HE! HE! HE! That made me laugh! It's interesting to see he didn't write back after that yet 2 pages later. I am just an average blue collar penny pinching fisherman. I would never spend $500 for a real. That to me is idiocy. I could be "ON A BOAT!!" for $500. Not a great boat, but a boat none the less and that is saying something for a guy that doesn't have a boat. I'm the guy that spends $14 on a Shakespeare rod at Walmart and goes out pooping on bass all day. If the fish are going to bite they are going to bite and whatever you are holding in your hand means jack! The game is about presentation anyway and you can do that for cheap. The most I have ever spent on a rod and real combo was about $85 and I will never spend that much again. I am the indian.
I went out yesterday to a farm pond to test out my pole and spider wire braid and it was awesome!!! It was the best hour of fishing I have had in a long time. I easily caught a dozen largemouth around a pound and a half. We didn't catch anything bigger than that but it was consistent. I fished a black/blue skirted 1/4 ounce strike king jig with a black/blue craw trailer. Man! It worked! I had some issue with the line "bird nesting" up a bit but once I got use to the line and set my real up right it was on fire greatness! I also may not have spooled it up tight enough too, but over all it was a great experience. So far I am a believer in the spiderwire or just braided line in general. And my total rod real set up was only a total of $80, that's my walmart shakespeare rod, real, and line included for what it is worth.
Thanks for all the feed back. This has been a great discussion. I never thought it would go this far. Feel free to keep it going!