Lucky Craft Man

That's it and it is by far my favorite Lipless Crankbait.

Great service and fast shipping. Good company to order from.

I have held the 100Mg and was not a big fan, but I love (and own) the 50Mg and several of the 100MgFV. If you are doing any heavy cover fishing, I would greatly recommend the 100MgFV (I have this reel on my Carolina Rod, Frog Rod, Flipping Rod, and Weighted Plastics Rod). I have the 50Mg on my BCR803, which I use for smaller plastics and pitching into lighter cover or around docks. If you are going to fish a lot of lighter jigs or plastics, then the 50Mg would be perfect. I would think that your intentions for this rod you are going to build should be based upon what lures you hope to fish with it. That in turn would lead to what reel you should get.

I would only need two brands, Yo-Zuri and X-Caliber (though, after hearing so much about these Red Eye Shads, I may have to give one a try)

I would only need two brands, Lucky Craft and Megabass.

A casts worth of fishing line dragging a big old spook underwater? Mmmkay. : Yeah. It's not that it drags it under to where it sinks, but a walking bait like a spook when you walk it the line being under the water makes the lure pretty much dive under the water and usually stay there. On a pause obviously it'll float back up. It's hard to explain you just would have to try it. Nick hit the nail on the head. When I stopped twitching, the Zara Spook popped back up to the service. Sorry for the confusion there JFrancho and thanks for the cordial response.

I was fishing once with my jerkbait rod (that had Fluoro on it) and saw some fish busting the surface. Well, I thought I would put a Zara Spook on and have some nice topwater action. I cast it out and after about 3 twitches, I couldn't see my lure anymore. The sinking fluoro dragged it under the water. Therefore, the moral of the story is that I use only mono for topwater applications and fluoro and braid for everything else.

I use a Daiwa Sol with a 5.8:1 ratio (24 IPT).

Actually, the Fuego retrieves 28 IPT, so that particular reel is not that slow (the Curado 200E7, which is listed as a 7.0:1, also retrieves 28 IPT). I am not sure what the Advantage's IPT are, but as everyone else said above, a true 6.3:1 ratio reel (I am classifying this as a 24 to 27 IPT type reel) can be used for everything.

The set-up you mentioned will work, as I have used braid with a fluoro leader for both sahkyhead and wacky rigged worms. Though, I prefer to use just straight Fluoro for both of these techniques (I guess it is just a personal preference). For me, I was able to tell the subtle movements of the line when deadsticking a wacky rigged worm more with straight fluoro than with braid. As far as why I use straight fluoro for shakyheads I guess has to do more with my rod. I have ReCoil guides on my shakyhead rod and that braid really makes it hum. I still use a braid/fluoro leader for drop shots, which I feel has really increased my success with this technique.

I had the Viento for at least 4 years and had a Megaforce for a while. I had the Viento on every rod and thought it was a good reel, but I never found a technique that was really improved with the twiching bar. The Megaforce is a little faster reel and I found that if you rapidly press on the twiching bar, you could make a soft body frog walk the dog perfectly (the Viento was too slow in ratio for this). Unfortunately, the Megaforce is not as good of a reel as the Viento is. Therefore, if Daiwa made a high ratio reel at the same quality as the Viento, then you would have the perfect soft bodied frog reel, but as it stands now, the twitching bar is a novelty.

Hmm...I have heard several things on this topic. The most recent I heard was that indeed that Gobies are feeding on Smallmouth nests and fry, but the added nutrition the smallmouth receive from having a great protein source in the goby has allowed them to produce more and healthier eggs and more smallmouth are "strong" enough to spawn. Essentially, the ecosystem is balancing itself out. I don't know if this is true or not, but it sounds good to me. Also, people say that small smallmouth are not being caught. I can tell you this is wrong. I catch a lot of smaller fish (1 to 3 pound range) when I am out there. I wish every fish was a 5 pound plus, but this isn't the case.

I beat the winter cabin fever blues by fly fishing. From November until mid-April, I am on the streams with a fly rod either fishing for Steelhead (if the tributaries are flowing) or trout. Once I put my boat away in the fall, I polish off my waders and vest and am ready for six months of a new fishing season. Come April, I will put away my fly gear and shine up the boat. I love living in PA. The variety really keeps fishing from getting too stale.

I had this rod for a short time and will vouch for how good it is. The only reason I got rid of it was that I could not get used to the Split Grip, so I sold it. If you like split grips, this could also be a good option.

I've always been scared off by the 3/8th max rating - can it handle a 5" or 6" senko? It can handle 5" Senko's easily. I have never used a 6" version with it, but I suspect that the 6" might be pushing it. This rod has a pretty strong backbone, so I think the 3/8 oz rating is pretty conservative.

Here, in my opinion, is the ultimate Shaky Head, Drop Shot, and T-Rig senko rod on earth, the G Loomis GLX BSR852. This thing can do it all and do it all extremely well. If I can only take one spinning rod with me and I know I will be drop shot fishing, shakyhead fishing, and senko fishing, this is the rod I take.

I have two 5'6" baitcasting set-ups. One I like to use for casting spinnerbaits into what I call tight quarters and the other 5'6" baitcaster I use for casting plastics in tight quarters. I seem to be a lot more accurate with those shorter rods, which is why I like casting lures into tight spots with them. I don't use them that much, but they are fun to fish with. Every once-in-a-while I like to just take one of those set-ups and fish from shore hitting all the docks along the lake. An 18-incher Largemouth on one of those set-ups feels like a monster.

I have the Pflueger Supreme 8035 strapped to every one of those G Loomis Rods you are looking for, and they are hard combos to beat. You will like that Supreme (and Congratulations on the deal)

Spinning: Pflueger Baitcasting: Daiwa (unless we are talking the Core, then Shimano)

The only rod I have used out of what you are considering is the SMR882S. Nice rod and I use this for my lighter tubes, scroungers, and smaller jerkbaits. Pros for the rod: - Very strong backbone (have caught up to 9 pound steelhead with it) - Long Length (I like the 7'4" length) - Moderate-Fast in Action (I like having a moderate-fast action for treble hook lures like smaller jerkbaits) - Sensitive enough for what I use it for Cons for the rod: - Noticeably tip heavy (I had to solve this problem by counter weighing the butt section) - Moderate-Fast Action (Being this is a benefit for treble hook lures, it is not the most desired action for soft plastics and loads too much during the cast for lures over 1/2 oz.) - Not the most sensitive rod around (again, not a problem for what I use it for, but it won't excel with Shakyheads or Drop Shots) Overall, this isn't that bad of a rod, but it isn't my all-time favorite G Loomis. Good Luck in your search!

Will they allow you to trade in more than 1 reel against a discount of a new reel (e.g., 2 reels traded in would equal $40 off a reel priced between $100 - 119.99). Also, can you use the discount to purchase a fly reel?

The man above this post is who you want to talk with. He is the Master when it comes to reel repair and maintenance (has he has great reel servicing products as well).

WOW...Very nice collection. I will say, your modified GLX BCR893 with the Slant Bridge Handle (the one displayed on another thread) is the nicest rod I have ever laid my eyes one. Great Work on that whole collection.

My first G Loomis was the IMX MBR843. Very nice rod and should serve you well. If you look around, you can find a good deal on this rod.

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