thehooligan

Same here. Besides not working for me, i just think fishing jigs is boring. But, im a cranking nut, love fishing topwater/jerkbaits/cranks/swimbaits all day. Last year, i made it a goal to get good at dropshots and shakeyhead, and this year i might give jigs another try, atleast swimjigs

The only time i use heavier tackle is frog fishing in the pads. And its still just a medium action baitcaster with braid. Up here in jersey theres not really a need for heavy equipment. 6-7lb bass are trophy fish, theres not alot of heavy vegetation and cover around here. Really just alot of shallow lakes in the area. Im perfectly content with spinning gear and 10lb braid, or baitcasting with 8-12lb line. Last month i brought in a 10lb+ muskie with my 6'3 medium fenwick smallmouth rod, a stradic 1000fj, 10lb braid with a 10lb flouroclear leader. I think the only way id go up to heavier gear is if i was fishing huge swimbaits or i moved to texas/florida...

I didn't like it. In that price range I would definitely go stradic fj.

d**n, that's a monster

i use 6lb for dropshot, mostly 8lb for shakeyhead/anything else.

I know buzzbaits are great baits, ive thrown them in the past and i know they work. Id just rather throw other style propbaits like a buzzjet or hornytoad, its all good

I dont use buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, c-rig, jigs, creature baits, tubes, and probally a few others. I have other techniques that i prefer. Instead of buzzbaits, ill use hornytoads. Ill use underspins instead of spinnerbaits. Instead of jigs ill use texas rigged worms or shakeyheads. I think we all have preferences and goto baits. Im perfectly content fishing sammys, lipless cranks, and dropshots all day

Pretty sure theres a list on TT

My core 51 came in today, i dont have much line in stock, i found a spool of 8lb transoptic and threw it on. All i can say is wow. Core/cumulus combo is amazing...

Im a finesse junky. At the moment all my rods are medium/medium light action. My 3 spinning combos are 1000 size reels with 10lb braid. My two baitcaster setups are 51e's with 8lb line. I do need to pick up something for frogs this year though...

The shimano bait monkey bit me hard this month, a 6'5 medium cumulus, a 6'3 medium cumara, core 51e, chronarch 51e and curado 51 e... Core is going on the cumulus, now i gotta figure chronarch or curado on the cumara...

At full price id go compre, if you can find them on sale then get the crucial...

I might have to pick one up, i need a catfish combo to beat up...

Kicker pretty much said everything i was going to say. I ordered a dobyns coalition from them and it felt like it took forever to get here. Ive ordered rods from ebay, amazon, and TW. Worst packaging i got was for my one cumulus on ebay, came in a thin rectangular carboard box with just paper, i dont know how that rod came in one piece, lol. I ship my rods out exactly how TW does, but i add two more wraps of bubble wrap, one around the middle of the rod, and one around the handle. Then you know there wont be any scratches or anything wrong in shipment unless the tube breaks or bends. I was actually having a conversation with my girlfriend about fishing rods and she kept asking why do you buy so many rods then sell them again, lol. I said well if dealers carried more rods then i wouldnt have to order across the US from TW to try them out, lol. I made my first real mistake this past weekend ordering the kistler mag crankbait rod, came in yesterday and within 10minutes it was wrapped back up in the tube and sent back. What a garbage rod, now im out $10 for one day shipping, and $23 for shipping it back. I have two rods im interested in. the *** and phenix recon, i just dont want to order another rod from california then have to ship it back if i dont like the action/taper. Anyway, sorry for the rambling, my core is supposed to come in today from btd and its been a looooong two weeks....

Depends how much fishing i do a month. If i get out a few times a week then ill be replacing the braid on my topwater rod maybe once every couple months. I use flouro leaders on my other spinning rods so that braid will last for years unless i get a good deal on braid and just want to switch it up. For the baitcasters, i use mono and flouro and cut off about 6 inches for every lure change so im thinking they will get re-spooled every 2 months or so.

I think the swept handles look cooler but my problem is i have huge hands. The hawgtech handle has been a big help for me, im not banging my knuckles anymore...

The crucials are tip heavy so dont worry about that. For what dsg carries in your price range, id probally go with the pinnacle perfecta as well... http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12476852&cp=4406646.4413993.4414792.19240556.4414814

Well i only use braid for spinning gear, ive got down to 10lb power pro for everything. Straight braid for topwater, and 6-10lb flouro leaders for other styles of fishing. 6lb for dropshot/shakeyhead 8lb for jerkbaits/cranks 10lb if im fishing lakes with alot of pickerel

I absolutely love fishing all the lakes in south jersey, most are small and shallow so its easy to find the fish. But.... ill never forget my summers as a teen going on weekend fishing trips to the juniata river out past harrisburg pa and getting 20-30 smallies a day. Especially that monster 4lb+ smallie i got on a jig !! My goal this year is to chase some smallies out in pa again !!

I'll chase smallies in the river any day of the week over a lake. I love wading out and getting them on top water...

Definitely champion

Thats a sweet rod, i had the 682 champion. Id recommend a stradic fj for that rod, they look good together

If i remember correctly, i thought someone was saying red braid blends in the best in water. I use red & green, and just picked up yellow power pro cause it was on sale. Color doesnt bother me, i use flouro leaders...

Congrats on your purchase. When i bought my first cumulus i truly understood why these rods are so expensive, there works of art...

i fish jerkbaits year round, they just seem to always work...