ABC123

A lot of good reels in that price range. For another $10, you can get a Pflueger Supreme. I thought I saw somwhere a store had them for about $85, if you can find that store. Symetre is highly regarded on this forum. Really can't go wrong with it either. There is alway's the new Wave reel brought to you by the "Bass professor" himself, Doug Hannon. 8-)

Ha, kind of along the lines of my phylosophy...Bass don't chew their food!

Up here where we have both open and hard water fishing, buying tackle is somewhat defined. Sept-Oct the hard water tackle starts filling the once full, now mostly empty, summer fishing shelves and pegboard. Come Feb, the switch over to open water fishing begins. What's it like down south?? Do they allow inventory to shrink some after Christmas, so there is room for the "new" products coming out, or do they just "make room" for the new products until the older products are thined out more??

Well, they don't sell Loomis rods, so they could be out to sell items that they can openly discount, in order to build a volume oriented business. But that is only speculation. I don't think their prices are that great. But they are better than some sale prices I've seen. 10-15% markdown is kind of a standard "sale" price on a lot of midrange priced reels.

This is Walleye country up here. The biggest Holiday's in this state are, in order, Christmas, 4th of july, Walleye opener, Memorial day, Labor day, and Thanksgiving. Bass opener is around Memorial weekend, so it tends to get lost in the holiday's.

Too funny, up here I'm alway's looking for a good plastic Leech for 'Eye fishing (I don't care much for real leeches). ;D On the right bite, they'll haul in good numbers of nice fish. So I ended up getting a soda and grabbed the bag of worms. Here's what I got....3 bags of 5" original zipper green weenie, 4 1/2" straight tail Oxblood, and 2 bags of 6" Sculpin FX black bass. I figure if I catch one decent fish with one of the worms, I'll be ahead of the new lure I lost last summer when I snagged it on the bottom and the line broke. First time it got wet.

My Bass fishing tackle box consists of the baits I have as a staple from when I was a kid. Lures like BassOreno's, Hula poppers, Jitterbugs, a couple spinner I don't use much, ect... Since my fishing "rebirth" a couple years ago, I have added some "new" staples. I have worm hooks, and a few different worms that have colors I feel Bass will bite. I have a small selection of cranks that will also double as 'Eye cranks, I have added a few new spook's, a new buzzbait, and a couple Bass specific cranks. I have also added to my 'Eye and panfish tackle too. All the "new" products are ones that have been discussed on this, or another furum as working. I don't buy the latest and greatest very often, and I alway's start out buying color's I think the FISH will take to. I stick to lure colors that match the waters I fish. I have a few lures for clearer water, but mostly lures for moderately stained water. 4-7 foot Secchi rating.

Nope, no joke. While sometimes I feel like I advertise for some company's, I do like to share where bargains can be found...to a point. I was out wandering today, and I happened into a Sportsman's warehouse. They have a january red sticker sale going on. Not much caught my eye, but they did have around 6 or 7 different Roboworm varieties on sale from $2.99 marked down to $.99.I got some shorter Oxblood thin tail worms and some fat green and brown 5 inch zippers. I forget the exact names, and I'm so tired, I'm too lazy to walk in the other room to get them. I think I got a third kind too, but it escapes me at the moment.

Loomis makes one spinning rod, crankbait specific, that I know of. It's in the Walleye series. It's a true crankbait rod, but it's a Walleye rod becouse mostly 'eye fisherpeople use spinning rods for throwing smaller cranks. If you don't mind the rod saying "Walleye series", then that would be a good rod to get. I think it's 1/4-5/8 oz rated. The only drawback is, it's only 6'6" (WCBR783S). They do have a casting rod in 7', you might be able to get the blank and have it made into a spinning rod???

I would say they are not quite the same as the Cumara. They have a simular exposed blank under the reel, like a lot of makers have, but I don't see the magtouch being aimed directly at it. The Cumara has a 2 piece reel seat whereas the XMG and Magtouch have a frame between the front and rear seat. The XMG 50 and the Magtouch are no doubt in the same catagory. If I remember right, doesn't the E21 rods have a 2 piece seats??? Honestly, I wouldn't put a $3 reel on a Cumara, much less one I liked. IMO, the added stress of not having a full framed reel seat is not a good idea. Under heavy load that reel will see a heavy foot load from the blank flexing becouse of no support. The reel will also see torsional load from not having a frame under the reel as you turn the crank, and fight fish. Either the foot on the reel will give way, or the seat will keep coming loose as the rod and reel shift around.

1) I don't see why I should have to "re-color" my line. That's a lot of work to fix a faulty product. Maybe PP should buy a lot of permanent markers and have an employee stand there and color it as it comes off the machine. 2) Right on. A lot of my braid use is with a floro leader. Works well for me. 3) I, for one, do keep spare spools for changing out and turning around line from spooled reels.

Should have contacted a Sportsman's warehouse and had them ship you a Fuego or Sol. $179 RH, $159 LH is a pretty close to mega deal. They also had Presidents for $99.

Well, I've never used a split grip rod, so I never found a need for it. But, as a believer in one of the few companies in the world I actually consistantly recommend, I say go Reel Mech custom or anyone you choose, using a G Loomis blank. The price hike they just had, is starting to push their rods out of the "good value" catagory though. I'm glad I have all the rods I want now. A 843 or 783 Loomis crankbait blank would be a good base for what you want. 1/4 to 5/8 oz rating. Just another option. You don't have to go Loomis either, Pick up any crankbait blank and have the split grip installed.

For me they are worth every penny, they are as solid as any other handle, make you retrieve super smooth and you can take apart the knobs to do proper cleaning. You can sweep the handle in your Fuego with a TD-Z, it is lighter, has 4 bearing and knobs x $ 40.00. I believe that the TD Advantage®-HSTA is a compatible with the Zillion ( I don't know it for sure ) but Daiwa may be able to help you there. Another option is to buy a JDM Zillion handle, it comes with 4 bushings that are easily sweep to bearings. Best luck TD Advantage®-HSTA has the same handle as the Zillion, but, it does look like the Advantage handle has bearings in the knobs. The Zillion must have bushings??? I'll have to call Daiwa back and find out. Come to think of it, I didn't ask if the handle came with knobs either. I just figured it came ready to bolt on. If the price is much more, I might as well go with the I' ZE handle kit for the Fuegos. More to think about I guess. Still 3 months before there is any chance of having the ice off the lakes anyway's, I have a little time to shop around.

Well, the 2500 is a good size for throwing medium size rigs. 1/2oz traps, weighted worms, smaller creatures and chunks, maybe smaller spinners or buzzbaits, ect... What are your plans for the rod/reel combo??? Some brands may not have a specific rod for what you will be using it for. If you are just looking for a basic M or MH fast action rod, then there is a lot to choose from in that price range. It would be easier to pick out a brand or type of rod, and research the site and ask specific questions. Sportsmans warehouse might still have some St Croix's on clearance. Reeds still has a decent selection at reasonable prices. Heck, buy a couple rods and save quite a bit of money. Find a buddy or two who want's/need's a new rod or two and order in bulk for some serious savings.

Just think how you would feel if you bought a good braid. ;D Ah, just kidding. The only issues I have with it is the cut ends fray too much, which isn't a big deal. The other one is what I don't like about it. I bought high vis yellow for vertical jigging, and the color started fading after the second outing, and was almost gone after the 4th outing. Maybe I got the fake stuff, but I bought it at a local store. It is a strong, managable, castable line though. The PP I have, is on a spinning reel, it does work well on it.

I've been wanting swept handles for my reels since way back when, when I got my Sol. I ended up calling Daiwa, and here is where I'm at.... 1) a) I can get a Zillion handle for $28, "adjust" the drag star, and have a non ball bearing swept handle on the Sol. I can buy an aftermarket BB handle in the $70 range and do the same thing. 2) a) I can get all the Zillion parts needed to switch the Fuegos to swept handles for $68. I can go aftermarket for $105 and get the fancy 4 ball bearing handle. Are the BB handles solid feeling compared to the factory non BB handles, or are they just smoother??? I really don't want to sink a lot of money into this project, but I am very willing to spend some money to get the swept handles. I just don't want to get the non BB handles and wish I got the BB ones, yet I don't want to sink the extra $$$ into BB handles and find they are not really that much better.

I'll be interested in hearing about the "twitchin' bar". I thought about getting one Fuego and one Viento, but not having the Magforce V or Z brake ruled it out.

Looking good. Thanks for the PM too.

I like the 6'6" length for a lot of applications. I feel it's a good balance between the more accurate casting 6' and shorter rods, and the 7' and longer, farther casting rods. It comes down to what you want out of the rod, and what length works best for where it's being used (shore or boat).

I used to fish Pike from MN, to trophy Pike in northern Canada on the Church hill river. Pike are lazy. They are strong, and will pull hard, but none the less, they are lazy. As long as the drag lets line out when they run, your ok. Bass, Crappies, and Bluegill/Sunfish, who are in the same family, tend to make rapid, jerking, fighting moves that require a good smooth drag. Pulling in pound plus bluegills on 2 lb line requires a good drag. As does Crappie fishing on light line. I think most people here know how important a drag is when trying to boat a bigger Bass on light line.

Carbon Pro is what I use for leaders for both 'eye's and bass. I won't use anything else, period. It's not a good line for spooling up, IMO. I tried P-line, don't care for it. Yo-zuri is on my list to try, though it's not a pure floro. Seeing as I like Carbon Pro so much, I think I'm going to pick up a spool of Invizx for this year too. Spooling up floro is new to me, so I don't have too much to offer.

The rule of thumb is/was, hard fighting fish require front drags, like bass, crappies, sunfish, ect... Lazy fish, like 'eye's and pike only need the rear drag.

Well, let me ask this: If you could get a Loomis GLX rod for $200, that was made in China, would you buy it????

;D I am a machine shop. Well, sort of. I figure I can make a cylinder that the drag knob will fit in, with a wall thickness the same size as where I want to bend the tabs. Then just press away. The Fuego tabs concern me, becouse of their thickness. I figure if I break one, I'll have to get the pre-bent replacement ones. Where did you get the I' ZE handles for $95 shipped???? Do you get a choice of finishes??