Bass Rutten

My personal preference is casting gear, all things being equal casting gear will be more sensitive, powerful, accurate with better line management. That's a win all the way around if you ask me. A daiwa sv or any lighter spool reel will help with casting.

Keeping it simple has its merits in some aspects of fishing, I use daiwa reels only and keep rods to no more than three manufacturers for consistency in feel, but lures and soft plastics isn't one of them for me, too many good ones out there, one brand would be too limiting, speaking for myself (and baitmonkey).

Will they be confiscating mancards at the door? (asking for a friend)

Baitmonkey luring us in once again! Thanks to this thread I'm preparing a bunch of items for a spring selloff for funds that will be "re-purposed". This jerk could be a nice addition for the shallow Florida waters I fish. What line are you using?

True, he lived the life. Being able to earn a living doing something you truly love is a blessing. I'd guess I'm close to 60k in the hole on fishing expenses approaching 30 years bass fishing.

Over his 33 year career minus taxes and expenses that's less than 60k yearly. Obviously tournament winnings are one of multiple income sources for these guys.

TSI321

The step down in power does not affect the taper which is where the blank of the rod bends. I use an old st croix avid x 7ft med/fast exclusively for spooks, traps, mid-divers (dt6), and squarebills (+/-1/2oz), combined with a 10-12lb mono or co-polymer line I have an exceptional hookup/landing ratio. I used to use a dobyns 705cb (7ft mh/mod-fast) for the exact same applications. While the med/fast may technically give up a little power it's barely noticeable in use, but what I feel I gained was better hookset power which is what I attribute to my high hookup/landing ratio. The x-factor here is that different rod companies can vary a bit on their power and taper ratings.

A bit off topic... @FishTank love the adrenaline craw as a jig trailer too, does that xzone bug have the same tall meaty body or is it kind of thin like most other beavers/bugs?

Lots of those "duplicate" listings are actually third party sellers or brokers. As long as the seller has lots of transactions and positive feedback(99%+) there's nothing sketch about it, also ebay is known for siding heavily with buyers should something be off with the product.

See my other comment above. The standard 24 tatula 100. For the record I'm not saying the tatula is a better reel, just that I don't need the zillions refinement for the applications that particular rod will be used for. The alphas is an 80 class sized finesse reel with an sv free floating spool. The tat elite is tuned for distance.

While true, the majority of backseaters/co’s are not competing at that big time level anyhow. Regardless of what’s going on at the top level tournament scene I think your article idea would still have value as it could apply to fun as well as tournament fishing, especially if the focus was specifically about the strategical (and psychological?) aspect of fishing from the back. I say that because it seems most related articles/videos/chats focuses on the getting started / what to expect / etiquette etc aspect which has already been discussed ad infinitum.

No, you join us, I like when fish tug on my line. If I knew where you lived I'd sneak in your garage and setup every rod you own with a dropshot rig

Welcome from central Florida! My dad had a pair of yamaha xt 550's when I was a kid, I've actually been thinking about getting into dual sport bikes myself when finances allow.

Bird is right. I assume by adjust the hook you mean adjust the dropper length. If you have the hook held in place by a bobber stop it will slip on the hookset down to the weight and the whole rig and your fish will be held on by whatever means you used to secure the weight, not a good idea. What I do is tie on hook as usual, then put the weight on your dropper (sometimes a bullet/worm type and sometimes a closed eye dropshot/free rig type), followed by a bobber stop below it, then tie a double overhand knot or a split ring to hold it all on should you hang up and the weight/stop slides down. That will allow you to adjust the dropper length by sliding the bobber stop up or down and still allow you a solid hookset. Edit: and yes if you try that you are crazy.