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Well, I have fished with most of the spectrum. I have used reels that come in bubble pack on up to $200+ reels. I have used rods that broke easy, and the line guides bent or broke easy on up to $350 rods. My opinion is, the more you fish, the more you should "invest" in fishing. How enjoyable is fishing if something breaks every time you go, or a few times a year you have to replace something??? What about spending a lot of time trying to get reels to work right??? Not everyone can run out and buy $400 combo's on a whim, but, IMO, saving up for 1 $200 combo makes for much more enjoyable fishing than having 4 $50 combo's.

So I had to go down to the cities yesturday. On the way down, I stop at Cabela's and get the Down-to package for $30 they have had on sale. I also found a store that seemed to have a connection to BPS. Hmmm I thought, I wonder what that would be like. I went there too, as it was not far out of the way. They had some BPS branded items, but it was more like a lot of the other good shops up in these parts. They had my trailer keepers though!!!!!! So now I'm thinking wow, this has been a good day, I got my trailer keepers, and some Rapala Dive-to's for $5. Could it get any better than this???? Yup! So we get where we were going, but the baby was sleeping, so we couldn't do the projects we were there for. So, We went shopping. Not too far from the house is a SW!!! I get there and they have different red tag items on sale. Some different plastics were marked down, and I got some Gene Larew fat tail tubes and tube worms for $1 a bag, and a CountDown Rapala for $4. The best part was, everything was colors I like to use. 8-)

We have a lake up here that is catch and release only. The fishing is great, but.....people have been compaining that there is something wrong with the lake becouse all the fish are long, but have poor girths. Um, gee, I wonder why. There isn't enough food to feed all the fish. Unlike people, a fat fish is a healthy fish. If the bite is hot, I'll keep a couple to make a meal, but generally, I go for Crappies and 'Eye's for food.

I used to chase Northern Pike years ago. Top producers were... #4 Bucktail inline spinner. It seems like "Bucktail" has become some generic name now day's. A true bucktail is brown. Kind of like pulling the hair off a buck's tail. : It might have a red string in it, a little bit of white, and/or a little black in it. #4 Yellow inline spinner. Bobber fish with minnow. Really good for river fishing. Red and white Dare devil. Basically, they will bite on most anything though. I've had them attack red/white styrofoam bobbers, Fake mice, Rubber duck lure, and a Beer can lure. A small replica can, not a real beer can, you see them in stores once in awhile. The three lures were gag lures we brought with us on a trip to Canada. One did take the beer can lure, much to our surprise. The duck one actually caught a few of them. Set up of choice was a medium heavy rod with 30lb black braid and a 12" ball bearing steel leader.

Funny, I don't think I could live in a house without vaulted ceilings. Well, unless the heated garage had high walls. ;D

Now there is a low budget JDM reel too. The Aggrest 150 and 150 high speed. 110 yards of 14lb 6.3 or 7.1 ratios 9lbs of drag, looks to be based on the Zillion.

Islandbass, Maybe I missed something here??? I read the rod specs as a 6 foot, moderate-fast action rod, with a lure rating from 1/8-3/8??? So that would make is a "light" rod, not medium as implyed in the title?? Don't want to mislead on what a rod can be used for, so if it is actually a medium power rod, then my suggestion of small #01 and #03 Rapala's would be a little small for the rod. If the above specs are correct, then I stand by my first suggestion. IMO, moderate actions rods are too soft and inaccurate for skipping, but, I'm no expert on it either. To date, I have only done skipping with a 6'6" medium power/fast action spinning combo. I want more accuracy, that is why I am going to try my much stiffer 6' casting rod this year.

At home, not weather related. Hasn't snowed/iced/rained here since mid December. Our lakes are seriously hurting for moisture too.

...you got pulled over for speeding, trying to beat the wife home, becouse your "package" might be delivered today. ...you spend more time with the Cabela's catalog...than the family. ...you have the BPS catalog memorized. ...you spent more on your last fishing rod, than Chrismas presents for the wife.

Buzz baits Walking baits Poppers

Well, I can catch panfish on an almost bare hook, so in order to catch both 'Eyes and Bass on only one lure, it would have to be a #09 Rapala Countdown...Perch. I'll still be carrying my Hula Popper along for good luck though.

Looks perfect for throwing #1 and #3 Rapala Countdowns and Floaters.

Hmmm, log chain to slow a drift. I use chain on my Navy style anchors to help them work better, I bet a nice length of log chain would be enough to slow a boat down. 8-)

A push pole????

Don't have very big fish in your area???? ;D

Overcompensation of speed and steering are the two things I think I need to work on most. I'll have to try starting at the bottom of the dail too. Working the wind is what has been frustrating for me as I have a lighter boat that sits higher out of the water.

Well, we all know that you could be the best flippin', dropshottin', pitchin', wormin' machine in North America, but if you're not able to stay on the fish, well.....then your just practicing. Boat control is my main objective this year. What are some of the tricks you use to stay in control???

Our local Wal marts don't seem to want to compete with the local stores. They have one isle of fishing tackle. Low cost basics. The highest end products they sell are a few Rapala's. I noticed the closeout of the above mentioned line though. They have half an endcap full of the line. Some of the best deals I got on hard baits was at the local bait shop. X-point hooks, Spooks, ect..

'Glass rods are not really the best, but they have the best action for crankbaits, at a low cost. New blended graphite rods now have the same action, but also offer sensitivity, something 'glass rods don't have. I have 2 of the Cabela's E-glass rods for kids to use/abuse. They have held up quite well. The BPS cranking rod seems to get good reviews, and cost a little more, but I'm sure they are lighter too. Suggestions have already been made for higher end rods. So, the questions are.... 1) How much do you want to spend? 2) Do you want spinning or casting? 3) Deep or shallow cranks, or try to use for both?

Good deals...was the Kistler deal the one where you buy the Helium, get the Mag free??? I seen that on the back of a magazine.

You have a range of about 6lb test where the reel still performs "normal". Once you stray from there, you start to run into "issues". Take for example the Pflueger Supreme 8030. The reel is marketed with a spool capacity of 160 yards of 6lb test mono. Now, you can put 6, 8, 10, or even 12lb test mono on there with 12 being on the edge of "normal". Larger line will leave you with much less line on the spool. Also the smaller spool will make casting a bit more difficult. Spinning reels peel the line off the spool. The bigger the line diameter, and the smaller the spool you coil the line onto, makes for more difficult operation. Braid is a whole different situation. Braid allows you to go with much higher test line before any "issues" arise. With the 115/6 numbers you gave, I would say going to 8 might work just fine, but 10 would be too big IMO.

I'm not one to spool up Fluorocarbon, but a lot of people have nice things to say about Sensation line. In that price range, a store combo might be the best bang for the buck. Sometimes they will have reels on special where you buy a certain brand or type of reel, and they throw in a decent house brand rod cheap. May want to ask about those deals too. Cabela's has a TT IM7 rod/Pflueger President 6730 combo that looks pretty nice.

Short version: Awhile back, they were bought out, and then sold their catalog sales to another company. They now want to do online sales, but had to go to court over it becouse of the sale of their catalog. They won, so soon they should be online.

What's the story on the crank nut??? You get that personalized, or did it happen to come with the "R"??? Looking good.... 8-)

1) How much do you want to spend? 2) Are you stuck on spinning or baitcasters or with either work? Spinning is probably a better set up, but either can work. 3) If your not buying a house brand product, and your planning on paying retail, then I suggest looking at Cabelas and BPS, then buy from your local shop.