For a more "Family Friendly" car that is still high performance, I've been considering eventually looking at some used higher end sedans. Stuff like the Audi S8, BMW M5, Alpina B7, etc. can all be considered family friendly in the sense that they're safe and spacious 4 door sedans, but they'll also ...

By the way, for those of you using this jighead, do you generally prefer the black or the white/pink heads? Do you think that it makes any difference? Thanks. I haven't used these jigs specifically, but from other jig experience, I'm finding that jig color isn't as big of a deal as I used to think....

Pretty good collection you have there already. If not for the other St. Croix rods, I would have suggested something in the Legend Elite Panfish line, but you've got your bases already pretty well covered with St. Croix stuff, and therefore it wouldn't be much of a different experience for the money...

Palomar knot for my initial braid to swivel and swivel to fluoro leader knots (I'll tie the fluoro to the swivel first, then tie the swivel to the braid, pulling the leader through the knot with the swivel). Trilene knot if I need to tie a new leader on once it has gotten too short, because I can't ...

Poor knot selection or tying ability can also contribute a lot to unexpected breakages, and some lines are more susceptible to poor knots than others. I used to use exclusively mono (Maxima Chameleon), and almost exclusively the standard fisherman's knot. Once I started upgrading my own personal gea...

Checking the weights makes me question this new model even more. Seeing an increase 0.2-0.3oz across the board versus the previous model leads me to believe that the AGS guides weigh more than the previously used steel framed SiC insert Fuji's on the 2019 Xtremes. I'm not seeing much else that expla...

Rods are made of graphite not carbon fiber. :doh: Uh, graphite is just carbon, and graphite rods are absolutely made of a fibrous form of carbon. It's just layers of uni-directional carbon fibers that are used, as opposed to woven carbon fibers that you're probably thinking of (and which the AGS gu...

I didn't feel like they dampen vibrations nor did I feel they amplify vibrations.I'm just saying it's kinda funny the engineers at daiwa would make guides out of carbon fiber because they themselves know the vibration dampening aspect of CF.A heat treated hardened alloy would make more sense but th...

If sensitivity is on par with the godly NRX I'll consider buying the rod. It's still the same SCV/SCVI blank at the core. The new AGS guides will add some sensitivity, but the blank is still going to be the biggest factor in sensitivity. Popular opinion seems to indicate that NRXs are on a differen...

You know, it never occurred to me to try multicolor braid, but that’s not a bad idea. I’ve also never messed with any of the more modern/exotic braids, maybe it’s time to branch out a little bit. It definitely makes a difference for me. Prior to the YGK Admix, I tried a spool of Seaguar Smackdown i...

Are there any high viz. braids that are particularly long lasting? I only grudgingly use braid on my spinning reels and without the ability to easily line watch I can’t stand the stuff. I'd suggest something like Berkley FireLine Fused Tracer if you're looking for visibility. The alternating segmen...

Only product that was new this year, not just new to me, was Daiwa J-Fluoro. Being fluorocarbon leader material, I suppose it could kind of be considered an enthusiast product, but due to its price per yard, it's pretty much the best bang for your buck in terms of dedicated fluoro leader line. Previ...

Eh, I don't see it being that much different for fishing than other sports. Custom pro gear in other sports, like your tennis racket example, usually isn't a pro getting access to better equipment in terms of materials, it's usually pros getting access to existing equipment that has minor tweaks for...

Another option not mentioned here yet is U-40 Permagloss. I just got a rod building kit last August with the intention of starting to build rods for myself and family members/friends, and I've only built one rod so far. Naturally because of that, my experience is limited, so keep that in mind, but I...

Huge fan of Oakleys with their Prizm lenses in your choice. I love the shallow water lenses for all my small stream trout adventures. They make a deep water lens as well as well that I have not tried as I only trout fish. Order them through my optometrist I use the Oakley Flak II frames. In essence...