CybrSlydr

I'm currently at Burr Oak trying it out. 1/2oz blade bait just BOMBS. Water is opaque though.

I just picked up the 2.5" shad version and am anxious to see how it works!

I'll be honest, this is my first "rod overview" (not a review since I've not used it yet) so I'm not really sure what to write or show pics of so bear with me. Also, the sharp-eyed of you might noticed the rod in the title is not the one I was going to get. The story follows... So, I'd decided it was time for me to get a rod that could better sling light lures such as 1/8 Rapala cranks, weightless Senkos, Ned Rig jigs, etc. After some discussion on here, the rod in my budget I decided to get was a Dobyn's Sierra SA 702SF - a 7ft Medium/Light rod with a Fast tip with a lure weight range of 1/8-1/2oz. Today is my payday, so I was ready to go out and buy one! Only problem is I know that nobody around here would carry it - so I knew a trip to Columbus was in order. That's fine - I needed a new Wifi adapter anyway (this one BSOD's all the d**n time and drives me up a wall). Looking at Columbus, we saw that near MicroCenter was a place called Mad River Outfitters. And on the way in Hebron is Vance Outdoors. Perfect! Stop off at Vance and see if they have it, if not, we'll hit up Mad River after MicroCenter. So we hit up Vance Outdoors in Hebron and I must say, I came away impressed. I didn't think there'd be much there, but it looked like a Cabela's in there! They had a TON of fishing stuff too - entire corner of the store devoted to the stuff. St. Croix, G.Loomis E6X, Daiwa, reels, lures, baits, plastics... It was awesome. However, they didn't have any Dobyn's rods. My brother decided to get a couple packs of weighted swimbait hooks and some snaps and we were on our way to MicroCenter. We stopped off at Chipotle for lunch because we love Chipotle - it also happens to be in the same shopping center as MicroCenter and Mad River Outfitters! After we ate, we headed over to MicroCenter. I absolutely adore MicroCenter. As an avid computer nerd, it's like crack going in that place. So many things I want to buy... lol I got my WiFi adapter and my brother picked up a mouse. Now it's time to check out Mad River! I'll be honest, if I'd thought about it before we went there, we'd have not gone. The Mad River in Ohio is known for it's trout fishing. So when we go in, we see there's a lot of apparel and in the back are fly rods and centerpins. Nothing for bass or otherwise. Darn. So sitting in the parking lot of MicroCenter, I'm looking on my phone to see where else in Columbus we might be able to find what I'm looking for. I find there's a Gander Mountain over in Hilliard. So I tell my brother we'll check that out and see. Thankfully, this Gander Mountain isn't one of the Firearm-focused ones so they have a quite healthy selection of fishing rods and gear - but no Dobyn's. At this point, I'm ready to give up. We've literally been all over Columbus to find this darn rod and nobody has it. To give you an idea why, we live 2 hours from Columbus. By now it's after 3:00pm after we left around noon and with another 2hr trip ahead of us, we're thinking it's time to go. Finally, I get a brainwave - something I should have done from the start. I go to Dobyn's website and look for authorized dealers in the Columbus area. Bingo - apparently there's now a Cabela's up in Polaris! Great! Only problem is it's after 4:00pm on a Friday in downtown/suburbia Columbus. Those that have lived there or tried to drive I70/71, I670, I270, 315 know how much of an absolute snarl-crawl it an be. So, I convince my brother to give it a go - and as thanks I'll buy him some Dairy Queen on the way home in Duncan Falls. lol So we finally get to Cabela's and bee-line for the fishing section. We both see TONS of rods - GREAT! So we start looking. Unfortunately, there seems to be absolutely no rhyme or reason as to where anything is. The brands are intermixed in the stands and they aren't labeled well. ****. After about 10min of looking, I've got a bad feeling that they don't have any. Suddenly, out of the bunch of other rods, I spot a Dobyn's sticker!!! BINGO!!! I FINALLY found the Dobyn's mixed in with some Abu and Quantum rods. I start to look through them and my heart sinks again - they don't have any of the 7' 1/8-1/2oz rods I wanted. So I asked the fishing guy and he says what they have is right there - and to top it off, these are new and he's never really heard of Dobyn's. So he looks with me and we both come up empty. ****. The closest they have is a 6'9" 1/8-1/2oz rod. It's only 3" shorter than the one I wanted and its $159.99. The Cabela's guy tells me that since they didn't have the one I wanted in stock, he'll give me $10 off the 6'9" rod. Figuring that I've come this far to go home empty-handed, I accept the offer and he writes up a tag on the rod to change the price to $149.99. I also ask him if they have any of those SPRO 2.5" jointed shad swimbaits (been looking for one for ages) and he hits a home-run - they have multiples in different colors!!! Best part is they're cheaper than I find them online too!r4 So my brother grabbed one of those Southern Ohio lake/river guide books and a couple other crankbaits and we check out and beign the journey home. So after leaving around 12:00 we arrived home around 8:00pm victors! So now, on to my very limited overview of the rod! --------------------------- Dobyn's website for this rod, the Sierra SA692 SF, claims this rod is great for Dartheads / Dropshot Rigs / Shaky Heads / Tubes & Gitzits. So much so, they put it on the rod its-self. The rod has a very nice feel to it - it's extremely light! Though take my description with a grain of salt - the only rods I've ever held were my Blackout 6'6" MH and my brother's Pfleuger combo rod (says it's an IM-8 blank rod). I have no way of measuring how much it weighs and Dobyn's website doesn't give a weight. I purchased an Okuma Inspira ISX-30B reel to go with it off of Amazon - a $90 reel that they had for $44! It being in black/blue (my favorite color combo) I couldn't pass it up. The reel will be here on Tuesday. According to Okuma's website, the reel weighs around 7.4oz. Even with the rod, I have a feeling this new combo will be ridiculously light to what I'm used to - my current reel (Penn Battle II 4000) weighs over 12oz! let alone adding the rod. The split handle is nicely done and a good distance apart for me. The only oddity is they seem to have put the hook keeper inbetween the reel seat and the butt. I'm not sure if I really like that - seems like a good place to get unwary fingers snagged in some sharp treble hooks! The tip looks quite nice, with all the guides wrapped very nicely. The entire length of the rod feels smooth - it's also very thin! The only real tag advertising it came with was a tag on one of the guides displaying they are Alconite ringed and are "Tangle Free" K-guides. Using my index finger on my right hand, the rod balances perfectly with my finger under the "a" in "Sierra". It also posesses a Fuji reel seat. The screw-down portion is plastic as is the screw its-self. The rest of the reel seat is in the top portion of the handle. -------------- So, to my uneducated/neophyte eyes, this rod looks like an extremely nice piece of kit for the money - this is only the second rod I've owned and nearly double the price of my previous rod. As mentioned above, the reel should arrive on Tuesday where I will either spool up some 12lb Berkley Nanofil or remove the 14lb Fireline with 6lb Stren Flourocast leader. I'm not sure yet. But stay tuned to find out! If there is anything else pertinent to this rod that you folks want to know, just post here and ask and I'll do my best to get you photographic evidence or at least try to explain it.

Amen to that! Just as it gets to the weekend, cold fronts drop temps into the 30s and it rains for a week straight. -sigh-

Well, I'm looking at either... Fury 702SF w/Daiwa Procyon for a bit over $210 or Sierra 702SF w/Okuma Inspira for a little over $200. So... Not sure which would be the better go. EDIT: After discussing with another member on here, I'm leaning towards the Dobyn's Sierra with the Okuma.

The main reason I was leaning towards the Okuma is because it's $80 on TW but Amazon has it for $45. For $45, I could upgrade the Fury to a Dobyn's Sierra rod I think. It's also black/blue - my favorite color combination.

I'd say the $80-ish range. I would be pairing it most likely with a Dobyn's Fury 702SF rod. Ned-rigs, senkos, 1/8oz cranks, etc. I'm currently leaning towards the Okuma Inspira.

How about an Okuma Inspira? The -20 size looks perfect for this kind of rod. "And I even like the color"

So in my other thread, I've pretty much narrowed down the rod to either a Dobyn's Fury or if I can find a Fenwick AETOS on clearance somewhere. In the 1/8-1/2oz range for ned rigging, senkos, cranks, etc. Now I'm looking into reels and have noticed that Lew's bait casters are extremely popular but I don't see much on here or elsewhere about their spinning reels. Anyone have some experience with their spinning reels?

I've Ned-rigged with my current rod before - 1/10th oz jig with a 3.75" Zman stickbait. That's actually what I caught my most recent fish on back in November. I've also done some wacky-rigging/drop shot as well with it. Will it really work that much better than my current rod?

About 3 hours. (2hr 51min according to Google maps)

No, I only have a single rod. It's a No.*** Blackout 6'6" MH.

The main problem I have with downsizing lures is castability. 1/4oz is about as light as I can go else they don't cast worth a darn. I had a 1/8oz Rapala back when I first started and I could barely get it to go farther than 20ft. The Rapala I used above doesn't cast as well as I'd like either and it's 1/4oz. 1/2oz+ is the sweet-spot for lures on this rod.

Honestly, I figured that even if it were too chilly or the like for bass that I could manage to land some Trout that they stocked about a week ago. No such luck there either.

No idea on the water temp. Air temp was in the 50s so I figure water was in the mid-high 40s.

After the failed request in the regional forum asking where I should go, I chose to head back to Cutler Lake. I reasoned it was a smaller body of water so I'd have a better chance of catching something if it were there - especially since it was stocked with trout back on the 23rd of March. Weather was cool and brisk with a light breeze. We've had a bit of significant rainfall the past couple days, so the rivers are high and fast - and as you will soon see, the lake is nearly opaque. So there's a map of the lake and the route I took around it - I made my first cast around 2:00pm and left around 4:45. The X's mark where I fished and the number in which order I stopped there (counter-clockwise around the lake). Stop 1 - The Dam As you can see, the water is nearly opaque. Absolute chocolate milk going on. I already had a sexy shad-style squarebill from LTB tied on from my last trip somewhere, so I started out with that for about 15 mintues and had no success. Quite a few swallows were flitting around the surface getting drinks. Despite the opacity of the water, I figured I'd try some Senkos even though they're more of a visual bait. Had some clear with black speck, which obviously didn't get me anything. Spot 2 - Trail This spot was almost directly across from the main building and the beach - I don't have any pics from here because there were other people across the way and I didn't want them to think I was spying or something. I started off with the clear/speck Senko and didn't get any results and switched to a KVD stick bait. This one was green with black specks and had their coffee scent. Tried this for a few minutes and then switched to one of my newer lures. It's a Rapala BX Jointed Swimmer in Purplesecent or something. I bought it prior to this trip a week or so ago and first tried it here. Action is great, moves even when reeled in slowly but it's only 1/4oz and has a tendency to helicopter. I can cast it maybe... 65ft or so with my rod. It's a floater, so I tried a straight retrieve and a slow retrieve/pause with no luck. I then put on a shallow minnow crankbait in a silver/clear/blue pattern with no luck either. I then chose to move to the next spot on the trail. Spot 3 - Trail It appeared someone had been catfishing this spot previously as there were quite a few Y-branches strewn around and one still stuck in the ground. I started off with the Rapala and soon switched to a KVD jerkbait. I tried this because you can cast it quite far and it's a suspending bait that has good action with little rod motion. I nearly lost the jerkbait on some rocks about 3ft off shore in shallow water, but I managed to get it free with the rod tip. I took this as a sign that I shouldn't stay there any longer lest I lose a lure or two! So I moved to the next spot on the trail. Spot 4 - Trail Initially, this appeared promising - prior to this spot, the bank was too steep and the water near it was full of submerged stumps and other things to lose your lure on. I started here with the jerkbait and essentially tossed it in near the mouth and kept the bail open and walked it back to the corner where I then closed the bail and retrieved the lure. This yielded no results so I pulled out the Rapala again since it's shallow water and trolled away. After some more futility, I decided to pack up and move to the next spot. Spot 5 - Trail This little steam was too shallow to attempt anything from this side, so I moved on to the next spot. The bridge you see in the third picture is the farthest point I reach on my trip. From here on I'm walking back towards the lake. Spot 6 - Trail At this point, I was pretty much just playing around. I had the Rapala tied on still, so I was just walking up and down this little part of the stream with the lure in the water and watching it move. At one point, I cast a few times just to see if it would get hung up - it didn't, so yay! I also attempted to see if there was any water moving fast enough that I could hold the lure in place with my line and still generate motion in the lure. Unfortunately I didn't find any water fast enough. Spot 7 - Lake off-shoot By this point, I'd pretty much given up. I threw the Rapala out a few times before switching to a new lure I bought at the shop on the way to this lake. It's a LiveTarget Golden Shiner rattlebait. After I put it on and retrieved it a few times I realized something - it's a rattle-trap with a fancy paint job. It casts well enough at 7/16th oz, but I don't think it's worth the $12.50 it cost in the shop. Actually, I think it's a combination of a Red Eye Shad (in shape and the way it casts) and a Rat-L-Trap (the way it sounds). Didn't get anything with it and decided my next stop would be my last. Stop 8 - Boat Ramp You can see the actual boat ramp behind the tree in the first pic. I cast the LiveTarget a few times in each direction before I moved over to the floating pier. I cast in a few directions in-between the ramp and pier and then while on the pier. Didn't get anything, so I decided I'd walked around and failed enough and it was time to go home. Parking Lot Just some shots from my car in the parking lot looking back at the lake. I realize that I picked a pretty crappy day to go to the lake - but it was the one chance I had this weekend so I decided to take it. Thought I might get lucky and land a stocked trout or two, but no. As far as I can tell, I never had a single nibble the entire time I was there. Again. I'd love to laugh and then tell you all this was some April Fools joke and that I actually landed a few fish but that's not the case. So, yeah. Sill 0-for-2017.

So, here's the dilemma - two local lakes have recently been stocked with trout. Both are also allegedly good for bass. The problem is we aren't sure which one we should visit - we've been to both multiple times. Blue Rock State Park (Cutler Lake) - Small lake, 46 minute drive away, stocked on the 23 MAR 2017 with trout (verified by posts on their FB page). So we figure it's smaller so we'll have a better chance at catching something - but they wouldn't over-stock it so it would be that easy either. Plus, people have had a week to fish it and get the easy catches. Stroud's Run State Park (Dow Lake) - Large lake, 50 minute drive away, stocked on 30 MAR 2017 with trout, level was lowered for the winter but should be back to normal pool. Also has boat rentals (though not clear on what or if they're in-season yet) so possibility to get on the water but no guarantee. Assume since it's a larger lake that they would stock more fish than at Blue Rock, but more water and places for them to hide. So - if it was your choice, which one would you choose? Thank you!

I talked with a rep on FB about the lakes and they say ODNR sometimes stocks them but haven't for a while - it's not a consistent thing. The only one they consistently do is Hook lake and that's for 16 and under. As for local forums... None that I know of. One place I consistently go is Hornbecks Bait and Tackle in Belpre - guy there fishes tournaments and knows his stuff. But even with his assistance, we've not managed to get anything. ODNR stocked trout at Blue Rock State Park (Cutler Lake) and Stroud's Run State Park (Dow Lake) - one a week ago and the other just yesterday. So I'm thinking of heading to the place they stocked yesterday on Saturday and giving it a go. I think that was Stroud's Run. I've got some rooster tails and inline spinners - and can pick up a few more over at Hornbeck's on the way. Maybe grab a chatterbait for later in the season for bass.

Found out by talking with their rep on Facebook that even though the campgrounds are closed during winter, you can still go and fish the water! I figured that if the campgrounds are closed, then everything is closed. So, my brother and I went out around 11:00a to do some fishing. Stopped off at our standard ponds - Sand Hollow, Bicentennial and another un-named pond. Water was back up to normal depth at the un-named one after they had done some... excavation and the like during the fall. Started off with a jerkbait and didn't hit anything. Switched over to a shallow crank and still nothing. This was about 45min in and my brother and I both noticed that there weren't even any ******* fish following the lures in - this makes me think that water was still too cold and they were all out deep or something - or it suffered a die-off when they excavated. No bait fish, no bass. So we packed it up and went to a lake off of Bicentennial and saw the same thing - plenty of green growth near the shore but not a single baitfish followed a lure in. Tried crank and senko while my brother tried a ned rig. After about 45min of this, we packed it up and went to Sand Hollow and tried some shallower areas near the boat ramp that have held fish before (not that we caught any... lol) and saw the same thing - not a single ******* fish followed a lure in. So, we decided to call it a day. So far, I'm still 0 for the year and my brother's managed to catch one catfish when we were trout fishing. Nice to see our luck continuing. lol Might give a man a complex...

Son of a... Here I am, haven't caught a d**n fish since November - and I've been trying! Switched over to trying to catch some trout once winter came along - struck out every time I went trout fishing.

Thanks again folks for all the input - like I said, it's really good to know there are good options out there that aren't $400!

Outstanding - I'm glad to see there are actually decently priced items out there. Thanks for the help everyone!

How breathable is that jacket? I'm a very warm person and sweat.

Wasn't sure where to put this as I didn't see a forum for apparel and the like - so here goes! Might be trout fishing on Saturday and could be raining in the morning. I don't currently have a jacket I can wear that will keep the wind/water out so I'm asking for your help! Looking around - my God, the price some of you can afford to pay on this gear!!! - shows some absolutely insane prices for jackets. (when I realized you could have over a thousand dollars invested in just a pair of waders and a jacket...) I'm looking at or under the $100 price point. On Tackle Warehouse, they have a jacket that looks like it might fit the bill on sale, but it's XXL (I'm but an XL so far - lol). UnderArmor Storm Surge for like $65. Thank you for your input folks!

Any particular locations on Conneaut Creek?