kickerfish1

Fishing is an expensive hobby. Even if you dont do alot of impulse buying you still have quite a few basic costs... teminal tackle, lures, plastics, line, reel maintenance, boat upkeep, gas, licenses, etc. If you fish regularly and do well catching fish and getting snagged your costs are even higher. It's hard to say no when things look interesting and fun to try. Technology and innovation also helps feed the need to buy. High gear ratios, lighter weight reels, new graphite material, lures, plastic molds, colors, SI/DI etc... The only way to get around the Monkey would be to set a monthly or yearly fishing budget or open up a bank account to use strictly for it. Maybe put a % of your check in that account as you get paid. If you have money in there and all other obligations are satisified than you can satisfy the monkey!

This 100%

The slightly taller brother of that rod is heading my way as well... 7'4 MH XF Helium 3.

Thanks for the kind words Matt! I was thrilled when I spooled it completely with a 1\4 oz practice plug while testing it. When I am able to fish it I will probably run 10# sniper on it.

Good question. I don't know the answer but my gut tells me they would as most of the internals seem interchangeable. I have the 6.8:1 gears in mine and love them. Very smooth, strong, and well worth it over the stock gears. I would email Japantackle and ask Jun if they fit before taking the plunge unless someone can 100% confirm propper fitment.

Appreciate the feedback. I may call Trey tommorow and see if he has a rod recommendation for me and also some for weights of the rods.

May not be that good of a finesse reel. I would look at the Alphas SV for what you want. 100% ready to fish out of the box with no upgrades needed unless you wanted to toss some Hedgehog Air bearings or add a slightly longer handle.

Oh man, I was hoping it would be better in feel than the DX rods. I know the balance of Dobyns in gendeal is fought to beat. Thanks for your thoughts. A few other questions if I may... 1. What reel weight range might balance this out due to the slight tip heaviness? 2. Any idea on what the rods actually weighs? 3. Does the rod feel crisp like an NRX? 4. Have you fished the MBR 844 rod from Loomis? Is the action and taper more like this rod? 5. Would you feel comfortable fishing a 1\2 oz jig with MH XF Helium 3 in light weeds or rock? Thank you for whatever you could provide!

Finally finished up a reel I have been working on modifying for a while now. Just picked up an SV spool for it and it may just be one of the most impressive reels I have used. Paired with a DX 703.

Thanks, I am giving serious thought to the 7'4 MH XF casting rod.

Sweet! I am just trying to figure out where peanut butter comes into rod building?!

The 873 and 894 will struggle with a small 1\4 oz jig. No question the 893 for what you described.

You and me both! I know I really want to try the Helium 3 but fear the taper and action may not be to my liking. I would love to have the action or taper of an NRX/*** but on one of these blanks with a nice clean custom build feel to it. While the reviews regarding the warranty claims have been positive in this thread I have seen a good amount that were not. How would you say your KLX ranks in terms of feel against other rods you have or have used at one point. I know the Helium should be a slight step up but it may give me an idea. I too may take advantage of the sale as I the rod I want next still won't be released for a while (MB Levante)

To my knowledge they do NOT. The older GLX rods DO have them as do the NRX rods as you noted. Another option for a recoil guide rod would be the *** *** series. Just note that their rods are pretty stout/powerful and more suited to bottom contact apps. Hopefully we can get a few more opinions from other Looms guys on here. I know there are at least a handful of guys on here that fish their rods. They must be busy fishing!

Sometimes the tried and true are labeled as such for a reason. I found the same thing out several years back on a trip up North. Ended up going through a pack of 7 in Berkeley ribbon tails worms rather quickly. Still one of my favorite summer baits for bass when the bottom has light to moderate weed growth as it comes through it quite well.

The current line of GLX and IMX rods aren't as good as the previous generation of rods IMO, You would best off looking at prior generation of rods over what you can currently find at a place like TW for example. The action on the previous Gen Loomis GLX rods will be a touch faster and offer more feel than the IMX series. The older GLX rods also feature recoil guides which many guys like too. I would consider the 844 previous generation GLX/IMX rods and not the current versions of these. The link I posted in an above post appears to have these vary rods in stock. As far as your fluke/weightless plastic rod you would be hard pressed to find a rod better than the NRX 893c. If length is a problem just drop down to something like 853 or 843. Sadly Loomis rods only make up a fraction of my line up as I am not a brand loyal guy for all my rods. Hopefully there are some more Loomis guys on here that can help you select the best rod for your paddletails and soft body swimbaits.

There probably isn't a "one popper is best" answer. Rather attributes of each popper that make them excel in certain conditions. For me I really like Pop-Max and Chugbugs.

http://www.meltontackle.com/index.php?act=models&url=g-loomis-classic-mag-bass-rods&total_items=1&wl=0 Not on sale but as far as I could tell there are some GLX/IMX MBR rods in stock. May be worth a look...

Sounds like you own a nice stable of high quality rods already. I am guessing you want to walk the line before very fast action (stiff tip) bottom contact rods and a traditional crank bait rod? If the weights alone are 1/4 to 3/4 oz by the time your plastic is threaded on you will be closer to 3/16 to a full oz by the time you are done. The BCR series from Loomis are very fast action rods that don't have a lot of give to them. Very powerful and light but not suited to moving baits in an ideal situation. The MBR series is their Mag Bass Series. I find them to be a better blend between a reaction bait rod and say an NRX/GLX BCR rod. The are Fast action rods but seem to have more versatility to them. If you are used to GLX/NRX feel I would encourage you to look at the "classic" MBR 844 which is rated up to 1 oz baits. I have the GLX rod I use for general bass apps when I am limited to one rod and need something versatile. It is a good rod for jigs, swimjigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, texas rigs, and even some frogs and weightless baits. It wouldn't be my first choice for flukes but I do like it for paddle tails style swimbaits and baits like the Big Hammer. I have fished both jigheads with a soft plastic swimbait trailer and keel weighted swimbaits like the Keitech fat impact. Rarely do I ever use a jig head size above 1/2 oz so most of my total weights are closer to 3/4 oz. The rod seems to be find for this. Another option would be look at a Megabass rod from the Orichi XX line of rods. Their tapers are super versatile and have a great selection of rods. Not 100% sure which rod would best for your apps but I would email Gary at the Tackle Trap to see if a rod like the Perfect Pitch would work. If you are looking at Loomis the IMX/GLX 844 MBR rod may be worth a look.

I just store all my line in the basement. Most of my line is used within 3 years of purchase. Really like the 650 yard Sunline Sniper spools for the price. Lets me do quite a few reels when they are backed with mono.

I am not a big hardbait fan due to the waters I frequent. I have quite a few still that serve there purpose but I probably only use them 10-20% of the time. Probably less than 5% of my hardbaits have been fished and even a smaller % have actually caught fish.

BTD will probably have rods marked down 20-25%. TW will probably be just 15%. THUT will probably be 20%. These are just based off what they have done the last few years.

SV spool arrived for my custom Alphas. Working on finishing the reel up tonight. Would have been done last night but encountered a few problems... Pics to follow.

A $30 rod is not worth fixing when it can be purchased again or upgraded to something better. Just ensure propper handling and fish fighting techniques when using rods to help preven breakage.

I am good with cork or EVA and split or full handles. As long as the rod is built using high quality components and comfortable in hand it really doesn't matter to me.