fishnkamp

Bunnielab please do not use braid as backing. Braid can slip on the arbor causing you to think you have a drag issue. Instead go buy a spool of 12 or 14 pound Stren Original mono, A 330 yard spool of it is just $8.00, It will tighten properly on the arbor and will not slip. It is quality line in case you ever hook a larger hard fighting fish like a big catfish. If you install the mono on thee reel under tension it will make a nice smooth bed for the braid or fluoro to go onto as well. Use a double uni knot to connect the two lines. If we get together I can help you set it up. We could do a little casting lessons also.

Give me an email at fishnkamp@comcast.net. That is my personal email. I will give you my cell number. We can work it out.

I go to a lot of lakes that have largies, Kentucky spots, smallies and walleye. I never change rods because of species. I have rods that perform certain tasks. The lures being thrown decide which rod is being used. For instance if I am throwing small to mid depth cranks, traps, square bills spinnerbaits. in other words baits that have either treble hooks or are reaction baits. I like a rod that has a bit softer tip so a moderate action tip is preferred. It protects the bait from being pulled out during the fight. If I am throwing bottom baits I prefer a rod that is a fast or extra fast ( depending on the manufacturer ) to get maximum power and sensitivity. There are some rods that fit both categories fairly well so if you are going to fish with one rod it makes it a good choice. St Croix Premiers are an example of those. Some of the BPS Tourneys and Extremes were like that. My Powell Max 6'8" is a great example of an all around stick.

Pilot you are correct. I have the Ike delay series 6'4" jerkbait rod. It works really nice. If you look closely at the entire line of Ike rods you will find 15 different rods. Some casting delay series, some regular casting and some spinning. I have never fished any of the others.

If you want a nicer rod, I have a perfectly good St Croix Premier 6' medium action rod for sale. The rod new sells for $140. I would sell it to you for $50. I also have a Bass Pro Shops Tourney Special that is almost mint, That rod is a 6'6" MH fast action rod. They sold for around $100. I would sell that for $25. I was taking them, along with a few others, to the Middle River Bass flea market in March. If either one meets your needs I would be happy to work out a meeting spot. Maybe somewhere like Kent Narrows or Denton. Or even Bass Pro in Baltimore, depending on your availability. I will bring along a few reels for you to play with to get an idea what you may want to match it up with.

First what is your budget? What do you want the rod to do? There are some other companies like G Loomis on the upper end and some Abu Garcia Veritas and Vendetta on the more moderate end of the spectrum.

Well I guess if you are interested I could look into shipping costs. Let me know a zip code. I would ship it in pvc no cardboard and it would be insured. They are $140 new. Mine is not new but I would be happy to send pictures.

The cheaper baitcasters run around $50. Some work better than others for a few more dollars the Diawa is well worth the little extra money. There is a post on here where one of our members found these rods on sale at Walmart for less than $10 on clearance.So I would check your local Wally World.

Let's start this way. You said you want to stay under one hundred dollars. So to start with look at a Daiwa Exceler reel. This reel sold for $99 just a few months ago now it is $70 from tackle Warehouse. They are very well made and easy to learn on. A couple of friends and I use them for bass, stripers, and even big snakeheads. For a rod look at a Berkley lightning shock rod. They run around $45. Some times you can find them on sale for $25. A nice 6'6" or 7' should work. The medium moderates work real nice for spinnerbaits, crankbaits, rattle traps etc. The mh ones are better for bottom bouncing baits like jigs but a medium moderate will work for an all around use. I personally fish two of the 6'6" medium moderates for rattle traps to catch stripers. There are other options but these paired will work well and it will be close to $120, just over your budget. I do not like to encourage people to buy gear that they will end up upgrading from.

I never suggest buying "beginner gear" If you like using it you still end up replacing it and upgrading. In today's economy a Diawa Exceler can be purchased for $69. That reel sold for $99 just several months ago. It is a great entry level but quality reel. If you can afford $150 then your options are endless. The $75 to $150 range is the most competitive price range and includes some really good reels. My favorite is the Tatula family. Take a very good at the Tatula, Tatula Type Rs,Tatula CTs and CT type Rs. For frogs a tatula CT in 7 or 8 to 1 reels. Online a CT or a Tatula can be had for around $100. A rod like a Dobyns Fury 735C is a great frog rod for around $110. That rod will be nice for flippng and pitching jigs as well. A combo like that will make it pretty easy to learn on. $400 reels are terrific but not really needed, "cheap" gear is just going to hurt your learning curve. Good Luck and enjoy

I just eyeball it myself. The simplest way would be to find a ball field, maybe at a school. Walk out the 832 and double it back. Then cut it in half. Probably easiest way would be to tie the 832 to a goal post or batter's cage. Walk it out, cut it and wind up one half bach onto the empty spool. Store that. Walk out the mono in a straight line. Maybe tie it to the same batting cage. Walk out till you get to the end of the 832. Cut the mono and tie the 832 to the mono using a double uni knot. If you have an empty toilet paper roll or spool from other line then wind up and save your mono. It can be used for leaders or backing on another reel. Now just wind up the 832 onto your reel making sure you do so with constant pressure as you walk forward. I have done that before. The same method can be used to unwind braid then respool it after tying onto the other end. Makes like brand new and saves money.

MT 523 Do you live anywhere around MD VA DE or PA? I have a ST Croix Premier 6 foot Medium 1/4 to 3/4 rod that I would sell. If you do live in one of those areas we could meet and let you cast it. I would sell it for $50. The rod is in very good shape.

No it is probably original. Optis have been around since 1997ish, I could have chosen one for my 1998 ProCraft. Look here also http://www.readingboatworks.com/pre-owned/aluminum Reading boat works has a good looking Alumacraft Pro 175

There is no motor title in PA. If you enlarge the photos the engine has the "Opti Max" label on the front of the Hood so I would believe the add that it is in deed an Opti rather than carbed! As for the price he is correct that the prices are holding pretty high for those boats in PA. Before you go tomorrow take a look at this at Lakeside Marine in Harrisburg PA. I know the owners at this dealership.If you decide to talk to them contact me and I will give my name to drop, I have sent quite a few friends up and she has always taken care of them. I have not seen this boat personally. http://www.lakesidemarinepa.com/index.php?view=inventory&viewid=816

Give Anglers Express a call and see if they have the Irod IRG745F and the Dobyns Fury FR735V in stock. Go put those two rods in your hand. They may even have the Powell MAx3D 736 CEF frog rod in stock. It is worth the trip if they do. Also if you travel to the store let me know I might be able to meet you and say hello.

Unfortunately it is easy to ask a rod to do to many things. The typical frog rod is a blend of real power or backbone and a fast tip that is light or soft enough to load up and throw a hollow bodied frog. The typical swimbait rod has to have lots of power on the backend but a much more moderate action top end. They are sorta like an 8 foot long oversized crankbait rod. I throw hollow bodied Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers three ways, unweighted, lightly weighted with a belly weighted swimbait hook or on a Picasso fish head style swimjig hook. The heaviest I throw is 1/2 ounce and that works well on a MH rod. This is much different than say a 4 ounce soft bodied Huddleston bait. Even a bait like a The Imakatsu Stealth Swimmer that weighs around 1 1/2 ounces is going to fish best on a more specific swimbait rod in my opinion. Swimbaits to me are like A rigs, they need their own tools to be proficient. If I were you I would call Irod and ask some questions, they are more than willing to talk fishing rods anytime. I have done it myself. That also goes for a Dobyns rod. I would consider their FR 735C Fury in their lineup, it suggests frogs,flipping,pitching and small swimbaits. Give them a call as well. They too welcome the chance to give true customer service.

If it is cheap enough but if it breaks you are done as far as warranty. Can it be fixed maybe? I would pass unless it feels real good and it is super cheap. With the price of a Diawa Exceler $69 and Tatulas available for less than $100 or so I would not spend much on an off brand reel especially if it is going off the market.

What baits do you want to throw with the rod? I own one Falcon rod.It is a Falcon Bucoo Micro series Trap Caster. It does exactly what it says it will do. I throw cranks both shallow and mid depth, all sorts of traps up to 3/4 ounces for bass and stripers. I have also thrown spinnerbaits up to 5/8 and I think it can do much more. The statement earlier that they run lighter than Abu is crazy since Abu's always run a step heavier than their rating. Go on the Falcon website, pick a series and read the description of the rod and its suggested use. They are correct. For example read the description of a Bucoo Micro Lizard Dragger. They will tell you exactly what that rod will do and it will. That rod has been well known as a great carolina rig rod as well as a great texas rigged plastics rod. As long as your bait fits in the 3/8 to 1 ounce range.

The Irods are sweet for the money.

The length is a personal preference between a 7 ft and the 7'3 rods. For jigs under 5/8 ounce I personally love my Powell MAX 683CEF. I bet my new Dobyns Champion 705 is going to handle big football jigs well though. I can not wait to find out soon. For me anything over 7 foot does not work since it won't fit in my rod locker.

It depends on your budget, but here are a few good choices. You did say a few hundred dollars. First look at an Irod Genesis II IRG754F Fred's Magic Stick. It was made specifically for those baits. It also does a ton more as well. If you have never touched an Irod you will like it. This is a rod that costs $150 Dobyns offers a couple of nice rods for under $180. First would be a Dobyns Fury FR 735C. This is a 7'3" rod that also can handle some flipping and small swimbaits. It cost $110. Next up would be a Sierra SA 735C and it runs $179. I can not fit rods over 7 foot in my rod locker so I resist purchasing bigger rods. I asked Gary Dobyns the best choice and he said his favorite frog rod would be a Champion XP series DC 735C. For me and my limitations he said the DC 705C was my best choice. Boy was he right. That rod is amazing for frogs and flipping heavier jigs! That rod runs $249. Another good rod to check out is the Powell Max3D 736CEF Frog rod. Powell also makes a nice rod for the price. It runs around $159 My Dobyns replaced an Abu Garcia original series Veritas Micro guide rod, 7 foot medium heavy. That rod like all Abu's run on the heavier side. The tip was quick and worked okay for hollow bodied frogs, but not nearly as nice as my Dobyns. I think Abu offers a 7'6" for like $79. It is probably similar to my Veritas.

Equipment like drift socks, your buckets for use as sea anchors,and for more shallow fishing you could consider a pair of shallow water anchor poles. I have the Lowe Stinger 170 which is a 17 1/2 foot long bass boat version. It sits higher out of the water than say some of my other aluminum bass boats I have owned prior. It rides better also. The higher ( by inches) hull does catch a bit more wind and current. It has been no problem river or lake fishing, tidal water is another situation. If I am fishing an area no big deal, if I want to sit and fish a dock, well that is a bit more challenging. My answer is a Dig In shallow water anchor pole and rear hull bracket, I am looking at a Venom Lures Dine Right anchor pole unit for my front trolling motor.

That looks like a nice boat and it should hold all of your camping gear before you unload and setup, even with a second person. Since you live in Kentucky ( it sound like you may more western KY) do you spend anytime on Dale Hollow Lake? I live in MD but vacation on that lake as well as Center Hill in TN. We usually stay at Hendricks Creek Resort over in KY.

Would a boat like this interest you? https://lexington.craigslist.org/boa/5978607898.html Here is another one https://lexington.craigslist.org/bod/5952364252.html Here is a much newer one. It's at the upper limit of your budget but it is a 2015. https://lexington.craigslist.org/bod/5952074446.html If a more traditional bass boat layout is what you may want take a look at this one. It is rare to even see a Ranger Cherokee come up for sale. https://louisville.craigslist.org/boa/5973612865.html

What part of the country do you live in?