bass1980

Yup I used to own a 735c champ, what a nice frog rod. Balances great and a very nice tip for casting that sucker a mile. It was a good jig rod too. With that said, Dobyns Champ aren't the most sensitive rods in their price point. Balance and overall feel is what makes them Great. Fishing a buddies E6 for an outing....I'd pass that for a Zodias any day if I wanted a "shimano" rod.

Lake Waconia report. I fished it this Saturday and it was a tough bite. 13 mph winds didn't help either as you can see many boats hiding behind the island blocked from the wind. Don't even waste your time shallow on that lake. No fish or cover yet. At 5-10 got a lot of small 1 lb fish on crankS and spinner baits. Red or orange was the color. At drop offs 10+ feet caught three 2.5lb bass. Buddy caught a 4lb 3 oz bass on same structures and depths. Trig and drop shot was working. It'll be interesting how the pattern will change these next 2 weeks.

I tried to revive the other MN thread but didn't get much interest. I'm not sure if it's just a lack of interest or the feel to not let secretes out which I find silly was we don't all fish the same lakes on the same tournament. Anyways I'll be out on Waconia this weekend so I'll do a report On Monday.

ALPHA SV For $200ish......

How light are you throwing? Although it can throw light lures well, it's not a true finesse reel due to the spool is not very shallow. It's a very nice looking reel and very refine as well. Nice pick up. I have only used mine once so far but glad I got one. I was using it for 1/4 Oz paddle tails.

Atom631....check your pm

I got a RH Aldebaran sent to me accidentally when JLS messed my order up. Got rid of it only because I'm a LH user. I must say the new Aldebaran could possibly be Shimano's best reel yet. It looks amazing with the dark charcoal color and the chrome accents. Palms amazing and super smooth but I did not get to use it with line n lure. I just don't have room for it in my lineup at the moment or else I'd order a few.

Has nothing to do with the senko. It's either one of the following; Small fish grabbing only the end jig head doesn't proprely hook fish

The Tatula has sold thousands and thousands world wide. With only a handful of forum users claiming the issue and I would think it's a extremely rare problem. I already had to send my first Chronarch ci4+ in for grinding noise out of the box. Not to mention all the other brands having their reels sent in for being defective. With such a small percentage of issues with the claims of grooving I don't look at it as being defective. I look it as being extremely rare incidents with the line, lure, and type of fishing that caused it.....if those claims are true.

Priorities my man, everyone's in a different phase of their lives. I'm just fishing out of a little beat up bass tracker. I can afford a $35k boat right now, but my wife said no boat until the baby. I had to sell all my 12 setups to step it up to high end gears. It's just a tool in the end, but I like my tools a certain way. I don't knock people with starter setups, we all started somewhere. It doesn't help me catch more fish, but I can honestly say I do enjoy my fishing time more with the gears I really want.

I don't think I'm willing to fork out money to buy my dream combo (MB Super Leggera) but I do have one that I feel like it will be the best combo I will get a chance to fish. The only problem is......I haven't fish it yet either lol. Ice just melted, bass season is open yet, I just got back from a long vacation. Now itching to use it! BTW it color matches!!! Let the hating begin.

Performance + Purdy > performance + ugly That's how I look at it. Most people that looks for color complimenting combos just don't do it for only colors. They already know their options are all performers.

Ferrari, Lambo, and Megabass to name a few aren't worried about you guy that won't spend money on their premium products. They are doing just fine. In the end it's a tool and some people like their tools to be a work of art both aesthetically and performance and are willing to pay a premium. 60k boats, 60k trucks, $4000 electronics, $4000 shallow anchors, $1500 trolling motors is a waste of money to many also. You guys should see the gun enthusiasts and how much they spend on some guns that they don't even use it to Hunt. I'm not hating on guys that are well off in life and likes expensive toys.

Waiting for it to hit $700ish at JP then I'll think about it. I have some X4 and X7 I bought this winter and I'm already feeling in the dog house from my spending spree.

With spinnerbaits it's not about the weight as much as it's about the size of the blades. The 51e is ok with smaller blades but because it has such a short handle you do lose some leverage with resistent lures. I added a 90mm handle to my 51e to crank and you can definitely feel the difference. With that said I punch 3/4-1oz with my other 51e and feels just fine doing it.

Stop it with the non sense. I use 20lb PP on three of my casting reels. One of them is the Chronarch 51e and it absolutely bombs lures with small diameter line. Trust me it is not the line. If you got all 4 brakes set on and the outer dial set that high there is something wrong with the reel. I set mine with 2 on and 2 off, turn my tension knob almost all the way off, and set the outside dail to 3-4 and have no issues bombing 3/8 oz lures. Something must else must be wrong with the reel or you're doing it wrong.

We're all bias to what we've only used....well most of us.

How does the SS SV and Alpha SV feel compared to the Steez? I don't know how I feel about taking my Zonda Hedgehog, IS71, and TD Ito with me on tournaments. I may buy cheaper alternatives for those three to use on tournaments and save those for pleasure fishing where I can take my time and be extra careful. I'm not expecting Steez performance but as long as it's good enough I guess. How does the SS SV feel as far as material since it's part Zaion.

The *** handle is a hit or miss for people but I would take the 5 yr warranty on the *** vs the 1 yr warranty on the Ghost any day.

I miss my 735c dearly. Only sold it because I needed funds for a reel. I wouldn't say it's the best rod, but it was a great frog rod.

Around $200.....

Long leader in pike country is beneficial. Incase it gets cut off you don't have to redo your line to line knot, just the hook.

I use straight braid most of the time. Even fished yellow braid on wacky senko all of last year and the fish still bites as much as my partner. The only time I'm using a flouro leader is on a drop shot. In my head I'm thinking the bait is barely moving and the line is right there. For jigs, Trigs, and even falling senko I feel that it's still a reaction bite when the bait is moving so bass are too focused on the movement of the bait. I don't shake my drop shot plastic a lot, just slight movements. Did I make sense? I think I don't but I'm confident on this so that's what I use.

Hey mnbassman23, I too fish MN waters and would like to see your video. I don't use swim baits much but this year I'll try to for fun when I'm not tournament fishing. I'll be trying a megabass Islide and a Jackall Gantarel. Not those $100 lures but still at $40 it's expensive for me lol. I have been thinking of this as of late using a steel leader so I'm interested in what others have to say.

I'm not knocking the ci4, just praising the 50e for its ability to cast light lures. The distance between the two is probably just 5 feet or whatever but the ease of cast and control was noticable. I cleaned and relube both of my reels. Also it's not that I had issues with the ci4 and light cranks, it was a combination with that particular rod that made loading an issue.