Angry John

I like the handle design and trimmed reEl seat on the dobyns rods. The action is a little more moderate than I like and the reason most people that like them fish braid imo. The avid is where it all started for me with Croix and I am still a fan of that line. The handles on the ltb series do nothing for me at all so it's the avid or elite for me. I fish there avid 74hf for frogs heavy swim jigs and swim baits up to 2 Oz and it's one heck of a rod. The casting models I like the regular series and spinning I like the avidx. Seems great to have two options on the same group of rods. I got my son the 68mxf spinning rod for Christmas and I use it a lot myself.

I can appreciate the minimalist approach, and trying to get there but failing miserably. From shore or in a yak staying small is the way to go. Not enough soft plastic there like bring on the classic worm

Any reason to not try the daiwa tatula rods. Been hearing great things. Also the megabits xx rods are on closeout and can be had at around 200. Might be worth checking. I totally get running one series of rods I am making the shift to all st croix. There rods just do it for me, and made in America.

I am in love with the owner st 41. It's 2x stong and with the cutting points the even look at the hook and there stuck. The owner hook covers also work well when storing and transporting the bait.

So if you want to target big fish why not look at a bigger fish bait lie a 7 ot 9 inch slammer, 316 wake bait for night action or an swaiver. A bbz rat is also a great bait that's cheap and produces nice fish. The 40 is a good all around size and a 50 will target the larger girls.

50 or 65 lb braid and use leaders for what you need. Wakes use mono sb use copolymer or flouo and flipping strait braid

Dobyns 3 power rods are a medium imo. Most guys like the 4 power rods a lot for general purpose. If you can fish a Dobyns 3 and 4 power before you commit. I use my 743 dx rods with open hooks and never with a jig hook.

I don't like xfast for treble baits. My avid66mf works well and a "medium fast" would be the best. Don't see many medium fast rods but the jdm regular taper I feel is very close. Guess that's why a lot of guys like the megabas sticks. The phoenix x10 is supposed to be a great rod for jerks but I have never fished a composite rod other than an ugly stick. All that to say xfast is not first choice for jerkbaits.

I listed myself as weak on the Carolina rig, I never used it and now I am trying to learn it. Still not catching on it but trying at least. This is part of my trying to learn deep which I am also still trying to figure out. I did pick up the blade bait and caught some on that so my third area of focus has seen improvement. So I think I will continue to to work on these areas.

Whats your favorite rod for $100. :0

The reel thing does have a good answer and TW is the solution. They let you test drive reels for like a week and then send them back. Only program of the kind that i know of. I dont believe there is a rod program like that anywhere, might be due to breakage or damage that can go unseen.

I tend to very much agree with this idea, now in practice where do you go to hold any or all of these rods. When dealing in high end gear it gets really hard to touch the product before you buy. Would it not be amazing to live around the block from tackle warehouse

I like old topics that come back up, and if you quote a certain section to help with your question all the better. Some things change over time like a 100 dollar rod will change every year so those will be of little use.

I have the 68 gears from the pixy in my sol and i also run a 7.2. The parts can be ordered from plat and they have really good prices. I shop there all the time and they have other things i order like cork knobs a lot cheaper than other places. I think i corks for daiwa are like 16 bucks there and if added to another order there is no additional shipping. You can also get the aluminum gears from the ITO if your heart desires to make the reel liter. http://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/optionparts/language/en/manufacturers/1/siries/7/ http://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/default/language/en/cPath/2174_2652_3315/optional-parts/daiwa-slp-works/handle-knob-s.html If i remember correctly you also want to swap the line guide worm gear to speed it up so you get a better wrap. It is also liter

Well come to the dark dark dark side. Give it time you'll get bit soon enough

Took a half day from work and headed out to orgil pond at the golf course north of the navy base. Seems like a lot of other people had the same idea as i did. I got two bites landed one on a keitech/owner flashy swimmer and got a second bite on a f5 rapala shadrap. The fish came off the crank but felt like a two poundish fish and it left the water and spit my lure in my general direction about 15 feet from the yak. No one on the bank or in the boats was catching anything for most of my trip and one bream guy got dialed in for an hour and landed like 6. Hoping the storm front would activate them but still to cool i guess.

I fully agree that if the OP wants to use the larger sized SB a SB stick would be the much better choice. The open ended question with no budget, or size of lures makes these questions almost impossible to answer. If there was no budget constraint then he could just grab a megabass power versatile and throw everything including the frog. One has to assume that budget is the primary concern and the cheaper the better.

How you like it for frogs???? This drove me away from classic SB rods. Otherwise i would have gone that route... Always the odball. Which size trout and which size duck. The larger of both will not make a good frog rod. Both the smaller baits will go good on a frog rod.

St Croix avidx 74hf works well on baits up to 2oz for me and frogs.

I have #3 but I got the n version because it was for my yak and when I get a boat I plan to move it to the console and get a 10 or 12 for the front. I love the glass face soooo much easier to clean.

The switch should be done at a location along the run unique to the tm. Easiest is usually at the plug on the bow. If you just have a splice no plug you would do it there.

Thats how i would run it, supposed to provide the most power and less twist that way http://rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,215932

The spine can go on either side. Some would argue that building on the straightest axis would be the best way. I would put the spine on the top opposite the guides and reel.

Oh yes... I run this and its worth every dollar in the heat of the summer and the HIT technology prevents inflation in the rain, which could get expensive. My only accidental inflate was with the help of my 8 year old that wanted to see what the yellow tab did.

See what ya started no running now.