inferiorfisherman

Love them. smartwool seems to have the softest of all of the mainstream brands. I use the 150 when it is chilly and the 250 when it is cold. The only cons I have noticed are they dry slowly and they don't last as long as synthetic fabrics. The best part about wool is the antimicrobial nature of it. You can work up a nasty sweat, but the wool won't stink when it dries out. This makes a fantastic choice for multi-day excursions or just being able to use then several days in a row in between washes. can't do this with any synthetic I have tried. if you decide to buy i recommend hand washing with a no rinse wool wash/conditioner. The garments last way longer and the no rinse soap leaves the wool super soft.

I am a big megabass fan. Most of my Orochi XX's have been traded-in or sold. Including the perfect pitch. I bought it at the same time I purchased the brailist. I found them both to be very heavy and the braillist unenjoyable to fish with. They have top notch in build quality and are beautiful rods. I still use and love the jerkbait special and the ronin. The ALX toadface is honestly more enjoyable to fish for anything I would fish the perfect pitch for and it is cheaper. Not as pretty though. if you are willing to spend more the Steez AGS power pitch is incredible for the same applications.

I honestly don't remember, but I have one on my jerkbait rod with 30lb braid (8# equivalent). I still have plenty of line left over after a max cast. I tried every real I own on my jerkbait rod and the alphas was the clear winner for me. the frame size allows me to grip the reel in a way where I can keep my wrist at the best angle to avoid pain. I have smallish hands though, which might be important in understanding why I am such a fan of this reel. It isn't a distance casting champion for sure, but the sv spool is nice in the wind with a jerkbait. comparing to the 20 metanium I would say I get 90%+ of the distance with the alphas, but experience substantially less stress casting the alphas.

I keep buying Zillions in regular and HD, but IMO the Alphas SV doesn't get enough love. It is the most comfortable reel in hand. it is very small, but is incredibly solid. I put a 110 carbon handle on them and use them for all of my pitching, flipping, skipping. It is not a light lure reel like I originally thought. It is a heavy duty reel in a compact frame. can be had for around $170

JDM Luvias or JDM Abu garcia Zenon are the best values right now. High end reels at mid level prices. I recently picked up 2 Zenon for $215 each and a Luvias for $195. However, you mentioned beating it up, and based on the rod you have chosen I would expect it to be tip heavy like every st croix rod I have used. for that reason I would get the JDM stradic with a shallow spool (if you use braid). These reels are tanks and that little bit of extra weight will come in handy to balance the rod, but they are not very heavy for a metal reel.

Zillion HD on ALX toadface or Zilllion HD on Steez AGS power pitch

I have several of both. both are fantastic reels. I think the tatula LT is the best value available. Stradic is more solid and has less flex in the stem, but heavier for sure. I choose the stradic when the extra weight is needed to balance a rod (st croix) or i plan to fish inshore. vanford's are great too, but honestly not that much better than a tatula IMO. they spin up very quickly with very little force as compared to stradic However, you can get a JDM luvias for under $200 right now. I am taking one of these in a shallow spool at that price point over any of these.

I also own both. I use the elite P/F on my xtra heavy rod. the large handle give you a ton of leverage and the build feels more solid than the SV 103. However, it is quite a bit larger than the sv103 in hand. I have small hands and like to palm reel and the elite P/F isn't nearly as comfortable in hand as the sv 103. The other difference in performance I see is how the brakes work. I consider the sv 103 to be overbraked and much harder to backlash. although the elite p/f has brakes tuned for pitching they aren't as aggressive as the sv103. so, I find the elite to be easier to backlash and a little less forgiving, but I can pitch quite a bit further with the elite p/f. like a lot further with the same effort and same rod. if you are an experienced pitcher with decent size hands I would say the Elite for sure. if you are new to pitching, and have small mitts then I would recommend the SV.

Sunline Xplasma from 8-60lb, nanofil for anything under 8lb

I have given up on noodle rods for crappie fishing under most conditions. I find a land more fish on a slightly stiffer rod in general and for sure with bobber fishing. I can run a 1/32 oz jig on a 2lb FC leader under a swivel with a 1/16 or 1/8 oz sinker above. no need for a noodle rod to cast that. If I break my leader getting snagged I still have my bobber. The only time I get out a noodle type rod is when I am casting 1/32 oz mini mites for bluegill. Even then I prefer to use a stiffer rod with a solid tip would probably not do it from the bank. This seems to be where crappie fishing is going and there are many specialty crappie rods makers who make a stout rod. If you are bobber fishing mostly, I recommend a 7.5ft-8ft rod, and in that price range I would look at the ACC crappie sticks, or the new BnM 75. I recently purchased both, one as a gift and another for myself

I have several of these and several other manufacturers in the same price point. In my opinion the megabass Orochi line is the only thing that can compete in the fit/finish department at this price point with the HP. I am not trying to defend dobyns, but having owned several I am just shocked that anyone would mention them as being anything other than excellent in this category. If I was going to knock dobyns on anything it would be that they need to update their blanks on a line or 2, as they can't offer the same sensitivity as some others like the Expride or Orochi for example. I do put U40 seal on all of my cork grips and haven't had any issues with the cork.

I haven't fished it with a jerkbait yet, but I just went through the same process recently. I picked up a Megabass Orochi ronin which is 6'8" and designed specifically for jerk baits. Seems about like the ideal length for someone my height. 5'9".

you are correct. he doesn't seem to be a fan of the braid to leader setups. He knows way more than I ever will, but I do know a few things about myself. One of them is that anything but braid or 3lb mono on a spinning reel might result in a rod a reel sinking quickly to the bottom of the lake after a fit of rage. If I was a better fisherman maybe I would feel differently. that is a good point. in the past I have just used straight braid for topwaters. I'll have to try it out and see how it works out.

thanks for the responses. I have been watching a lot of Randy Blaukat on youtube recently. He is very fond of spinning rigs for certain things and he makes a really strong logical case for them in some instances. I went all in on baitcasters a couple of years ago after being a spinning only guy for my entire life. I loved them instantly for many things, but I never could enjoy throwing anything under 1/2 oz that wasn't aerodynamic. It's always windy where I fish. I have a bit of carpal tunnel in one wrist and it seems like a spinning rod put my wrist in a more natural position for twitching a jerking. I got skunked my last 5 trips in row last year. My strategy is to down size and slow down this year. If I don't catch them this year, I guess I'll just have to accept that there is no bass in Indiana's public lakes, and I wasted thousands of dollars on gear. Oh well, I would pretty much rather be floating around casting lures and not catching anything than doing about anything else. I know I can always catch crappie if the bass aren't biting. That being said I won't ever stop using a baitcaster. I actually just picked up a st croix victory "the jerk" casting rod as well. I had an orphaned casting reel sitting around that needed a home. I'll do some A/B testing between The Jerk and the Ronin. maybe having the right casting rod for jerks will sell me. If I don't end up like the Ronin for jerkbaits, it will come in handy. All of my other spinning rods are 7'4" or longer.

I picked up a Megabass orochi Ronin. the plan is to throw some hardbaits in the spring that I don't enjoy casting on a baitcaster. Mainly jerkbaits (vision 110 and Jr's), small cranks, and twitching topwater. I spooled up my spinning reel favorite 12lb braid. Trying to decide if I want to tie on a leader or if I want to run straight braid. I run a mix now. I comfortable fishing with and tying leaders (thanks to my new daichi knot assist 2.0). I currently have in my leader box: 7,10,12,14,16 lb sunline sniper. So, what do you think? leader or no leader. If leader which line should I use? I don't mind picking up a new line for the leader if recommended, but not interested in ditching braid as my main line.