midnightbite

In

Those Mass Bass have just been stupid all year long it seems. Nice fish Frog Man! Way to go.

Also, that's a sweet baby wake!

Wil! Sure was great spending time with you out on the water. You were like my good luck charm out there bro. Also thanks for helping me trust my electronics and forcing me to spend 4+ hours just graphing. I learn a lot just talking fishing with you. If any of you Texas guys have a back seat available, I can personally vouch for the fact that Wil is good company, a good fisherman, and has legit netting skills. Congrats on landing the new gig in A-Town bro. -Dax

In

That hoodie is a must have.

In

Hey CJ ... afraid I haven't caught a big fish on it yet, but I did recently see an episode of Lindner's Fishing Edge where they were catching tiger muskee with them. According to Quantum, the exo frame is aluminum, not plastic. One drawback of this reel that I've recently realized while fishing it side-by-side with my Lexa 300 PWR is that the standard reel handle it comes with is too short. Not enough leverage while winding, so I'm going to try the power handle it comes with to see if that helps and if not, will look into an aftermarket handle for it. -Dax

Nice one Wil!

Yet another great thread here. This issue is always on my mind when I'm fishing. I've personally had a very difficult time catching fish from my boat as compared to the success I've had from shore. Self-evaluating, I attribute this to: 1. Difficulty with boat positioning 2. Noise-making associated with establishing boat position. For me, in addition to needing a greater level of understanding with regards to general fish behavior as it pertains to their likely locations, this is my biggest area needing improvement. Ironically, I think the biggest problem I have with noise making is how much I THINK about noise making. I get all pissed off at myself, (I should say I get all pissed off at my trolling motor) for making too much noise, and that breaks my concentration and throws me off my game. I end up catching most of my fish from my boat when I've got the finders on and the trolling motor rolling and I think that has more to do with my state of mind than it does fish behavior. Ultimately, I think those are moments when I'm just more focused on fishing vs beating myself up over all the damn details. Regardless, I still strive for stealth just like I strive for making more accurate casts and dialing in my retrieve. Always trying to get better in all aspects, but sometimes I have to shut down the noise inside my head. I think bass can hear those too!

I get frustrated if there's too much ambient noise for me to hear the clack-clack-clack all the way in ... that sound = anticipation. Nice fish dude.

That actually does seem like a legit scenario ... dude was losing it all to the ex wife anyway and just took everything he had to the pawn shop. How bad did that suck for him? My god. His loss your gain though dude!! Way to come up. Get out there and put those bad boys in the water where they belong. Rescued from the hands of a jilted ex-lover, delivered to the mouth of a giant bass.

MY BAITS!! PM SENT!!! Jk First of all to the OP ... Huge score. Crazy. Pawn shop owner didn't know what he had. That's what pawn shopping is all about. Don't do it much myself but my late stepdad was a master. Just being real about the shop owners story though, I'd maybe believe it if he said the ex wife brought them in. But anyone who owns those baits knows exactly where and how to sell them for real money. You don't take $100 for $1000 worth of lures just to save a little time. I don't care how bad the divorce is.

About to shove off and won't have cell signal ... Would love to see the SUB code announced! Thanks SBU

In

Nice Wil!!

Thanks for the replies guys. It's good to hear more positive feedback on Quantum in general. I'll say that I'm happy enough with this EXO 300 for them to convert me over into a Quantum loyalist. As of now, if I need another swimbait reel, I'm buying another EXO with a higher speed gear ratio, and if I need another spinning or small baitcast reel, I'm looking at the Smoke series first and foremost. I learned how to fish as a 3 year old with a Zebco 202, so why not get back to my roots with the Quantums?

Nice. Seems like the Spro rat is getting bit pretty good

I was in the market for a 300 size reel and just felt like mixing it up a little bit and trying something new. I've been a Daiwa guy for the most part, primarily b/c of the magnetic brake system that's easy to adjust. I wouldn't consider myself the world's greatest caster, so braking system is important to me. I've never been super happy with any Shimano reel that I've owned. They've all been "ok" but not great for me. So after looking around at the different brands, the Quantum EXO 300 PT surfaced as the only other option that would fit the bill for big swimbaits. I was able to pick one up new on ebay for just $165. They retail for $200+ at most stores. Pictured below. After about 4 trips, I feel good about giving this thing a big thumbs up. I'm actually in love with it. For starters, it weighs in at half the weight of a Lexa 300 or Curado 300. That's significantly less weight, which is an important criteria for me. Feels awesome on my LDC Production XH. Casting: Smooth as silk ... great distance and super quiet. I'm putting the 8" Hudd and the Deps 250 way out there with it and I'm not having backlash issues at all. The reel has a pretty cool internal braking mechanism that's easy to adjust on the fly, click-by-click for accuracy. I picked up the 5:1 ratio, which comes with both a standard and power handle. All the specs in terms of line capacity and drag strength are equal-to or greater-than that of the Lexa or Curado. At this point, the only thing I can't speak to is durability. If I end up having durability issues, I'll come back here and update the thread. All things equal, this is a great swimbait reel and I highly recommend it. -Dax

Yup ... so Cali and Texas anglers need a DD to win it.

Costco batteries ARE Interstate batteries. My Costco here in Burbank isn't even putting their Costco label on them anymore. I've been happy with them for the value. After looking into it and being open to the idea of spending more money for batteries, I ultimately felt the only reason to spend more would be to get higher RC numbers and when you look at that, you do have to spend a LOT more to move the RC numbers up in any significant way. So for the money to RC ratio, I decided to stick with the Costcos Dax.

Is this the first time that the regional handicap rule will play a factor? Virginia is a +2 state right? Dax

My dad used to tell me stories about jumping off Hells Gate when he was a youngster back in the 60's. Thanks for sharing!