thehooligan

Zara puppy is #1 for me. I also like throwing ima roumbas, sammy 85, and scumfrog bigfoots in the pads.

The frog bite has been exceptional for me, nothing very big though. Biggest bass for me so far this year was a 3.5 on a shadrap. April was horrible with the wind, did alot of shore fishing, way to windy for the boat or kayak. Hoping things calm down and its a solid summer.

Its a tough call between my 6'3 fenwick smallmouth medium action rod and my dobyns champion 682 medium light, love both of them.

x3 Go on amazon and get a fenwick smallmouth rod shipped for under $100. I love mine, got the 6'3 medium action rod paired with my ci4.

I had a 2500 series ci4 paired with a dobyns champion 682 dropshot rod and it was amazing. Ended up picking up a fenwick elite series rod, which is also an awesome rod and put the ci4 on that. Wanted a very light rod for jerkbaits and topwater. Bought a 1000 series stradic fj and put that on the dobyns, its a very light dropshot/weightless plastic setup. You cant go wrong with a 1000 or 2500 series ci4, i think the 2500 balances better with the usual 6'8 dropshot rod. For rods, my picks would be the avid that bassclary recommended, the dobyns champion 682, fenwick smallmouth elite tech 6'9 medium light, or the shimano cumara.

If i see a lure, plastics, or line on sale i have trouble walking away from it. When Dicks has there liquidation sales i spend a few hundred and stock up. And i dont recommend surfing ebay while intoxicated, i tend to buy vintage lures or new rods/reels, lol.

A 6'8 medium shimano cumara with a stella 1000 would suit me just fine

Spinning - 4lb trilene xl, 6lb sufix elite, 8lb transoptic, 10-15lb super8 slick Casting - 12lb transoptic, 20-30lb braid

Ive bought 7 shimano reels in the past year, a sedona, sahara, symetre, saros, stradic fj, stradic ci4, and curado 201e7. All are smooth as butter but the symetre, but that was an open box item on ebay and it had gear problems which I returned. Besides that, im very happy with them. This week was the first time ive bought a non shimano reel, got a lews tourney pro, its awesome but I like the curado green paint better, lol.

My favorite would have to be my 6'3 Fenwick medium action elite tech smallmouth rod and shimano 2500 ci4, its so light and smooth.

I got the 6'3 spinning on amazon through reds for $85 shipped. Absolutely love the rod, the quality is very nice for that price range, and its superlight paired with my ci4. Also, if you get it through reds, they ship in a tube so you dont have to worry about getting a broken rod

I saw the smoke spinning reel in the display case and had to give it a few turns. I thought the look was awesome, love the blacked out paint, but when i started reeling it i realized how cheap it felt. My $80 sahara is a smoother reel, my Ci4 is in a whole other world... For baitcasters, i was shopping between quantum pt's, curado's, and revos. I thought the finish and smoothness totally went to the curado, ended up getting the 201e7, absolutely love it. Ive tried to like quantums but if im putting the money out its going to be a shimano with pflueger and abu at a close second...

If im shore fishing i try to use one or two rods, if im on a boat i usually got three.

My favorite cranks are the #5 rapala jointed shadraps, and live target pumpkinseed/bluegill crankbaits, both work great. Also like the kvd 1.5's and the luckycrafts if i can afford it, lol. For lipless i like the owner cultiva mira vibe 60's, and SK red eye in sexy shad color.

Definitely a sahara, smoothest reel for $80.