FishTank

It is. It's the 700C Ultra Finesse. I really like this rod but I may change my mind and put the Conquest on something else. I broke the tip last year and was able to repair it but its not exactly the same. Not the rods fault. I had it in a rod holder on my kayak when I got hung up in a tree. I pulled on it, the bait came flying back and decapitated the tip. I've caught around 150+ fish on this rod since I bought it last year. I'm not ready to replace it just yet. I have a Aldebaran BFS on the Siglett I just got. So far, it's been a blast to fish. I might switch these reels around in the future.

Santa (FedEx International) delivered today. I took it out for about an hour and threw one the more difficult casting lures in my box, a Shimano Macbeth Tiny. It would cast this 1/8oz bait about 75 feet easily and smoothly. It's as smooth as any other Calcutta and is a true work of art. I do like it better than the previous version but it does have a few things that take getting use to.... One, the thumb bar is odd. It sort of feels soft. Second, the drag is slow to start up. I missed a few fish until I figured it out. Lastly, it's very similar to the Aldebaran. Overall, an amazing reel but I need more time with it. Also, it pitches and side arm casts amazingly well.

Tried it and it didn't work for me. I am a premium member as well.

Try tightening the ZERO ADJUSTER just a small amount. I found that on a little goes a long way. Also, jerkbaits can be strange to cast, at least for me. If I am bomb casting one, it tends to go all over the place, even jerkbaits with casting transfer weights. This can cause some fluffing at the end of the cast.

Santa treated her to some jewelry for Mothers Day and our Anniversary so she's trying to be as nice to me as she can. She bought the rod but I pointed her in the right direction. I gave her a list for the odds and ends. This is the first rod she's ever bought me. The rod shipped was $250. Probably one the better deals I have found. I bought the reel. It too was a good deal. So good, it kind of worries me that it might have an issue or something. We will see. It's coming on the slow boat from Japan.

I did the same. I bought a few in the 3in and 4in. The 4in seemed to have more bulk/width and made the bait slow down a little more on the fall, even when trimmed. The 3in has worked ok as a Ned bait and on a free rig.

One my favorites as well. I cut about a fourth of it off and it works great with this jig.

I knew these things were pricey but wow. $175. Am I seeing that right. If I'm in the Gucci club, you must be buying Louis Vuitton. ? ?

Even though I like Seaguar FCs, I would not use Red Label on spinning gear. In fact, it would probably be my last choice. 6 or 8lb Invizx would work just fine. I currently have braid with leader, FC, and mono on my spinning gear. Each has their own purpose.

She does and trust me, you don't want to go there. Her last date ended with the waiter quitting his job. She also goes to bed at 7pm, has pj's on around 5, and would read a book about the best place in the world rather than go there.

Yes sir. They are similar to the Megabass Humpback but have better hooks and a little more action. I have caught bass, bluegill, crapie, catfish, walleye, trout and pretty much everything else on these two baits.

My wife set me up early for Father's day. A new Calcutta BFS is on the way as well. The Bassday lures are amazing. It has become one of my favorites.

I have seen it on other lines but not Smackdown. I have also done this by not wetting the line when I cinch a knot.

I have used both and both catch fish but go to confidence bait is the original Roboworm 6in in Morning Dawn.

In the cheap bait category, there are only a few baits for me that consistently catch fish. The Strike King crankbaits and the Manns 1-minus, if it still exists. The stock hooks are pretty bad on these so I change them out for Owners. Other than that, they catch fish. I have come across one I consider to be the worst bait I have bought or received. It's a Googan Squad Micro Banger. Out the box no matter how slow or fast I retrieve it, it goes 10 feet to my right and starts to roll over. I tried tuning one of them and it did nothing. I got one as an early Father's day gift and bought some more since it looked good. I tested the 5 I had and they all did the same thing. I tossed them in the trash. I am 0 for ♾️ on Googan baits.

I have been using it on BFS gear with 6lb FC leader to #1.0 PE and it has held up pretty well. I do retie almost every other trip now. It's brought in some big ones like the one below.

How about the carrot knot? I have been using it this year and so far, so good. https://youtu.be/HEgHWuKlGa4

No clue. I would think the opposite would happen. My fishing buddy thinks I out cast him and catch more fish because my reels are newer, even though I upgraded most of his old Curados with new spool bearings and serviced them. He is set in his ways so to prove a point, I swapped reels with him, a Shimano Core 101MG, for one of his Curados. I put my Core on his 783C GL2 and his Curado on my GLX 783C. We both used the same Texas rigged senko with a 1/8oz bullet weight. His reel had 12lb mono and my reel 12lb FC. I could out cast him with GLX and the Curado every time. We then swapped set ups and he could out cast me. The GL2 rod in question just doesn't load correctly anymore. I have no explanation for it. With his Curado on the GL2 and all the effort he has, he might get 40' at the most. With same senko and 1/8oz weight, I can easily get double that with the Curado and the GLX. The sad thing is, at the end of the day his shoulder is toast from using these rods. I can watch him load his arm instead of the rod all day long because of how stiff the blank is. This is the reason I bring the extra St. Croix Avid spinning rod. Once his shoulder is done, he'll start using it.

When I bought my first GLX (783c), I thought nothing could be better and then I got an NRX. After I recovered from the throat punch my wife gave me, I started down a rabbit hole and moved into the dog house. Been there ever since. As far as the old rods I have goes, I like my old GLX rods better than the new GLX's. The one GLX I didn't care for was their crankbait series. They were too sensitive and not enough bend to pin fish the way I like. There new IMX Pro rods are better IMHO.

I will be fishing with my buddy this weekend. I will take some side by side pics of his rods. Maybe it's the way he stores them but his rods have definitely seen better days. I think to me it's the frustration of him missing fish. I can hand him a 20 year old Avid spinning rod and he turns into KVD.

My sort of second hand experience with the GL2 and GL3 line has not been the best. My usual fishing buddy has a collection of these. I have fished most of them by just having them around me on his boat. To me they were a mistake by Loomis as they feel nothing like their IMX, GLX, or Bronzeback rods of the same era. I also believe the St. Croix Avid was a far better rod. Over the years the rod blanks have stiffened, the cork is falling out, the rod guides on a few are either gone or cracked. They didn't have much sensitivity to begin with. Now, they have none. He also misses fish constantly. They also do not load correctly, making casting accuracy and distance an issue. My IMX and GLX rods from the same time frame look and feel like they did when I bought them 15-20 years ago. I asked a Loomis rep about his issues with these rods and all he said was.... They are an embarrassment to the Loomis name. Please send them in for warranty. Pretty much any rod around the $200 range would be better but as others have stated the St. Croix Mojo would be a good choice. It will come pretty close to the look and feel of the GL3.

I was kind of underwhelmed with the Ned Rig when it started to become mainstream. Then I had a day when I couldn't get a bite, all except for the Ned Rig. After that, I was convinced it was going into my rotation of baits but more towards the bottom. Next I thought, I need a specific rod for this and dropshot so I picked up a NRX+ NRR. Finally, I discovered these two baits and my trip to the dark side was complete.

I missed the part about the budget.... So another suggestion is the Megabass P5 Super Destroyer. You can use it all sorts of things. Lures from 3/8 to 1.25 oz are not problem for this rod. You can find at a few JDM sites for the price you are looking for. If you want to go cheaper, there is a new Orochi line out called the X10. The rod you might look at is called the Bandersnatch. I know nothing about this new line but the price seems pretty good for a mid tear Megabass rod. They claim it can be used for jigs, texas rigged plastic, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits.

I have 16lb Sunline BMS Sniper on a Daiwa Zillion and on a Shimano Metanium. Both have worked great with this line. If you are going with a different brand of FC in 17lb, it would probably do just fine. Out of the two, the Metanium I use as my main jig reel handles it the best but the Zillion, to me, is more versatile. I also have 20lb Sunline Defier Armilo on a Zillion HD, which is a little stiffer than some mono lines, and it handles it well.

G. Loomis 895 NRX+ with a Diawa Zillion HD. It's rated 3/8oz to 1oz but it can handle a lot more. It's really a beast. It probably more rod than I need but I use it for 3/4oz jigs and up. I have also used it for punching a 1oz weight with a beaver.