FrnkNsteen

Here's mine.

Thats what I use too. The one I have is a 3700 size and has three rows of notches. I have regular grass and brush jigs in the first row, swim jigs in the middle row and bladed jigs on the right row.

Please don't take this wrong,... I'm not nearly as critical as this may come across, but I use very little XPS brand product. The reason is I have grown increasingly frustrated with BPS/Cabelas carrying less and less name brand product while they copy everyone else's baits and fill their stores more and more with their own proprietary brands. I prefer to pay more to support the brands that do their own research and development. I mainly buy crankbaits from Rapala, Berkley, Strike King, Spro,.....or other newer startup companies trying to get a start. I buy Strike King jigs, but have also been buying from Sieberts, Dirty Jigs and other smaller companies. Plastics are from the big name brands, but also smaller companies our local shop carries. I just find that BPS just has been having less and less things that interest me and would rather support other companies that continue to give us new options.

I'm one of those that likes to tinker. I like reels and have bought quite a few older used reels that catch my eye, on top of all the new reels I pick up. Part of it is that I am a process development engineer who designs tooling and equipment for new manufacturing lines, so I like to see how they are put together. But I'm also not one who waits for an issue to arise before doing maintenance. I may not do a thing to new reels other than open them up and inspect to make sure everything is clean and lubed. I have gotten a few new reels that were extremely dry at first, so I have just gotten the habit of looking at all of them. How do you think people like Tackle Advisors got started doing reel reviews if he didn't tear them down. I'm guessing he is interested in the different ways reel companies changed their designs like I am.

Personally, I like a little slower rod for spinnerbaits and chatterbaits think the Champ Extreme might be a little fast, not mention being a little overkill for moving baits. If it were me, I think I would throw the spinnerbaits and bladed jigs on the LTB and if I wanted a Extreme, I would choose a model that that opens up more options like maybe the HP 745. It gets awesone reviews and offers a little heavier option. I currently use my HP745 for deep water football jigs.

I don't know if they still do, but Tackle Trap used to sell smaller 1oz bottles. I ordered a 1oz bottle from them before they moved.

Is that all?? LOL! Always amazed at all the different color options! I recently bought a couple of your Perch swimjigs. Can't wait to try them for smallies up in Canada next year! Any new standouts??

It shouldn't. I'm no expert at skipping though, but the videos I've watched of Andy Montgomery has him recomending a bit of tip with the backbone going up about 80% of the rod. Too heavy of an XF with too light of a jig may make it tougher to skip. He recommends a 1/2 oz jig for skipping, so that shouldn't be an issue unless you are talking a mag heavy rod. A MH XF like I thought was mentioned shouldn't be an issue.

Yes, .... I couldn't agree more. I LOVE the grips on those Elitetech Smallmouths. Wish someone would copy them!! You're right though,.. It wasn't just the handle, they were perfectly balanced and fished great too! When they came out, I bought 4 of them. One 6'9" ML, two 6'3" MF, and a 6'3" MH. Unfortunatwly I smashed one of the 6'3" MF with the support rod on the Minnkota TM and my wife accidentally knocked the 6.3MH overboard over deep water 😲😲 so I only have two left.

The Extra Fast rods I have are mainly used for bottom contact situations where I want to set the hook quickly. One is a Dobyns Champion 744c Jig Special rod and I think the other is a St Croix Legend Extreme that also has a jig on it. Most of the rest of mine are MH/F or MH/MF. I don't think I would suggest using an extra fast for treble hook baits or fine wire hooks. I typically want a little slower rod for them to help keep them pinned during the fight.

I don't know that I can be much help here because I REALLY have a hard time finding a spinning rod I like. I fish with three fingers in front of the stem and HATE most rods with reel seat threads at the front of the handle, so that really limits my options. My favorite is my 6'9" ML Fenwick Elitetech Smallmouth rod that I use for wacky rigs, but those aren't available anymore. The closest I've found lately is the Fenwick Elitetech Bass models. I recently picked up a ML that I believe was 6'9". I put one of my Vanford 3000 on it and and I think I like it. Others I have gotten recently are Phenix Feather FTX with the funky plastic reel seat, Daiwa Tatula, and the second most recent Fenwick HMG. I see they appear to have just come out with a new model, but don't know that I like the new reel seat. The newest one I have gotten are kind of goldish bronze blank and have the blank exposed on top. Don't know if that helps, but might be some choices to look at. I want all my spinning rods to balance perfectly on my middle finger, and most of the options I listed do that pretty well.

I used to use one when fishing in a local club for tourneys, but don't do that anymore. People get WAY too worried about stuff when money becomes involved and got tired of the fighting and whining. The only time I use one now is on our fishing trips back up home if we want to keep some for a fish fry. Mainly use my cheap little aluminum one for measuring slot lengths for the walleyes now. If having troubles getting walleyes in the small slot Rainy Lake has, we have been known to keep a few small smallmouth. We measure them all to keep from getting dinged!

I can't say as I don't have one to say how it works. I have heard the Curado 200 K can be finicky, and I have no experience with the Scorpion MGL to know if it is better.

My "She" is my wife, and she's awesome! She loves to fish and is a trooper. She goes on our yearly Canadian smallie trips and fishes all day every day, rain or shine with no complaints! To make the point of how great she is ... She was the one who drove the decision to get Livescope and a 12" Garmin. Truth be told I was the one saying I wasn't spending $4k to see fish swim live on the screen! 😂😂 Her response was,... But think about how cool that would be!! First time we took it out after installing, we took the seats out and sat next to each other on the front deck looking around at all the fish and adjusting for best image. The only bad thing was that the lake we fish and say has no fish,.... Yeah the Livescope proved us liars and we couldn't believe the amount of fish in it! Just very pressured and have to find new ways to make them bite!!

Got me with early Black Friday sales! First came Scheels offering Fuego LT reels for half off. Bought 2 1000 series to replace old reels on Crappie rods plus a 2500 to replace a heavy old first gen President reel. Then TW had their Wednesday only reel sale with Stradic FL 2500 reels at $139. Ended up buying 2 to replace other old reels I had on a couple of my wife's rods. She's ok with a baitcaster, but is more comfortable with spinning reels, so I figured those bullet proof Stradics would work well for her to throw OG slims and square bills on a couple Elite Tech Bass M-MF rods she had. She loves them, so I guess the baitmonkey was right this time!! 😁

Be careful on the JDM Scorpion MGL from Japanese dealers like Digitaka or others. If I recall correctly, it is not the same as the Curado MGL. I believe the JDM Scorpion MGL is built on the Curado 200 K frame, which is significantly larger in size. Personally, I am not a fan of of the Curado 200 K, but love the smaller Curado MGLs in both the 150 and the 70 size. I use lefty reels and have a couple 151 MGLs and one 71 MGL. For the record though, I have 4 SLX MGL 71 reels and like them every bit as much as the Curado 71, and they are significantly cheaper. I have gotten my SLX MGLs as cheap as $90 in excellent condition used from ALF.

If you're talking about at the St Croix Factory Store, it doesn't appear to be store wide. I was just there and it appearsvto only be on retired rods, BassX, Mojo, Mojo Glass, Avid and Wild River. Mojo and Avid selling for $120, which is same as other vendors closing out the old Mojo rods to make room for the new. I looked and different Legend series and they seemed to be at regular price.

Nice price, but appears to be shipping from Japan (and appears to be ended). I have bought some new stuff from places in Japan like Asian Fishing Portal and Digitake, but have never felt comfortable buying used from over there. I've bought used from multiple U.S. sellers on Ebay, and had mixed results. Some have been really nice and others have been a little.... meh!! I've had more consistent luck buying used from places like American Legacy Fishing, and right now they are offering an additional 20% off used rods and reels. They rate the condition pretty accurately in my opinion. The flea market on here is another option for used stuff.

I have quite a few Shimanos and a LOT of Daiwas. What I have learned from them is the Shimanos win for moving baits where I am making long casts. Cranks, swim jigs, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits,... Etc. Daiwas excel for anything structure and cover related where the added cast control helps. Pitching, flipping, skipping, or just casting from a bunch of different angles in and around trees. Either are good and can obviously be used in either circumstance, but that is their general roles in my arsenal. For the most parts, the jigs and texas rigs, squarebills, flukes, weightless plastics, or anything else I am working around cover are on Daiwas. All other moving baits or things like carolana rigs or footbal jigs where I'm casting for distance is on Shimanos. I personally like the 100-150 size, but have a few larger reels like older Curado 200 and Daiwa Elites and a couple Catalinas.

I need to start looking at that aftermarket stuff! Though maybe I don't!! .... Seems like an ENTIRELY different rabbit hole that could empty my wallet quickly!! 😜😜

That's cool! Has anyone else noticed that Bulldog has the coolest gear?!?

Seems like line twist would be an issue and you'd want a swivel in there somewhere?!?

Mine are all stored in racks in the garage. It doesn't get super cold here in Indiana like it did in Minnesota. I do not remove reels from rods and all have rod socks and nicer stuff has reel covers.

I recently saw a video from Ott Defoe where he puts a loop in the end of his braid and hooks it on the reel handle. He then tensions it by pulling it like a bow as he ties his FG knot.

Interesting. Not real experienced with the FG yet, but need to give that a try. Wonder how it works on smaller diameter leaders rather than the 100 or 150 he was using.