kickerfish1

I am not sure if the last sentence could be further from the truth. The 4 powered rods are heavy action. They have ratings typically from 1/4 to 1 oz. If you are familiar with the Loomis MBR 844 rods they fish quite similar. It would be very unfair to say they are a true medium. Some may agree they tend to be closer to a true medium heavy, but the 4 powered rods have a significant amount of power. I have the 734 and it doesn't even compared to true medium casting rods. Rippin Lips - I haven't seen the video link you posted until now. I watched it and will say that your 703 would be just fine up to about a 1/2 oz total and any additional weight after that you will the rod being a bit more taxed. I think you will enjoy it for most of what you would ask for an all purpose rod to do.

Order placed! This will bring my jig collection up to 14 of the Plano 3700 series boxes. Thanks for the sale Mike! Even got a long sleeved shirt too.

Hmmm... I have a DX703 casting rod among the 5 Dobyns rods I own. The rod is rated as a MH xf. I have the older model compared to the newer rod which is labeled as fast. The rod has been in my rotation for nearly 3 years. I have fished a wide variety of baits with it but like it up to around a 1/2 ounce, though the rod is rated up to 3/4 oz. I have fished swim jigs up to a 1/2 oz (3/8 oz jigs plus a soft body paddle tail trailer) and never felt the rod was too over loaded. At a 1/2 oz the rod is approaching over load but doesnt feel overloaded until you surpass 1/2 oz. At 1/4 it just starts to load so I wouldn't go much lower. That 3/8 oz mark is the infamous sweet spot. Jigs, swim jigs, texas rigs, spinnerbaits, flukes, senkos, caffeine shads, etc all fish well on this rod. Haven't fished the champion version of 703 casting rod but DX 703 is a fine all purpose rod from 1/4 to a 1/2 oz in my 2+ years of using it. I know you are a Powell Endurance fan and think you will find the Dobyns similar to Powell rods.

Send it to Mike at DVT. He is a site sponsor and does great work. For members here he offers 10% off. Not sure who would be a "local" option for you...

This^^ The Gen 3 reviews are some of the worst reels Abu has made. Plus with the Chronarch E series around you can interchange a good majority of the parts.

Free bump for a great guy, a standup guy, and builder of quality fishing products. Trying to finalize a few more things before I get the order submitted. Cant wait to try out a few "new to me" colors and styles.

Praying for you, your boss, his wife, and all others affected. Hang in there.

Recon is considered the more sensitive rod of the two. It may boil down to moving baits or bottom contact baits. Both are good rods for the money but I would probably take the Recon of the two especially if plastics, jigs, or weightless baits were on the slate. It has sort of that JDM build to it plus the action is touch parabolic without being noodlish if that makes sense. I use my Recon 714 for quite a bit of techniques and it does a great job. Only knock I have on the rod is the hook keeper and the position.

Depends upon how strict I am with my diet and training. Sometimes it is as plain as water, nature valley bar, grapes, and possibly a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for longer days. When I am not restricted it is similar but typically the sunflower seeds, jerky, or Gatorade/PowerAde drinks find their way into the boat.

For your original post questions I would say the reel is more than just light bait or finesse oriented reel. Your only limitation comes from line capacity. The 50 series Shimano reels are a personal favorite of mine and I have 4 variations. Your Curado to Chronarch 50e comparison is fair. The knobs on the Chronarch are bigger and often preferred knobs to those of the Curado and for size reference they are basically what you would get on a 200e. There may be a bearing or two more or in place of bushing but yes a good portion of the reel outside of the paint is the same. You can use these reels for really anything that doesn't put severe torque on the internal components of it. By this I mean big spinnerbaits, big swimbaits, Alabama rigs, or deep cranks. The reel would fish jigs, standard cranks/moving baits, flip/pitch, texas rig, frogs, weightless plastic, etc... just fine. I run 8 - 15 # line on mine but should you go braid you can do the equivalent in braid ratings. They also have many tuning parts and great re-sell value and popularity among others that should it not work you could unload it pretty easily.

Hot sauce is ok but will stain somethings red. The plus side is that you can see where and how much you have applied.

Current Rods- Daiwa, Megabass, BPS, Fenwick, Phenix, Powell, Dobyns, G Loomis, Shimano, Abu Garcia, and Cabelas. Current reels- Shimano and Daiwa predominantly. Also have reels by BPS, Okuma, Quantum, Abu, Lews, and Pfleuger.

No need for anything heavier than 15# as the manageability issues will follow. I use 12# on casting gear mostly and have rarely felt undergunned around wood, rocks, or weeds.

Bearings are better and slightly smoother retrive. Different paint and accent parts obviously. This is based on my experience with the 1000xt compared to the Chronarch and Curado 50e.

Very true, and I am very tempted to order a few things. Sort of an indirect sale prior to the Christmas and Holiday season.

With fishing you try things and experiment until you find where it is that you want to play at. Usually this is the intersection of where price and performance collide and you feel the gains beyond that are not justified by increased price. I know a guy that sold off lots of high end rods and reels that were as good as money could buy to settle on a rod company that makes $170 to $350 rods. He felt this was all he needed to be successful. Now back to reels if you throw lighter baits and ultra heavy or resistant baits speciality reels costing more than $100 will be needed. For fishing standard weights between 3/8 and 1 oz many reels like the BPS PQ, Lews Speed spool, Shimano Citica, Daiwa Exceller and Lexa can handle what we need them to. Same can be said for anything in life... Homes, cars, bikes, electronics, etc...

Nice Stella and collection of Pop Max baits! Santa came early? What is the color of the one pictured on the bottom right?

Not a bad jig. I have fished some of those before. For wood and weed combinations I like the Alien Head or Flipping style jig. Both Siebert and Northstar makes some great jigs in this head style. They come through cover quite well with the only type of cover they struggle with a bit is rock though they aren't that bad. When you say finesse jig usually I am thinking something like an Eakins style jig that has a smaller weight, a round head, skirt collar flared in front and smaller trailer. You can find these on TW or Sieberts website. Two other options would be the NorthStar Hair jigs in the Alienhead design or their Flip and Swim jig which excels at coming through cover. I basically break down my hundreds of jigs as follows: Football Jigs Flipping/Alien head jigs Swim jigs Flip and Swim jigs Arky head jigs Hair jigs Mop/Hippy jigs/Living rubber jigs Eakins style jigs Finesse hair/bucktail/rabbit hair jigs Chatterbait or bladed swim jigs These categories while still under the label of "jig" all behave different and have different designs and triggering qualities that make them successful at different times during the year. I also will use different trailers, trailer sizes, and styles depending upon the style of jig I am using though there isn't any cut and dry rules and sometimes going against the grain and selecting something unusual for that style of jig could be just as productive as a more common trailer choice.

Either is fine in my book. I am willing to accept split grip and cork/EVA differences among rod manufactures if the rod has the "It" factor. Cork filler can rot away over time and EVA can show signs of wear or may be prone to puncture marks. I have variations of cork/EVA and split/full grip for both tip up and tip down presentations and really can't say with strong conviction my loyalties lie one way or the other.

I had an Omuka Komodo. Great reel ... Palmed well, was incredibly smooth and looked nice with the CF handle. Problem was I didnt care for the way you would have access the breaking system. You remove the sideplate but it isnt hinged to the reel. Casting distance seemed average. The new Curado I has a unique breaking system. It can take time to get used to unlike that of the E series. A Chronarch E or Tatula would be great performers offering a little more user friendliness should that be of importance to you.

The kid was giving the "Air Jordan" look at times. Tongue sticking out, you knew something bad was going to happen (In this case approach a much larger specimen than himself). A very good breed of dog for family/kid settings.

You cant go wrong with the 893. I am nearly 100% certain it is the rod you want. If not the resell value is very high and will sell quick. Rep samples are under $400.

The Eeliminator is great Carolina rigged or as a swim jig trailer. You can fish it weightless as well.

Nice show and tell story on the latest arrival! I dig the maroon color as well... nice addition!