fishnkamp

OperationEagle My wife loves to fish her 4 Pflueger President reels, some are over 10 years old and one is less than 1 year old. They have handled many big smallies, largies, stripers and cats ( unintentional catches). One reason to spend more money is to fit a special purpose. My wife only fishes spinning gear. My arsenal includes several high quality spinning rods for finesse baits. It also includes 13 baitcasters for everything else. Some have 6.3-1 gear ratio reels and others run all the way up to 8-1, like the one on my frog rod. I just set her up with a Dobyns 7 foot heavy action spinning rod to handle frog fishing in heavy cover. That requires a more capable reel with a larger inches of line recovered per turn of the handle. This technique requires a fast line recovery in order to quickly retrieve a bait, missed by a fish, so the angler can quickly fire out another cast. My choice was a Pflueger Supreme in the 35 size. That reel has tougher gears and a line recovery of almost 34 inches. My 8-1 Daiwa Tatula Type R is rated the same. The Supreme reel will fit her needs and it cost $99. Not to expensive to match her $170 rod. That rod combo could handle a big heavy football jig fished deep, as well as that frog on top.

Just looking at your combos and your comments, I would probably look at these options. I fish a Solstace and like mine, but if yours is cranky then consider moving the Sahara over onto the Browning rod, the weight is about the same so the feel should stay the same. Now lets lighten up the Veritas combo. I would consider an Okuma RTX30 which is a great composite bodied high gear ratio reel. They can be purchased on line for around $80 on Amazon. It only weighs 6.6 ounces but is tough as nails. My other option would be a Pflueger President 6930. They run around $50. It too weighs less than your two current spinning reels and Presidents are great dependable reels. Here is what I see when I look at your baitcasting combos. Correct me if I am wrong. The Daiwa Tatula rod is rated at 1/4 to 1 ounce and 10 to 20 pound line. That should work bottom contact baits really well, like texas rigs and jigs. The 6'9 Veritas should be a bit stiffer and cover some of the same baits as the Tatula but should be better with heavier weights like the 3/4 to 1 ounce range. Abu rods run a bit on the heavier side in their actions. You should be able to throw some frogs with that rod. My first frog rod was a 7 foot MH Veritas rod. This rig will handle carolina rigs well also. Here is my thoughts on your next option. I would look at a Dobyns Fury rod. Gary builds a rod that fishes much more like a rod costing twice as much. I would get a Fury FR705cb. It is a very light, well balanced 7 foot MH cranking rod designed to fish crankbaits, spinnerbaits, traps, topwaters and even jerkbaits. This rod is designed to handle almost everything your other two rods are not good for. It runs $110 and is available from Tackle Warehouse and other locations. I would pair it up with a Daiwa Tatula CT 6.3-1 and if you email me at fishnkamp@comcast.net I will share with you a source to purchase it for $100 shipped to your house. I went a tad over your budget, between $10 to $30 depending on the spinning reel you choose. Still that is not bad and you could make the spinning reel upgrade a bit later when you could add that bit of extra cash. The difference in sensitivity and distance you will get from the 705CB and the Tatula CT will excite you. My friend Kris just sold off some Veritas, Lightning rod shocks and lightning rods and has been upgrading most of his arsenal to Dobyns Fury rods. He now owns a 705CB, a 765 Flip( a 7 1/2 foot long flipping stick), a 734C,an all around workhorse of a rod, and a 703 spinning rod. They all fish great, cast fantastic and he can not wait to use them in this new tournament season. My arsenal includes some Dobyns Champion series rods( a good bit more expensive series).

Here is a deal on a boat only but if you can find a used trailer might work out good. he only wants $450 for it. https://bn.craigslist.org/boa/6038945634.html

Check these out near you. https://springfieldil.craigslist.org/boa/6038075822.html They want $1500 https://springfieldil.craigslist.org/boa/6009854633.html https://stlouis.craigslist.org/boa/6009102504.html https://stlouis.craigslist.org/boa/5997601480.html Thes are all potentially good deals. They were all found in Craigslist Springfield Illinois and in the "nearby" listings just below them.

I really like the Cabelas AGM in group 30s I run 3 total, 2 for the 24 volt trolling motor and the other for the engine and accessories. If you have room a forth could easily be installed to support the extra needs of the talons ans electronics. Today's modern electronics are reliant on a steady 13 volt supply. it all depends on your boat's ability to store and balance with all those batteries.

I hope not. Since you said something about old Fast Strikes but never mentioned what this motor is I am assuming it is some type of carbed motor. You are going to have to get fresh fuel into those carbs. If he winterized it and ran something in the fuel to stabilize the fuel in the carbs, it might take a bit to replace that fuel. I have seen that before. Also if this is an old carbed engine I would try this. Unhook your fuel line coming from the fuel tank to the primer bulb. I would them run it from a portable gas can filled with new fuel, oil if not injected, and a can of Sea Foam. If you mix a part of a can of that it will tend to smoke but clean the system out. If you run a couple of gallons of that through the engine you know all the old fuel is gone

Take it out on the water and give it a run . Stay close enough to get back to the ramp though just in case. It may be just burning everything out from his winterizing.

Here are perhaps some better ideas. You did not say where you live but I just did a few minutes of poking around. Where do you live? This is a 14 foot wide bodied semi vee hull. These are usually pretty stabile and cut waves pretty good. they are designed to fish comfortably sitting down. This complete combo was being sold for $1700 with the 9.5 hp outboard. This boat says it has is 14 foot long and can sit four. It is probably a 1448 and is being sold for $1500 with the gas engine. These are just a few options

Lets start this thought process a little differently. Here are some questions to ask yourself. 1 What type of water am I going to fish? Is it electric only ponds and lakes? Maybe small creeks to mid sized slow running rivers. 2 Instead of this will I be fishing bigger gas lakes? 3 How often will there be 2 adults and a kid or 3 adults? 4 Ultimately will a trolling motor and 2 group 27 batteries be needed or will I need or want a small gas engine. 5. Can I tow with one of my vehicles or will this have to be a roof top boat? 6. What is my real honest budget, and can I spend some research time and find a good used boat/trailer /motor combo. Please answer these questions for yourself but also for us too. Slonezp, myself and many more of the members are happy to help you spend your money Actually we are most interested in seeing you spend your money wisely. Most of us have owned a bunch of boats and understand what will work best for your type of water. A good example is the used boat slonezp recently found for less than $1000. By the way that was a great find for sure. He has one bad*** Lund bass boat for the big waters. This is a great second boat to put around small bodies of water.

Take a look at this. This is a member I helped find a boat for him and his dad. Pete and I searched the internet for better than 2 months. He found this boat, paid $400 plus traded a few cameras and as he said "junk" the guy was looking for. LOL. Anyway he had some trailer bearing work done, replaced some batteries and added his dads old trolling motor. He stripped out the benches and seats. I made him aware that the benches the seats were attached to were a part of the structural integrity of this kind of boat, so he needed to put some type of framing back in. Here is what he did. And also repainted and sealed the boat up nicely. With a bit of work and some modest cabinetry work he ended up with this fishing machine. He aslo redid the entire trailer, sanded off any rust, knocked off the sheen on the paint and repainted it. This is like a 1970;s boat, but you will never tell it. I know he has less than $1200 total in it. I show you all of these to show you what is possible. This is the first boat Pete and his dad ever owned and he did this as a surprise for his dad so they could enjoy more fishing together. He recieved a ton of help from members here that shared their good and bad experiences. If you were interested in fishing local tournaments on big open water, a boat like this makes no sense. if you want to fish local ponds, small lakes or slow rivers and creeks than a boat like this can be exactly what you need. Even with a solidly supported floor this is not a stand up boat. It is a sit inside and fish boat. I can tell you from experience my wife and I have caught a ton of fish in three of our 11 boats very similar to this rig.

That is a classic look. I can just imagine a big pike eating that.

A shorter rod works best and a rod with a shorter handle helps too. My go to setup for these baits is an Okuma 6'6" rod I had a rod builder shorten the back area between the split grip. That is a spinning rod. It is perfect for finesse jerk baiting. Anytime the water is cold and you want to move the bait slower, and use light fluoro line, then spinning is the way to go. Once we get say 60 plus in water temps, like early spring, pre or post spawn, and again in early fall then I use a faster presentation and a baitcaster. I like my Abu Garcia Ike delay series 6'4" jerkbait rod. It was built with a shorter split grip handle in order to avoid hitting your arm when jerking the bait.

There are many of options depending on your budget. That reel is really a nice one. I fish a bunch of Daiwa Tatula Type Rs and Tatula CTs. My two 8-1 reels are used for flipping and pitching, and frogging. For under $100 look for a Berkely Lightning Shock rod. The 7 foot mh would do nicely. A Powell Diesel is a nice rod and it runs $60. An Abu Garcia Veritas will run you around $80. If your budget is around that $100 then the Irod Fiber is a good option. Maybe a 7'2 mh. If you can go a bit above $100 to say $150 then there are tons of good options. The Falcon Bucoo micro is a nice series, I own a 7 foot rod they call the Trap Caster. It can handle a lot of different baits. Dobyns makes the Fury series and a Fury FR 734C is about as universal as they make. It runs $110 also.

I am not a big fan of the BPS rods till you get much higher in money. Check you local Walmart for a Berkley Lightning Shock rod. There is a standard Lightning rod and a Lightning Shock rod. Walmart lists these rods for $39. There have been some stores clearing them out recently for as low as $10. Look for the 7'MH. These rods fish many of the baits you wish to throw. Also if you run across a 6'6" medium it handles cranks, traps, and spinner baits pretty well. I own a bunch of expensive rods but still fish two of the mediums when I chase big stripers. If they are still on sale try matching the rod up with a Bass Pro Qualifier for $49.

It was most likely misspelled. It should be a Landau. They made very nice boats. I have owned one Landau 12 foot jon boat I purchased new, and two used Landau bass boats over the years. All of them were from around 1985 to 95 boats. If someone took care of it they were made as well as any boat back in the day. I just looked at the ad. Most likely you will find the top deck may need replacing. Not to worry they are easy to replace the wood decks. Just unscrew it. Use it as a pattern or make a pattern with cardboard as I did prior to taking it off. I even made 1/2 of the front deck hinge for easier access to the storage. I cut a bit of foam out and mounted my batteries for the 24 volt trolling motor up under that deck. I really liked the hull they made. Yes my 3rd boat was that exact model and it did have a Merc 75 on it.

I have no idea what your you can afford. Only you can determine what your budget is. Also I get the idea that you really would love to have some 14 to 16 foot aluminum decked bass boat. However they cost too much used normally. Let me show you a few ideas similar to the deal. All you need to fish small lakes and ponds might be a jon boat, a trolling motor and 2 batteries. Here is one to consider https://fayetteville.craigslist.org/boa/6026741799.html That would be $1250 for the boat, trolling motor and trailer. I would not bother with a raised deck but you could add a low flat floor and some seats. https://florencesc.craigslist.org/boa/6018402728.html This one has a bad motor but looks like a good 14 foot boat and trailer. For a few hundred dollars you can add a trolling motor and batteries, or find a small hp used outboard. You would have to call and inspect it to make a fair offer. But I would call myself. https://eastnc.craigslist.org/boa/6026772087.html This looks really nice https://raleigh.craigslist.org/boa/6027802502.html I found many other boat only deals for less than $600 and you would need to add some pieces like a used trailer, motor or trolling motor and batteries. I believe your money would be much better spent this way.

My wife and I chase big smallies every other year when we vacation in Tennessee and Kentucky. Dale Hollow is her favorite body of water in the world. Many of the smallies we catch are over 4 pounds with a bunch in the 6 and 7 range. She only fishes with spinning gear, which can offer some challenges when finding the best rigs for heavier application like when we fish for big smallies, stripers and cats. Here are her best setups. First another shout out to Pflueger reels. She fishes mostly those in a 6930 and 6935 sizes. She fishes two G Loomis GL2 rods for finesse baits. One is a 6 foot light action rod, a SJR 721 and it covers baits weighing 1/16 to 5/16. Her next rod is a G Loomis GL2 6 foot medium action SJR 722. That covers 1/8 to 3/8 once baits. Both of these rods could easily be replace with a rod in the 6'6 to 6'9 range and today I would consider nothing less than one of these rods in the SJR IMX lineup. The IMX is a great rod blank. These rods cover really light baits like Ned Rigs, Sencos, tubes, grubs, and light texas rigged baits. Baits like Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers and Little Dippers fished on lightly weighted swim bait hooks. Research and add these to your smallie arsenal! Her next rod is a bargain rod. It is a Berkely Lightning Rod Shock rod. It is a 6'6" medium power medium action rod. It cost less than $50 and throws small top mid sized crankbaits, rattle traps, and spinnerbaits. All good smallie baits. Next is an Irod Genesis II IRG713S “Fred’s Power Finesse Rod H” This is a 7'1 heavy spinning rod. It handles baits from /16 to 7/16 and a little more. This is rated a s a Heavy Finesse rod. I read it a sa perfect rod for mid weight texas rigs and jigs. It is a light well balanced answer for the purpose. Irod makes a super rod all across the lineups. Her heavy rod is a Dopbyns Champion Sierra Series SA 705C. This is a workhorse. It is her 7 foot frog rod but could easily handle a heavy football jig fished on a deep ledge. I am not sure how many of these rod categories you have covered. Each one does a specific duty. I can recommend rods from all of these as well as Powell Rods since Linda or I fish with rods from each company. Most of the rods I mention would do a great job and fall in your budget. If you have any questions just ask.

I would not spend any money on them. You can walk into BPS and buy one in a rod and reel combo for only $27.00. The reels sell new for only $17, They are not worth anything. Save you money and get a better couple of reels. Take a look at the Tourney and Extreme reels. They are both on sale.

There is no Tatula 100 CT. CT stands for Compact Tatula. The 100 series is the bigger framed reel. Let us know how you like it, after you get some fishing time on it.

I used a drift chain when fishing in swift river current years ago. It was made up of 30 feet of rope and had a 3 foot piece of 3/8 chain wrapped in duct tape to quiet it down. I also had a 2 foot long piece of 1/2 inch chain and a carabiner clip to quickly add it on to slow the boat down as needed. They would be tossed up stream of the boat and allow us to fish as we slowly traveled down the rocky river. Because the chains were duct taped they never really got hung up much.

Take a good look at an Okuma RTX30 reel, it has a nice high gear ratio, is composite so super lite and holds plenty of line. Look at a Dobyns Fury FR 703SF, or Sierra SA693 SF. Another good option is a St Croix Avid X AXS68MXF. All of these rods will work well. I have 3 friends using at least one of each or these combos. I fish with one of these reels on my 6 foot IMX rod from G Loomis.

make sure you did not adjust the star drag all the way in the off position. try setting it in the middle of its adjustment. otherwise your line is slipping most likely

Where are you located?

It is interesting that Gary is still using Kigan guides on the micro Savvy series and does not mention what guides are on the Fury lineup. If he had that much trouble with those guides he would have dumped them before the warranty killed him. I can not think who it was, but he is not the only rod manufacturer that I remember seeing those guides on. I am willing to bet that it was an early design or bad batch you just happened to get on your rod. I know there was an issue with some rod seats so he changes manufacturer on that early on as well. With the mark up being as little as a rod has on, it he could not afford to use poor components and stake his reputation and business on them. Give Gary or his son Richard a call out there and see if there was an issue, I would not be surprised they helped you out with it.

A good line to start with is something like Berkley Trilene Big Game in say 10 pound test. You do not need to worry with line you would bomb long casts because the shorter rod will make short to medium lengths well but be difficult to make really long casts with. That is fine. I would stay with a bit heavier lures rather than really light plastics. So if you want to fish a plastic worm or crayfish imitation then use a 3/8 to 1/2 ounce worm weight or throw a 3/8 or larger jig with a trailer on it. Again something like a 3/8 spinnerbait with double willow leaf blades would be good. Even something like a 1/2 ounce rattle trap would work good.'These are all basic lures that work in the spring and summer. When you are ready to try a beter rod then a 6'6" Berkley Lightning Shock rod is a decent step up. I personally fish a bunch of $200+ rods but still fish two Lightning Shock rods for stripers. They work just about as well as my other two rods I am using f ro the same purpose, but they cast a bunch more. I also fish a bunch of Pflueger President reels. For those I like thin braid. I use Berkely FireLine in 24 pound test (equal to the diameter of 6 pound test mono. I would put some of your big game or other mono on the reel first then install your FireLine. I like to add a 4 foot mono or copoly leader.