The Next KVD

I use 10lb P-line 100% fluorocarbon for t-rigs and 15lb fluoro for wacky rigs unless I'm in reeds or heavy vegetation which gets 30lb braid

A friend of mine was fortunate enough to be Skeets marshal at the 2011 Classic on day 2. I asked him this same question and he told me flat out: Skeet uses the Victory reels and the wright and McGill skeet reese rods. He does have a few spares new in boxes in the starboard rod locker though. I'm sure Skeet gets all his reels for free and dumps them after a tournament or two, especially seeing as how he keeps spares in a rod locker. Skeet is a pretty cool guy from what I've been told.

I have tried the straight shank hooks and HATE THEM! Even with the barbs, the plastic still likes to slide down on me. I have not had any issues with the Superline EWGs from Gamakatsu for this tactic and have yet to lose a fish do to the hook not penetrating.

RUN AWAY NOW!!!!!! Get as far away from that stuff as you possibly can. I don't see a reason as to why Berkley is still even marketing and selling the stuff. When it first came out and was really the only fluorocarbon that was widely available it was good, but now compared to everything else, it is on the bottom of the barrel. Scratch that, its not even in the barrel. They should have a trash bin to put Vanish just as it gets done being put on the spool at the factory.

From a guy that owns both, the Citica is the better of the two reels performance wise. Price wise, its tough to beat the PQ on sale. Atleast with the Citica you will be able to get parts for it 10 years down the road and then some.

Maybe. I can see why the thicker line would have less stretch and transmit more vibrations but I have never noticed this in any of my setups. How deep are you fishing? In deeper water say 10ft or more I'd say the smaller diameter line would be more sensitive as it has less drag to keep a bow in it and sinks quicker giving you a more direct path to the bait, even with fluorocarbon 12lb line will sink faster than 20lb. Toss up depending on the situation.

I personally like the FD Sahara's and previous generations over the current generation mainly because I'm a FIRM believer in aluminum frames. I do have a few reels that I use for people that go with me that don't fish as often that have graphite frames and they do fine but I will not use them for any tournament fishing. Don't know, its just a personal preference to me as I think reels built with aluminum frames are smoother and I know it will take a lot to make a crack in those frames.

PowerTeam Lures offers there baits in 25pk and 50pks on their site. P.S. I just sent you a little something in a pm to help ya save alittle bit more!

Easily the Shimano Chronarch 100B. No other reel I own, have owned, or even picked up off a buddies deck or at the store compares.

There really is no reason to use KVD L&L or the snake oil known as RM on braid. The only thing I really noticed when I treated my braid with KVD L&L was the color seemed to take a little longer to fade away, otherwise no real benefit from my experience.

Never knew braid needed a special tool to cut... My pair of scissors from wallyworld seems to cut through it just fine.

I still like to use mono for a few situations: 1. Cold weather- fluorocarbon just gets too stiff in the cold to handle decently. 2. Jerkbaits - like the stretch mono has to help keep fish hooked up. 3. Topwater baits - mono floats so this is an obvious choice 4. Flippin/Pitching into trees and brush- I keep two flipping rods with 25lb Trilene Big Game just because I have seen times where braid rubbing against the branches can spook fish at times. I have yet to try fluorocarbon for this application mainly because I still got about 900 yards of Big Game to use up. My other flipping rods are spooled with braid.

I don't know about that one... from what I have read and heard there are only two factories in the world that have the ability to use fluorocarbon resin and produce fluorocarbon line, the main one in Japan where the VAST majority of them are made from and the other in Germany. Not saying that its not possible McCoy isn't making it here, just that it has not been confirmed. I know it says so on the package but they may just put that on their product to make it seem that way. If someone was making it here in America, why wouldn't Berkley or Vicious (2 well known companies that make their other lines here) make it here?

PowerTeam Lures 4.5" Food Chain Tube probably was my #1 bait last year with a 3/8oz black/blue jig coming up a close 2nd. A senko type bait was easily 3rd.

Heres my thought. Here in Minnesota we are allowed to only use 1 hook on Umbrella Rigs, the rest of the swimbaits on the rig must be dummy rigged. I found this to be a perfect compromise and sportsman like. You can have your Umbrella Rig and still only be able to catch ONE fish at a time and there are NO other hooks to accidently stab a fish on the side, head, ect. that may cause bodily harm.

X2 Fluorocarbon stretches just as much as mono if not more in some cases (Seaguar InvizX, Gamma Edge),

I WANT ONE!!! NOW!!!!

I have mixed feelings with the original green label Vicious. I have had no issues with the 15lb test and up but anything below that is VERY inconsistent. I spooled up a spinning reel with 8lb and loved it, but on the next spinning reel (same brand and model) using the same exact spool I had nothing but issues with it breaking for no reason after making sure nothing was wrong with the rod guides and reel. On another note, I hear the Vicious Pro Elite is a lot better but have yet to try it.

I would have to say its a toss up between the "D" series and "E" series being the best. Both are rock solid reels and I own multiples of Curados and Citicas. The "B" series is a good reel and I would say that even though they are old they still are the farthest casting reels I own. Maybe not the smoothest, but farthest especially after they are supertuned. Sad to say I'm not fond of the "G" series, its an okay reel but I'd actually place it in last place among the series. On the Chronarch side I'm alittle bit behind in only owning a 100A and 3 "B"s. I've held a "D" and I woulda loved to have that reel. Have yet to pick up an "E". The B series though there is just something magical about that reel. I don't know if its the awesome metallic gunmetal color or how the reel fits in my hands but it is "it" in my mind. I really hope Shimano goes back towards something like the "E" series. Surely they know that its not all about being price competitive as most of us are probably willing to shell out an extra $20-30 for something over the competition in their current price range.

Have not had an issue yet on mine when bombing 3oz Umbrella Rigs.

Wow, I really only started this to say if you needed parts you can probably shop around or atleast get through anything that is on backorder or heck even cannabilize a reel bought on ebay. I really am a Shimano addict and prefer their reels due to the fact that they last forever and parts are available for most of the old popular models. I'm definitely in that small group that prefers quality and only playing around with the lews and pq due to the fact that I'm using them for stuff that I don't get a chance to throw very much. Our fish here up north just don't go very deep for very long so there wasn't much use in spending $120+ for a decent Shimano and especially $199+ for the sophisticated reels in their lineup for a deep crankbait reel.

So I just got my new Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier in this week and today while cleaning a Lew's Tournament Speed Spool I couldn't help but notice the two reels looked very similar. Being the curious guy that I am I went ahead and started swapping out parts between the two and found they are compatible with each other. Looking at the reel schematics, there are a few differences in them, but for the most part they are exactly the same. Both reels are made in Korea which leads me to believe Bass Pro Shops are having their reels (atleast the Pro Qualifiers) built by Lews. Other than a few cosmetics in coloring, badgeing, and a few small differences in parts either through additional parts or another version of a part to do the same job, I don't see a difference. Maybe I'm wrong as I'm more of a Shimano guy and these are the ONLY two reels that I have that are not Shimano. The only reason I got the Pro Qualifier was because it was on sale, I needed another crankbait reel, and the new Shimano G5's carry in too much line for my liking for a deep crankbait reel. Maybe this is old news and someone already knew this but for me it was a discovery. Which is a good thing because I'm going to order a new handle from Bass Pro Shops to put on the Lews that I have because I HATE THE FLAT HANDLE KNOBS!

Surprise: Luck-E-Strike RC STX Jerkbait. Maybe a copy but it does catch fish just as well for most conditions. Still rely on the Megabass Vision110 when they won't hit the RC. Disappointment: Tru-Tungsten 4" Bluegill swimbait. Looks awesome in the package and looks awesome in the water but the fish seem to disagree.

Senko type bait. Doesn't matter what time of the year, I know I can always catch some fish on a senko.

The St.Croix Mojo 7'8" rod is good rod. It is glass so it is not quite as sensitive as a graphite rod but its definitely ALOT better than the fiberglass rods of yesteryear. I also have a Shimano Crucial Crankbait 7'11" MH rod that I really like.