kayaking_kev

My personal favorite rod all time and the rod I have caught the most fish on is a Ugly Stik Gx2, and a 6'0 Medium 2 piece at that. Whether throwing a whopper plopper for smallies or T-Rigs for LM, it's been good to me. Most of my 500+ bass this past season were caught on one. I had *** mile river trip where I caught 41 bass on a plastic worm, in current nonetheless, all recorded on video, and plenty of videos of 20+ catches throwing a whopper plopper with it. I paid full price for the first one I bought, but then found the same exact ones on clearance for $9 and bought all 3 they had. This past Black Friday I bought 12 new rods, including 2 Dobyns Xtasys, and a Extreme, and I'm sure I will like them better, but until I'm able to fish with them, the Gx2 is still my favorite. I still didn't find a rod out those 12 new ones, that match the action of the Gx2, so now I'm looking to get a Dobyns 704cb Glass.

Largemouth = Any 5" plastic worm Smallmouth = Whopper Plopper Loon Color Size 90 ( Just because of where I usually fish for them, in a shallow river )

Shimano FX cost about $15 and if you want a good cheap glass rod for cranking, I would recommend it. I even hooked a couple 10 lb+ catfish while panfishing on it and it held up great, lots of parabolic bend to them.

4.6 lbs. on a wacky rig

I tried a friends Cherrywood not long ago and it had a nice soft tip, I would definitely crank with one. He has a Quantum Smoke rod as his most expensive rod, but he prefers the Cherrywood.

I agree on the Revros LT, it's very nice, and I love the looks of it. You could probably say the same about the other LT versions also, like the Legalis and Regal. I haven't tried a Sahara, but I got a Shimano Sienna not long ago and it's very nice too, not nearly as light as the Revros though.

The Lew's Hank Parker Speed Stick for $40 at Wal-Mart. I actually ordered the J&W version, but got the Crankbait version instead and just decided to keep it. And, then I found out it is a terrible crankbait rod, it's way too stiff, I almost wonder if I actually got the J&W version and it was just mislabeled. But, after I started fishing bottom baits with it I was blown away by the sensitivity of it. I got the 6'10" Medium/Fast, but it fishes more like a Extra Fast. It's IM-8 and it's super light. The only knock about it is that it's pretty brittle, but that's why it's so sensitive. I ended up catching some of my biggest LM this past season with it, a few over 4 lbs., before and after I broke the tip while transporting with a lure tied on and not using the hook keeper like a idiot. Anyway, I repaired the tip and it's a little shorter now, but I still caught some good fish on it after that. One could have a nice cheap one, two punch with one of those for bottom baits paired with a Abu Garcia Pro Max, along with an Ugly Stik GX2 paired with a Abu Garcia Black Max for treble hook baits. Another stick I'm liking is the 13 Fishing Defy Black Crankbait Rod, it's made of composite, and has excellent balance and weight. I have the 7'3 Heavy and the balance is on the locking nut with a reel on it.

Not even sure how to use these. Do you tie a separate line to it and then attach it to your rod line and send it down and if it doesn't come loose, pull it up and repeat?

A lot of people say the Dobyns 703c is like a Medium, and I will throw T-rigs and Shallow Cranks on mine and it's rated Fast Action. Right now I'm mainly using it as a jerkbait rod, but I've thrown squarebills on it and you can feel the wiggle with them. It's also a great spinnerbait and chatterbait rod, there really isn't much it can't do.

I just got this one from TW last week. $5.69 for a 3 pack. I have no clue if it's any good yet, but reviews looked good. It's the first one I ever bought.

If you really want a dropshot rod to double as a Ned Rig rod, get the Sierra 702sf. The 703sf won't be the best dropshot option, but it would be the better option for more of a variety of other baits like the Ned Rig, and you could still dropshot on it. I have the Champion Extreme HP 702c, and it's basically my Ned Rig rod, but I would use it for dropshot in a pinch, but it has a faster tip than the Sierra's. For dropshot I use a Lew's TP-1 Speed Stick ML Spinning Rod. But, truthfully I hate fishing the dropshot, even though I have been giving it a go.

Dobyns Colt 705CB ($80) 13 Fishing Defy Black Crankbait ($60) Lew's David Fritz Perfect Crankbait ($80) + Daiwa Fuego CT ($75) Abu Garcia Pro Max ($50)

The timing is perfect, I was almost ready to order a 16 Met MGL, but I'll think I'll wait.

I seen them on December 20th when their new catalog came out, not sure when TW started selling them. They also now have some split handle Xtasy's and another model or two for them in the catalog, but they aren't on TW yet.

Sweet! It's a great rod, I also got mine so I wouldn't have to use spinning gear much. I have a Concept Z on mine and it looks crazy.

I just started fishing 2 years ago, before that I never caught a bass and didn't know what one looked like. I started out with a $10 zebco 202 slingshot combo from walmart and some $1.47 Ozark Trail 1/5 oz minnows and caught a couple hundred river smallies with it, most the time just trolling it behind my kayak. Towards the end of my first year I upgraded to a Ugly Stik GX2 and Black Max, and got my first Whopper Plopper, a size 90. I caught lots of river smallies on that lure that first year and I used the same thing a lot this past season and caught a bunch more with the same setup. I have since bought 6 more Whopper Ploppers, but I still have that first one. They may be a bit pricey, but you have to be a bit unlucky to lose one. I've only lost one after a big smallie jumped with it and broke me off only because I failed to check my knot after several catches. This year besides the Whopper Plopper, I started fishing plastics, mainly 5" worms of a variety of brands and it was a game changer for me to be able to catch fish in ponds and reservoirs and not just on the river. But, I agree the price can start to add up with plastics, weights & hooks, that's why I usually just get the cheap stuff. Wal-Mart has the CREME brand worms for $1 sometimes and I think normally under $2, and they are really soft. I've caught 30+ fish once on the same worm using an o-ring. I also had some success fishing those $1 spinnerbaits on the bottom shelf at Wal-Mart this past season. I had a couple of good KVD Finesse spinners, but didn't like throwing them from the bank, so I would use the cheap $1 ones and they seemed to work good. The gear might not last as long or might not be as exciting to fish with when you're not catching them, but they will work.

I got the 7.5.1 gear ratio a couple of months ago for the same price from Dick's and was impressed by it and was searching for a cranking reel and this was one of the lowest gear ratios I could find and then it went on sale for $80 again, so it was a no brainer, they are nice reels, especially for $80. I definitely like it more than my SLX and it's close between it and my SLX XT.

Xtasy 723c Xtasy 755c Extreme HP 702c Champion XP Glass 705 CB Champion XP 704sf Fury 703c

Did you pay for 2 day shipping? TW always takes forever to get me my stuff, but I live in Ohio.

This is a question I plan to solve for myself after next year and I hope to document as much as I can. But, I have only been fishing for 2 seasons now and I used a Ugly Stik GX2 + Abu Garcia Black Max for everything, even did a lot of worm fishing with it this year and I caught over 500 documented fish on video with it. In the last few months, I have purchased 12 new rods, 6 of them are Dobyns, Xtasy 755c, Xtasy 723c, Extreme 702c, Champion Glass 705cb, Champion 704sf, and a Fury 703c, along with two Shimano SLXs, a Lew's TP-1, 13 Fishing Defy Black, St Croix Panfish rod, and a Fenwick HMX. So far, I have only got to fish with about half of them and it was very limited, and the places I fished has had really soft bottoms, so I can't really speak on sensitivity yet. They are definitely funner to fish and look really nice, but I'm skeptical if the performances will justify the prices. I'm sure they will be better for bottom fishing than an ugly stik, but I also paid $35 for a Lew's rod that is IM8 and seems to be really sensitive. One thing I do miss about cheaper rods is being able to throw them on the ground and not worry about it they get dirty or scratched, with these expensive rods I make sure I am careful as can be and never let the rod touch the ground. I think after I have fished a full season with the new rods, I will be able to solve this question for myself. I now have rods that cost from $10 to $550 and just about every price range in between and I have 2 years experience fishing with cheap rods to compare to. I might not catch more fish than this past season, but I fully expect to lose less fish when I do hook up.

Spinning or casting?

I have the SLX, SLX XT, and SLX DC, for me the XT did feel a little smoother out of the box and seems to outcast both the SLX and SLX DC. But, I do have PP Braid on the SLX and SLX DC compared to Seaguar InvizX on the SLX DC.

The 3 and 4 powers in the Sierra and Champion lines can be fished with just about anything. The 733 will cast those weights a little better and the 734 will have a little more hook setting power. You'll barely notice the weight difference between the two rods if that's what you're worried about it, it will only be a few grams. A little warning though, you will always hear how good the 734 is in the series and it could cause some people to have second thoughts if they didn't get it. It's definitely one of the top Dobyns model, if not the top. I have 6 Dobyns, including 2 Xtasy's, Champion Extreme, and 2 Champions, but I still feel like I need a 734, just to have one.