Jon/ Fishing boats... Teach me.

But you have a lot more resale value on the boat. 4700 for a race bike? I need to try racing one of those.

 

I don’t understand why you’d put braid on a spinning real anyway.

 

Earlier this season I picked up a St Croix 7- MH Legend Tournamnet. Love that thing. My reels are kind of a mix n match as all of them are modified one way or another.

 

It was an ‘05 R6 that I picked up in ‘07 off of Scott Padgitt (sp?). Might’ve been $5700, but that doesn’t change my point, which I know you understand.

 

No I don’t Fishing is way cheaper, even with an expensive boat and inexpensive bike. Even as overboard as I go it’s still way less expensive. i got an evergreen sb in the mail today, already added a bit of dark blue shiny vinyl wrap to it as it’s going to be a dark night. Everyone seems to be raving about them. For $20 they better catch fish.

 

Says the guy running an $8k Garmin setup on a job boat.

 

That’s a loaner though. Everyone needs a 22”screen on a 14’ boat.

 

Screw it. Gonna grab the 22” super screen and head out. I’m now free until 3am. Guess I’ll start with that sb topwater. Jacob Wheeler better not be wrong.

 

All that stuff is junk. Total shit. None of it worked. Not even a bite. I didn’t get a lot of fishing in though as I was on calls on and off.

 

I’m a big fan of Cashion Rods. They have been great for me and thier customer support is second to none. They are made in the US right up the road from me in NC so that’s a factor for me. The CRT is Cashions budget rod but still is fantastic. Mine are thier elite series and I love them. My buddy has a couple of thier CRTs and I love them too. I have 13(one three), Lews and Abu. All are great and you can’t go wrong with any of the ones mentioned in this thread.

I agree with Baconator on the Med/Heavy. There just isn’t that many times that you’re going to want a Med rod and today’s Med/Hvy stuff is so good that you’re not going to sacrifice by going that direction. Going with a Med you will be. You’re not going to wrench a bass from cover this fall with a Med rod. For what you’re looking for Med/Hvy all the way. They’re are so many different rods it can be overwhelming to just try and narrow it down. But 7-7-4/6 Meg/Heavy with a fast tip or extra fast if going a little longer.

When wacky/Neko I really like it as it’s easier to see the line move when they run with it. Especially dock fishing, I’ve had many times where before I felt them, I’ve seen the line move. I use 10lb yellow braid. I run it with a Invis-X 6-10 fluor leader that runs long enough to almost get to the first eye ties with an Alberto knot. The braid also is much better on wear and twists as it doesn’t hold line mono or fluorocarbon. The only time I’ve ever had a problem is when I ran 50lb on one because i didn’t bring the setup I needed for what they wanted. I was so mad then I wanted to toss the whole thing in the water.(see above post). I’ve been running the same braid on that neck/wacky setup since the early spring.

 

Damn, @BHP41 wish I would of seen this before Saturday. I walk into our sporting goods store and there was a abu combo black max baitcaster on sale for $39.99 with a 10 mail in rebate. Now I know there not worth shit but I grabbed it for nothing more but practice and to be able to pass it down to my boy once I get some better rods and reels. But I didn't think about it, It is only a med action. O well live and learn.

 

What do you guys think of something like this?

http://www.13fishing.com/origin-a-defy-white-combo/

 

You can’t go wrong with that purchase and you’ll be able to find a presentation for it. You can use it for a light jerk bait(Rapala X-Rap6) or a small jig. It will be a great combo to practice on. Buy cheap line and use different weights of lures to get accustomed to adjusting it.

Man, I like my 13 stuff. Is that a combo for $129? As with every manufacturer, they have high end and low end. The best low end stuff that I’ve found has been from Lews. IMO, if you’re looking for a combo setup, then don’t over look Lews and usually Cabelas or T.W. has deals going year round.

You also have to remember that with rod/reel setups and when you start buying more. You want to start with setups that can do multiple presentations. Then as you start putting rod reels together you can start focusing on ones setup for one presentation. Then the next thing you know you have 35 rod/reels and need a bigger damn boat.

For me, baitcasters are great but I prefer spinning tackle for dropshot,wacky/Neko style fishing. So it’s all in what you prefer because as @Canadian Bacon said, he uses baitcasters for the things I use spinning for. It’s personal preference and neither one is wrong. Fishing is like setting up a bike, what works for me might not work for you.

You get that Helix installed yet?

 

I started on an Abu Black Max as my first baitcaster 2 years ago and still use it as a backup. I used it for jerk baits, spinners, and even chucking tubes without issue. That’s a great reel to learn on, especially at that price point.

 

No damit. I bought that new boat and i decided I was going to but the helix in the trolling motor and haven't made it to a place to get a trolling motor mount.

 

i disagree. Again, you dont HAVE to have an expensive boat, other than my jon boat, i dont have one at all, i just fish with someone that does, and we do 15-20 tourney dates a year. Take out the boat payment and maint/repairs of said boat (which have been few and far between on his 2011 Nitro Z8, a complete 2 day weekend of tourney fishing per man:

$50/gas and oil for boat
$160 for 2 day/entry
$30-$50 gas for truck

Thats it. no other expenses, total of a max $250 for a weekend of fishing. Racing, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, i was spending a MINIMUM of $1500/weekend. FFS, i spent more on ONE set of tires than it cost me to do a weekend of tourney fishing! And if i wanna go just fish for fun, nothing but a tank of gas to get to and from the lake.

I dont count the rods/reels, tackle, ect. And yes, i have sunk some $$$ into that stuff (probably around $5K in rods/reels/tackle/electronics, but Those are things youre gonna buy and have from weekend to weekend and unless one of them breaks, wont be purchasing again. I'm talking about once all the stuff you buy to get set up, fishing is WAYYYYYYYYY cheaper to do than racing, hell, even track days!

 

You’re right. If you ignore half the costs of the gear in fishing to win an argument, it’s almost not worth trying to have a discussion with you. I already proved you wrong in my own personal example ... NOT running a $70k Nitro rig. If I raced on a friend’s bike instead of mine, I could make the exact same argument as you try to. I’m not running anywhere near high end fishing gear ... lower middle, at best ... and I’d put money on me having more invested in fishing than half the paddock of a typical WERA weekend.

As I already said, you CAN do it on the cheap. Just like you CAN race on the cheap. I’m not going to fight with you over this. You’re wrong. Fishing CAN be every bit as expensive as racing. Or it CAN be done on the cheap. It all depends on how you want to go about it. Hell, assjuice started doing this on the cheap and has already dropped waaay more than he intended to and already has 2 boats. Just because you choose to fish on the cheap by using a friend’s stuff doesn’t make that an absolute, or even an option for most.

 

Got this bad boy out muskie fishing.

 

Nice. That's a good eater right there.

Surprise walleye are the best lol