HeddonFrog

Here’s my next 7’ MH/F rod. Still recuperating from the Dobyns Xtasy/Shimano Bantam purchase...Phenix Feather 7-1 $149. I have no problems buying rods without holding them if A. There are some good reviews out there (lots of gushing reviews on this rod) and B. It’s a rod that’s in demand so I can sell it if I want too (the Feather is one of the hottest rods on the market right now) love how crazy light these are and they are awesome looking. Very JDM MegaBass like http://tackletour.com/reviewphenixFTX71MH.html

Beautiful fish brother. Btw invest in some Jack Hammers, you’ll never have to worry about your hooks bending or components failing.

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I’m surprised no one posted this. It’s the former Michigan state record that was 24.5” and 9.33lbs. The one that beat this one was 9.99 but this guy obviously knew how to take photos of his record catch. The guy who caught the current record only had remarkably bad photos but was only a recreational fisherman..and caught it on a dew worm ??‍♂️ The luck some people have. This is a true true giant

That would be incorrect. Cichlids are their own species. Smallmouth are in the sunfish family. Totally getting off track here but I have often wondered if hundreds of thousands of years ago, maybe millions, if the grouper family and sunfish bass family spilt from the same family tree. You look at a Goliath grouper and it just looks like a huge Largemouth with smallmouth coloration. Now there...would be a cool cross...can’t you just imagine a 100lb Smallie/Goliath cross hitting a giant spook ?

Your Tat SV weighs 7.2ozs (I own 4, it’s a love hate relationship) to the Bantams 7.6, barely indistinguishable. If you’re looking for a lighter set-up a Chronarch/Metanium MGL might be a better choice. I think going lighter than 6.5ozs will throw the balance off. As I mentioned my Bantam puts the balance point right on the lock nut and I’m really diggin’ how it floats. ———————— I fished my DRX & Bantam rig for about 4hrs for what it was intended for on Thursday October 25th. I fished jigs from 1/4oz to 1oz in 12’ to 23’ of water. I’d still give my 844 NRX the nod in ultimate sensitivity by just a hair but overall I like fishing the 755 more. I absolutely love the length whether fishing from the boat or just kicking around on shore. It allows great distance and extremely accurate casts & pitches. I also see why a lot of guys use long “casting” rods now. I’m very late to the length party for casting rods. This is my first non-flipping stick over 7-3. Even as a mag-hvy and at 7-5 it has that precision scalpel like feel to it but unlike any high-end Loomis rod, that to me always feels dainty & fragile...this feels powerful. It’s a strange feeling of light, crisp and balanced while at the same time feeling powerful and virtually indestructible. I hope that makes sense. I have some G-rod Pro Bass rods and they are the most powerful rods I’ve ever owned but even my 7’ MH which only weighs 4.5oz lacks that precision surgical feel to it. If my G-rods are my baseline for power at a 10 I score the DRX as an 8. If my NRX’s are my baseline for sensitivity at a 10 the DRX to me is a 9. Keep in mind I only rate the NRX’s as a 5 in power. So it has great sensitivity, excellent casting abilities and is powerful...I would have no reservations using this to cast spoons for 20-25lb Kings. ————— Bait handling. I was worried it would not handle baits to its max of 1-1/2oz, I shouldn’t have. I tied on a 1oz tungsten jig (weighs 1-1/8 w/hook & skirt) and a magnum rage bug (1/2oz) so I went just over and had no problems working the jig (down to 22’) properly nor did it feel like I was overloading the tip while casting. Again, just by holding it and due to that lighter tip you don’t realize it’s actually a powerful rod. I also fished it with 1/4 & 3/8oz jigs and Jumbo Pork and it was just as impressive or more so, on the lower end of its lure weight spectrum. A lot of heavy and most all Mag-hvy rods just don’t like casting light baits...the DRX has no problems with the lighter stuff and is still as much a pleasure to throw them as the 1/2 & 3/4oz baits. It has a very wide sweet-spot. That segues me to an actual statement that no ones probably going to heed. For most people who never throw baits over 1oz, buy the heavy 4 power not the Med/Hvy 3...if you’re a medium casting rod lover, I’m pretty sure the 3 will satisfy what you’re looking for. The 4 will do everything a med/hvy will plus it will more than likely cover most of what a standard medium power will but it will obviously also handle some of your heavier baits. I’m definitely getting a 754 because I’m pretty sure it’s going to end up being one of the most versatile rods I’ve ever owned. I almost ready to say that about the 755. Here’s my first nice one jigging in 20’

Thank you for the info. I’ll check it out and thanks to all for your input and comments...those on topic, whoa that went sideways fast, lol. I took the DD14 out and fished it on Lake Michigan last Thursday. As I originally posted, this is where I had originally intended to use them way back in the 2000/01/02/03 seasons but never did tie one on to fish for smallies. I had caught several Largemouth on this bait but never a smallie. Well after tossing drop shots, neds, black hair jigs and Dark Sleepers for 3hrs without a bite I decided “wth” and tied the DD on and wouldn’t ya know it...It worked and tuned us in on the crank bite. It’s not big but it’s this baits first smallie.

Until I tie a jig on I won’t know how it stacks up sensitivity wise against the GLX/NRX, Helium III or my G-rod but I know with the limited time I fished it, it’s one of those rods that floats in your hand and I’m pretty sure it’s going to have that little extra magic that has some of us making that leap from $300/$400 range to 500+ Im not a fanatical Dobyns owner. There’s some serious cool-aid drinkers out there...which in turn created Dobyns haters. I’m pretty neutral about rod brands because I love having rods from many different companies. So my immediate neutral stance impressions when out of the tube was I thought its a decent looking rod but also pretty pedestrian and conservative for being $500+ I personally don’t care how it looks as long as it ends up being magical to fish. Will definitely not convert any JDM guys...even if they fish it and think it’s the GOAT jig rod. I personally don’t get that but it is what it is. On other boards guys were mentioning the wraps were all out of alignment in the TW web photos. No issues on mine, which is why I posted pics of my guides. I apologize the pics came out blurry after resizing them This is a typical Dobyns when it comes to power. I actually learned on this site that whatever power rod you think you want buy 1 power up. Hence why I got the Mag and it definitely feels more like a 4 power GLX/NRX. Maybe a 4.5 but that’s about it. I’m pretty sure the 754 is going to be a big seller if that’s what you’re leaning towards. Can’t wait to hear your feedback Thanks brother

It’s very nice. It’s up there with the best I’ve seen custom or high end factory. Very little filler but there is some. Feels like they hand sand it with 1600 grit, because it’s exactly how my cork feels after I sand it.

Southern Lake Michigan, First fish on the 755, a decent 3-12...on a 5XD. I know, it’s a jig rod but we weren’t jig fishing today and I wanted to get some time with it. I also really needed the extra length to get some casts way out there. The crank rod I brought was only 7’. It performed very well on a technique is wasn’t designed for and the typical Dobyns light tip section did well loading, casting and also keeping the smallie buttoned on the trebles. I think the TT Editors will love the 7-2 Med/Hvy as a search for the one candidate and Cal will be a pitching fool if he tests an X. I do think if they were to test this particular model, it will rack out a power lower than stated with a max lure rating of around 1oz. A 3/4oz Jack Hammer with a zako trailer (1-1/8oz total wgt) maxed the tip out. Again, I know this isn’t a horizontal reaction bait rod but I also think it would be great with a 1/2 bladed jig if you’re like myself and like fast action rods Vs cranking sticks to throw bladed jigs. The new DRX line is being advertised as a deep water bottom contact rod but my very limited first impression is it will be a more versatile line. I tied on a 1/2oz and 3/4oz Dark Sleepers to both the 755 and my G-rod Pro Bass 7’ Med/Hvy to do a quick sensitivity check. The portion of southern Lake Michigan we were fishing is sand bottom and rip rap. Pretty d**n easy to tell the difference but there is some limited weed beds and whereas the Pro Bass (a very sensitive rod both in my mind and TT’s opinion) would just feel dead or mushy when I’d occasionally run into some errant patch of weeds but it was instantaneous “Weed” when I hit them with 755. It was hyper sensitive to rock, rubble, weed and sand with the 5XD. I really had fun reading the bottom with the XD...smooth rock, rough rock, concrete vs rock, dead weeds, fresh weeds. Even coarse sand, fine sand and when I was fishing the Dark Sleeper I could feel that little paddle tail kicking along. I know this feel will translate to jigs in a big way. I’ve referred to some of my other jig rods both past and present as either fishing by braille or they give me an actual visual picture of what’s down there. Basically sensitive enough to “see” and I loved how I was able to see with this rod. No bottom line yet, not nearly enough time to form an opinion. I usually sit down with what equipment I’ve acquired at the end of the year to decide “should it stay or should it go” I do know that It wasn’t just a utilitarian tool to catch fish...I had fun fishing it and look forward to fishing it again soon. I’ll even make time Edit: It weighs 5.1oz on my scale. I bought a Bantam MGL to go with the rod and a 7oz reel matches exceptionally well. The balance point is right on the locking nut. I didn’t fish it yesterday with the Bantam because I didn’t want to learn a new reel and rod on the fly. I used a Tat SV 6:3.1 with 30lb Suffix 832 with a 12’ leader of Kastking flouro coated mono

I’m hoping there is a real Norman crankbait aficionado here or a lead to someone who is. In the early 2000’s I started fishing southern Lake Michigan smallmouth tournaments so I needed to stock up on smallie baits. I came across a set of Norman cranks in “Goby” color and thought “sure, why not” but other than the DD14 did not tie on the, Deep little N, Deep Baby N or Mad n crank (I don’t think they were called that back then) so three new and one probably tied on once. The question is...how rare is this color? I’ve never seen it since nor have I met any crankbait or die hard smallie guys who’ve seen it before either. It would probably be a better choice now rather than back then when gobies had just entered the scene. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Btw these were purchased new in factory packages. Definitely not repaints. Thanks Dave

Just wanted to share some experience on this topic. I bass fished at night at least 20 times this year. Most of the water we fish here in northern Illinois have both smallmouth and largemouth in them. Between myself, my son and my night fishing buddy we’ve caught over 500 bass and all but 1 was a smallmouth. Biggest smallie of the year, it was a 4 1/4 but yeah just that one. I caught her 1hr before sunrise. Probably more of a factor than anything. From everything I’ve ever experienced, read and have seen following shows and tournaments...it all points to smallies being sight feeders. Clear water and sunshine brings out the aggressive feeding in them. One thing I’m certain of is that they do feed on crayfish at night. I’ve caught a ton of very early morning smallies that were full of crayfish that they had to be feeding on prior to sun up. I don’t think they do well chasing baitfish at night, unlike largemouth who will and do so very effectively. So if you’re going to try and target smallmouths at night, use crayfish imitation presentations, aka Jigs with rattles and some kind of water displacing trailer like a rage tail or Christie craw. For all the old schoolers who only throw black Colorado spinnerbaits, Black buzzbaits, black jigs, Black jitterbugs or like my dad, Black hula poopers...put them away! Rig 2 rods. One with a 1/2 black/blue bladed jig and the other rod the same color combination 3/4oz. Our preference are Picasso Shock blades that come naked without skirts and we add black/blue living rubber skirts for a much bulkier presentation. Our other choice is the Chatterbait project Z and Jack Hammer. We always use large bulky trailers and when needed trailer hooks. Slow rolled as slow as possible, popped out of weeds, frequent bottom contact, hopped off the bottom all work. The last night we night fished prior to temps plunging into the 30’s we caught 59 between two of us. 13 were over 3lbs, two over 4, anchored by a 5 1/4. Keep in mind we’re in northern Illinois, we don’t have a Rayburn, lol I’ve scoured the internet looking for articles discussing just how effective bladed jigs are at night for Bass and other than a mention or two saying to add them to your night arsenal, no ones written a comprehensive article on using them. So I’m doing just that and will be presenting an article to In-fisherman to use in their summer 2018 issue. It’s a tactic that is that impressive and needs to be tried. all the fish in the photos are either over 4 or 5lbs

Hey guys, I’m a new guy here but this site has a length/girth calculator at this address. Btw, if the fish was 21.5”X16” it’s estimated weight is 7 1/4lbs A truly GIANT Minnesota bass. Nice freakin job brother https://www.bassresource.com/bassfishing/fishcalculator.html