Ok, so after going stir crazy, I managed to sneak back down the NF Lewis for another round of May Madness. This time, it was just Stlhdr1 and I for the afternoon, and Tony Dunnington hooked up with us for the evening bite.

We were on the water by 11:30 am (why get up so early?) and the report from the few boats in the Meat Hole was low numbers. We talked to Giz who told us the fish checker had only checked 12 fish for the morning. Clancey's boat only had 1 fish. Not too many boats on the river, too. A few, but quite a difference from the last time I was down there. I guess people are starting to realize that the season is winding down and it makes for some tough fishing.

We sneaked up above the Hatchery Hole and back bounced a nice little slot that is always productive. After playing hit-n-miss with a few fish, I managed to hit a nice 21-22 pound mean buck that just put up a good fight. I honestly thought I had snagged it in the belly, as I just couldn't get it to move with a Allstar Titanium 1025 (I'll review these rods). I was surprised to see it had swallowed the bait, not snagged, and was just kicking my butt. The fish was darkest fish we've seen out of the Lewis so far. Starting to get that copper color. The photo seems way dark to me. It wasn't *that* dark...



Stlhdr1 picked up the next fish downriver a ways. Nothing to eventful about this fish. He did redeem himself by picking up another super-chrome summer run shortly after.



We picked Tony up about 4:30 and were fishing again by 5:00 or so. We hit another 3 fish up in the flats and called it a night.

In all, we boated 5 springers, 1 jack, and 1 summer run. Not hot numbes, but better than expected.

Oh yeah, all fish were picked up on eggs and more what-nots. Most were backbounced up, but a couple were encouraged to bite by using a jet diver in the slower water. I just love watching a fish chew on a bait of eggs while using a jet diver. Some fun stuff. Got some video of us fighting fish, but no hooksets or take downs.

If you are wondering, the summer runs are not there yet. A few boats were pounding the ususal slots with minimal success. It's gonna be another month or so before the real run comes in.

The springers are winding down. They are pretty wise to baits now, and getting them in good numbers is getting increasingly difficult. Most boats didn't have a fish.

I had the opportunity to test out the prototype Allstar Titanium 1141s and 1025c. I was really hoping that they would be a competitor to the Loomis IMX rods, but they are not.

The IMX rods are made of ultra-thin material. It makes for a light rod, but they tend to explode. Stlhdr1 busted another IMX 1141s last night. Ouch. The guides and reel seats on the IMX suck. Quality sucks. But, they are light rods, and very sensitive.

The Allstars Ti's have very high end guides, exposed reel seats, and are a much higher quality rod over Loomis. These rods were specifically designed to be made of the same graphite material as the IMX, but thicker, to prevent rod explosion. Because of that, you do sacrifice some sensitivity and weight.

I would say that the Allstar Ti's would be the rod of choice over a GL3. Hands down, the Allstars are a better rod at a cheaper price.

If you are a fan of the IMX, don't care about quality or good components, and just gotta have that Loomis, you won't like the Allstar Ti's.

Personally, I feel the Ti's will be a great compliment and/or backup rod for my IMX's. They will be great boat rods, where rods will get abused, and you won't worry that you're rod will explode (like the IMX).

I suspect that a lot of these rods will be sold, as they are cheaper than the GL3, have much higher and better components, higher craftsmanship, higher quality, and in all, a much better rod over the GL3.

When the rods come out, I would highly recommend you check them out. Sorry, I don't know when they are suppose to be released, and what the retail prices are on them. I think the answer is something close to "soon" and in the low to mid $200's range.

I'd bet even 4Salt will like these rods (if they don't all break on him).

I really really really tried breaking the 1025 on that big, mean springer. I had that rod loaded to the max, at the point, where the 12/12 UG main/leader was just whining. You know, that high pitch noise you hear right at the breaking point of the line! The 1025 hung in there. Bummer.