More toys for Christmas!

[kahuna bass]

Greetings all,

Here's a few more pictures of my collection. Besides, my wonderful wife got me a few more fishing mounts!













Mel - Kahuna bass
Darkside lure junkie!!

[Stan Wright]

I am looking into my Crystal Ball.....
I see you going on a trip soon....
I also see a "garage sale" in your wife's future.

[kahuna bass]

Bad thoughts Stan!

I've had my girls tell me, "e-bay", a number of times.

Just on the wall hanging, I have over 350 swim baits. Another 50+ in the storage bin. My addiction continues!

Now, only if I had the whole garage for "My Man Room"! Wishful thinking.

Hope all had a wonderful Christmas and fantastic New Year!

Mel - Kahuna bass
Dark side and twisted swim bait collector!

[skunked]

That's an awesome collection of swimbaits and beautiful mounts! I haven't caught a fish big enough to display or to even strike a big swimbait! Still working on it.
Bought myself some Christmas gifts this year for being a good boy!

My first Daiwa Steez. 5.5 oz Can't wait to test it out! Mounted on a Dobyns Champion Extreme DX702C

Quantum Tour Edition 101HPT. Giving Quantum another chance because I got this one for $120 off original MSRP. Hope they improved things since the POS Energy 760PT I had a few years ago. I am still worried about the longevity of the pin-less spool/pinon gear interface. This reel is super smooth though. Smoother than the Steez.

Snagged this used Daiwa Sol for $99 on ebay. After receiving it, I found out why it was so cheap. Felt like a coffee grinder. I tore it down and lubed everything but it still needs some work. Mounted on a Duckett Micro Magic MH rod.

Got this used Daiwa Alphas 103L from a Japanese seller on ebay. This one is still in great condition!

Dobyns DX701SF rod. This is a great rod for 4-6 lb line and light lures, while not being a limp noodle. Perfect rod for open water situations on Lake Wilson. Shown with my Daiwa Fuego 1000A...best spinning reel I have ever owned! Makes my Stradics feel like junk in comparison.

New Shimano Crucial crankbait rod. Really nice rod. Can fling those lures way out there! Shown with a Zillion 50th anniversary reel, which is not a cranking reel. Just put it on there for the picture.
Super disappointed in Shimano's practical joke they pulled on the public with the "new" Chronarch and the downgraded Curado and Citica. I'll probably get one just out of curiosity though, then the joke will succeed and I will be one of the thousands of suckers.
Anyone else have pics of their tackle they would like to show? I (I'm probably the only one) would love to see!!

[Ken]

My sister and her boyfriend asked what I want for Christmas...

I saw there were some 400g (14oz) OTI Jager Jigs on sale...so Jager Jigs it was!

Compared to my hand...



Compared to my Diawa Saltist BG 40...



Can't wait to do some vertical jigging with these...in Boston for pollock...in Hawaii for some GT...or in Florida for some snapper, grouper and AJ's!!!

[Ca_Bass]

I scored big time this christmas/new years(also my b day)

Got a humminbird 898c Side imaging unit. AMAZING, coolest thing ever!!

Also got a team daiwa fuego.

Skunked,
Have you had a chance to "test" the steez reel? Currently I've been swapping back and forth from my shimano core and my TD Ziliion reel on my Steez SVF rod. You think that the steez reel is significantly better than either of thoses reels? If so I may start a "savings account" for a steez reel (which means put 100 bucks away each month so I don't catch any flack about $500 coming out of the account from some tackle shop

Was at bass pro the other day and was SHOCKED at how nice the quatum smoke rods felt! Pretty much up until that point I've been unimpressed with everything quantum. Also heard their top model reels are better than they've ever been.

Also felt the shimano cumulus...man those rods felt nice!

[skunked]

Happy belated birthday Alec! Did you get a Fuego BC or spinning?
Steez vs. Core:
virtually same weight (feather light)
Steez is slightly smoother
Steez is a masterpiece of craftsmanship. The attention to detail is incredible, while the Core is basically a lightened Curado 50E.
Core is a lot cheaper/better value
Core braking system (SVS) is WAY easier to dial in. Steez (103 especially) is very finicky. Not so great for an amateur like me! I like the reel a lot, but not enough to buy another one unless it is on clearance. My opinion is that the Steez is not worth the extra $$ over the Core.
Steez vs. Zillion:
Steez is lighter, but not much smoother, despite the higher bearing count.
Zillion is one of the most perfect reels ever made. Stunning looking, smooth, durable, and does most everything well.
Don't know if you've ever considered it, but the REVO Premier can be had on ebay for around $190. That is the best bang for the buck deal on a truly high performance reel (the original Premier with the straight handle was junk). The Premier is simply awesome. It does everything really well. Another really solid reel is the Lew's Tournament Pro TP1H. Very similar to the Premier (probably made in the same factory in Korea) and can be found for about $155.
Yeah, I've heard great things about the Smoke rods. Looking forward to playing with them on our next trip to Texas.
I have the 6'5" Shimano Cumulus casting rod. It is a fantastic rod. Super light and sensitive. The only negatives are the price and the underpowered blanks....Medium feels like ML. It also looks very plain.
When are you gonna make another thread about your Texas fishing?

[Ca_Bass]

Thanks for the review! I absolutely love my zillion! Wanna get the coastal as well as the type r eventially I'm going to replace all my reels with zillions and wanna add a t3 ballastic for my topwater rod. I got the spinning reel. Almost bought the casting awhile back but went with the curado 200dhsv(which IMO is the best curado they made). Still haven't handled a zillion rod yet.

Kinda turned off on anything Abu lately, I bought a revo s awhile ago, which I do understand isn't a premier reel but the only reason it is on any of my rods is I have more rods than reels also bought a vendeta spinning rod(again not a premier rod) but it's complete junk. I have a $50 field and steam tech spec rod which has better sensitivity and feel. Both rods are decent enough to lend out to someone I take out in my boat, which is mostly why I have them.

No more texas reports, I've been Georgia for about 4 months now fishing mainly Clarks Hill aka strom thurmond reservoir and fished lake russell for the first time yesterday which is the next lake up on the savannah river..lake hartwell is just north of russell also on the savannah. Will be fishing lake murray for the first time this Sunday. I'm pre fishing for a bassmasters weekend series tournament at the end of this month hoping I draw a good pair as I won't have much experience fishing the lake

Fishing has been tough out here the past 1.5 months! The weather has been constanly changing lately. It will bee freezing for a week then back to high 60's. And really it's the first time I've ever really had to fish true cold weather patterns as I've spent most of my life in So Cal, Phoenix Az and Hawaii. Haven't quite figured out how too catch fish deep consitently. I catch a few here a few there but haven't had a solid pattern going since the end of Nov! Hoping the down and side imaging unit will help in this area one thing I have noticed is if I find the bait I can find the fish..sounds easy right? Well on a 78,000 acre lake it can be hard I need to take a week off and fish everyday that would definitely help me figure out this cold weather stuff! I'd much rather fish in extreme heat than cold weather. I think one thing I'm gonna have to start doing is using heavier weights and jigs. It gets so windy sometimes that fishing 1/8 ds weights is impossibleat depths of more than 10ft or so.

[BASSTRACKER]

guess we all were out spending for goodies at tacklewharehouse lol. i got the fuego as well and the quantum tour edition 101. have to say both very light very smooth reels. i also got a duckette cranking rod with micro guides and 2 clark wendlette falcon t7 rods. some very light combos. I'm still kinda hooked on the carrot stix though. a whole year and they haven't let me down, very light very sensitive and have survived countless tuck and bass. the falcon rods seem to have a flaw with the reel seat though. the reels keep loosening up in them and popping out. really have to cinch them in good or they come off. i don't know if thats a common problem or not. man there were some great deals for sure this christmas. that whole 12 days of christmas sale and the black friday sale were killer i got like 1200 in rods and reels for 600$ probably. still liking some of my cheaper stuff oddly enuff. I'm gonna have to write some more in depth gear critiques in my blog i think. will give me something to fill in my blank spots in between trips out!

[Ca_Bass]

I love tacklewarehouse, if I hadn't got a vip discount card from bass pro for buying a nitro I would only buy tackle from tacklewarehouse. Also love the free t shirts they offer when you spend over $XX and then you can add another long sleeve t for $5! And they change up what shirts they offer every now and then as well.

I also got a st croix mojo bass spinning rod for myself. Love the rods action and sensitivity and feel but the guied on the tip is defective and chews up my line. Gotta get that fixed! I got the 6'8" medium action(maybe MH can't remember) but it's great for drop shots and shakey head/spot removers. And for it's price it's a very nice rod.

Next rod will probably be the loomis gl2 spinnerbait bait rod..my prodigy that I use for spinnerbaits is almost at the end of it's days.

[skunked]

Wow, you are in Georgia. You should fish Montgomery Lake..I hear they got some 22 pounders in there!
I also have an Abu Vendetta (med casting) and I would put it in the same class as the skeet Reese yellow noodles. It is heavy and feels "dead". I left it in Texas to be used on our annual Fork trips. The metal butt cap is such a moronic move on their part. Unlike you, I am not impressed with my mojo bass (mh casting). Maybe the spinning rods are better.
Good luck in the tournament!
Tackle warehouse won't cut me a good deal on shipping here. Have any of you had any luck in that department?

[Ca_Bass]

The more you spend the more you save in shipping. It's much cheaper here on the mainland though. And if you do the regular ground shipping they offer for free it actually gets to you in a few days.

Picked up the daiwa t3 ballistic casting reel. Haven't tried it yet...tmw. didn't realize until I actually held it that it has a flipping/pitching feature similar to a shimano castaic! Just another bonus. It's not as smooth as its price would indicate but I don't thing being smooth was intended to be the reels main feature.

[skunked]

I know the deal with mainland customers, but when I asked for a shipping quote to Hawaii, they said $24 for two reels and about $35 or so for one rod! You would think they would be a little more accommodating when a customer is paying $320 for a fishin' pole! The only times I have ordered from them is when I had the items sent to Texas.

[Ca_Bass]

Even when I was in hawaii I never paid that much for shipping from twh.