kickerfish1

Worst reel I have ever used. 21farms hit the nail on the head with his assessment. I will also add the finish is sketchy at best. The only thing positive I will say about my 7:0.1 is the weight, profile, and castability seem to be its only high points.

One of my favorite baits. I fish both sizes. I have used them T-Rigged, as jig trailer, and even weightless. They are great baits with that famed coffee scent. I could care less about durability if they are catching fish. The Missle bait D-Bomb and RI Beaver are also very good with better durability. The rodent is more dense and tends to cast better for me.

I guess I really don't have one. I just sort of enjoy fishing and testing gear as funds and time allow. I fishing anything from $80 reels to reels that I have over $500 in. Same thing with rods a few that are around $80 and ones that are $550. Get in where you can and don't worry about keeping up with the Jones's. I had a good fishing buddy that I fished with 8-10 years ago that only used BPS Tourney Specials and Bionic Blades. He had over 20 years of experience including 10 on various tournament levels. Could he afford better? Yes, however he felt like he was getting all the performance "he needed" out of what he was using. It was at that point I started to realize that you can have the best gear in the world but unless you "get it" and understand what you are doing and what is going on, on the other side of line you still won't can't many fish. Personally I have no problem picking up my Elite Tech Smallmouth rod over my Cumara though the difference in price is nearly double.

This has been the SAME experience I have had. Smaller size mouse, prone to sinking after 2 fish, and now basically a wasted a bait. Loved it prior to the fish but now it is going in the trash. The actual frog has stayed strong...

I prefer the Goose52 review that he conducted and posted on here some time ago. With Goose52 being a user of alot of rod and reel choices at various price points, plus the fact it was done "over time" only adds to the strength of the review.

They make very good products. Easily a top 3 jig producer for me that doesn't get near the attention they once did.

I have been fishing the 6'9 ML Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth Series rod for several years. I liked it so much for finesse apps including drop shot rigs that I bought a second. The rod has an extremely comfortable handle design, a pretty impressive blank, and the build quality is considerably good. I paid WELL under retail for both of mine. Toss in the lifetime warranty and very light overall rod weight and I feel it competes quite well in the $100-$150 range. Smalljaw67 on here really likes the Medium XF rod for its ability to cover more finesse techniques and a touch more power for working various presentations in situations where cover is more prevalent. If you are going off total weight the 6"9 ML rod tends to cap at around 3/8 oz. I love it for 1/4 oz. jigs, and 3/16 to 1/4 oz. drop shots, and similar weight shakey heads.

Nice! The reel is on a serious diet. At 4.76 ounces it is incredible! Nice job Matt!

I like the 703. I have fished the 703dx for 2 and half years tossing weightless 5 inch senkos, caffeine shads, 1/4 oz jigs and 3/8 oz jigs plus trailer with great results. When I tried a 1/2 oz jig plus trailer I felt like the rod was close to its limit. For 1/4 to 3/8 or slightly heavier in light to moderate cover I would pick the 3 powered rod every time personally.

You can find some good condition citica e series reels for sale on the auction site and various forums for under $80. That would be the route I would go between those two shimano casting reels.

I have usead the improved clinch and variations of it for years. I tie the same knot with all types of lines and never had any problems when it is tied properly.

Nice snag on the 100M, a favorite of mine for bottom contact apps! It has been a down year for me on the fishing tackle end of things with all the medical expenses. Hoping to get back in the tackle mix again soon!

They work well. As noted above you may want to remove a small part of the front end and I like to remove the small side arms. The longer front claws and non hollow body make it a good choice for medium to larger jigs.

Awe yes, very nice! I thought perhaps you had a few tricks up your sleave that you were trying to sneak by.

Pictures of the new rods? We already know they will have Alphas variants on them!!!

Well played! Mike should throw this up on his site or offer it as a "decal"

He should have went with forest green to to accent the rod and reel!

Should have noted that the Phenix Recon rod that I am using is the Gen 1 rod, which explains the reference to a slightly softer tip and a slightly lower power rating. I can't comment on the Gen 2 Recon or the M1 / MBX series rods. If you want assistance picking out the best rod give Vince Borges a call at Phenix Rods. He is a very knowledgeable and nice guy who will help you in your decision. After a brief phone call and a few emails I settled on the 714. The only gripe I have had with my Recon was the hook keeper. The position of it is terrible and mine broke within a few months. It wasn't a big deal, as I put a Fuji keeper in the "usual" spot on the lower portion of the blank.

For the purpose of learning something I have down it many times. Jigs for example I took various styles and trailer choices with and rigged about 6 rods on deck with them and fished for 8 hours to get a feel for it. Really helped me dial things in. Same thing goes for the drop shot.

Which rod series were you interested in? The recon series for example is more like a true JDM rod in terms of its power. They tend to fish about a 1/2 power under their suggested ratings. They have a slightly softer tip section but it gets to the back bone pretty quick. This makes some of their rods more versatile. If you are familiar with the Loomis IMX series (previous generation) the rods are similar in sensitivity in my hands. The actual rod weights are very light but the balance is slightly tip heavy with a very light reel. Something around 7 ounces balances very well on my 714. Not a real popular rod like it was a few years ago but they build a pretty good rod for the money.

I can't speak of the Lews spinning reel but I have the Okuma RTX spinning reel. The reel was purchased for various finesse techniques as 2nd string reel to use behind some of my heavy hitters like the stradics. For the money it is a good buy. I think I paid around $80 for mine a little over a year ago. Stylish and lightweight with a strong but not silky smooth drag like the shimanos. The line management system is fair and the casting distance isn't too bad. I haven't caught many or vary large fish to test the drag much so I can't comment there. Also I have no idea how the reel will perform 2-3 years down the road. For a watered down Ci4 looking/feeling type of reel it isn't a bad buy for under $100.

The 100m spool from the TDZ 100m US Trails reel is outstanding. It is very good caster of baits in a variety of moderatetly light to standard weight ranges. It will absolutely launch aerodynamic baits with ease and great distances. I use mine on an NRX 873 CRR for jigs, Texas rigs, and C-rigs. Finding an HLC spool will be fairly difficult and much more costly than a 100m gigas spool. Since you already plan on doing upgrades I would start with abec7 level bearings as the first upgrade after fishing the stock reel first. If the gains are good enough you may not need it. If you feel like it isn't significant enough then look for a spool upgrade. Different reels respond differently to different upgrades IMO.

I have used about every major reel tech out there. Dan Issac at Reel-Ex is a great guy to send your reels to. He has more experience cleaning and tuning shimano reels than anybody I have came across. I believe he used to be a tech for them at one point. His turnaround times are the best you will find. I sent him my reels on a Thursday and had them back the following Friday. He gives a discount for multiple reels and there is more info listed on the website. I believe he is working on other brands as of recently but he cut his teeth on shimanos. He also includes supertuning in the cost which is a nice plus. Mike at DVT is another very good option and a very good guy who has a wealth of experience with various brands and reel platforms. You won't be dissapointed with either.

Yep another satisfied Hawgtech customer. Love the anodizing and Shimano septon knob option!

Unless somebody paid me to use all of one brand exclusively I would never do it. I have multiple rods within the same brand and rod lines but I feel there are far too many good options out there to limit ones self.