Quote:

"How many clams did that rod cost?   "

I've managed to forget thank you. It was a Cabela's XML so not all that much I guess. It was a lot to me though. As long as I don't break it's exact replacement the same way my education will be worth it.

Yup, I think you guys are over thinking it by my standards buy hey, so what, go for it. Whatever works.

Quote:

"Jigging is a confidence game. If you believe then you are expecting and if you are expecting then you are ready."

We all use the lures we have confidence in. I justified replacing the graphite rod simply because it's a joy to use compared to what I used before. I don't think fish much care what rod I use or how much confidence I have in my lure. I do know that when I tie to the spinner directly, I need to adjust where the knot ends up after each fish or it will run funny. I don't think a fish knows that my shiny snap swivel isn't part of the lure anyway and I only bring the one rod so....

FWIW - I believe that the direction of my retrieve in relation to the angle of the sun matters quite a bit with different lures on different days and prefer the gold blades on ocassion. Do they make gold snap swivels? Eh, whatever works.

I still say lure manufacturers target fishermen while catching fish is a happy bonus. As a kid I bought a mail order fish caller thingy. It had a light and a chum chamber ... I think it vibrated or ticked too! I can still see the look on my Dad's face as I deployed it - and waited for it to bring us a boatload of fish.