smr913

7' Medium is perfect. I'm not so worried about sensitivy when I'm throwing senkos because I'm fishing them on slack line mostly and watching for line movements. I would personally drop the leader down to 10 lb FC.

I've had to replace several Gen 1 Cumaras. Never had a receipt nor a problem.

Spinnerbait for me. Burn it or slow roll it; fish it high or low in the water, lots of options with blade shape, size, and color depending on water clarity.

I was just over at Academy on my lunch break and was looking at the Curado and Tatula. They only had a Tatula spinning rod, but it looked very nice. I thought the Curado's looked very nice as well. May try one out at some point. I'm trying to upgrade to a bigger boat in the next year or so, and hope to finally utilize that rod. It has been on my rod rack for 6 or 7 years and has never been used.

I have an old Crucial Flipping Rod that is 7'7" MH rated for 1/4-1 oz i think. I never use it since it is too much rod for my kayak fishing, but it pretty much checks the boxes you're looking for. I'm not sure if they have anything like this in current models, but worth a check. Think it was around $150 or so.

My local kayak FB page just implemented a rule for no pictures w/o a pfd too. Can't believe someone would go out with a 4 y/o and not have a pfd on them. I make my 4 y/o wear one all the time while we are on our lakehouse dock even with adults out there. So sad. Protect yourself and your loved ones on and off the water.

You might look at the 7' medium H3. They call it their jerkbait special. I have one but don't fish jerkbaits that's often, but it is a very versatile rod.

Think it was like $15. They are better than previous version. They have held up lots better as well.

Mine did too. Sent them in and they replaced them with their new frames. Much better than the old ones

I have the Tuna Alley's. They fog up just as good as the rest of my glasses. I have 4 different frames all together.

If you think about it long term, braid will be the cheapest option. You can use it pretty much forever and when you want some fresh braid you can just flip it over. The initial investment is a bit more (power pro is about $20 for a 150 yd spool, i think) but you can usually get backlashes out without damaging the line, unlike mono and fc, and you can add a leader so you are not cuting off 6" of line every time you retie.

I'd almost swap out the M casting rod for another MH but with a Moderate action. Or get one with extra fast and one with fast. The XF could be for bottom contact baits and the Fast or Mod for moving baits. Then you have the spinning setup for shakey head, drop shot, ned rig, etc.

Have you looked at the Zillion SV TW? Lots of people on various forums swearing by it.

Something to look at are the EP Fiber Brushes. They are dubbing brushes that you wrap around the hook shank. Really easy way to quickly tie up a jig. Just tie on a rabbit strip tail and palmer the brush down the shank. I like the 3" brushes since they give a bigger profile and can be trimmed down to whatever shape you like.

Sorry to hear that. I lost a friend earlier this year to brain cancer. Regardless of fishing ability, I'm sure your FIL would appreciate the opportunity to get out on the water. Being on the water has a way of making you forget your problems for while.

Check out the TW clearance on the Exage. Not sure which models they have left, but they are $100 rods marked down to $79 or so. Reviews have been decent on them. Also, take a look at the SLX.

The more I try FC the more I prefer braid. 30# braid with a 10-12# fc leader is what I use.

San Diego Jam on mono and FC. Palomar on braid.

Pit boss for me

Here is a screenshot of the sideplate schematic. If this is the correct image it looks like the two screws (part 49) that are the same go up top and the long one (part 50) would go under the handle assembly. Hope this helps.

I mean they are related to redfish, which were considered a trash fish until relatively recently. If the water is clean I don't see why they wouldn't be good to eat. They more closely resemble a Black Drum which are also tasty.

You may very well be correct. I haven't had the rod very long either. I did take it out once with a 3/8th jig and thought it did alright. Granted it was open water and I was just casting and dragging it back. I think it would do well for fishing around floating docks as a skipping rod. Hopefully I'll be able to give it a more thorough test drive this weekend.

I just mentioned this in a different thread, but I have the 7' LMH and it feels like a jack of all trades type rod. I wouldn't use it for jigs or t-rigs in heavy cover, but it'd do well in open water with a football jig or big shakeyhead. I'd also use it for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and squarebills. Hopefully I can put it to a better test this weekend. So far I've just had it on small water.

I have a Curado 70 that I've used the past 2 years off and on. The one thing I have found is that it doesn't sit well on some rods. I had it on a Cumara 6'8" MH and it ended up hurting my fingers due to how I palm the reel. On my Helium 3 7' Medium it feels a lot better. If you haven't tried the new Curado K, it maybe worth your time. I picked one up this weekend from BPS with some old gift cards, and I was really impressed with how well it cast right out of the box. Tatula SV or Zillion SV are still on my list to try. The Tatula CT Type-R I have is the easiest reel to pitch with I own. Those SV's are probably even sweeter.

I really want to try the Expride, but can't find them in stock. I purchased a Helium 3 in the 7' Medium X-Fast and the 7' LMH Fast. The Medium has a softer action for an x-fast, but it would work well for shakeyheads. I think it makes a great topwater or jerkbait rod. The LMH would be a good rod jigs and t-rigs up to 3/8 or maybe 1/2 oz. I really like the feel of these rods and you can get them for $213 which is about the most I like to spend on a rod. The Heliums seem like do-it-all rods. If I can sell a couple of my reels I have sitting around I want to try out the 7'3" H X-Fast.