kickerfish1

British Petroleum... Time to fuel up! Honestly that is who I thought it was but now I have no idea.

Bluebasser makes the best I have used. The quality is outstanding. Really like the durability of the finish, eyes on the bait, non football head design, wire tied, larger hook, and endless skirt options. As long as he is making them I will be buying them. Already have received 2 orders from him and everything was and went perfect!

Yes they are necessary! I have 14 jig boxes and at certain times of the year and at certain lakes one will outproduce others. Generally 5 colors would suffice but jigs are my weakness.

I am a big fan of the 50 series platform Shimano offers. Really feel they are one of best performing reels out there for the money.

For a cheaper reel the benefit may be less. It wouldn't hurt to take DVTs advice and throw some abec 5s in one reel. I would measure my 3 furthest casts the way the reel is now and mark down the distance. Then install the abec 5s and put the same bait and rod back into the equation and measure your distance of your 3 best casts. Bottom line is it will be difficult to assume it will or will not make a difference. If you like the end result maybe order some more for your other reels. Worst case scenario is you ar out 20 somthing dollars for bearings. Your only other options would be upgrading your reels to better casting reels but that would be much more costly.

^^What he said^^ noteably, there are better options than the GL2 Ffor the price tag.

Honestly I dont think I could commit to one brand of rod, reel, and line. Shimano would slightly edge out Daiwa on reels. Seagaur or Sunline would be a coin flip but I would probably go with Sunline. Rods would be beyond tough. If Shimano included Jackall it would be fine as long as they could supply me with Gen 1 Cumara and Cumulus rods too!

Beautiful combo! I am sure it gets the highest approval rating! I have handled a few Tatula rods at the local shop and they seem true to their ratings. As noted above pay attention to their action ... fast, extra fast, regualr, etc will all fish different. Not really sure your intended use but perhaps if a local shop has some try to get over there to handle them in person.

With "freshwater" use there is nothing to worry about in terms of performance and longevity of Stradics 99% of the time.

Put less on the cast and also try a lob like cast.

The older black/charcoal colored blank Cumara rods are some of the best rods ever made and highly sought after. You would probably be after the 7'2 or 6'8 medium fast spinning rod. I have 4 Gen 1 Cumara rods that I won't part with. The newer gen cumaras are ok but just not a fan of red blank or the handle. The Zodias would be worth a look too.

I have the 735 as a dedicated frog rod and love it. Not really a need to fish a rod above that pricepoint for frog fishing. The 734 is a good soft body frog and toad rod in more sparse cover but the 735 is the better option for hollow body frogs in heavier cover.

Wonder if the FJ is getting an overhaul? I know the reel is a bit on the heavier side but still a great reel. Perhaps just a few styling touches and weight savings in a few places.

Mono for both.

For cost savings buy used from various forums and auction sites not to mention retailers sales. If you are starting with next to nothing this will be the most cost effective way unless money isn't an issue. Probably going to need a few rod and reel outfits, hooks, weights, plastics, jigs, hardbaits, spinnerbaits, etc.

There are 3 total Champion cranking rods that fit the 705cb bill. There is one from there graphite line that has a moderate fast action, then a 705cb moderate fast and a 705cb fast from there glass series. Not 100% which one you were looking at? I have the 705cb fast glass rod. Love it for a variety of reaction baits. It will handle your squarebills, your lipless baits, topwaters especially your spooks and sammys. I throw heavier jerkbaits on mine like the 110 and 100 series pointers. I have also used spinnerbaits and chatterbaits on there with no issue. Your only problems will come from fishing reaction baits "with a rip it through the weeds" mentality and lighter jerkbaits loading properly. It is truly a good multi purpose reaction rod. Not my first choice for jerkbaits or bladed baits but you should be fine if they arent real light or fished/ripped through weeds. I got a friend that owns 5 of the 705cb glass rods. A pretty good rod know doubt. The 704 could be worth a look if you fish lighter baits...

Any of the 200e series Curado/Chronarch reels from Shimano. However they will be a bit out of your range. The Citica 200e has 6:3.1 ratio but will handle a gear swap from a Curado 200e.

Definitely look for a quality pre owned ree. Lots of the $100 range reels will fall around $60ish.

Dobyns 705 cb glass rod fast action Shimano Citica 200e 12# mono

Nice review! I was going through some things the other day and found that I had 6 rods rigged up for a drop shot. Yea, I guess they work and seem to have a place or many in my lineup.

Nice sale Mike! Bummed it doesn't include jigs this go around.

Nice Daiwa family! (Personally just not a fan of reel grips, but that is just me mainly because the marks left on the knobs)

Buy it if you can swing it or find a reasonable deal on one. The new Heliums are no sloutch. The NRX would be a nice upgrade though not a necessary one. You could sell the closest Helium to the 893 to help finance it.

The Presso and Liberto Pixy are the two most finesse oriented "early" casters I can recall that can truly go light. If there were other reels floating around prior to that I am not aware and not aware of their finesee capabilities.

Amazing! Congrats to her. All her dedication and hard work paid off.