casts_by_fly

The rapala og 4 and 6 are great for what you’re saying. No rattle, but a nice tight wobble and great feel. The 6 will go to 6’ but only on thin line. Throw it on 16# mono or similar and you’ll just clip 4’. And have heavier line for the heavier cover. The hybrid hunter does everything you want. I haven’t caught a fish on one yet but it hits all the notes.

my bankbeater grab one pond rod is actually the finesse jig. it will throw a half just fine and up to 3/4 total if i really need to. I don’t have heavy cover in any pond I’m fishing here so the lighter rod is just fine. and I can go down to a 1/8 plus plastic pretty well.

I have the trapcaster in the bucoo line which is the same rod. I also use it with braid for lipless. With mono I like it for crank baits but it’s a tough rod to love. Versatile yes but just okay.

Alright. I went and did it and bought the “like new” used version from Alf. Got it today. This is going to be a cool rod. It is listed as ultralight but that’s just the top 15” of the rod. It’s like they grafted an ultralight tip to a medium light bottom. The bottom half feels like my 6’10” zodias ML. I compared them side by side with my stradic on them. Both balance great. The PA is obviously lighter in the tip (power and weight) which helps it balance. It’s lighter overall. I’d guess 0.25-0.50 oz total without weighing them. The tip is light for casting 1/16 plus plastic. Or even a 1/16 maribou jig. A light wrist flick loads it up for the top 12-18”. I’ve obviously not fished it yet, but I think it’s going to be great for a light Ned or a lighter jig head minnow. It has a lot of feel for the quick wrist flip sidearm. And actually l think the first time I fish it might be for trout. It has the perfect feel for that.

Those are two rods I don't know myself. I'm pretty sure that @BrianMDTX has the all around fast lowrider. It's unique to that lineup and I'd love to try it myself, though I haven't found a need for it. the head turner is my fast action equivalent for that. the weightless worm is supposedly fairly light with a really light tip. More of an open hook wacky type rather than a 3/0 texas rig weightless. Looks like we were typing at the same time

excel as in bass pro excel? Any reason why?

Falcon isn’t American made anymore if that was your reference. They moved the last of it a couple years ago. mykeybe described it pretty well. There are a few rods that are outliers in that but it’s close. A 6 power would be a MH in a lot of brands, especially the ones that are known to run heavy. Consider that the head turner is rated 1/4-3/4 as a ‘heavy’ and that’s a normal MH range. The finesse jig is rated 1/4-3/4 also though I would dispute that. I’d rate the finesse jig a medium myself but it’s a 5 power. The swim jig is rated for an odd lure range. Outside of that they are all pretty true to rating.

What area do you live in? You might be able to find someone locally who fishes those boats and you can check them out.

I'm not sure the eye crosser is what you want. It's a full step up in power from the head turner. If you make the jump from the finesse jig to the head turner, it's at least that much again on top of the head turner. I use it for my frog/toad rod as well as mid size soft swimbaits (6" magdraft and equivalents). As a frog rod, I've occasionally wanted it to have a little more tip. The expert head turner might be more what you want. I don't have the cara but I do have the bucoo SR as well as the expert. Comparatively, the expert has a pretty stiff upper third, but the tip is light enough to fling that 1/2 oz range pretty well. A 1/2 oz jig plus trailer is probably on the upper end of what I'd normally throw on it (in jigs) but I'm also not skipping jigs most of the time and the heavy cover jig and amistad would be my next jumps up for a heavier jig. I like it as a lighter frog rod with braid which is similar to your 'turn his head and get him out' need. Is braid an option for you? thanks rick

Are you thinking to truck bed it or trailer? adding a motor or just going for a pedal version?

the other one to consider is the Falcon Lowrider in the cranker 2. Its a 3/8-3/4, 7'6" MH/MF and is the lowrider version of the cranker 2 blank. They come in at $129 with full cork and good reel seats (I prefer the fuji seats on falcon rods to all others). I haven't handled this specific rod, but it hits all of the right spots for you. I think its the bigger brother to the Hudson special but in the lowrider line.

we are forecast some snow on the back of this storm, but only for the 4 hours overnight that it is going to dip below 32. It will be gone in the morning when we wake up or shortly thereafter. More importantly we are supposed to get 3" of rain in 72 hours which we sorely need. It's been 60+ as the highs for the past 2 weeks, but winter is coming.

Not yet. On the falcon home page they have a link to the youtube video for it. They don't get heavy into the specs, but at once point the guy holds the rod and you can see the label decently well. He is using the 7'2" at that time. My hope is that it is similar to the 7'2" swimjig rod only powered down 2 powers. That would be pretty ideal.

only you can know based on the rod itself. Maybe is the short answer. What is the rod (make and model)? Saltwater rods for heavier applications like surf and boat are typically pretty flexible in what they can handle. My heavy surf rod I think is a 1-4 but I've through 8 and bait on it before.

Amber or yellow on my humminbird for side. It just works with my amber polarized lenses. On downscan I prefer the red/blue pallet. On ffs I like green.

What’s mid deep for you? For me, that’s a rod capable of a dt6 up to a dt16. I don’t get to do that much because when the fish are at that depth around here we have lots of grass. When I can do it though, I use the falcon expert Hudson special. It’s a 7’3” and perfect for that. If you want it’s big brother rod, the Toledo special is a longer and slower version at 7’8” and a slower action. They will set you back $200 and $220 respectively but if you can wait for after Christmas you can get the 10% off gift card special at TW.

Hi Gents, Per the title, anyone have this rod? I've done some searching and there isn't a ton of first hand about it. Based on what I'm reading, it looks like it is more or less the medium light blank design that they have thinned down the tip to be ultra light while still retaining a lot of backbone shortly into the rod. When I bought my zodias last year, this is about exactly what I was looking for. I love my zodias, but this one has my interest. thanks rick

if you figure a 1/4 oz for the plastic, you're into a half ounce total quickly. Even if you're only adding a 1/8 oz plastic like a 2.5" Keitech SIF you're still at 3/8. On the top end you're 3/8-3/4 total bait weight. That's completely baitcaster territory forme. Since I fish Falcon that's a 5 or 6 power (MH or light Heavy). Which rod and line depends on the cover I'm fishing. Long casts, rock bottom, and open points? Either the 7'2" swim jig or the 7'3" Hudson special and 12-14# sunline mono. Cover, docks, and target casting? Definitely the 6'10" Head turner and 16# sunline.

'rating' in the descriptive word sense can be a wide range depending on the manufacturer's whims. It can depend on the intended use or any other thing the manufacturer thinks is right. You said both are salt water. Is one a surf rod and the other an inshore type rod? A medium heavy surf rod could be 1-3 oz while an inshore type rod meant for redfish and specs would be rated more like a freshwater bass rod and a heavy would carry a 3/8-1 type of rating.

same logic as for crankbaits. When a bass inhales a moving bait, you want a little bit of give in your setup so that he can properly inhale it for the times when they are eating but not absolutely crushing it. the more give, the deeper the fish takes it and the better chance of a hookset. That's the logic anyway. I've not had any issues with fish inhaling chatterbaits with mono and fast graphite rods.

so I didn't look close enough at this picture because it was darker and not clear. It's not the same buck that I have been chasing in the earlier pictures. The earlier one has taller tines and lots of curvature. He's also a mainframe 8 that's lost a point. This one in the above picture is dead. I was in the blind this morning at 530 again. Around 6 a pair of does came in and shortly thereafter 3 bucks walk in. The first is the one in this picture on the left (blurry) that is a small 8. The other was a forkhorn I know. This 8 was the other. I couldn't tell at first because it was too dark. I thought it might be the 4x1 in the pictures further up this thread. But as it kept getting lighter I could see tines on both sides as he turned his head. I could also see he was much wider than his body. Pretty certain he was a shooter, I just had to wait for more light. It was just about light enough at 615 when a fox came running in and spooked all of the deer off. They didn't run far though and 5 minutes later they were walking back in. He came in straight on and stayed that way for 10 minutes so I didn't have a shot. I was ready to draw so when a stick/leave/bird spooked him he made 3 big steps to my right and stopped. I was already drawn before he stopped so I settled the pin and let loose. I thought he was every so slightly quartering to so I kept it tight to the shoulder, but when my lighted knock didn't disappear I knew I hit the offside bone (or so I thought). It burried to the fletchings though so I was confident it was in the boiler room. He ran across the powerline and down the hill into the woods. I heard deer running for 30 seconds and thought I heard a crash down over the hill (about 150 yards down) but given that I thought he was slightly quartering and that the arrow didn't pass through, I thought I'd give him a half hour. After 10 minutes I walked over to see the start of the trail and check the arrow part that I saw cut off. I didn't find the fletchings, but I did find the rest of the arrow. I think his shoulder cut it when he ran and the fletching side fell out the right and the broadhead side out the left. Not a pass through, but 2 holes. And there was also blood every where and good bubbly blood. I ended up calling my dad and chatting while I came back, let the dogs out, change clothes, etc. I didn't need to worry. What I thought was a crash way down over the hill must have just been the other deer stopping. The arrow hit the base of both lungs and the top arteries of the heart. He didn't go 30 yards. Not sure why it didn't penetrate all the way through since it didn't hit bone but I'll take it. He's a solid 5.5 year old, and it you told me he was a lot older I'd believe you. I don't think we have the best nutrition for growing racks around here but the grey in his face and thickness of his bases betray some age in him. Definitely my widest buck ever, and probably my biggest.

For $100 it’s well worth a try if you want a lighter lure/like casting rod. it would be a great small crankbait rod (3/8 and under). A weightless senko on a lighter hook. Finesse jigs. Smaller top waters like poppers and Zara puppies. If you fish 1/4 oz shaky heads or equivalent weight 3” paddle tails. It’s a 1/4-3/8 oz lure weight rod and 10-12 lb line. I would call it a moderate fast and medium power. It shouldn’t bend as much as it does on a cast to call it a fast action. as for the reels, the met is a better feeling reel than the curado. Both should cast similarly as both will have the mgl spool. That’s a pretty good choice for that rod. The met is smaller and will feel like a better pair.

Then in that case vert to my prior questions. How big of a boat do you want and how much do you want to spend? You say your ranger won’t fit the garage. What will? In my own case, it means a 16-17’ boat with a small motor. A tracker 175 txw with a 50hp elco electric and a good trolling motor would fish like any other bass boat. A used txw plus an elco would run you $15-20k depending on age of the boat and if you sell the motor that’s on it. that’s how the electric only lakes are around here, but there are other lakes in Maryland and Georgia where you can’t have it on the boat. Or if you have it, you have to take the prop off. It’s annoying for sure but I get it for water supply reservoirs.

Sitting in my blind for a single deer and get this showing him a half mile away. I don’t think he’s going to make it here before dark but I’ve never seen him in that camera before.

That’s the BFS labeled rod. I bought one in June from TW for $125. I wanted it for 1/8oz Ned rigs and 1/16 Texas rigs. I didn’t like it. Not fast in action. It has a lot more bend deep into the rod when casting far more relaxed stroke. And the tip wasn’t light enough to go down to a 1/8 head plus finesse trd. I mean it was fine, but not what I wanted. I moved to the phoenix ml on a suggestion from frydog and gave my dad the curado since that’s all he fishes. For a 6” swamp crawler and a 1/16 or 1/8 weight it’s a good spinning rod replacement (he doesn’t like a spinning rod). im excited to try the new Falcon Cara BFS that they just announced. 7’2”, falcon 3-power. 1/8-5/8 I think.