Master Bait'r

Depends on the size of the bait. The smaller ones up to about .75ozish I'd throw on my regular moving bait rod. Wakes up to ~1.5 I'd put a heavy flouro leader on my frog rod and roll with that. Bigger baits and bigger hooks need big backbone to set properly.

Sold my Crucial and picked up a Dobyns Champ 705cb glass (fast) for all my moving and vibration baits. Aaaaaaaand this beaut. The Bait monkey hath struck again. SO incredibly stoked to complete my dream rod trifecta, save for one reel left to swap out.

Let go of that Texas Pride do what you have to in order to get you out there. Make no apologies!

I always wanted a pair of guide wader pants.

Wow! Not to be that guy, but can you get me one/ let me know where to find that? I fish a lot of places that are very pickerel heavy and I love to match the forage... Nobody makes a chain pickerel pattern and I have no idea why! That one is gorgeous. SO MUCH WANT!

Crankenstein perhaps?

I mostly fish from a sit-in kayak so a soft sided 3600 box is about all I can fit. I have 3 rod holders so I keep 3 main trays, with just enough room for two halfers- one for random terminal tackle and extras, the other for my UL river/panfish gear. Tray #1 is heavy cover- mostly frogs, jigs and strange weedless stuff. Tray #2 is plastics, hooks and weights. Craws, worms, minnows and the stuff to peg them, C-rig, punch weight or shaky head 'em. Plastics are my comfort. Tray #3 is hard baits, vibrations and moving baits. An assortment of squarebills, jerkbaits, traps, spinners and smaller swimbaits are all lined up together. I have backups and more at home but the 3 seashells er... Trays system works great to keep it simple and cover most of my bases.

Aren't you a CXX guy? High breaking and tensile strength for sure... I've definitely thought about that too.

I should also mention that this will be going on a Dobyns 705cb glass rod, so line stretch is not needed.

So as far as YZH's durability is concerned, how does it do against the toothy critters? Honestly most of my hard baits are really nice and I want them back in the boat at the end of the day. Even with 50lb braid I've lost a few frogs I really liked so it's a real concern for me- probably my highest concern the more I think about it. I know Tatsu is harder to handle but it's strength is high and it does well against teeth. Wondering how far off that mark I'd be with YZH.

Thanks for clicking, I'm trying to come to a conclusion. Putting together a nice cranking cast combo currently and I'm torn between the slack line shock transmission and pickerel-resistance of the flouro and the user friendliness of the Yo-Zuri Hybrid. I know a lot of guys here use both, and so I'm really looking to draw on your experience. What would you rather use for mid-depth cranks, jerkbaits and finesse swimbaits? I'm most worried about feeling the strikes on the pause, and getting the bait back to the boat since I fish where there are lots of really big chain pickerel. I really appreciate any insight you may have. I've searched and read a bunch but would like some specific comparisons. Thanks!!

I didn't hear any restrictions on mend-it!

Try it without the split ring pliers and you'll see exactly why it's totally worth the $10 or so.

Bento minnows are awesome little swimmers and I am also excited to give the 5" mag draft a go next season too. I realize that's a bit different since it's a bit bigger but still in the same school of thought- it's only like .75oz rigged.

Well considering that they asked $75 and you gave them 33% more than that I'd say the only reason to go back would be to see if that guy has any other gear to sell!

These make my head hurt and I always remember like 5 things right after that I'd rather have, etc. I can't even choose a favorite worm without being on the water or having a use in mind.

So today I was at my desk and I heard a "Hiiiiyah!" and everything went black. I woke up with my face on the keyboard and a banana peel next to me with this in my shipping queue. The ninja bait monkey strikes again! Aaaargh!!

I'd say probably my 7'2" HXF *** Black. Really impressed with that rod for lots of big presentations. You can throw frogs, big wakebaits, jigs, deep cranks, chatterbaits... It's super light, has a ton of backbone and just enough tip softness to really bomb casts and allow action out of big vibration baits etc. Blown away at what they offer- especially for the price!

Hmmm... Maybe it's just from being wet? That's kind of funny. I've just been wasting that stuff then I guess haha I guess ya learn something every day!

Very smooth, non coated so it stays very consistent, extremely strong and diameter is considerably smaller than spiderwire. It has just about no memory and handles sexy, especially once you soak it with that KVD unicorn tears juice stuff. I use it down to 10# and love it.

Just wait until you try SX1!

Pack them away and go ski powder.

Wow! That's a heck of a dickerin' right there, nice work!! Mind if I asked what the trade was? I love a good wheel & deal. Nothing like the barter system!

Anybody want to buy my 7'2" MHXF crucial? I'd give someone a good deal on it. It's a great rod but I need either a Dobyns cranking rod in my life and I only have so much space- I have too many XF rods. Someone help!

See, I feel the opposite. You can super tune a lazer speed spool to cast over the moon with some Abecs and light oil/flushing/dialing but if you buy the wrong rod, there's nothing you can do but get another one.