[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Iwannakeeper

I am far from an expert, but I have fished along side some guys that catch fish reliably. And they aren't fishing $30+ dollar plugs. they are not using zziplex rods or Van Staals, or Calcuttas.

I understand what you are saying but some places that I fish, you need a Calcutta, or a modded Abu, or a 704 to fish - and a VS doesn't hurt - really depends on how and where you fish. I don't know what your friends are using or where they are using it but a few trips in some more difficult places to fish and they might see their gear start breaking down. Go run out with a Corsair or some of the other lower end reels and you can melt one in an afternoon. Same thing with spinning. I thoroughly destroyed a Nautil 6500 (black) in four days on 22-25 inch Albies. My Stradic would have been fine. But now if I dunked my Stradic all night it may or may not be fine. So in case I was fishing Albies submerged, I suppose a small Van Staal would have been great.

I also know that in some of the places I fish you can certainly use at least a Tica rod to throw around insteadof the overweight underperforming gear from S.A. and Wally World. Now getting into the higher end gear when applied to a more specialized type of fishing, you will usually reap benefit.

And it is not a money thing, a nice modded ABU can be had for less than a hundred (TCST + Smoothies) and you can get a 704/6 here or on FleeBay for short money and a handful of shops still have new. But it is knowing enough to make the right choices. For rods, you can get a 10' Tica for under $100 or into a custom fit 10 foot Batson or Patriot around $200 and not need to by an off the shelf Arra for $350, but the gear matches the condition. Some people can get along just fine with a Poncho, a Shakespeare or Zebco reel, and a "Blue Runner" or whatever they call those WallyWorld rods - more power to them. As long as THEY are happy. But they might be miserable after a week of fishing that stuff in more demanding conditions. I know I'm usually miserable when someone shows up with last years 3 dollar line on a less than maintained Penn 105 and line winder froze viscious wind knot blocking out everyone else on the drift. Ooopps - rambling...

While I can see issues with buying (then losing) $30 plugs, I can appreciate (but not always afford) the higher end gear. I got a Freak/Mac Flag Pikie this weekend that is PRICELESS. Someone new to fishing would probably be ill suited to an 11.5 Allstar and a Newell reel or for that matter an old Honey Lami and a Sqidder.

Now with plugs, I don't see myself buying $30 plugs for regular fishing. Perhaps if I really wanted one, I might but I'd be scared to fish it until after Clammer depletes the bluefish population. But I will spend $20 and change for the RIGHT plug. I will also be happy with $20 worth of eels for a night (nore to self, fish more eels this year)...

I agree with the Supply & Demand. I also agree with building plugs to catch fishermen. But I also appreciate the work that sometimes goes into these real custom plugs. Besides, when was the last time you could call Gibbs or SuperStrike or Bomber and have them make an adjustment or change for you... Or custom paint some plugs in a different scheme. SWE did that a few years ago with a Bomber color out of production - minimum order was SIX HUNDRED