. Also, $100 will get you a pretty sweet rod nowadays.

Yup. Got the Denalis for 30-70$ cuz they're used or refurbs at the home store. Outside my Lew's Tournament MP nothing I own cost me $100. Well, I did buy a Denali Attax, but it was too stiff.

Yessir. Preach it! I think part of it is that my "cheap rods" are all composite except for the Rykers. They bend well. The Shock is an excellent rod. I don't care what the reviews say. Had a BLat rod, the shock ate it up. The Shimano Sojourn is a great rod at $30. Heck, the Abu vigilante winch is a sleeper. I'm definitely going to start looking at the lower price options. I have several friends who just can't afford a new setup. I'm not cool with that. If $80 is what it takes to make a friend feel like they got a great setup. I'm all in. My higher end stuff is generally reserved for Keitechs, Jigs, and Warts. Very specific about my Wart setups.

Hey guys. I finally started catching here on Bull Shoals! The other day I broke my Lithium 842ds rod. Luckily I had a backup. It's a Denali Ryker 842f. The experience got me thinking about something. How important is the price you pay to what you get? I say this because I ran the same setup except for the rod and really couldn't feel a $140 difference. I am new but I'm also Booshi. I've always spent bigger on the rods. I ran 2 other "cheap rods" vs. the high end Denalis that comp to em and again, couldn't feel a difference that justified the price. Any opinions here? Am I too green to tell? I started on $200+ rods. My Berkley Shock seems pretty dang similar...... Is it really all preference? If so I may have some Denalis for sale, LoL.

My cranking line up Spinning Micro/Crappie- Denali Myriad 540 ULM Light CB - Berkley Shock 6' MLMF Squares- Shimano Sojourn 6'6" MF Casting Warts- Denali Kovert 813SB MHMF Mag Warts-Denali Lithium 884FG HMF Just really got into cranking. Now I'm hopelessly addicted to it. LoL. Moderate rods feel way to soft to me. I fish Bull Shoals Lake around Jimmy Creek. It's nothing but timber and rocks. Mod fast lets me pull out of timber and rocks I catch far better. It's all preference.

Yessir. Same guys I believe. I live 5 miles from Jewel baits. They are the money behind it. I know they took Ark's blank formula and upgraded it.

Thinking of buying a virtus red diamond rod. Anybody got any experience with them?

I'm glad this thread got started. It's about time the entry/mid level guys got some threads going. I'm going to do one on show and tell setups under $200. As for the subject. I love Lew's Spinning reels and any of the MBS reels. Those have dual brakes. Me and my fishing buddy swear by Lew's, Abu and Kastking on reels. Rods is where it gets tricky. It's so personal for each person. Some suggestions for reels by price under $100. All of these reels are high quality for the price. Spinning $20- Shimano FX $30- Shimano Sienna/Kastking Centron $40- Abu Max Z/ Lew's Xfinity/Lzr Pro/Laser SG/KK Valiant Eagle, Zephyr $50-60- Pflueger President/ Abu Max STX/KK Megatron, Sharky/Piscifun Honor XT $60-75- Lew's Mach Smash/Piscifun Carbon x/ KK Zephyr Carbon $75-100-Lews Mach 2,Smash,KVD, Custom SS/Abu Revo X/Pflueger President XT Casting $30-50- KK Royal Legend/Black Max $50-75- Lew's Reactor/KK Megajaws,RLE/Piscifun Phantom $75-100-Lews LFS/ 13 Fishing Origin Hope this helps. Also, the Lew's Laser TXS is available on eBay right now for$50 -$70. Excellent deal. Dual brakes.

On sale right now on Amazon for 45 I think.

Here's my list. I am a tackle salesman so, it's a LOT! I'm with you on feel, I love to cap the power on my rods at 5 when possible. Just feels right. Everything above that is too stiff. Spinning 2 Lew's 1 Shimano 1 Kastking 2 Abu 2 Denali 1 Daiwa 1 Heddon 2 Ugly Stik 1 Shakespeare Casting 4 Denali 3 Shimano 2 Berkley 2 Abu 1 Ugly Stik

Goodness, I hope I can be good enough someday to say what you just did. 1 yr experience here. Still in the baby stages.

Yessir! My ride/pilot has done that too. Got em cornered in a cove near the marina and lost his mind. I always questioned his number, 52, but now I don't. CANNOT wait for some WB action.

Yes to the line. Nothing above 10lb dia. here. They have Eagle vision, the bass here. 8lb floro sells out before it gets to a shelf. I'll try a smaller profile next time. Thanks for the tip.

Oh I almost cried when I was told shallow here is 15-20ft. I'd never been deeper than 12 before. No need. Had to trade/sell everything I had and start over from zero. Jigs, Shakeys, Jerks, XD's, Spoons and dropshot are your options here. Or anything on a spinner setup. Knew jigs. Had to learn all the rest. I love my XD's and Dredgers. Gettin a Mann's 30+ Friday. For me It's power all the way. I'll run a Shakey instead of a dropshot or ned. Not good on Jerkin yet. Spoons are sentimental but BORING. I'll figure this place out or lose my mind trying. It's so remote here, like being in a time machine. Heaven on Earth.

Just the local weekly's. Nothing too serious.There is a team division. I WISH we could get to BC on our boat. It'd take all day. T.O.Y. and area are critical. I'm a bottom scraper and my pilot loves the mid water column stuff and jerks. This is mainly for mental exercise and for setup ideas for my shop. My goal is to give the customer a complete, specified combo with line and relevant tackle. Any suggestions would be very welcome.

Yessir. The Holy Grail for me. Helped me make a name for myself here in my area, being able to seemingly have access to every conceivable setup type. Mr. S did us all a favor with that list. It's Mars!!! A different planet. So weird how spinning is the money here. I'm from the Lake Conway area, so this is like starting over. Funny enough, My Denalis are in the ranges you state. 2 are XH, but they are very soft. Guess we solved that quandry. Thanks.