kickerfish1

It will ultimately depend upon the condition of the rod. The Gen 1 Cumara rods were all right around $230 to $250 depending upon model. When the rods were being closed out you could often find some models as low as $100 to $130. That said the rod typically go from $100 to $160. I have 4 of them still and will never part with them.

A GLX or NRX rep sample can easily be had for under $400 depending upon what model you are looking at getting. Also depending upon the rod, you could have it multi-task for other feel techniques. I have an older IMX MBR844 and love the rod.

Yes, a longer rod will allow you to pick up more slack once a bite is detected aside from the casting distance component. Also consider the role that line stretch may play. Braid / braid with a leader / or a low stretch fluorocarbon line will help like Shooter, Tatsu, or Toray Superhard. As far as the action either fast or extra fast should be just fine. You could argue the benefits of both but I am sure the difference is marginal at best.

The DX742c is an outstanding rod in the Dobyns lineup. It also make a great finesse jig rod for the 1/4 and 3/8 oz offerings. I have fished mine for 2 years and really like it. I have even done some mag finesse drop shotting it with and it faired well. I have fished 3 reels on mine. The Curado 50e, the core 50mg7, and a fully customized and tuned alphas reel. The Curado is a nice affordable choice and color scheme of the rod and reel match up nicely. The core is a very good choice as well and is more refined, has better internal bearings, a faster gear ratio, and obviously is one of the lightest reels on the market but I ultimately settled on the Alphas reel for the rod. If you are pretty set on Shimano and of the 50 series us reels or 1000 series Japanese reels will work just fine.

To help improve upon you current jig rod without throwing out brand names I would step up to something like a 7 foot or longer rod, a fast or extra fast action, a medium heavy or heavy or 4 or 5 powered rod depending upon manufacturer. My 3 favorite jig sticks are 7"4, 7"3 and 7"5. The powers all 2 to 5 and fish the 3/16 oz finesse jigs all the way up to the 3/4 + oz jigs. The rods I have listed above range from $295 to nearly $600. They are among the most costly rods I have but at the same time I take my jig fishing more serious than a lot of folks.

Nice customs you have acquired Tim! They both look outstanding my friend!

I have gone to exclusively using tatsu as a main line this year for every application I need floro which is a lot. I can get 2-3 reels done with one spool when backing is used. The line is that good. On here and many other forums the line has been discussed in great legnth. Among hard core floro users it in the conversation for best.

I am a huge fan of the Jackall Flick Shake worms for their production though durability isn't great. The standard wacky rigged flick shake head is a good rigging options as is fished on a drop shot. Though small in size they can help get quality baits early in the year, late in the year, and when their is a tough bite.

Strike King Rodent

"Walmart girl"? As in the same type of individual that made the viral "People of Walmart" videos famous.

Can't pinpoint the science behind it but a black superfluke has worked for me under about conditions, water clarity, and time of year. I usually keep about 8-10 packs on in my collection and 2 with me for a day of fishing.

Most of my big fish have been taken during dusk and dawn (low light periods). Granted these are highly pressured waters but I would say 90% of my quality fish fall under this category.

Dobyns DX 703 casting rod. Fishing with a friend and somehow we were casting different directions completely. My jig hook and his treble hooks "collided" in the air and the force of both of us casting in different directions broke the rod in half. Obviously a user mistake in this situation so I sent in the replacement check and shipped the rod back to Dobyns. Received the new rod but noticed the action is now "Fast" as apposed to "Extra-Fast" on the model I broke. Apparently the newest version with the redesigned logo now has a different action. It is too bad the original rod was better for what I used it for.

I am big fan of their baits. Right up there with LC and MB.

Me likey! Thanks for the pictures and getting this to market. This style of bait is bar none one of my favorites.

They seem to be of great benefit to older reels especially Daiwa reels where the drags were rated fairly low. Most of the new model reels of today are much stronger and smoother that I wouldn't update them. At any rate the cost is low. Usually gain a pound or two of drag and smoothness.

12# Tatsu. I tried braid, mono, and copoly and have settled on 100% floro.

I would take the Shimano darn near 100% of the time.

Very impressive! Suppose you wouldn't break down the pairings further? Almost makes you wish you had a few more arms to fish all of it.

Perhaps on the hardbait side of the equation but with a soft plastic I didn't feel I was getting the appropriate amount of distance. I was able to cast 1/8 oz baits on my stock chronarch/curado 50, but I wasn't getting the distance of my actual finesse reels. Sorry, I should have been more clear.

I have 4 50 sized shimano reels. 2 can be had for about $150 or less. In their stock form they are more all around and Mag finesse than true finesse reels. They fit some of the attributes of finesse (weight, smaller size, etc..) however the spool isn't super shallow and the reel will struggle with baits smaller than 3/16 oz. Supertuning the reels internals and upgraded bearings help but not as much as a adding a true finesse spool as others have noted. A true out of the box finesse reel will cost 2 or 3 times your budget. The downside here is they really only excel at finesse. If you bought a 50 sized shimano and bought the finesse spool and didn't like it you could always sell the spool and keep the reel for all around use or switch between them depending on what you were wanting throw. My scorpion xt and core 50 are two of my favorite all around reels.

If you don't paint the frame of the reel you really have two options .... 1. Purchase "new" trim pieces/accent parts from Hedgehog Studios in Japan. Shipping is like $13 and the parts are stellar and look sick plus you can keep your original parts should you want to change the reel back for whatever reason. They have parts for ABU reels but I am not sure about your smoke. I have purchased from them and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Received everything in about 5 days 2. Have your parts anodized by the folks at Hawgtech. The only problem is the parts HAVE TO BE ALUMINUM. If not and they are plastic or something else, the anodizing bath will melt them. I am not and ABU/Quantum guy so I can't tell you about your specific reels. They are great guys and extremely helpful. Pricing is going to depend on quantity and also size of part. Drag stars are more and pats like cast control caps, retainers, frame screws, reel knob end caps, etc... are on the cheaper side.

I couldn't agree more. Very well said!

A local Scheels had the rods marked down to $69 and $79. I purchased two at the time. They haven't carried them since.

You have a tremendous collection of hardbaits Matt!