mike son

In

I've been fishing one of mine with no eyes and they still crush it. The residual glue left on the bait looks like the scar tissue that forms when a fish looses an eye. I do plan to grab some random eyes when I eventually get to a bass pro. I read here the diameter of the eyes is 6mm though I've also seen people say it's 7mm for the 175.

I read about it here. I like the drt knobs I just have no desire to spend ~$200 on a handle so the new set of knobs made for stock handles caught my eye. See zsneezes post

I wouldn't say they won't fit because the handle has no bearings. I don't have a B, but I'd imagine it has bushings at least in the knobs. Those bushings would be the same size as bearings if they were there, the size is 4x7x2.5mm. You got the knobs made for the stock handles that just came out right? If you bought the 'regular' DRT knobs they only fit the shafts on the DRT varial handle.

Where did you get these?

In

Might depend on how you hold the reel while casting. My hand palms the reel and the base of my thumb rest on the round part near the thumb bar (Calcutta conquest). Works real well for me because I run my reels pretty loose like Will so it’s thumb a little over half the cast.

That did the trick. The bait hung down the opposite way of the bend fwiw, engineering books are thick.

What worked for you? I noticed this morning that a 175 I just got has a bent dorsal fin. Got it sandwiched between two books and I'll check on it later today to see if that helped at all.

I'm pretty new to swimbait fishing but this is what I keep thinking. Have caught all my fish this year so far on swimbaits and have only thrown a jig and chatterbait a few times. I keep thinking about throwing swimbaits only for the entire season but I really like fishing jigs and frogs, or at least I think I still do.

I had my most expensive rod break in a tube from TW. It's really just luck whether or not it ships intact and always buy insurance and have proof of purchase of the rods values. Those tubes are tough too. I've stood on them and stomped them trying to break them before I cut them up and recycle them. Each person has different experiences with the big three different shippers. I've had two breaks with UPS, none with FedEx or USPS. Like mentioned above, I think most breaks happen when they get jammed on a conveyor. Can't remember where I got a rod from, but the tube arrived with a bunch of "do not convey" stickers on them. Could be worth it to ask when shipping if they have any of those stickers they could place on the tube. OP I'd pay for the replacements from Dobyns. Keep on UPS about the claim and you'll probably come out ahead cash wise. Also, I can't believe you paid $180 for shipping knowing you'd also have to ship it back for roughly the same price when you left FL.

In

Anyone use the bass pro brand hook covers? They didn’t have them at my local but I just read an email that bps is offering free shipping with no minimum.

WTF $150!?!?!?! I use USPS and purchase the appropriate level of insurance and it's about $25-$35 depending on how far it has to ship. I should note I only reuse shippers from TW and ALF so I think they are 8'.

Got one, the hound dog I think it's called. Of course I left it at home. I'd have gone in right there if the water wasn't 40 degrees or so. I'll be going swimming for it when the water warms.