ChiCityBasser

I saw the introduction of these rods in the latest FLW mag and now see they are exclusively at Cabelas. Has anyone read any reviews on the rods?

Thanks for input on the rods and Cabelas in Hammond just got them in and I will give them a look.

Looks like I'll be making a trip to BPS to pick up a number of these being a crankbait junkie myself

Thanks for the information and the walleye spinning rod sounds like it might be worth a look as well.

I was in Cabelas looking over some rods and came across the Legend Tournament Bass small cranker rod. It felt pretty good and looking to use it with shallow to medium divers upto about 8-10' since I'm fishing from the shore mostly with a rare occasion to fish from a boat. I would love to hear opinions from those on the board using the rod and there reel and line choices for use with the rod. Seems the bait monkey is getting a early start for next year

Enjoy and let us know how the New Smoke handles since the season is ending soon around here and I wanna know how it would handle.

Just checked the site and yes only the lefty models of the Catalyst are on sale.

Just finished watching Denny Brauer and here the link to Chris Lane on Lake Guntersville http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/fishingtips/livedayonthelake

I have a Cabelas Prodigy myself and it actually spends more time on the water than my Quantum Energy. I caught it on sale for $70 instead of the normal price of $100. It's a great reel and worth it at either price.

I pretty much have a variety but my main setups are Quantum reels. My Spinning setups I have a Quantum Catalyst PTI A&B, Quantum Kinetic, Rainbow BM 1500 and a Shimano Sahara. My Baitcast setups I have a Quantum Energy, Quantum Accurist, Cabelas Prodigy and a Daiwa Exceler. Quantum was the reel choice I made after several cheap reels and plan on adding a couple more to the arsenal.

I would shy away from The Shimano Sahara as I have one and the bail sticks open when I forget to hand close it after a year of light use.

The Cabelas Prodigy (Daiwa reel) is a nice reel and cheaper than the Curado. Normally they are $100 but you can catch them on sale for $70 and they come in a lefty model. I haven't tried anything lighter than a 1/4 oz crank but they work well with those.

I haven't fished with the KVD rods at BPS but in handling the rod in didn't feel heavy at all to me and in fact felt very light. The one I was handling was the 7' model with plans to possibly use it for shallow to medium divers if I purchased the rod.

Congrats on the PB

I had a 2500XiA and it was a very solid reel and performed well. The weight didn't bother me too much but at the size you are in asking about the weight could be a problem.

I switched almost all my cranks to these types of hooks and haven't lost a fish so far on them.

I keep 3-4 rods in my truck for use and usually 2-3 go with me when I'm out in the morning. I usually take either my spinning or baitcasting crankbait setup depending on the lake we are going to be fishing. Getting used to the baitcaster this year with cranks but not really good at it with lakes with much shore cover since I fish from the bank. One of the other setups is either for spinner baits or a plastics setup. My tackle bag is loaded for any situation but the cranks seem to be the lure that gets the most use. Gonna have to go to a smaller bag since like others have mentioned only 5-6 cranks usually come out of the bag and I rotate the plastics in and out depending on the lake or lakes we might be hitting during the day.

It's off Burr Street and 29th in Gary, Indiana right off of I/80 between Burr and Clark. It's one of the pay lakes for the area. Seen some nice size bass there but couldn't get them to hit anything.

For the spinning setup unless you are going to be using braid I would go with 6# line as a max. Anything larger will have too much line memory and this is from personal experience. I would also go with 10# Fluoro on the cranking setup as well. Did 12# myself and didn't like the way it felt but that was a personal preference. Now I have switch to braid on my cranking setup with no leader and its working well for me.

Same type of water I fish in my area and a crankbait works well or a spinnerbait depending on the weeds. The BPS Egg cranksbaits work well if the weeds are high and it makes plenty of noise and has a nice wide wobble. Good Luck

Area 3 in Grand Kankakee was closed til 9/19 for waterfowl season. I called and checked before heading down that way and it should be fine for fishing now but always best to call and check with them.

Completely understand what you're saying here. I'm lucky enough to be fishing this tournament from a boat. I'm going to get the BPS Pro Qualifier, my question is how important is the rod for this setup. I really like the BPS Carbonlite, but I was thinking of spending less and getting the Quantum® Energy PT Trigger Rods 7' M mod 1/4 - 1 OZ that's on sale throug BPS for $50. Or should I go ahead and invest money into a better rod now? For cranks , buy the 50.00 rod. JMHO. I would go with the $50 rod as well since that rod probably originally cost more but more important than the price is that it fits your needs.

I thought you used red braid because it matched your Fuego : ;D I used Red Braid because it matched my Quantum Kinetic. Talking with a veteran fisherman and shop owner he told me the red color does disappear but the line gives off the appearance of being black once the color red disappears. Most of the water I fish is stained or murky and it hasn't been a problem with my hookup ratio, at least so far. The braid was on clearance also which was another reason for the purchase.

I was using the Daiwa Exceler 6.3 as my crankbait reel upto a couple of weeks ago. It's a great reel for medium to shallow diver crankbaits and since I fish from shore no need for the slower ratio for the deep cranks for me. It works great with 1/4 oz. cranks with 12# Ultrasoft. I switch my crankbait setup to the Cabelas Prodigy reel which is also a Daiwa product but the Exceler has a smaller profile.

I would go with the 6.3 or 6.4 reel since you won't be fishing the cranks deep. I would also check out the KVD rods at BPS as well. Take a look at the TKVD685M,TKVD705M which are both M/M and the TKVD706M is a MH/MF and they are $149.99.