The Bait Monkey

I have come to establish that the bait monkey is alive and well. I have come to know him very well although my wife would not consider him to be my friend. Well maybe a single friend who's always talking you out to the bar on the weekends. I have always considered myself a strong willed person yet I continue to fall for his trickery. Just the other day I decided to go through my plastics. I came to realize that I had over 12 gallon bags of plastics in my boat alone. Does one person need 87 assorted bags of green pumpkin craws,worms,beavers,creatures,tubes, and senkos? I don't know but every time I go to the store it seems like I think that I don't have enough. The little voice on my shoulder always asks the same questions.



What if that's the bait that catches the big one?
What if someone has it for the tournament this weekend and you don't?
Are you willing to risk it?

I always answer the same way.

Your right, I better grab three bags so I don't run out.



So how do you handle the bait monkey?

My new found addiction to Abu Garcia

It appears as though I have developed quite an addiction to the new rod line up offered by Abu Garcia. It started last year when I received a free Vendetta rod when I purchased a new Revo SX as part of a special promotion. From that point on I found myself picking up the Vendetta/Revo combination more and more. I went to purchase the reels with the intent of placing it on one of my many Shimano Crucial rods. Since they gave me a free rod, if figured I would give it a shot. I was surprised at how good the rod felt when balanced with a Revo. This combination quickly became my goto combo. I had two of them before the new Veritas and Verdict rods came out. I'm pretty tough on my equipment and these rods handled whatever I could throw at them. With the release of the Veritas series, I just had to try one.


Of course I loved it even more than the Vendetta. I have now purchased 3 new Veritas rods in various actions over the last three months. Dollar for dollar, I firmly believe you will have a hard time finding a better rod for the price. They are light, sensitive and rock solid. I haven't found one thing that would keep me from purchasing even more. Check out the video below for Mike's review of the rod.