bhoff

I just wanted to see what you guys thought about this concept that I dubbed the fishability of a rod. A little information. I picked up a Cashion 7' MH rod during the TW 4th of July sale and got out to fish it. First impressions, great sensitivity. However, after a while I began to notice that the rod was tip heavy, something that I personally do not enjoy in a rod whatsoever. I usually fish Dobyns Champions and have almost forgotten that rod balance was a problem for other brands. As a comparison the Cashion was as sensitive if not more so than the Champion at $70 less, but I found myself reaching for the Dobyns every time. Not sure if you guys also feel this way but I would rather fish a rod that is all around strong than fish a rod that is exceptionally strong in one field but lacking in others.

I would say try and buy used if you're looking to get a good bang for your buck. However, if you would prefer to buy new I would suggest a Shimano Casitas, Lews Speed Spool LFS or an Abu Garcia Revo X. Although, any top reel manufacturer should be fairly competitive at similar price points. The aforementioned reels are just some that get a lot of praise on the forums.

As long as you buy decent quality equipment there really shouldn't be a need to upgrade anything down the road. Personally I have never upgraded any of my reels but when you're spending a good chunk of change on something I feel as if you shouldn't need to. If you make it into a hobby then that is a different story but just for general application I don't think it is exceedingly necessary/common.

Some type of a top water or high vibration transmitting underwater bait. If you're going to be using soft plastics my inclination would be to use a darker color.

I use a Dobyns Champion 735c so a 7'3" 5 power. Basically a softer tip heavy action rod.

I'm pretty sure the black max has a drilled spool. Personally on my older style Daiwa Zillion I just tied the braid through the drilled spool and haven't had any problems. For reels that don't have the same spool type I usually just use a bit of electrical tape.

I fish alone probably 99% of the time. My friends really aren't interesting in the sport and I'd rather not drag someone out who is not going to have fun. I try and get some of my family to head out with me from time to time but that hardly ever works. I don't mind it though, I usually use fishing as relaxation after working all day.

Afternoon simply because of work.

I appreciate all the feedback guys. I'm sure I'll get sorted out now.

To me a MH rod would probably be more of the first outlined rod. IMO a MH rod is good for a 3/8 jig with a trailer and maybe 1/2 oz but that would be beginning to overload the blank.

Guys I need some suggestions for a good pair of fishing scissors. Tired of having to run my braided line over my scissor blade because of how dull they are. I want something that is able to consistently slice braided line on the first try. Thanks.

If the rod is rated for the lure weight then it should be fine. St.Croix rods are a little heavier than their ratings suggest imo as well.

I just got a Cashion in my hands last night from the TW 4th sale and I'm impressed. First the good. The cashion has a very sensitive blank, especially for the price. I have been fishing with only Dobyns champions for a number of years now and the Cashion was more sensitive at $70 less. The bad. The Cashion is not nearly as balanced as the Dobyns which I quickly noticed. It's not horrible but I think I have been spoiled by fishing Dobyns for a while now in that respect. There aren't many reviews on Cashion rods but at least from what I have seen most of them on the forums here are not in favor of them. Granted this is my first rod from them but I have to disagree. It's very good for the price from what I can tell. If you're looking for pure sensitivity, the Cashion rivals rods much more expensive than it. If you're looking for less strain while fishing, the Dobyns is the way to go. I also can't really comment on durability but the Dobyns have held up well for me.

For a 100% certain answer you could email dobyns and ask if there is a difference between the two blanks. Which I'm sure there is. From that you would at least know the blank is of a higher quality on the sierra, although that doesn't always lead to a better feel.

Look for areas that may be different from the normal, in really any way. That would be my first guess. As far as the bait sliding down your hook you may want to try another brand of hook completely. There is not a whole lot that can be done about that imo.

They're all out trying it for themselves!

Anyone have any experience with these frogs (Slither K, Buster K)? I've been eyeing them for a while but the price is a bit on the high side. I guess I'm basically wondering if they are worth the $20 a pop.

Yea I've got all sorts of names for things the next one I can think of is a mud monkey but we don't need to get into that hahahahaha

Any of you guys land any swamp donkeys lately? Was throwing a KVD Caffeine Shad last night and managed to lay into this fish. Had a strange hump on its back but still she still pulled alright. If I had to guess it was around 5.5LB.

If you are fishing from a boat it is much easier to maneuver around the area in which the bait is snagged for the most part to retrieve it. However, if you are fishing from the bank then this can become quite difficult. Most of the time if I think that my bait is either snagged on a log or caught in a tree (woops!) I just end up trying to pull. Depending on the lb test of the line you can have moderate success. Last night though I was throwing a jig on 50lb PP and got it stuck on a branch . Proceeded to pull knowing the bait would come out with the high strength line and ended up launching the bait into my arm. Thank god it didn't turn over and get me with the hook because that would have gone in DEEP. Still have a nice welt to show for it though haha.

Would say that determination/persistence is a very key trait to have when bass fishing. If everyone was to quit the first time they come back empty-handed, there wouldn't be a forum like this. Stick to it and figure them out, it will feel all the better once you set the hook.

Yea next thing you know you're hauling out a fully equipped ranger boat, a fathead of KVD and called your favorite lure company for a spot on the pro staff.

Trimming the jig skirt will do a few things. One it will make the presentation of the bait looks smaller and secondly it will make the skirt flair a bit more when being worked. It's something I tend to do when I feel I need something a little more finesse-like. As far as the weed guard goes, I pretty much always trim it to the point that the strands reach a tad past the tip of the hook point when bent. I really don't feel I need much more than that unless you are really in some heavy cover.

You have to look at the braid equivalent diameter for non-superlines. 50LB braid has the same line diameter as 12LB mono, 30LB braid is the same diameter as 10LB mono. So keeping up with that, 10LB braid might have the same diameter as 6LB line or so. With that given the fact that braid has zero stretch, even a backlash with a seemingly light lure could cause breakage. People usually stick to around 30-40LB braid when throwing it on baitcasters for general applications and 50+ LB test for heavier applications such as frogging. I would recommend a brand like PowerPro, because it just works.

In the past I have really only used fluoro on my bottom contact stuff but switched to braid this summer to give it a try. I am throwing everything without a leader so it's straight braid to bait in most applications. I hear often that braid can get less bites in pressured waters, but how many fewer are we talking you think? You think braid could really scare away a good amount of fish that would bite on mono or fluoro? Just curious because if there really is a significant difference I might have to switch back...