fishballer06

I'll say this much. I have never and will never own any Savage Gear lures. However, I own probably 3 dozen+ Megabass lures, ranging from jerkbaits, crankbaits, poppers, and glide baits.

Both are solid reels. Honestly, if you can afford two reels, buy one of each. I'm sure you will be happy with both of them.

I like a 7'5" rod, but I do a lot of my tournament fishing as a co-angler so I prefer the shorter rod because I'm dealing with power poles, outboards, consoles, etc. in my way.

I have two (one casting, one spinning). My casting rod is the 7'2" MH Jig rod. It's a decent rod for the money and I'd put it on the heavier side of the MH spectrum. My spinning rod is the 7' M all around rod. It's exactly that, an all around spinning rod. I mainly use it for blade baits (silver buddy).

Dry rub or saucy?

I was surprised whenever my local F&S had a big display rack of them up. I looked at them and noticed lots of fancy designs on them similar to some high end JDM rods, but price points in the $100-200 range. Different strokes for different folks, but I'll be sticking with my tried and true brands for now.

The 705CB Champion is my do everything moving bait rod. I love that rod for all around purposes.

Perhaps because they're a pain if you use a leader...

I've heard of this game. I'll download it now and give it a shot. It's free from the PS store.

Size 4 does seem small. I'd go up to a 2 or 1. I'd also bump up the line size. I like to know I'm driving that hook home with a swimbait. A lot of times you're trying to drive those hooks into a bonier part of the mouth.

I don't own any yet but they've certainly got my attention. I love balsa baits and I love Rapala too. They have them at my local F&S in the 3/8oz size. I was shocked at how little that bait is and was 3/8oz. I might have to pick up two or three and give them a whirl.

I can almost always catch a crappie off them in the spring whenever we're targeting them, and the same seems to go for bass during the rest of the season.

Top 51 for Saturday Top 12 for Sunday

Since the new year, I think I've bought about the following: 20 Pre-Rap Warts 6 RC 1.5's 8 Siebert jigs 15 LC Flat CB DR's

We're just here to spread the love, Kyle! No hard feelings.

Not a good first day for me... Swindle - 31 Kennedy - 50 McClelland - 24 Poche - 60 C. Lane - 67 On a plus note, we've got 80 members in this! That's awesome guys.

Try to get a Dobyns Champion on sale. The 706CB, 736CB, or the 805/806CB should be up your alley.

I have the 7'2" Heavy model. That rod will do everything. I wish I could afford to buy a second one right now.

Both reels are awesome for casting. For lighter baits like a jerkbait, I'd go with the MGL. Since you seem to need two reels, I'd recommend buying one of each and seeing for yourself which you prefer for which baits.

I wouldn't pay any attention to what the rod is rated for. I've never seen any medium powered cranking rod that I would trust to throw a 3/4oz crankbait and I throw a lot of crankbaits. You're going to be overpowered and it's going to be a bear to throw it all day. You need to throw a MH for lures in that range. On my medium cranking rods I'm throwing baits like Shad Raps, Wiggle Warts, 1.5 squarebills, DT4/6, Baby 1- and the likewise. If you're talking 1/2-3/4oz cranks, you're up in DT10/14/16, DD22, 5XD and similar. Those baits just have way too much resistance to comfortably use a medium powered rod. Expride > LTB - Yes.

Reading your original post again, I would not be throwing a 3/4oz baits on a medium power cranking rod. A DT10 is 3/5oz and that bait alone is overkill for a medium power cranking rod. I personally own 2 of the Avid 7' Medium - fast action, and one LTB 7'1" Medium - fast action (I really love this style rod if you can't tell). I really can't tell much (if any) difference in sensitivity between the Avid and LTB and the weight difference is only 0.1oz according to my scale. I own a Heavy powered Avid and a medium powered Premier cranking rods. They're decent rods, but I really like the action and weight of the Dobyns Champion graphite cranking rods over my St. Croix rods.

I own both and the Expride wins, hands down. It's higher quality and more sensitive. However it's about $100 more. But since you want a cranking rod, there's no need to go dropping a bunch of coin. I have quite a few Avid cranking rods and they're nice, but I prefer my Dobyns Champions for my cranking needs. They're available in graphite and glass so you can use whichever material you prefer.

Or perhaps most state record catches aren't being reported to the IGFA?

A fourth vote for Seibert. You can't go wrong.