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While this may be true, they are still a retail business, not a discount business. A retail business has an expectation of providing service with their product. This would include, but not be limited to, a good repair/replacement policy, a good exchange policy, a good return policy, and a good shipping policy. I hear/read thier return, exchange, and repair/replacement policy's are pretty good, but thier shipping policy seems to come up short. I have contacted them both on the phone and online, and I have yet to be able to find out the status of my order or been able to track it. This is where a lot of my concern lies. IMO, 8+ day's should be a worse case delivery time, not the norm. I'm most likley not going to completely hold this against them, but I do know I won't be ordering anything I need from them. There are plenty of places selling the products at the same price, if not cheaper, and will get them to you in a week or less.

Too funny. I don't come in this forum often, but I just picked up some of these hooks in 1/0 and 3/0 dirt cheap from the local bait store. I was just wondering this morning, as I watch the rain fall >, what they will perform like tomorrow when I get to try them. BTW, I'm used to worm hooks with the barbs to hold the worm on, how does the worm stay on the hook with these??? The worms seems to pull off when you slide it over the offset part.

Well, this most likely won't help much, but I got a couple E-glass Cabela's roods a couple years ago for the other halfs kids to abuse. They have held up quite well.

I got tired of trying to tie knots all the time, so I went with Norman speed clips for most everything. Certain things, like worm hooks and smaller jigs I tie directly on, but usually there is a speed clip on most of my rods. BTW, I'm not all that fast at tying knot's either. I can throw a new leader on with a Uni to uni pretty quick, otherwise the only time I can tie a knot with good speed is with limp mono.

I needed a new tach for the new motor on my boat, so I thought I would try the Faria's they sell. They look nicer than the Teleflex ones everybody else has. Got some spooks on sale cheap too and a store brand reel to try. I didn't think it was going to take this long to get the stuff though. :-/

So I thought I would give BPS's a try. Everything seems ok...but....it's been over a week since I ordered and nothing. Do they alway's take this long to get items to you w/o going the high speed shipping route????

Hmmmm, maybe I'll be replacing my glass rod sooner than I think. Never seen those before. They look very interesting.

Are you talking about Reed's sporting goods in MN and online??? If so, then that's not true. Gander bought their new Brainerd/Baxter store, not the company. Doors closed on the Brainerd store on Labor day. I lost a little respect for Reed's over that deal. It does reaffirm my standing on NEVER spending one penny in a Gander mtn or Holiday gas station. "Gander Mountain Company, the nation's largest retail network of stores for hunting, fishing, camping, boating, marine, and outdoor lifestyle products and services, along with Reeds Family Outdoor Outfitters, a well known regional outdoor retailer based in Walker, Minnesota, announced today that Gander Mountain will acquire the inventory and certain assets of the Reeds Outdoor Super Store located in Baxter, Minnesota. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in September 2007. As a part of the agreement, Reeds will no longer have a presence in Baxter, but will continue to operate its store in Walker, Minnesota, its on-line store, catalog businesses and other retail locations in the future. "Gander Mountain opened our Baxter store in 2005, and while we have been pleased with the business, we believe the Brainerd Lakes area could be better served by one store with the quantity and quality of service and inventory that our store and the Reeds store are both offering," said Mark Baker, Gander Mountain president and CEO. "It makes sense for both companies and will be good for outdoor enthusiasts. We have great respect for Reeds as good competitors and we wish the Arnold family all the best in Walker and wherever they do business in the future." Between now and September, Reeds and Gander Mountain will continue customary daily operations in their respective Baxter locations. Gander Mountain and Reeds will integrate the Reeds Baxter store inventory into Gander Mountain's Baxter store. It is expected that some current Reeds Baxter staff will be employed by Gander Mountain as a part of the transition. Reeds will move some staff members to its Walker store. "Everyone connected with Reeds is very grateful to all of our customers, staff, friends, businesses, and to the communities in the Brainerd Lakes area," said Adam Arnold, Reeds president. "Reeds Baxter store performed very well over the years with continuous sales growth year after year and it gained great success by establishing a strong, loyal following of friends and customers with great service and customer care. We look forward to continuing to serve customers and friends in our Walker store and on-line."

A surgeons knot is strong, but it is an offset knot, not an inline one like the uni to uni. The knot will throw the line out of balance and act as a hook on the guides. It's not a good casting knot.

Are you wraping the line enough??? I wrap the braid maybe 4 or 5 times, but I usually wrap the floro two more times than the braid. I'm surely no knot expert, but that would be my guess on what's happening.

I am slowly converting from low cost to high end set ups as I determine I know EXACTLY what I want. Right now I have 2 dedicated Bass rods (I fish for Walleye and panfish too) and two, 2 function rods. I plan on ending up with 5 rods. I have an XF 803 GLX spinning rod for plastics/Senko's/and light topwater lures. I have a F 721 IMX casting rod that is my "finness" rod doubling as my panfish rod. I wasn't looking at getting a casting rod for this task, but I got the rod on clearance remarked down to $86. I couldn't pass it up. I have a F 783 IMX spinning rod that is my general purpose rod. I find I am in need of a MH or H rod with a baitcaster for throwing spinners and large topwater baits. I'm still not ready to let go of my old glass rod that I use for throwing cranks for any type of fish I'm after. It will be replaced....some day, but I'm in no hurry. I have other rods, but they are for other types of fishing.

I've used green braid both with and without a floro leader for topwaters (murky, vegetation/algae filled lakes). I have been VERY pleased with the results of the braid with floro leader.

Learn a line to line knot. Doing a uni to uni is not that hard. Take a bunch of the old line you strip off your reels and practice, practice, practice.

I have both the Rhino reels and the Zebco 33 and 11 platinum series reels. I forget the set up on the Rino's, but the Zebco platinums are dual pin (180 deg from each other). ALL the reels have worked flawlessly since removing the line they came with and puting on Trilene XL 4lb and/or 6lb line.

No swept handle on the premier????

Well, where I fish, I would make sure I bring along a 1/2oz frog colored Jitterbug, a bag of plastic worms I can rig up weedless (usually pumpkin), and a shad colored 'Trap. I got some nice LM's last night on the Jitterbug. ;D

I was trying to track with you until you got here. What's up with this comment? I was, in a way, "phishing", looking for someone to defend the Shimano line, not just recommend them. I own, have owned, most all of the "big brands", including a few Shimano's. I even owned a new Stradic this spring...for a week. It took me that long to get back to the store and return it. Yeah Shimano has lot's of bells and gadgets on thier reels, but I just don't see the substance inside of them. Charging $200+ for a Sustain reel with a graphite side plate and rotor, IMO, is questionable.

Pflueger Supreme reel (89.99), Loomis GLX 783 rod (301.50), Stren original blue mono 8lb(7.00), 3 bags of senko's, (18.00), package of worm hooks (3.00), 6pack of Killians Irish red (7.00), Ice (2.00), cooler (12.00), a few plugs/cranks to throw too (24.00), plus cost to have it all shipped to you (30.00). Cost of buying fishing equipment....$494.49. A day spent fishing....priceless. Don't fall for those over priced graphite Shimano's. $200 for a reel with graphite components is a HUGE rip off. Wal mart will sell you a reel with graphite parts for $15. The pflueger is aluminum and magnesium (the same material they made Lawn boy mower decks out of). PLUS, you can't get any more up to date than a reel that came out in March of this year.

Drivers used to be on the right side, in America. Drivers got moved to the left side for one basic reason. Becouse womans dresses were getting dirty from being splashed by mud and water from oncoming traffic. To fix the problem, they just rearranged the occupants. It would have been a whole different world if they would have installed doors and windows instead....

1) Okay so MH has nothing to do with a firm tip then? A firm tip would be XF? Man so much stuff to juggle around in my head. I keep going back and forth in what I want. But the rod that you have pointed out is one that I was looking at last night in the catalog. 2) So an extra fast tip means that you can set the hook easier and faster correct? Talk about information overload. I remember the days of fishing when I was 16 and not getting all technical. I still pulled in big fish and didn't have a care in the world. Sometimes I wish I could get back to that thinking. ;D 1) Correct. The two terms used to describe the rod between the reel seat and the tip are "action" and "power". Action is the first part of the rod, from the tip back. This is where casting, hookset, and jigging/lure "actions" are controlled. The faster the action, the faster the tip end of the rod transfers "power" to the "power" portion of the rod. There are 4 basic actions. Moderate, Moderate-fast, Fast, and Extra-fast. An Ugly stick has a Moderate action. A typical fiberglass rod has a Moderate-fast action. Most off the shelf production rods will either be Moderate fast, or Fast. It depends on what market they are targeting the rod for. This is where the "power/action" confusion comes from. A lot of low cost rods will have an action that matches the power. Say a $30 UL rod will have a Moderate-fast action, but the same line in a medium "power", might have a fast action. "Power" is more of a constant. Power refers to the "backbone" of the rod. The portion from where the tip transfers to the mid section of the rod, back to infront of the reel seat/handle. This is usually the same between a $30 rod, and a $300 rod. The "power" section is where the fish fighting takes place. 2) Extra fast action means the tip will transfer the leverage you put on the rod to the back bone faster than say a fast action. In simple terms, it's stiffer. The more work you want the tip of your rod to do in regards to lure action, including casting, topwater/underwater movement, and hookset, the faster the action of the tip needs to be.

I've spent thousands at Reed's. They know me by name. Their service is not the best, but it's pretty good most of the time, and their prices are hard to beat. Most of the time, the Loomis rods are drop shipped factory direct, this is why it can be hard for them to pinpoint an exact time of delivery. And also why they can sell them cheaper, they don't have inventory sitting around. Ordered 3 rods from them and Loomis was out of stock on one and had to make it. It took a couple weeks to get the rods, but it was worth it to me. You should be able to call and ask about the status of your order. Either they will know, or they can find out and call you back or call them back later.

I use an extra fast action, MH power, BSR 803 GLX Loomis rod, with braided line, for plastics in the junk. I could have maybe gotten away with Med power becouse we don't have many, if any, 12+lb fish here, but I'm happy with the MH. I wouldn't have anything less than the extra fast tip, though. Keep in mind, the tip dictates the power and speed of the hookset. It also allows for better casting control. Tip action dictates the type of hookset you need for that application. Going to a heavier power rod not only allows you to muscle in a fish easier, but it allows for better control when trying to lead the fish to you, as it's trying to get away in the junk. Power dictates how much control you need/want when fighting a fish. Use the lowest power rod needed for any given application. If it was me, I would be looking at the AS68MXF. But that's just my opinion. It's up to you and what you expect/want out of the rod.

I am looking to upgrade/replace my tach and trim gauge. I only have a tach right now, so matching gauges, looks wise, is not an issue. I see Teleflex at a lot of places, and it's hard to find other brands at a reasonable price. Is that my only options? Teleflex or big money??? Thanks.

IMO, the Lightning rods are the best sub $80 MSRP rods out there.

So, here's where I'm at now. I had to do some out of town stuff, so I went a little farther and drove to Cabela's (they had offered me the online price at the store when I called them). I found a CR723 IMX rod (I have the 721 IMX) and put the reel on it. I found the balance for casting was real good, but noticed it had a hard pull/lean to the handle side. Is this normal??? Otherwise, I really liked the reel. I liked the lower profile and the smoothness of the reel. For the price, it does seem like a pretty good deal. The leaning/pull does concern me though. Is it something you only notice in the store??