ChiCityBasser

Nice looking fish and my first productive jig fish were with the rage tail chunks in blue and also on a Black/Blue jig but it was a swim jig. I've also studied RW's post and will be adding the lobster to my collection. Great post again and great looking fish

I have a spinning setup that is pretty much my crankbait setup now. I use a Berkley Amp 7ft M with a Quantum Kinetic PTI-B20 with P-Line CXX 8lb Crystal Blue. This has been my crankbait setup for this year. My spinnerbait set is a Cabelas Mag Touch 6'6" M with a Quantum Catalyst PTI-A20 with AN 40 8# line but really haven't used a spinnerbait on it much this year. I've been trying it with a swim jig and its been a perfect setup for the swim jig.

Great looking rod and combo

Great looking rod and it interests me also but like you I wouldn't have a clue where to start It would go perfect with my 08 Energy and also the same hand..lol

I would say get some KVD Line conditioner and spray it on and make sure BPS didn't fill the spool too much as that can be part of the problem as well. If they did fill it too much which the people at Cabelas have done at times strip some of the line off and still use the KVD. Hope that helps but sure others will chime in also

I have to add to the plug for the rage tail baits. I read about them here and went out and picked up the Rage Tail shad in the Silver Bling and the Rage Tail Chunks. I tried that Shad and love that action on it but no hits figuring the water temp was a bit too cool but just wanted to get a feel for the bait. It's warmed up here a bit and after going thru my tackle box put a Black/Blue swim jig on with a Blue Rage Tail Chunk. This was the first rod out and on the second cast swimming the jig along some rocks I got a hit, a nice 1lb LMB. The action on the bait is great and ended the weekend with 11 LMB with the largest being a pair of 2lb fish. This was my first time using the swim jig and it paid off big time for me over the weekend swimming the jig along the rocks and thru a bit of cover at times. Gonna have to try some of the other Rage Tail products but right now I'm hooked on the chunks

The Accurist PT is a very nice reel and yeah they did list at $140 at one time. I have one that I picked up at a big discount also and it's a great reel and I think lots of guys on here picked up one when they were discounted. I saved enough on the reel and have mine paired with a Cabelas XMLTi 6'6" MH rod and think its a great combo. I say get the Accurist

ON my swim jigs I'm using the Rage Tail chunks.

I haven't experienced this but on one of the BPS Bass Pros shows Jason Quinn was talking about something like this with the bass tending to bump or push the swimbaits. I think he suggested you either speed it up or change directions as well.

Right now I have had the majority of my success on a Black/Blue swim jig with a rage chunk also in blue. Fish were hitting it swimming it thru cover and off the rocks. Swimming it got some hits but the largest fish both 2-2.5lbs come off the rocks crawling with slowly with a occasional lift and drop.

I had the Qunatum KVD rod for a little while myself. I picked it up at the BPS spring classic as a second choice over the Kinetic and under the Catalyst. I fished it for a couple of weeks and never liked the way the reel felt. I know you said you would never get another Quantim but I stripped the line off cleaned the reel up and returned it to BPS. The reel was still in perfect working order and exchanged it for the Kinetic PTI-B20 and the difference was like night and day. The Kinetic has worked flawless for me so far. My older PTI-A20 Catalyst has also held up well with no problems. If I was choosing another line I would go with something in the Shimano lineup. I have a Shimano Sahara 1000 and its a great reel and ultra smooth. My Kinetic is just as smooth but for a second choice the Sahara or Symetre are great choices.

I have both the XML and Mag Touch and even an XMLTi. All of mine are 2 pc with the XMLTi being the only MH. The XML's I have 3 with one being the rig & jig, a ML and a Medium and all spinning. I did use the Mag Touch this weekend with a swim jig and have to say it was my go to setup this weekend. The rod is paired with a Quantum Catalyst PTI-A20 and it worked great and no problems with the hands getting wet and the rod slipping out of my hands. I'm fishing shore and it worked great for me all weekend with a string of 2lb fish on both a saturday and sunday outing. Right now with a cold front rolling thru on both saturday and sunday the crankbait bite was off and I put the swim jig thru its paces with the rod and its a great rod and thinking of getting a MH casting as well.

I have the same rod in a 2 pc and its a great rod for the price. I primarily use it for a crankbait rod and have had some success on it with no problems with the reel hold down as other have mentioned in another post. For the $30 price it's one of the better bargains out there.

Glad I could offer my help and hope you enjoy your choice for a long time to come. I have the Shimano Sahara 1000 paired with a Cabelas XML 6'6" ML and its a great combo.

I've had this happen also and wish I had pics of them as were the lure is bigger than there mouth. Out fishing at one lake me and brothers frequent he set the hook on what he thought was a bigger fish and his line went flying past my head. I asked him what he was doing and he told me to look in the try behind me..seems he set the hook and when he did the fish was so small he snatched it out of the water and it landed in the tree behind me. Wasn't even big enough to lip

Looks like some pretty good choices to me but sure as u said others will present there pros and cons. Of the ones you have listed I haven't fished that last 3. I do like the looks of the Browning Citori and at the sale price it would seem to be a pretty good reel and even handled it in the store and felt pretty good. I have fished the Quantum KVD and it was a second choice and really didn't like the way the reel felt while fishing it and this is just my personal opinion. I returned the KVD for the Kinetic I do have the Quantum Catalyst PTI-A20 and also the Kinetic PTI-B20 and they pretty much are my go to setups and not one problem with either of them. The magnetic bails work great and so does the drag on them both. I hear people complain of the weight but that has not been an issue for me. I got the Catalyst off ebay for a pretty good deal. I got the Kinetic at BPS during the classic event. The New PTI series of reels did shave some weight off as well and both the old PTI Energy and Tour Edition are on clearance at Cabelas and probably BPS and some online stores.

I only use 2 piece rods for ease of transport and think the rods I'm using are very sensitive but again I'm biased cause I'm only using 2 piece rods. The Cabelas XML and XMLti when they are regular priced are in the price range you mentioned. Now they are both on sale with the XML being under $80 and the XMLTi being under $120.

I would go with the Cabelas XML, XMLTi or maybe even a Mag Touch or the Cabelas Prodigy rod. All of which are on sale and the XML and XMLTi are greats rods and even better when u catch them on sale.

I fish alot of small ponds/lakes myself and mostly from the shore. I also fish one small retention pond and my go to lure is a Strike King shallow diver crankbait in the black/white shad pattern. Either in the 1XS model or the 2-4ft model depending on the amount of vegetation. I caught a number yesterday with the largest being about 2lbs. I've also had success fishing a green pumpkin gary yamamoto senko worm very very slowly. Seems the fish in my pond were toward the end of the pond with heavy water flow due to a drainage ditch. All of them were caught making long casts into the area around the ditch and hitting after coming over the tops of the weeds and ripping the crankbait off the weed tops. Good luck

I had mine out again over the weekend and since I use it mostly as a crankbait rod I got alot of use out of it. I caught 6 LMB on it over the weekend with the largest being about 2lbs and didn't have a problem at all. They were all at a small rentention pond on a shallow diving crankbait. Never had a problem with the reel seat unscrewing or the rod on the hookset. All in all its worked pretty good for me and I have the 7ft 2pc model.

I don't have this years Catalyst but I do have last years and this years Kinetic both in the 20 series and I have 8# P-Line CXX on both the regular spools. On the backup spools I have 20# braid also with no casting issues.

I got the Prodigy as my first for what I thought was my first expensive baitbaster and learn to use it from a guy at a mom and pop tackle shop. Its's a great real and made for Cabelas by Daiwa and they often are on sell for $69-79 and normally around $100.

I have the shad in the silver bling and the green pumpkin and I'll be adding the smokey shad. Haven't tried them out yet but if it warms a bit here I'll give them a try this weekend. The weather here in Chicago has been crazy with a warm day here n then back into the lower 50's the next 3.

The rods are a great deal and even better when you can catch them on sale. I don't have any of the casting models but have 3 of the spinning models. I have a 7' ML, 6'6" M and 6'6" M rig & jig and they have all been great for me. I know there is a lot of mention on them being a bit heavy but guess since they are really the only rods I use they are fine. I also have a couple of the Fish Eagle II's and a XMLTi all in MH and all casting models and they are fine as well.

I usually carry 2 spinning setups fishing from the shore and so far its been a Cabelas Mag Touch w/Quantum Catalyst PTI-A20, Berkley Amp w/Quantum Kinetic PTI-B20 and interchange between my Cabelas XML w/Shimano Sahara 1000 and Daiwa Rod/BPS Viper 30 for spinning I usually add one B/C setup now as well which would be a Cabelas Fish Eagle II w/Daiwa Prodigy or Cabelas XMLTi w/Quantum Accurist PT and soon to be Damiki Angel EX w/Quantum Energy PT