DocNsanE

Thanks everyone for your help. After reading Fishin' Fools comment I did a bit of research on the Tatula rods since they were suddenly in my budget and I came across a thread I had started 2 years ago when I was shopping for my first Tatula lol. At the time I was more interested in a jig / t-rig rod and I ended up going with the 7'1" MHXF. But reading the comments from that thread along with Fishin's comment above has made it pretty clear that the 7'2" MHR will be a good fit for my needs (throwing keitechs, caffeine shads, and some smaller crankbaits).

I live in Canada and they won't ship to me here. However I did just buy a reel (Tatula CT) from them over the weekend and had it shipped to my parents' condo who are spending their winter in Florida. I'm just reluctant to burden them with having to return home with a 7'+ rod to pack along with all of their luggage.... but it doesn't hurt to ask! I really appreciate your insight as my 7'1" MHXF is a Tatula so I am already familiar with those! So you enjoy the Tatula over the Fury? I like the length of the 7'7" for long casts, but it is rated up to 3/4oz lures. I think I will go with the 7'2" Med Hvy Regular which is rated up from 1/4 to 1oz. A keitech swing impact fat is 3/8oz on its own, and if I want to fish it deep I might want to pair it with a 1/2oz swim jig or jig head which would bring the package to about 7/8oz which would exceed the rating of the Medium.

Hi, I am looking at expanding my limited arsenal. The main application would be for small soft plastic swimbaits (such as the keitech swing impact fat or the strike king caffeine shad) but it would be even better if I could use the same rod for all kind of moving baits, including treble hooked baits. Therefore, I was thinking the FR 705CB might be a good choice. I like the idea of using a moderate fast for a moving single hook presentation (paddle tails, chatterbaits, swimjigs, spinnerbaits, etc) and it would seem like a happy medium that could cater to crankbaits as well. However, on their stie, Dobyns recommends the 734C for buzzbaits, small swimbaits and spinnerbaits. I currently own a 6'8" MXF Spinning, a 7'0" MHF Spinning and a 7'1" MHXF Casting which is another reason I leaning towards a modfast. My idea was to dedicate the 6'8" to dropshotting/shakyhead/flukes, the 7'0" to senkos (wacky or t-rigs), the 7'1" to jigs/t-rigs/c-rigs and the new rod to moving baits (although 90% of the time that would be a swing impact fat or a caffeine shad). Any thoughts / recommendations? Am I going to regret a ModFast for this type of application? Thanks For what it's worth, I am also considering the following rods in the same price range and action (modfast): - Falcon BRC-5-176 BuCoo SR 7'6" MH MF (listed as such on TW however on the falcon site the BRC-5-176 is MH M which scares me a little) - Fenwick HMG 7'2" M MF - No8tackle Blackout 7'3" M MF (lure rating is a little on the low side) - St. Croix Bass X 7'4" MH MF I know the Bass X is SCII and as such everyone says it is worth spending the extra money for the SCIII however I don't think I need the utmost sensitivity when fishing moving baits and my budget is pretty much hard cap'd at $110.

Have you found anything or have you picked one up yourself? I am currently looking at rods myself and this one is on the radar.

Thanks!

Thanks a lot guys for the responses. What would you use a moderate fast action rod for then? I always thought this would be a good action for moving presentations with single hooks. I'm guessing shallow squarebills? Anything else?

Thanks guys. I currently fish them on a MXF Fenwick Elite Tech SM Spinning rod and it does a good enough job. I was just wondering if it made sense moving down to a moderate fast seeing as it's a moving bait. I want to dedicate a rod to this bait since it's one of my preferred search baits and I use the Fenwick for some top water and wacky rigging also.

Hi, I am thinking of picking up a rod that I would dedicate to small swimbaits like a caffeine shad or a keitech swing impact fat. If it makes sense, I might also use the same rod for flukes. Since this is a moving bait, but it isn't a treble hook, I am currently thinking a moderate fast action would provide some give while still transitioning into the backbone fast enough to get a decent hookset. I typically fish these baits on an open hook swimbait jig head, a weighted swimbait hook, or a regular t-rig with a 2/0 or 3/0 EWG lightwire. Any thoughts on this configuration? I might also use this for spinner baits eventually, but that's not a bait I have every developed any confidence in.

Sweet! Thanks! $30USD for a 7 day fishing license seems really steep. A full year costs the same thing here. Oh well! Let's just hope I catch something!

Thanks for the answers guys, I appreciate it! Where would I go to buy a fishing license for a few days? Just any sporting goods store?

Hey all! I will be taking the family down to Kissimmee, Fl to visit their grandparents some time around Jan 10th and this would be a rare opportunity for me to hunt something larger than a northern strain Bass. I was wondering if there are any places you could recommend for bank fishing while I'm down there since I obviously won't have access to a boat while I'm there. I sent a MHF spinning rod down with my parents since my baitcasters are one piece rods. Up here I tend to favor stick baits, flukes and paddle tail swimbaits. Since I am going to have to pack fairly light, I was wondering if you had any tips on the types of lures I should consider bringing with me (I have a bit of everything to chose from (jigs,all kinds of plastics, crankbaits, topwaters, jerkbaits, spoons, spinners, etc)). Also, while not related to bass fishing, my parents have a pond near their condo which has what I believe are grass carp in it. If you have any tips on catching these I'd appreciate it as well! It's a rare opportunity for me to fish in central Florida, and it may also be the first time I bring my 3 y/o along with me, so any help you may have that may land me a fish would be very welcomed! Cheers and Happy Holidays from Canada, Doc

I just wanted to say that I am in absolute awe of the ability of many of the members on this forum. Holy crap those grips were gorgeous. I probably should try to make a custom rod for myself some day, but that won't be any time soon. I'm actually fairly lousy at manual labor.... my wife puts me to shame in this department. She's into wood working. Hmmm, maybe I should convince her to make me a custom rod!!

never had any issues with a uni to uni but I will be learning the FG knot. As with most knots of this nature, they are tricky to tie at first but eventually it becomes second nature.

Bass season isn't even open yet here I've been in panic mode since January

How do you fish them retrieve-wise? Is it fished like a hollow bellied frog? I have a pack... never used them except as a trailer on a double bladed buzzbait to get it to plane easier and offer a bigger profile. I love to throw a jitterbug at night. Looking to expand the baits I use this summer if the jitterbug bite isn't on.

I have to admit I've heard some of the strangest sounds fishing my spot at night. I am convinced at least one beaver is around there as there was a bit of crashing in the woods followed by a huge splash in the water. I tend to assume the beaver won't hit my lure unless he is defending his area though but man would I ever hate hooking into a beaver AT NIGHT

I've always been afraid of hooking a beaver, wouldn't know where to begin on how to handle one to get it unhooked. Anyone have any experience with this? For that reason I often stay away from casting near beaver huts even though I know they must be holding fish since they look like amazing cover for a bass.

My go to would have to be a senko/yum dinger I love to fish a soft plastic jerk bait though But in the end, the one I have most fun on? Jitterbug black at night. Top water is always fun, but in the quiet stillness of night when you can't even see your lure and all you hear is bloop bloop bloop and then a bass explodes through the surface. It gets my heart racing every time.

x3

That price range will open a ton of quality options. I can only recommend what I know, but you can find a Tatula in 7.3:1 on amazon around $100. If you are comfortable with them in hand, the *** 13 is known for having a very sensitive blank. I personally went with a Tatula rod as well, 7'1" MHXF. This is my jig/t-rig combo. Other reels to look at: Lews, Curado. Other rods Abu Veritas 2.0, Phenix Maxim, Okuma TCS, iRod Genesis II, Fenwick HMG or Elite Tech, Ducket Ghost For the second setup, I'd go for something to cover moving baits. Probably something a little more versatile that could handle single hook as well as treble hook baits so something like a Moderate Fast action. If you're crashing cover with spinnerbaits or ripping through weeds with lipless cranks, maybe go with a medium heavy, otherwise probably go medium. I'd pair this one with a 6x:1 ratio probably.

x2

I'd just send them to Mike at DVT if you don't want to deal with the parts or risk anything. He'll probably do a better job than you ever could anyways! If you do want to try it yourself, there are a lot of youtube videos on the subject. Consider taking pictures every step of the way when you disassemble to help you when you get confused reassembling. Best of luck!

I would never go tubing without a life jacket -- especially if we are two on the tube! One bad flip, knock heads or a knee to the head and disoriented just long enough to gulp in some water... no thank you. But if I am being honest, I too have been caught fishing without my jacket, even when drinking. Never again though. I made the mistake for the last time last year when I fell in after a day filled with gin tonics. I had a cheap rain poncho that was preventing me from swimming up properly and I just ripped it apart to get my arms free and was lucky enough to resurface. I have placed an order last week for a comfortable (hopefully) PFD and I will never go on the water without it (with or without alcohol). I have way too much to lose for the sake of wearing a life jacket. You never think you need, until you do, and when that happens, it might be too late.

I agree with papajoe222 100%. A stick bait is just a very versatile lure that can be fished under many varying conditions and at various depths in the water column, and with various retrieves. The possibilities are almost endless!! As such, it's usually a bait that people can catch fish with rather "easily". I would spend some time to build confidence in this bait and to explore the numerous ways it can be fished. Then, when you finally have that confidence, I would dedicate at least a third of every outing to learning a new lure. Spend even more time if you don't mind reducing the number of catches as you get accustomed to a new lure. Then if ever your patience is wearing thin you can switch back to your confidence bait and catch a couple to ease the tension. When learning a new lure, make sure you give it a real chance before you set it aside. Try different retrieves, longer or shorter pauses, different colors, fish different types of cover with it. I have more lures than I have time to fish (the bait monkey is my overlord) and to me this is one of the parts of fishing I love so much. As it says in my profile, you can never stop learning. When I go with my fishing partner he is always keeping count and trying to beat me in number of catches which is fine, but it means he is fishing the same lures 90% of the time, the lures he has confidence in. Every time I go I spend a few hours on something I haven't caught a fish on yet. I know my numbers will be down, but if I do manage to get that ONE fish on that lure I've been struggling with, it feels more rewarding than catching 5 on a wacky rig (which I have the utmost confidence in).

I was using a BPS Extreme Qualifier 360 backpack with 5 360s and 4-5 ziplocks of plastics in their original packaging, but I was running out of space so a few days ago I ordered the Browning Top Loader which comes with 8x 370s and room to fit up to 10.