Nick49

I recently got the Red Diamond Ranger. 7'3", heavy power, fast action. I got it with the winn grips. Extremely light. Excellent build.

From most to least: Dobyns, Shimano, Virtus. If the Virtus performs as well as I think it will I will probably be adding a few more.

I am surprised no one has mentioned the Piscifun Phantom. I have several in the 7.0:1 gear ratio that I get in a left handed model. They are extremely reliable and you would be hard pressed to find a lighter baitcaster. $70.

I just wanted to give members a heads-up. Every high end fishing rod I have ever purchased online came carefully shipped in a hard packing tube. That is, until my most recent purchase through Amazon (supplier - Kingfisher, out of Montana I believe). I received the broken St. Croix Avid rod in a cardboard box with no packing material. Kingfisher claims it is the fault of Amazon, but I can't imagine Kingfisher sending the rod to Amazon or anyone else without a rod tube. And I can't imagine Amazon transferring the rod from a reliable rod tube to a flimsy cardboard box. Amazon obviously provided return postage and credited my account, but while Amazon and Kingfisher point their fingers at each other I will be sticking with more reliable suppliers like Tackle Warehouse.

7'7" Daiwa Tatula medium power and moderate action. I use this setup with top water baits like Whopper Ploppers and Jitterbugs. For Chug Bugs, Pop Rs, Spooks etc. I like to use a 6'8" medium power, extra fast action St. Croix Mojo.

Thanks Todd.

I have two questions that I am hoping someone can answer. My new Garmin EchoMap 73sv has Quickdraw Contours installed along with LakeVu mapping. Using the LakeVu mapping that came with the Garmin I get 1 foot contours on my primary fishing lake. Question #1 - Will I lose any features of the LakeVu mapping if I also run the Quickdraw Contours function over parts of the lake? Question #2 - If I install the LakeVu Ultra chip, can it be used in conjunction with the Quickdraw Contours? If so, what goes in the card slot? Thanks in advance!

Fellow Dobyns users, I am very satisfied with my Champion Extremes (743, 744 & 745) for jig/texas-rig applications and my crank bait rods are getting the job done for me. My question for those who use Dobyns Champions for topwater (spooks, chug bugs, etc), spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, chatterbaits - what would be your recommendations? I tend to use shorter rods for blade baits as casts are usually around docks and lay downs. Accuracy, as opposed to distance. Thanks.

For me, 3/4 for ease of line management. 1/2 on my rigs that I use for pitching/skipping docks.

Poolshark - not a bad thing. If there was one change I would make in this rod would be to change the hook protector. My line occasionally gets hung up on my hook protector. That said, it is a very nice rod.

As a bass fisherman who has slowly "moved up" in quality equipment in recent years I feel the need to comment on a moderately priced bottom-contact rod that I used throughout this past spring and summer - a 7'2" MH fast action Johnny Morris Signature. I love my heavy and mag heavy Dobyns Champion Extremes (744 & 745) for bottom contact baits but I have to say that for slightly lighter jig/worm applications (3/8 oz & under) the Bass Pro Shops rod is light, well-balanced, sensitive and well constructed. It might vary from store to store but in my area BPS's replacement policy has been more than fair. I just wanted to put in a plug for a rod that is rarely mentioned but, at least for me, has proven to be outstanding.

I can't say "uni to uni" is the best option, but it was the easiest for me to learn to effectively tie. Since going to braid on most of my spinning rods (about 3 years ago) I have not had a knot failure with either fluoro or mono leaders.

Daiwa Tatula

I have gone to Tatulas for most of my setups. At around $100, including tax & shipping, can't be beat. Great reel.

I purchased one a few years ago when Walmart carried them. Very light and sensitive. Tip broke on a hook set. When I took it back to Walmart I discovered they had replaced the Bucoo with a Jason Christie model. I think I took home an Abu Vendetta and the cash difference. I would take a chance on one again - or perhaps go with a BPS Carbonlite or St. Croix Mojo.

Buzzed Bait - might be the case. The Carrot Stix were relatively new in the market when I got them.

I don't invest in costly baitcasting rods, but of those that I have and use (BPS Johnny Morris Sig., BPS JM Carbonlite, G Loomis 6XG, Daiwa Tatula, Ardent Denny Brauer Sig. for blade bates, W&M Skeet Reese Pitching, & Carrot Stix Wild), I have to say that my two Carrot Stix' are my favorites. I have seen a great deal of critical comments about the Carrot Stix rods, but I have owned my two CS Wilds for over five years and they get the lion's share of use - about 70 days per year. I use my 7' M fast for throwing weightless plastics and my 7' MH fast for pitching light skirted jigs and standup jigs with plastics. They are the lightest and most sensitive rods in my boat, and they have held up incredibly well. Just wanted to plug these rods that have served me so well.

Visited BPS this past Friday with a couple of old "trade in" rods. There wasn't much to choose from in the St. Croix area, but since I live about 90 miles away from the store the manager was very comfortable processing the sale for a St. Croix I wanted and sending it to me with free shipping. They are offering a nice trade in /sale deal on their Johnny Morris Signature rods ($149 rod for $104). The JM 7'2" MH fast rod, to me, felt every bit as good in my hand as any of the higher priced rods. It should be an excellent jig/worm rod.

There are several but I have found the uni to uni knot to be very reliable and easy to tie.

skipping jigs around docks

Water temps in mid-60s until it gets close to 50 - buzzbait time!!

I like to browse at one of three different BPSs in areas I occasionally visit. And aside from BPS signature products (& they do have some good ones IMO, such as Carbonlite rods and Pro Qualifier reels), you can find an even better selection online through Tackle Warehouse - or in the case of rods and reels as well as some lures, Amazon. BPS has a lot of expensive overhead and it shows up in their pricing. I bought a Tracker boat a couple years ago but worked thru a dealer who made all the electronic and trolling motor adaptations and upgrades while quoting a price that was well below BPS' offer. You would also think that BPS employees would bring a higher level of insight regarding their products but I have not seen this to be the case. A few of the sales associates are experienced fisherman, but most have less knowledge than most average fishermen. Wallyworld is a good source for available terminal tackle and selected lures as well as soft plastics.

Not the funniest, but I still chuckle to myself when I think of it. It had been a long and productive catch and release morning. Without so much as a thought, before heading back to the dock I caught an average fish of about 16", measured it with the aluminum ruler, tossed the fish onto the deck of the boat and released my $9 ruler to the lake.

As for me, I go with: 1.) T-rig plastics - Fluoro 2.) Jigs - Fluoro or braid with fluoro leader (straight braid in the thick stuff) 3.) Hollow Frogs Spooks/Dogwalkers - Braid for frogs, Mono for spooks 4.) Poppers - Mono 5.) Spinnerbaits - Mono 6.) Swim jigs - Fluoro 7.) Drop shot - Light braid & fluoro leader 8.) Wacky rig - Fluoro 9.) Soft jerkbaits - Fluoro 10.) Crankbaits - Mono for shallow & medium, fluoro for deep.

Went to the East Peoria store yesterday. All the big sale items were sold out. They were expecting new shipments "in a couple days." They were out of the Pro Qualifiers. I paid for four left handed Pro Qualifiers (2 7.1 ratio and 2 6.4) and they agreed to send them to me when the next shipment comes in. Disappointed in the lack of inventory, but impressed with their customer relations and willingness to ship at sale price.