I propose we all start combining all the topics we want to discuss into one post. Not only it will help people by loading one page instead of a few but it might save John some hassles.

Well it happened. Time to buckle down and get a job. It was time. I just handed in the application and should be getting a call within a week. <sigh>. My life has ended. 40 hours a week down the drains. Not only that but after I sent in the application, I had to do some shopping for my dad. The people I'll have to deal with. Buying about 75 items and at the last moment, decide they don't want 20 of those items. :o That's the bad news.

The upside, I'll be able to afford what I want! Being the frugal (read FRUGAL, not cheap) person, I'm always looking for the best deal. I've heard the Tica Tauras compared to the Shimano Stella and the Tica Pisces 200 compared to the Shimano Calcutta 400. So what do you think, are they on the same level or is the Tica just a cheap knock off?

I don't mind dropping a little more money as long as it's quality but given the chance, I want to save money for products of the same strength.

Now the question for Mike:

That BreakAway 100H you have on your site. 10 foot one piece. How do you feel about shipping a rod of that size? If you are uncomfortable about it, I guess we can work something out where I can pick it up or I don't know.

Don't know about the pices reels - just don't know... If you come up to Mike's shop, you'll need to go fishing to break the rod in where the big fish are.... That's a very nice fishin' rod too...

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think there is a problem shipping the 10 foot poles. Over that , you have to pick them up but up to 10 feet , he ships them.

Just what are you planning to do with the rod. There are 2 100H rods. One is the LDFS and the other is the LDFC. The S or C is for conventional or spinner. The Breakaway site lists them for the same line weight and lure weight but the LDFC is a much heavier rod. In fact , the LDFC 100H is a popular canal club made on the 1209 blank. Tim S fishes the canal with the 1209. It will throw 6 OZ well but won't throw 2oz at all. The spinner is built on the 1208 blank which is a lot softer and will throw 2 OZ but not much less. Its also used by many for jigging the canal. JPowers uses a LDFS 100H for jigging the canal.

What are you going to do with a heavy rod like that Patrick? The reakaway rods are outstanding performers and are somewhat less than the bigger name rods like a Lami or Loomis. definitely a lot of bang for the buck. However , for fishing CT , I would think you should be looking at a 1145/2 , a 1265/2 or a 1266/2. They are much more suited to general fishing from the shore. If I were you Patrick , I would be looking hard at the 1145/2. Sure its a 2 piecer but it has a spigot ferrel and the build of the blank is such that the joint won't effect its casting or fishing performance. Anyway , If you will be casting 2 , 3 or 4 , the LDFS 100H would be good. For 3 to 6 , the LDFC would be great but for casting eels and plugs from the beach , The 1145/2 or the 1265/2 or 1266/2 would be better choices. Mike T has or can get all of the ones I listed.

Oh yes , good luck on the new job Patrick.

Hey Patrick, good luck on getting that job.

And welcome to working life. :)

ps- As to affording what you want, just wait 'til you see what the Taxman does to your pay! ;)

Patrick,
Good luck on the job.

Just remember the Guvna takes his first :(

The only courrier to ship 10' rods is Fedex Express all others only go to 9'.
It costs on avrage $18 for that size.
We have not had any breakage on shipping with Fidex as of yet. UPS was breaking an avrage of 20% of the rods shipped,even in PVC tubes.

Saltheart,

That's going to be my heavy jigging and large lure rod. Mostly large wooden plugs and large tins. My SS100M/2 St. Croix is nice but it won't handle a 3 oz hopkins, 3 oz crippled herring or a Robert's lures. The top range of it is maybe 2.5, maybe even less. I want this rod to handle 3 to 5 oz bucktails, heavy rigged eels, the aforementioned lures, plus, I want to try those 3 and 5 oz Petrifish. Those are the ones shaped like flounders. They are pretty pricey for a jig but I recently learned something from that Ismail guy, a smile like the one he has on his face with that cow is priceless. I want the casting model as I'm starting to like them the more I play with my longbeach 68.
I think I might want to change all my gear to conventional. That's how much I like them.


I'm not always going to be in CT thank God and I'll want to fish other places like the Ditch and open Ocean. I'm probably going to wind up in Rhode Island, MA, or NC. Gotta be near saltwater though.

Hey guys, I'm a registered demo(n)crat. I LOVE TAXES! Actually, I've figured out all the taxes and I'll probably get it most of it, or all of it back anyways.

Oh yeah, one more question. What kind of reel would you put on there? I was thinking about the Abu 6500 TCST, the Trophy striper one with 65lb Whiplash. TimS said he prefers the whiplash in the higher tests I think. a 6500 big enough or would it be in my best interest to go up to a 7000 or 7500?

For what you described , you should ask Mike to make you a conventional on the 1208 blank. Unless you are somewhat expert , the 1209 is an awful lot of rod. The 1208 will throw to 5 and you'll only pay a little more for custom and you'll get the butt length and guide palcement optimized for the reel you buy. As far as the reel goes , if you don't know my answere , you haven't been paying attention. :) The best reel to get would be a BG 7000CL. For the heavy applications you mentioned , 50 LB Cortland Spectron is the line I would use. I've tried whiplash. Its nice cause you can get a lot on a reel but for heavy stuff , the whiplash gets damaged too much in a backlash for my liking. After a backlash witha big jig and whiplash , you'll end up with weak spots where the thraeds crossed. Now I only tried the 50 LB whiplash but overall , the spectron is better. With Spectron , which is truely braided , not just spun spectra , if it doesn't actually break from the backlash , its fine. It pretty rough so you'll need the levelwind reel to use it. The BG7000CL will hold about 275 to 290 yards of the 50 LB Spectron.