kickerfish1

Tell us what your intended use for the new rod will be. One can only assume but I would rather not. I am very familiar with DX703... have had mine for 3 years and the dobyns lineup as a whole. I have a few Loomis rods but not anything in the GLX series (IMX and NRX only). I wouldn't mine helping you but I would need more info. Also I assume you are looking at rods around 7 feet in legnth only?

I prefer dark meat Turkey! To the OP rockchalk is right that there are alot of outstanding options for a dropshot rod for that kind of money. Factor in a possible 15-25% off sale around the holidays and you can really get a solid rod. A dobyns 2 powered spinning rod in your preferred legnth would be a good bet. Also a shimano cumara 7'2 medium xf DS rod would also be a nice option. There really aren't many bad options and you will get tons of opinions from folks here.

60% is way to steep unless the items show signs of heavy usage or seem to be slightly damaged. A good example would be a shimano chronarch 50e. Retail is $200. They often sell between $140-$160 on most forums in good to excellent condition. That would be about 20-30% off full retail price. I personally have never seen one ever go for under $100 unless there is something significantly wrong. Plus you have shipping costs, and for rods you can generally count on an extra $20-30 depending upon weight and legnth as well as destination distance. To be honest check around on eBay to see what the items you have are going for. Figure the best price people will usually get on any new items is 20-30% off during holiday sales, though closeouts, and store specials could be discounted more like a display model. You will need to price your item at least at this level to draw interest IMO. Lastly evaluate the cosmetic appeal of the item you are selling as well as the functional or mechanical condition as well. Are the guides straight and in good shape, is there damage to the blank or epoxy? Have the reels been cleaned or serviced recently and if not are there any issues with the performance of such item that the buyer would need to know about. When it is all said and done it will really depend upon condition, perceived value of any items, sellers history, and to an extent rarity. If it were me you can probably start a reel that retails for $100 at anywhere between $60-70 off it is in good condition. Then maybe do a price drop if needed. There really is no set pricing structure so don't be unreasonable but at the same time don't sell it below a level you are uncomfortable with if you don't have to. Describe the items as best you can and either post pictures of the items or offer to send pictures to an interested parties email. This is the general philosophy I live buy when buying and selling online.

From the research I have done spybaiting was developed as a presentation to use on pressured fish, in very clear water, when they are still somewhat aggressive, and generally somewhat warmer waters (not ice out or pre ice up). The disadvantage of spybaiting is that it has to be constantly retrieved to maintain action and depth. Jerkbaits are similar but the key difference is their ability to stay in the strike zone longer, can be paused for any legnth of time, and seem to trigger inactive fish easier and work better in colder water. Experiment a bit with both to see what's best for your waters based on time of year, water clarity, water temp, and overall fish activity level.

Indeed, but the OP is specifically referring to spinning rods only.

Are you sourcing the tuning parts from Hedgehog - Studios? ... except for the hyper knobs.

One spinning rod me would probably be a 7'2 medium xf shimano cumara drop shot rod. I don't believe there is one spinning rod that could effectively fish all the baits I would ask it to. I would need a second spinning rod with a bit more power as well. I commonly fish flickshakes, dropshots, tubes, shakeyheads, light suspending jerkbaits, finesse hair jigs, and some split shot rigs. If I am on a finesse bite I typically have about 6 spinning rods with me in the boat to cover the above mentioned techniques. I would have to source a different rod from any I currently own to fish everything on one rod.

That type r looks fantastic with the red accent parts and hyper knobs!

Outstanding looking core. The handle knobs and red accent retainer take it up a notch!

I don't want to infer that you may have received a damaged bait or a knock off but something seems fishy here. I have heard of similar things happening especially for megabass products. I know the prices can be good but I try to avoid buying things on eBay that the deal seems to good to be true. Sorry about your experience. I have been using the various pointer lines for 3 years and haven't had any issues. Maybe contact the seller and if needed file a complaint?

For part one of the question the answer is yes, usually larger fish. Most of the bites are fish between 15-18 inches on average. As far as which one the answer is both. Too complex to get into the finer details of both. The shear size and profile are much different. The hippy jig will fall slower, have a larger profile, living rubber which adds a unique flair while at rest, and tend to be a bit more wind resistant, but not by much. Their standard hair jigs are much smaller in profile, have different action all together, and are available in more color options. I fish both especially in the spring and fall periods when water temps are cooler and the fish are sluggish. The key is to fish them slow and let the hair and living rubber trigger bites while the bait is at rest.

I don't fish any of the heavy reels much any more so that takes most the distance casting reels out of the equation for my own personal use. With that said my furthest casting outfit is fully customized TDZ 100m on an NRX 873 rod with 12# tatsu. While distance is fun and intriguing, there comes a point in time where I feel like you can outcast your hook setting range when talking about plastics and jigs. Reaction baits I don't think it matters much. Assuming a fairly aerodynamic bait, I am more than satisfied with any of my shimano 50 sized variants.

I am not saying it is great for bottom contact applications, rather it can do them in a pinch if a rod was needed to be multi purpose. Without knowing much about the arsenal of the individual receiving the rod it is hard to say what he may need the rod for outside of frog fishing. For me frog fishing only lasts about 3 months. I have two rods for frog fishing and gave a third rod to a friend. Some guys I fish with use their frog rod as c-rig or deep jig rod when they aren't frogging. I can feel plenty with the rod with a jig or tungsten weight and soft plastic. Is it on par with DX level rods, or NRX rods... not even the slightest, but it is serviceable outside of frog fishing. I find it balances fine with a reel between 7.5 - 8.5 ounces. For the recipient of the rod who will be getting this as a gift, it is a solid rod that can do much more than frog fish. With enough rods in my arsenal I can put this rod in a frog/swimbait only niche though I feel the rod is capable of other apps.

Sick!

Not at all, plenty of tip section to properly work a frog. I have one I permanently use for general frog fishing and even small plastic swimbaits and big hammers. The lower 2/3 section is very powerful. I have even fished jigs and medium sized Texas rigs and it worked fine for those. A good economic alternative to the champion 735.

Or just a use a re-sealable sandwich bag.

I hope they didn't change how they pour them. I haven't bought any in the last month but I am glad they changed the packaging. Wouldn't even mind a smaller increase in cost to cover it. Thanks for the heads up.

Digging the acquisitions Tim! The alphas platform and tdz/fuego/zillion are some of the most rock solid platforms to tune. Toss in the tatula and you have a nice blend of classic and contemporary. I hope the tatula platform will be a reel with numerous tuning options down the road. Thanks for sharing Tim!

Forget the internals... go all bling!

9 times out of 10 I can get them on a suspending jerkbait, dropshot, or hair jig.

I have used various styles and colors of Northstar hairjigs with good success throughout the year. I recently tried the hippy jig which uses a combination of hair, living rubber, and some flash material as a slight accent color. Needless to say I am hooked on the hippy jig. Caught some very nice fish on it last weekend in fairly cold clear water. For cold-water I do well on solid black, brown, and green pumpkin.

^^ What he said!

Nice trifecta! All look exceptionally nice, but that Fuego is one of the nicest I have seen upgraded.

The suspense is too much! Can't wait to see what is up for grabs.

Nice rock! Stellar outfit no doubt, and one that will last for many years.