kickerfish1

Good to hear! I am close to about 85%. I literally had such little energy and strength on Friday as I was sweating and shaking in bed from being cold and hot, I could have got pulled into the lake by a bluegill to my death!

That is too bad Blue! I got the nasty jams last Sunday night. Very similar symptoms to what you describe. Lots of congestion, thick drainage, fatigue, hot and cold spells at the same time (Face would feel on fire and hands and feet would be ice cold), no energy, and an off an on cough. I felt like I had been hit by a truck and left for dead. Today is the first day I have felt better since last Sunday. I had to get some antiobiotics from the doc. How are you feeling now? Any better?

First fly fishing combo? Ok, that is great but what do you want to do with it? Like any other rod/reel decision it boils down to what type of flys you are using and what type of fish you are targeting? This is a bass forum so I assume bass? I target mainly panfish with mine but I also have a more beefier setup for bass/pike. The pan fish and trout rods are usually 4-6 weight rigs while the bass rigs will usually be 7-9. Are you wanting to fish little foam spyders, popping bugs, and dry flys or do plan on using bigger streamers, nymps, big hair flys and poppers? All this will play a part in what you should select. I would not toss a large Dahlberg popping frog a 5/6 weight fly rod nor would I toss a 130 sized whopper plopper on a ML spinning rig.

Seems ok to me. Only you can decide! Without knowing your fishing intentions and how you usually opt to fish it would be hard to tell you otherwise. Do you fish for fun or compete in tournaments at all? Bank, boat, yak, other? Do you opt for more soft plastics/jigs or like the hard bait/reaction stuff? Water clarity? Depth? It all comes into play. Some CA guys would likely note a swimbait outfit missing but if you have zero desire to do it the suggestion would be irrelevant. Same could be said among the guys on Okechobee flipping heavy grass. Then there are the guys on the Ozark lakes that like their wiggle warts and jerkbaits. I would like to think when the number of outfits are limited the more versatility I want in each with only maybe 1 or 2 specialty outfits. Think similar to if you were a co-angler fishing tournaments.

Lots of people on here are somewhat new to fishing and will likely never have used some of the older reels and others likely wont have the budget for some of them. I would just rotate what two you take each time unless you plan on selling the others and only keeping 3. My only fear with the Pixy and 51e would be line capacity should you hook into a muskie that makes a few long runs. I still think both reels are more than capable though if you fight the fish right and the line holds up.

Why let others dictate what you keep and use? Fish what you want and be done with it.

You found some gold! Buy them both and fish em like you stole em! I have never seen either of those two rods sell for that kind of coin anywhere including used.

The Core 50mg7 is NOT a black reel with red accents. It is more of a dark grey with some flecks in it. Look back at the reviews on TackleTour. The color of the Core's frame will be very similar to what the Gen 1 Cumara blanks were in color.

No such thing as best... I use several: Rage tail menace grub RI little dipper Keitech Fat Impact or Swing Impact Swim Senko Single tail grub

Top topwater lures of all time: 1. Excalibur Zell Rowland Pop-R 2. Storm Chug bug 3. Excalibur super spook 4. Spro Frog 5. Whopper Plopper 110 - Quickly shooting up the list.

The FMJ may not be ideal for topwater or for spinnerbaits. It will be ideal for everything else you mentioned and give you plenty of power to move fish towards you. Keep in mind when you take a 1/4 oz weight and put a piece of plastic like a beaver or brush hog, you will be close to a 1/2 oz. The only place you may struggle with a 1/4 oz weight would be fishing ribbon tail worms. I would just bump my weight up to 5/16 or 3/8 and call it a day. The most versatile rod I can think of for everything you mentioned would be the Loomis GLX MBR 844. It can be had for around $350ish.

Not much but like anything else, to the right yahoo they could be worth a small fortune. I would be surprised if they yielded more than $20 for both but likely it would be less then $15

The Champion Extreme rods are not nearly as sensitive as a GLX or NRX. I have a DX 742 casting and had a 703 casting and sold the 703. ALX rods like the Zolo B series are great but again not on the same level as a NRX or GLX. I am not sponsored or brand loyal at all. Just my $.02 based off of fishing a lot of mid to high end rods. If I was looking to buy a sensitive bottom contact rod for around $400 or less when on sale my list would look something like: NRX, GLX, MB Destroyer, Kistler Z-Bone, Custom built rod utilizing a NFC HM or Phenix K2 blank. If I was looking to save more coin I would strongly consider the Helium 3 or the ALX Zolo B Series.

So the majority of the people that are giving him input on said rods are "wanting to buy him 2 NRXs"? I wish I was this guy and had people wanting to voluntarily buy me rods. There has been a ton written on here and other places comparing the NRX and the new GLX rods. Sensitivity is close by the NRX is still a bit more sensitive. What differs? GLX MBR rods offer anglers 7 foot rods with full cork grip handles and more of a universal taper to handle jigs and plastics plus spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, topwater, some cranks, small swimbaits etc. The NRX models are going to strictly bottom contact and not as ideally suited for much else minus the Umbrella rod and the 895 punching rod. Look at the TackleTrap rep samples. GLX and NRX rods are separated by a very small $ amount.

The 854 is arguable the "dud" of the series in terms of feel. 893/894 or 873 would my picks depending upon weight of lures and cover present.

Like anything else where an input is needed on specific rod a few things always come to mind. Weight of lures used, size of fish present, cover present, and is this a jig only or something that will need to pull double duty for other baits to?

I agree with Ty, it will come down to the DC reel. The older Scorpion DC was not much more of a distance caster. The prior gen Exscence DC will really get after it for distance and also has all the anti backlash settings a guy would ever need. Once you move past the weight of the reel being about 8 and a half ounces, it will out perform about anything out there especially when I bought both of mine new from Japan for about $250 each. So smooth and powerful yet it is one of the only reels out there that will has a drag clicker when a fish pulls drag.

I have a dollar bin Wal Mat spinnerbait that has never seen the water.

The Dobyn's family are great people and totally get it unlike other companies in the bizz

No such thing as best so I won't comment. Once money is removed from the equation people think the more $ the better something will be but that won't always be the case. Is a MB arms challenge rod going to be the best for X technique over say a $400 Loomis or a custom built rod to someone's exact specs? I don't think so for other than the fact the rod will be more collectable, rare, hold more value, and look like a museum piece. These kinds of threads are popular this time of year. Best advice would be to fish a wild array of tackle from various manufactures and fish them a lot. Figure out what you like about them and see if one stands out to you. If you like bits and pieces of each rod manufacturers offerings consider a custom built rod. Perfect for the picky angler that wants super technique specific stuff with an high dollar budget!

Just buy one of every brand and then you will know which one you like the best

Smalljaw ties some stellar hair jigs and has some great tutorials on YouTube. I would consider him an expert on all things jig tying!

A good "rack" is always worth the money

Look at a rep sample New GLX 844 or 894. The 3 powered Loomis rods won't make great 1/2 oz jig rods with trailer. You can find rep samples of these rods at places like the TackleTrap for around $350. The MBR 844 will be more versatile too. For around $400 the NRX 873 fishes between the 894 and 893 in power and is a great 3/8 and 1/2 oz jig rod.

Shimano or Daiwa only. No other manufacturers compare.