timsford

The wood handle doesnt bother me as much as not knowing what g.loomis blank its built on. Is there a way to tell by color? The guy texted me pics of it but i cant get them to post for some reason. The blank is a dark grey almost black color and he said he gave 300 for the blank but doesnt know what type it is, what type of wood the handle is, or what guide train is on the rod

I am thinking of picking up a custom g.loomis with a wood handle. My main problem is that i have never held a wood handle rod let alone fished one. Im looking for some opinions on comfort and sensitivity. Also how do you tell what g.loomis blank is what. The guy that has it says he doesn't know what blank it is built on but i thought they were color coded and labeled according to whether they are gl2, gl3, imx, or glx. Does anyone here have experience with custom g.loomis or other wood handled rods?

All those rods are 65 or less. As far as cheaper than that you could get an ugly stick. Its not super sensitive by any means but has a soft action thats perfect for cranking and they are almost impossible to break. Mines been through a ton of abuse and ive had it going on 15 years

I was really happy with the skeet reese short mag rod. I sold it because i found some really nice seeker rods at a yard sale but it was awesome for the price. It was 65 with free shipping at tackle warehouse. It was fiberglass and had a great action and could throw any crankbait i tried up to 3/4 ounce. The academy ethos composite rods get pretty good reviews but ive never tried one. I had a mh lightning rod shock for awhile. It has a composite blank with a little softer tip for braid and worked pretty well. Havent tried the medium but my mh was darn good at crankin and spinnerbaits for the money. The Powell deisel crankin rod is great for the price from what i hear but i never have tried that particular rod in the deisel line. I have the spinning version though and im pretty pleased with it.

The ci4+ is lighter than the fj but not quite as smooth in my opinion. Ive fished with both because my friend owns both but i havent fished either long term

I shipped a 7'11" rod in a cardboard tube wrapped an inch thick with bubble wrap for 21. Pvc is much better because you dont have to worry about it being crushed though

Id get the tatula over the winch personally because i like the breaking system better and it casts farther with lighter weights. It retails for more but they are on walmart.com for barely over 100 and ron at valley sports is a site sponsor and can give you a great price on it too.

Id go with the fensick or st croix. Havent tried the new elite tech rods but the smallmouth version they just discontinued was awesome for the price. Cant beat the st croix warranty though and its made in the usa. The savvy is subpar on sensitivity for the price from what ive heard from members in the local bass club and even from die hard dobyns fans online in this forum and others. Id get an *** black before the savvy or one of the other 2 you mentioned

the zillion is bulletproof and will last for years with proper maintenance. I prefer daiwas though so take it with a grain of salt. Personally id get a tatula and have money left for line and a couple baits if you get the tatula from the right place

The live bluegill tip posted above is a great way to catch some really big bass. Ive used it quite a bit but ive never tried poking them with a knife. I catch one and hook it behind the dorsal and tie a balloon a couple feet above it so i can tell where it is and to keep it from diving in cover. The only problem i have with it is a lot of bass swallow it and die so i havent tried it in awhile. I started using bluegill swimbaits instead like the mattlures u2 bluegill. They are awesome in ponds and look just like the real thing but are a little more pricey than what you want to spend. Id also try shaky head worms and craws and squarebills. If you are willing to fish at night slow roll a black spinnerbait with a big colorado blade along the bottom. This time of year i almost always fish at night and only carry 3 lures. A black spinnerbait, black buzzbait, and black 7-12 inch worms t-rigged.

They have the rtx on walmart.com for 60-70 bucks regularly. I was about to pull the trigger on one and got a good deal on a lews team gold spinning reel so i didnt get the rtx but it does look like a great value. The lews is awesome! Super smooth and not quite as light as the rtx but still pretty light. My 300 size lews weighs around 7 ounces. After trying it i picked up the tournament high speed spin and its just as nice and only a touch heavier. The 300 size of those only weighs 8 oz or so. Not usually one to brand push but im extremely pleased with the lews

I bought a team lews gold spinning reel and like it better than any other spinning reel ive ever owned. Ive had several daiwa, shimano, abu garcia, and i also owned a few cheaper pfleugers but this thing blows them all out of the water. Ive got the 30 size reel and its under 8 ounces and holds 140 yards of 10 lb test. No frame flex even with a carbon frame fighting stripers and wipers.

The new curado i is pretty nice and casts awesome, but nit as good as my tatula r. I bought both the same day and sold the curado and bought another tatula r and some line with what i sold the curado for. They are both solid reels for the price but the tatula r is cheaper on ebay and walmart.com and i like the breaking system better and the twing too. It also felt like it had more power to me especially with high resistance lures like deep cranks and big spinnerbaits. Just my opinion though and i have to say i have always chosen daiwa over shimano because i like magforce better that centifugal breaking. If a tackle shop near you has both try them out because you may have a different opinion. I actually like my lews tp better than any shimano ive tried but the curados are the highest end model ive used so i cant speak for cores, chronarches, metaniums, or aldebarans.

I agree volfan lol im a vol fan as well since i could walk and i think it looks awesome! At least its something different. Seems like every reel now is either black or silver with red accents

If you decide to let go of the reels definitely let me know. Round reels arent fir everyone but with a little cleaning and a few upgrades they are awesome for swimbaits, a-rigs, deep cranks, and live or cut bait for stripers and catfish

I dont know about brands to avoid but for rods in that price range ive had pretty good luck with the team daiwa t rods and the powell deisel series. Lightning rod shocks are pretty good for moving baits as well because they have a softer tip. The daiwa t rods and tbe deisels can be had for under 60 bucks on sale right now. you could buy two of those with free shipping and still have enough to get some line, especially if you wait for labor day sales when they will be even cheaper. If you want to stick with abu you can find the old model veritas cheap. Cant comment on the performance of it because i never tried one but it seems like a popular rod.

I dont know if quantum makes some of their reels.but i know some are made by pfleuger. The guide series reels are rebadged pfleugers and have a magnetic braking system and not the acs like on quantums. The guide series reel i had was decent for the price i gave but ive never tried any of their higher end ones. Some of their rods are made by *** . My partner has a gsx elite rod made by 13 and it just as sensitive if not more so than my *** black

Fluoro does sink but personally i hate it on spinning reels. It has too much memory for me unless i use 6lb or less line. I personally like sunline supernatural in 10 lb as it has low memory and is very small diameter compared with other mono. A cheaper alternative if i cant get it on sale is trilene xl in 10 lb. Its a little bigger in diameter but also has very low memory so you dont get as many tangles. Ive also had good luck with silver thread and yo zuri hybrid but they are co poly lines and bigger in diameter than sunline.for the same lb test ratings. I fish for strilers and wipers a lot though and they pull a lot of drag so line diameter may not matter as much to you

I have only owned the cranking versions of the skeet rods but thought they were darn good for the 65 each i paid for them on sale at tackle warehouse. I had the 6'6" & 7'10" mag cranking rods. The shorter one handled any crank up to 10 ft deep divers great and i only took the big one on 1 trip but it would sling a dd22 as far as i wanted to throw it. They were both a little tip heavy but thats most fiberglass rods ive tried. I sold them because i got a great deal on some seeker rods but they are quite a bit more expensive at retail prices. Id look around and feel some rods in yoir price range in person but the skeet rods i had were great for the price if yoh can get over the bright yellow color lol. I still own some other good rods in the 100 dollar and under range though that are definitely worth taking a look at. The *** black rods are super sensitive for the price. (around 100). They would be my first choice. I also have a team daiwa t rod that is awesome for the 60 dollar or so sale price right now at tackle warehouse but not quite as sensitive as the *** black. It was 40 bucks less though and has a 5 year warranty. The shimano clarus is only 5-10 bucks more on there than the daiwa and is a very good rod for the price but only has a 1 year warranty now. I also own a powell deisel spinning rod i got for under 60 bucks off there but it carries no warranty. I have only broke a couple rods my whole life and i fell on them so it doesnt matter to me but it does to some people. Its very sensitive and has good guides for the price. I also bought a berkley lightning rod shock at walmart to fish for stripers at night with braid and i can horse in a 20 lb fjsh no problem but jts tip heavy. I use it for wakebaits so i hold it with the tip down anyway so ita no big deal to me. Sorry i wrote a book but i too mostly buy cheaper rods and wanted to let you know my experiences with them. Bps rods are very good in my experience but the nearest bass pro to me is 2 hours away and by the time i pay for gas and pay sales tax i could buy a lot more or better rod online imo

Id go with a mh rod like reccomended above. There are tons of options out there depending on what you want to spend. A mh fast action will cover almost all the baits you can throw in a small pond especially with the right reel. My advice would be to look around for sales and dont count out used stuff and if possible feel what you want in a store before you buy but online prices are usually better than most chain stores if you shop around. It all depends on your price range as far as what i would reccomend. I also fish a lot of small ponds and only carry two rods. A powell deisel 6'10" m action spinning rod and a 7ft mh team daiwa t baitcast. They can both be had for under 60 bucks on tackle warehouse. Here recently ive only been using one rod, a heavy action baitcast and throwing bluegill swimbaits and catching some hawgs in places i used to think only had dinks in them. So dont think just because they are small ponds they only hold small fish, you might be suprised. I caught an 8 lb largemouth out of a 1/2 acre or less pond last weekend lol

Im a daiwa guy personally because i like their braking system better but have owned a curado e and a revo sx in the past. I ended up selling both of them when i got hard up for cash but i still wish i had my curado e. The revo i dont miss at all. Curados/chronarchs are much easier to do maintenance on and are bulletproof reels that will last forever with proper maintenance. The revos are decent reels but imo the shimanos blow them out of the water. You might also look into the new curado i they are getting rave reviews but imo cant go wrong with the e series. And the lews tp and bb1p are also much superior to the revos as far as comfort and casting. Just my opinion for what its worth but i have owned all these reels at one time or another and still have the lews reels and wish i had my e series back.

The rod depends on whether im fishing bottom contact baits or not but in my mind the best bang for the buck spinning rod is around 100. Either the *** or the fenwick elite tech smallmouth is what i would reccomend. The tatula is very sensitive as well but i prefer a shorter rod for spinning than they offer

Swimbaits, lipless cranks, jerkbaits, and bucktail jigs are my most productive striper baits. Underspins like the sworming hornet and a fluke trailer work great when they are suspended

I really like the trick worms in bright colors but they slow sink depending on hook size. As far as topwater soft plastics the money hound is great and so are frogs. I like the zoom horny toad and strike king rage tail but there are a lot of good brands out there

I didnt get out last night but i exclusively night fish during the summer and always catch more then during the day. Try fishing shallower than during daylight.and bring a few other lures. I always do best on black spinnerbaits with a single colorado blade and black 10 inch worms. Black jigs are pretty good producers for me as well. Try putting worm rattles in your soft plastics i always get more bites with more noise and vibration. Good luck and keep at it i enjoy fishing at night because i catch way more hawgs and there is much less pressure and pleasure boaters to put up with