Mike Harrison
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- Joined
- Nov 16, 2000
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Yesterday, St. Patrick's Day, my girlfriend and I drove to Springfield to for one, take a little scenic roadtrip and two, to get our yearly Bass Pro fixes. I've lived in Missouri 99.99% of my life and since I was at least 10 (I'm 28 now) years old my family has always taken at least one trip to Bass Pro a year. Most of the time, the excuse to go was to visit my great grandparents. That store sure has changed A LOT in all those years. Back to the topic at hand. I never recieved my Spring Fishing Classic flyer in the mail, but my father did and first thing I noticed was the Bass Pro Qualifier Rod/Reel combo on the front page. I've always been a fan of the low profile reels ever since Diawa came out with that Triforce/Procaster reel 10 yrs ago or so. I still have about 12 of them in various stages of what I call "Franken-reels." I have a black Triforce magnetic brake casing on one side and a silver Procaster "guts" on the other. Then Diawa changed the whole design of the reels. That and the fact that I stopped fishing tournaments, I just never worried about getting new equipment since I have plenty leftover from stocking up over the tournament years. Two displays down from the rod/reel combo was a stack of just the reels with a sign saying "$99.95." I took a closer look at both reels and they were both the same thing, 7 ball bearing, anti-reverse, blah blah blah but the model number was different and from past experiences, all that is usually different in two different models are gear ratio and/or even spool size. The one included with the combo deal has a 6.3:1 gear ration compared to the reel alone has a 5.2:1. If I have it figured our correctly, the 6.3:1 retrieves faster. Honestly, either way it's not going to matter to me. To make this long story even longer, I did pick up that combo for the $59.99 Classic price and it came with a 6ft 6in MH Pro Qualifier rod with a HUGE/LONG cork grip handle. I'm not sure who makes this reel for Bass Pro or what model/maker they copied, but this is one nice reel. Flipping through my Angler's 2005 catalog, I cannot EVER get myself to spend $200-$300 for ONE fishing reel. I'd be so self conscience about dropping it in the lake or scratching it up or anything other than putting it in a glass case on display. Heck, spending over $100 for a reel is wacky to me. Another reason I'm extremely happy that Springfield has the Bass Pro Outlet Store. Sure, those reconditioned reels are scratched and not new, but I've bought dozens of reels from there and never once had a problem and all at half or more than regular price. Then again I am a weekend angler once again and those weekends seem to be getting further and further apart. I don't post very often on here, I read everyday for the past 4 years and I just thought I'd put some of my own 2 cents out there. Next thing in store for me is bringing in all my rods and reels in from the garage and stripping line, breaking out the grease and cleaning rags and getting ready. I'm sure my "Franken-reels" have a good few years left in them. See ya guys out on the water......
Mike Harrison
PS. I might have only spent $60 at BPS, but on the way home I HAD to stop at the Osceola Cheese Factory and spent $100 on cheese and goodies. Maybe my priorities are jacked up???
http://www.osceola-cheese.com
Mike Harrison
PS. I might have only spent $60 at BPS, but on the way home I HAD to stop at the Osceola Cheese Factory and spent $100 on cheese and goodies. Maybe my priorities are jacked up???
http://www.osceola-cheese.com
