softwateronly

@Jaybert The jdm met and bantam have "ruined" the curado brand for me. I think it's definitely worth it. Hope the tax man is taking a nap when it passes through for you. scott

I will say Dobyns has a more muted feel in terms of sensitivity to me. Ultimately, I don't think there is a discernible difference once you learn the rod and I agree with @rangerjockey. But if you're going for sensitivity skip the conquest series. Nothing wrong with them, just think steez ags is above it. I haven't done an nrx+ but most others still hold it as the production rod standard and that's probably worth a try. Good luck! scott

Metanium is a great reel, I own a few. They all were a little touchy to dial in, but have "sent em" ever since I did. They've held up great to heavy use. I see Canada on your avatar, I think you'll get hit with import charges if I remember correctly from reading here. At the same time, I still think the cost is totally justified compared to a curado. Just a heads up and hopefully a fellow canuck can elaborate. scott

But you can get it in 2/0, which can be key. I like the matt allen head for larger baits and their mini underspin is just about perfect for me except the price and no 1/2oz option. scott

I only fun fish and over 90% of the time solo. 8-12 rods are the usual and I definitely double up on jigs, swim jigs, worms, and/or spoons if I'm on that bite and almost always have a version of those 4 rigged up. Night time I can get down to 5-6 and prefer a less cluttered deck. scott

Just discovered that bait this year. There's been more than a few days where it was the deal, already. scott

Getting exposed to digitaka and major craft from this site. My 2 piece 6'9M/F Days at $130 (all in) is a game changer for me. Add in an alphas 800s, and it costs $10 more than one expride rod and I love it. And even better yet, I still like my exprides and think they're good rods for the price. scott

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=20&searchtext=silicone+stopper You can try these, I'd go XL if on the back of the hook so it does move if needed on a hookset. If you go on the front end, maybe a L. It's a guess, I got them a few years ago and no longer need them for what I wanted and forgot what I learned. scott

@Texas Flood For me; it's killer post spawn through summer. I'll set up in 20-25' fow and throw it at the weedline/break trying to tightline surf it down through the tops of the hydrilla. When it it hits bottom, 2-3 fast reel turns, rod pointed down still, tightline again till bottom. Repeat. It's also good on deep flats for me when bluegill are suspended. Same bomb cast, tightline, reel rips. @WRB put me on to a cps spring and a 2" piece of a trick worm as a weedguard. When the bite is on; it's a big fish bait. No dinks mess around with it, and the bite is an obvious thunk. Can't miss it. I like a longer rod, loomis 904mbr is my fave. There's some Seth Feider vids out there pimping the chicken jig. Good luck! scott

@Texas Flood Is that Mullet hair jig new to you? Been looking at it for awhile. The chicken jig is a big fish producer for me in the summer, just really like Northland's crappie and bluegill colors. scott

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Picasso_Tungsten_Ball_Jig_Heads/descpage-PTBJH.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Picasso_Smart_Mouth_Jig_Head_Gamakatsu_2X_5pk/descpage-PFH2X.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Picasso_Smart_Mouth_Plus_Jig_Head_3X_Mustad/descpage-PSMP3XM.html

Look for 2/0 2X hooks if you are worried about your rig’s power. Picasso ball head comes to mind. scott

I'd have gone from none to a braillist, launcher, and a EMTF en route... scott

I did see that, thanks man. It's more of a recent nostalgia, I was just getting back into fishing 12-13 years ago and twitching those soft swimmers in the early growth weeds got me off my senko addiction and started my newfound tackle addiction instead. It was also the first "big bait" I ever caught with. On a medium spinning rod. scott

Need to be more specific. Me too. Two times out of the last 4 years, November ended up being my best month for quantity of quality. scott

Unfortunately, not confirmed. Save $99. scott

@Junk Fisherman The 10 day looks like a lot of south/sw wind and warmer temps. I'm hoping for another month. scott

Yes, more similar to a zoom fluke in action to me with maybe a little more glide. But the 7" on a free rig got this pig in early summer. OSP dolive stick has the best shimmy on the fall that I've used, but I need to wait for a sale. scott

That sounds like a lovely set up, a true do-all from 1/8-5/8, I can't imagine you not loving it. scott

I have a little over 20 rigs that get fished heavily with no exact duplicates but there's a large overlap in what they can handle and how they handle. I have noticed that I tend to like a long and short version of each rod category, ie 6'10M/MF and 7'8M/RF, etc. Longer rods for bombing clear water flats and shorter rods for picking apart nearby cover, though that's not mutually exclusive. scott

I prefer a longer MH/MF rod, specifically an expride 7'6MH, with 30lb braid to 14lb sniper for lighter overall weights and a Loomis 904mbr for heavier weights. scott

Hahaha, @Functional this is the 1st year in many that I found sustained success with a spinnerbait! Since I fish over 85% of my time on 2 conjoined lakes that only come in at 300 acres, I like to learn lots of bait options to help mitigate the bass winning. scott

That's a brutal day on the water. I've got nothing but 2 questions; were you able to determine the size of the shad? and were you able to fish anything crazy fast? When I run into a version of this, these are my correction points. Happens to me most often in the late summer. scott And I forgot this one; even if theyre busting the surface, a lot of times I need to fish deeper because they only come up when they've singled something out.

Alphas 800s is the lighter weight spool, less line capacity but easier start up for throwing lighter baits and is silver without color accents. If you're seeing blueish tones; its just a reflection angle in the photography. The air is black with red accents. I'm throwing pe 1.5 on my 800s. I also have an alphas air and agree with your assessment, more true bfs style reel. They are both small reels, comparable to the curado 70/met that I find very comfortable to fish with, if you have mitts, might not be right for you. It's a tremendous reel and at digitaka prices there's nothing that compares value wise imo. https://www.digitaka.com/item/4/4/2/4550133289439 scott edit for clarity; the difference between the 20 and 22 is just the lighter weight spool

@Jaybert I get it and was there myself just a couple years ago. Now I'm just happy with either of the two big names because there's a level of quality guaranteed. The alphas, met, bantam, and zillion are all just so solid, but with that comes a price premium. I hear nothing but great things about the new slx and would do what you're doing. I wouldn't buy a curado today, that's for sure. scott