fishnkamp

The experience that I related is my only experience with a new G Loomis rod. However, I own 6 of their rods, going all the way back to my first IM6 rod purchased back in 1980. All of my G loomis rods and the 4 my wife own were terrific. The rod that I am speaking about was a replacement rod. The original was a SJR 721 GL3, which broke by accident on my boat, not due to a defect. The truth is the truth, the old rods had a nice reel seat. The parts that held down the reel foot were all black aluminum or alloy of some sort I never had any reel loosen up while fishing before. In three weeks of fishing with the replacement rod I was sure the new plastic pieces would break if I continued to have to retighten it constantly. If you had the same experience that I did, maybe you would have questions about the quality of components they used too. I did make suggestions that the OP put a reel on the new rod before he spends his money. If he likes the way it feels good. I also suggested he look at the Dobyns Champion XP GLASS crankbait rods which feel amazing and yes also the Fury rod which is the only all graphite crankbait rod they make. I have fished with a friend of mine's and would have to say it felt much more like a $250 rod than a $100 rod. I also fish with two other Dobyns rods and really like them. I spent $75 dollars to remove the junk components off the new G Loomis rod and to have the new American Tackle comfort reel seat and a split set of Winn Grips installed. It would have probably cost more to have a full cork handle built like it originally had. That'is okay, I really like the Winn Grips. This is my first rod with them. If I were going to buy another rod that cost $250 then I would choose one that I felt came with quality components. Hate me all you want, but the OP asked about these rods. I related "MY EXPERIENCE " with them. I never said anything bad about the quality of the blank, in fact I love the sensitivity the blank provides. I attacked the quality of the components and I have a right to, since it cost me money to replace them. The first picture I posted was of my actual rod as it came from the factory. Picture number three is a picture of the rod as it is right now. If everyone else loves them great, but do not dismiss an actual concern to be aware of!!

I would try it. Most frog rods are pretty heavy with a good fast tip. Since you already have it try it out. If you have a reel with heavy braid swap it over and play with it before you go to the trouble and expense of setting a new reel up for that rod. I fish one Okuma spinning rod. They actually build a decent rod, and since this would not cost anything to test it out go for it.

I use a bunch of Original FireLine. I spool all of my spinning reels half full with 14 pound test Stren, then add 14 pound test Original FireLine fused line. The 14 pound test FireLine is the same size as 6 pound Stren mono, 009. To this I often attach a 4 foot leader made of P Line CXX in 10 pound test. To answer your question 30 pound test FireLine is .015 which is about the same size as 15 pound Stren Clear Blue. I do not find FireLine stiff once it gets used. I also never tried it on a baitcaster. My preferred line color in it is the bright green but the color you are talking about is smoke I believe. 20 pound test FireLine is the same size as 12 pound mono. I would try it I think you will like it. Just make sure you spool some mono on first so it has a nice smooth bed to wind on and the arbor knot will be tight and not slip. It also means that you save some money by needing to spool 1/2 as much. One 300 yard spool will easily fill several reels.

The blade baits work really well as do spoons too. That is a mostly vertical presentation. If you fish larger lakes with big dock structures often the bass will suspend around them since there is deep water there ( dep is relative, on the Potomac River marinas with 10 foot or more can be considered deep)

You did not see a difference in the seat and locking components? Can you tell the difference between cheap plastic and metal?" Here is the cheap ass plastic that kept loosening up in case you can not recognise cheap asa plastis!!!!! If you go look at the casting rod. the components look like this, the same type of cheap ass plastic. Sorry the fact is it used to be metal and of the 6 rods I own from G Loomis this was the only one to disappoint me. Since that is all they use now I hope I never break another one or I will probably have to replace the cheap components and that is a shame when we are talking about rods that cost between $200 and $300. For me that is a lot of money to spends and be disappointed! Here is a picture of the rebuilt rod using quality components. The rod is now enjoyable to fish with and the quality reel seat ensures my reel does not constantly loosen up. The addition of Winn Grips was a nice upgrade as well.

I would have paid for its replacement bu t would not have to have a custom rebuilder replace the CHEAP ass components. My original rod I loved and it had the reel seat with a metal hood for the front of the reel foot, and it haqd metal locking rings. This was the standard components that they used. The replacement rod and it looks like all of their rods have gone to CHEAP ASS plastic which regularly loosened up causing me to be sure it would break. Sorry if I offended thee, but I thought before he spent his hard earned cash that maybe he might be glad to look at the situation himself. For me I was disappointed with the level of quality delivered for the amount of money I had spent. That was never my opinion in the past. In the past I thought the rods they produced were well designed, well made and had very good components. For me and my personal income I felt they were expensive and worth every penny that I paid for them. My opinion has changes do to their choices not mine . I am not sure when Shimano bought them, I doubt that it was that long ago since my rod was not that old. Irrelevant the OP asked about a specific line of their rods and it is that exact line I was speaking about. Just my 2 cents from my personal experience.

The best place to learn about them is spend a couple of hours watching youtube videos. Pick a model and manufacturer and see what videos you can watch. You will see about how they can be setup, what each does and some video of it in use on the water.

I own a bunch of IM6, Gl2, GL3, and IMX G Loomis rods. Be careful since Shimano bought into them they have cheapened their rods up. I broke an IMX and paid to replace it. Pay attention to the reels seat, hood and locking ring assembly. Put a reel on any rod of theirs you want to purchase. The new rod came with components that kept backing off meaning the reel got loose. Finally I got ticked enough to give it to a buddy that does custom rods. We stripped their full cork handle, reel seat and all. We replaced it with a real comfortable reel seat from American Tackle and a set of split grips from Winn. I love the rod now, but should not have to do that to a brand new rod. It looks like the same type components are used across the lineup. As much as i love their rods I am looking a Dobyns and others in my future. Take a good look at Dobyns, maybe a glass rod in the Champion series or even the FR 705CB in the Fury series which is an amazing rod in the most affordable series they make. Most of the Fury rods fish more like rods costing double their price.

Joseph where do you live, just your town and state. Someone like DVT or my friend Tom can do the repair. Take a look at the following website. It belongs to my friend Tom. He has redone a ton of rods for friends of mine. For me he took a brand new G Loomis rod and removed the full cork handle, and the reel seat because the new rod used a cheap plastic reel seat, hood and locking ring setup. My spinning reel kept loosening up, and this was on a $250 brand new rod. We chose to use a super comfortable American Tackle reel seat and a pair of Winn Grips, so now it is a split grip.My reel stays tight, thee rod is lighter and feels terrific in my hand and best of all the Winn Grips are like golf club grips, they have a bit of tackyness that I really lke. You could choose these or get better quality eva put back on. If you are anywhere in the MD.VA. DE. PA. even NJ I can hook you up with him. If not I would be happy to help you find someone near you that does that kind of work. Here is his website and then I will post a couple of pictures of the rod I was speaking of. Also I will post a link to a youtube of Russ Lane changing out his grips to Winns. http://www.tomscustomrods.com/custom-rods-galley, http://www.tomscustomrods.com/winn-grips/ Take a look at all of his galleries I think you will get the idea what a custom rod builder can do. I have a friend Kris that a has fished a favorite rod for 25 plus years. Tom stripped all of the guides, seat grips and even the original paint off the rod blank. He totally redid it because Kris loved it but it had all kinds of chips along it from years of use. When Tom got done with t it looked like it was band new. Here are the pics of mine after Tom's fix. The first is obviously the way G Loomis now sells it with all plastic garbage. It used to be all metal hood and lock rings. The problem is G Loomis was bought out by Shimano and everything got made cheaper. I had to get this rod as it was a warranty replacement.

Here is my suggestion. Look very seriously at the Daiwa line. The original retail price of a Tatula is $150 The retail price of a Tatula Type R is $199. There is the new model called the Tatula CT and Tatula CT Type R. They run $130 and around $170. The R series is a tiny bit lighter spool and 1 bearing is upgraded. What is the result not much. You can easily find a Tatula in any gear ratio and both left and right hand retrieve for around $99 online. A Tatula CT, which is the newest version is a tiny bit lighter and a tiny bit smaller. I own a bunch of all of these reels. They are awesome reliable, well built, easy casting reels. I have around 20 baitcasters and have been replacing older models with these reels. They are workhorses. Right now across the board with all of the manufacturers the $100 to $200 price range is the best bang for your buck. In the Daiwa lineup there are lots of higher priced reels and they are terrific. If I had unlimited funds I would probably own some of them. Some offer less weight, higher priced bearings, lighter weight spools, a lot more bearings etc. Be careful with more being better. Some reels have handle knobs which have 4 bearings in them. Some offer knobs with 1 bushing and 1 bearing, all of which will not increase the distance you will cast by 1 inch. Maybe a professional angler will appreciate the difference in feel. I have been fishing for over 40 years. I do not want to fish with junk, nor a reel that will hinder my casting ability or my ability to fight and land a fish. I have come to believe most reels that retail below the $100 range are not worth it, when these $100 to $200 reels are available online.

Very effective and side scan units that are 7 inches and larger are worth their weight in gold. If you are looking for rocks scattered in grass, creeks and drops feeding into a body of water, side scan helped me earlier this year locate big post spawn females just arriving along long grass flats on Dale Hollow Lake. You would scan out 40 feet from your boat, see a pack of fish, drop a waypoint on them and turn back around till you slowly arrived with the trolling motor. Instead of fishing down a 1/2 mile long flat I could slowly motor down it and fish spots in that grass. There are so many times you can identify a piece of brush, maybe a man made fish attractor, some kind of a change, perhaps a rockpile anything that makes fish hang out . I will give you some important advice. If you go with a less expensive 2d unit that is fine. If you decide you want side imaging do not go smaller that the Lowrance Elite 7 Ti which runs around $800. In order for you to identify what is being displayed on the screen you need definition and requires a bigger screen. I owned two 5 inch units and the gps and 2d were fine the side imaging was useless. Think of what you would see if you had a picture of a golf ball sitting in a 40 on a 40 foot long driveway. The dot would be hard to identify. With a 7, 8. or even up to 9 inch display you have enough real estate to have definition. Just my two cents. I sold both of my 5 inch units and have replaced them with larger ones.

Take some time and read the HUGE amount of info on this forum under any bass raiders out there? Lots of guys use that type boat and have shown upgrades they have done. This board has tons of members and most any question you could come up with can be found already asked and answered. Since you have a trolling motor there you might want to avoid making holes and mount your transducer on the trolling motor.

I definitely would look at installing one. I would ask the manufacturer the best way to mount the transducer so I did no harm to the boat. Also ask where the best place to mount it also, so you can get a clean signal.. Your picture does not show if you are using a trolling motor up front or on the back.

Personally I would go for a Pflueger President for the same price

Forget the Shimanos, they have too many problems. Look very seriously at an Okuma RTX or a Pflueger. They will hold up fine. Okuna makes a nice spinning reel and the RTX has a higher gear ratio plus a really light weight on the FTX 30. If not gop Pflueger President 6930.

That is personal choice I fish with 25s.30s.35s. and a 40. I think the 30 is probably best overall. This also depends on which one balances the rod better and also what line you use. I have a system I use for all of my spinning reels. First I have a Berkley line station that allows me to have the bulk line spool kept under tension. I can easily wind the line on the reels spool smoothly and tightly. I always spool one half of the reel with 14 pound good quality mono like Berkley Trilene or Stren Clear Blue. I then fill it up with 14 pound test Berkley Original Fireline. That line has the same diameter of 6 pound mono. I like to use P Line Cxx 10 pound copolymer line for a 4 foot leader. That is my prefered method. That line lays nice on the reel, has almost no memory, and rarely causes line issues. For me I would get my rod and then try both reels to see which balances better. One nice thing about using the thin diameter braids is how much line a size 30 will hold.

Diawa Tatula CT Daiwa Tatula, Daiwa Tatula Type R

For my first rod I would suggest a spinning rod. The main reason is cost and versatility. A good baitcasting setup is okay but not as versatile overall. If I was going to buy just 1 rod to begin it would be a 6'6" to 7' medium spinning rod. This can throw unweighted or lightly weighted plastic worms, creature baits, spinnerbaits, small to mid size crankbaits ets. There are lots of rods that can throw each of those baits better but overall it will do the job. Look at a very reliable economical reel like a Pflueger President 6930. Fill it with some 8 pound mono or thin diameter braid like Berkley FireLine in 14 pound test ( same size as 6 pound mono). This reel costs around $60 from Dicks and other places Look at at rod like a Berkley Lightning Shock rod in 6'6 or 7' Medium with a rating of 1/8 to 3/4. This rod sells for $50 but often can be found for around $30 online Another rod option is a Quantum Escalade from Dicks Sporting Goods. It is available in a 6'6" IM8 rod. It is marked as a medium action rod lure weight of 18 to 11/4. It is not marked right as I have easily thrown baits up to 3/8 and 1/2. It normally sells for $100 but is available on sale for $50

Is that $100 budget for the rod only or the rod and reel? If you can go around $100 for the rod then I would add a Dobyns Fury FR703SF. Dobyns Fury rods fish more like a $200 rod instead of a rod that costs $110. If not either of my first options will cover your needs. Speaking of the needs that this rod fills consider this. With this rod you can easily throw an unweighted Senco, lightly weighted texas rigged worms,creature baits, shakey heads, even drop shots. If you have not thrown a Z Man TRD Ned rig introduce yourself to that little 2.5 inch bait and some 1/10 ounce mushroom head jigs called Shroomz. That little do nothing bait makes no sense but I caught numerous 6 and 7 pound smallies and largies this spring.

Have you thought of using a hand control trolling motor and the T&H Marine extension handle. I know that it is not the "popular" way. I fished on a guide's boat years ago and he fished Lake Erie often. His back was damaged in an accident so he changed over to it. Later I chose to go that way on my ProCraft when I ordered that boat new. I really liked it. Now some 23 years later I have had several; foot surgeries and I am about to switch over to one on my Lowe aluminum boat. The big advantage to the hand control is you keep both feet flat on the floor all of the time. I have a friend that installed a recessed foot pedal tray in his Triton and loves it. Take a look at his video on you tube Go Here" Mark did a really nice job. He also has a video on installing a Deck it mount over it and he even did one when he added led lights so he no longer uses a front bow light in the socket. This added to his ability to flip docks easier.

Your boat will run that lakes fine. Go get lake maps, learn where they launch from and go spend a week on each body of water. Heck I have had 11 boats including 1 2o foot 200 hp rocket. I am back to aluminum. I fish Dale Hollow, and Center Hill. Both are close to Chickamaugas size. You will find it helpful to have paper maps, electronic chips for your gps and I would use Angling Technologies website, as well as Navionics webapp to help learn the lake and make a plan to fish it. While you are learning the lake chop it up into sections and launch in that section each day. This will save gas and money running around. Then before tournament day lay out the route you need to follow creating waypoints to different spots. Use these so tournament day you can just run a route making it impossible to get lost or waste time. Most imporatnt have fun and good luck.

Find a local tackle shop and ask who they know builds and repairs rods. Most shops have a contact, oftentimes they work there. I hooked another member in Tennessee up with a shop near him and they charged him less than $20. So he was thrilled.

Tackle Warehouse offers the rod in two versions. In the standard version (regular guides) it is this model Falcon BuCoo 7' Med Hvy Medium Fast 12-20 1/4 to 3/4. It runs $109. If you go to Monster Fishing Tackle they are selling it for $99. They identify it as the Trap Caster Model BCC-5-17. Go here http://www.*.com/Falcon-Rods-Bucoo-p/falconrods-bucoo.htm Tackle Warehouse sells the same rod in the Micro Guide series. Look at the 7" Med Hvy med-fast 12-20 1/4 to 3/4. This is the rod I own. TW is selling it for $129

If you read my earlier reply I suggested two 7 foot Medium heavy moderate action rod. If you wanted to fish only small to mid sized cranks the medium moderate would be my choice. Check out the two rods I suggested, they fish the lures you want to fish. The BPSA Crankin stick are okay, but read their specs. There is not one exact rod that will work all of the lures you want to throw.

No, in my opinion even the new Mojo blank is not a better choice than the Dobyns. I really like the Avid X rods but the Mojo rods do not excite me. I think the Dobyns is nicer overall. The difference between a Dobyns Sierra verses a Max 3D is not much in feel or quality. They are essentially the same price. For the money I prefer the Dobyns a little more. I like the feel and balance a bit better. However I would consider either rod if I was about to plunk my money down. There is no bad choice here between them. I love the Fury series and I believe they fish much more like a $200 rod than a rod that costs $110. The Inferno is a nice rod, but it feels more like other $100 rods.