The_Natural

Try the Paca Toad with a longer-haired jig like the Buckeye Mop Jig. Dynamite....

I used it for several outings, and it is a strong and manageable line. However, it had too much stretch and not enough abrasion resistance for my taste. It is more of a 'trilene XL' line than a 'trilene XT' line, if you catch my drift.

+1 I'm surprised to see so much love for the 893. It's been my favorite loomis for a couple of years now, but it doesn't get mentioned very often. It is the perfect pitchin' stick.

I agree with you on everything but the HLC spool. The HLC spool holds too much line and has a mag Z rotor. I spent $320 on Tdz 100m spools to get my Anniversary Zillions up to par. I hate mag Z! I am, however, a huge TD-Z homer. The TD-Z reminds me of the 1995 Acura NSX my buddy has. Old...but still competes in style AND performance with today's machines.

Deep divers are the only cranks I ever retrieve somewhat slow. I had a David Fritt's quote regarding cold water crankin' on my refrigerator until I lost it in my recent move. Fritts said he doesn't slow his retrieve in cold water, yet sweeps his rod and reels in the slack, and repeats. I won't sit here and tell you that slow cranking never works, but burning them works more often. I honestly think I didn't became sufficient with cranks back in the day due to the old philosophy of 'the slower the better'. My little piece of advice or 'secret', is when you cast to shore or cover....give your rod a hard sweep to start out your retrieve. If a bass is around and curious...this will initiate a reaction.

Rattles are a must. I use the large glass tube rattles. Just shove the rattle up in the tube, and texas rig it normally. The hook going through the middle of the tube keeps the rattle from coming out.

When I stopped reeling cranks in slow is when I became successful with them.

+1 That or a tube. I'm actually favoring the tube right now.

X2 X3 x4 Great answer...way to help the OP . That's terrific that you fish the same baits year round, but maybe tell him which one of those 'same baits' works the best to catch fall bass....which have generally moved back in to the creeks and are chasing shad. Moonsault cb-100 for me. I throw many shad imitators, but if I had to pick one...this would be it. Popper in the morning, and a crankbait/jig 1-2 punch in the afternoon.

My mom invented 'green noodles and cottage cheese', which was spinach noodles mixed with cottage cheese. It ruled....

I lived off of Chili Mac in college. I had it down to a science. I could get two meals out of a box of Great Value Macaroni and Cheese mixed with a can of Great Value Chili with no beans. Two meals for under $1.40.

sell the rod and buy a split grip. JMO. I thought about that, but it's a Loomis BCR803, I just bought a Kistler Helium LTA He69MH and love the split grip...I love that Loomis rod too but like the split better... You will screw with the 803's balance if you split the grip. I'd leave it as is...

You're slackin'....I average 5 broken rods a year, but have never broken one during use. I step on them, shut them in car doors, tangle them in the trolling motor, etc. I must hold some sort of record.

I commented on St. Croix selling a bunch of these due to the style, but the premier blank is still one of the best blanks in the $100 rod market. Any time you take away material from the butt...the tip becomes heavier. I think St. Croix should have moved the reel seat up an inch or so to offset the loss of weight incurred by splitting the grip. I feel the same way about the Legend Tournament....that series needs an extra inch or so on the handle as well.

You shouldn't have to do any deciphering on whether it is a generation one or two when ordering...the seller should have it labeled according. If it isn't specified...just shoot the seller an email.

Since I'm bored...I took a couple of pics. Shakey head spinning is a Steez 6'9" w/Advantage 2000 and 8lb trilene fluorocarbon. I have this same setup for drop-shot with 6lb fluoro, and that is basically it for me with spinning rods and reels. My shakey head casting rod is a CR722 glx with a steez 103 and trilene 100% in 8lb. I love this little rod...I've rediscovered how fun it is to fish 6' rods. However, I wish I could fish it more often...it is limited due to my fishing style, and doesn't get wet very often.

Do you really need an 8' rod to reach fishable water? I've fished ponds with heavy cover nearly all around, and even if you can't wade...I use solid rubber boots to stand on the waters edge or a couple of feet in. Are we talking cat tails or trees or what? I'd like to see a pic of what we are dealing with.

I own all of them except for the 7'6" flippin' stick. The 7' M is the best of the bunch in my opinion. It is noticeably lighter than the rest, and balances superbly. The other Zillions in the lineup are light weight in general, but are perceived to be heavier than the powell and Cumara if you don't factor in their grossly underpowered rating. It's worse than the Loomis BCR in terms of underrating the power. My 7' MH is clearly more powerful than an 844 Loomis. I generally don't feel comfortable fishing plastics with a medium power rod...I want a stout rod to ensure a good hookset. However, the 7' M Zillion has the power to do it. It is a great jig and plastics rod up to 5/8's or so. You could work a 3/4oz bait with it, but 3/16th to 5/8th is going to be the rod's sweet spot. My only gripe about the Zillion series is that the new reel seat's trigger seems to rub my finger for some reason. I haven't heard anyone else gripe about this, but it bugs me.

Muddy with a black foam split grip....greatness 8-)

I don't have an agenda, and I don't believe I 'bashed' Dobyns. My post actually has nothing to do with the Dobyns product, which I honestly perceive to be good. Take Grandebass for example. I love the Grandebass rattlesnake....and it has become one of my go-to baits. However, I would roll my eyes when all the Grandebass staffers flooded the Texas Fishing Forum (I used past tense because Grandebass made it to the big-box retailers, and their message board staffers are scarce now). Persuader crankbaits on TFF (2 or 3 years ago) was probably the worst offender of all time...it was seriously ridiculous. Dobyns isn't worse than the aforementioned brands....maybe not as bad. I just think too many pro-staff positions are handed out these days, and based on the wrong reasons (results versus post counts)

This has been argued quite a bit, but there is no way to know the technical data of the blanks. However, Dobyns does offset the blank weight of their rods by putting lead in the end of the trigger handle. It increases overall weight, but offers better balance. Some prefer this....some don't.

Dobyns is definitely not prevalent on this site....staffers or otherwise. I stand by the fact I see more Dobyns staffers around compared to others.

Yes...I've made this comment once before on another Dobyns thread. I'm pretty consistent. I'm just keeping it real, aka asking the tough questions. 'Tons of Pro-Staffers' is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Dobyns, whether I say it or not. I have no idea what Dobyns sales numbers are....but I do know a thread about Dobyns rods will have about 1 guy that has paid retail for a Generation 2 Dobyns....and then at least 5 or 6 staffers.

I'm on the same page as Muddy. I bought a mojo, not because it was a "sexy" rod, but because it was the same rod as the Premier, and I like the Premier. IThey are good rods in my price point. If I have the choice between what are essentially the same rods, why wouldn't I buy the one that looks a little better to me. It's not like St Croix is scamming anyone. All they did was make the same rod in two different configurations. The mojo is great; I recommend it quite a bit. I just mentioned it to prove the point of what is selling.

Are you sure you don't want to up that limit to $150? It is just my opinion but there are some really good rods from $120 - 150 that are a nice jump in quality from a $90 rod. As for the other posts, maybe I misunderstood The Natural's original post but I thought he was making more of a "tongue in cheek" statement about those who buy just for looks and ignore the quality of a rod. Whatever the case, none of my rods are hot-looking but they get the job done. That's good enough for me. How can the only person to get my post be the Senile guy . It was totally tongue in cheek....you guys are slackin'. Reelmech- I wasn't serious about a builder throwing together a bunch of rods...just making a point. However, in reference to your response, the ecomony would only affect the price point of marketing a rod, not the design and style trends, which are extremely easy to identify right now. I was referring to the Mojo as being one of the first inexpensive rods marketed in this way (not the first split grip). Cabelas and Bass pro can't keep the mojo in stock....but they have plenty of premiers. Why? The Mojo is purple and has a split grip. See what I mean?