Benjamin J

Update: Thanks guys I’m returning it just in case.

I recently got a Sixth Sense Lux spinning rod and noticed a spot on the rod. I was wondering if the spot would lead to problems down the road. There is no damage to the outside of the rod, so I figured it was made like that. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Last year I bout a 6th Sense Milliken Spinning Rod in the 6'10" Medium Action Moderate Fast. It costed $135 so it won't break the bank. Out of all the rods I've ever owned this one is by far my favorite. You can feel every single rock on the bottom, yet it still has tons of hook setting power. I fish primarily smallmouth with dropshots, neds, paddletails and tubes. The biggest fish I've caught on it was a 25-30lb ray this summer while fishing for perch and it handled amazing. I have it paired with a Diawa Regal (soon to be Tatula 2000) with 10lb braid. Its also super tough, I even slammed the tip in my car door and you cant even tell. 100% would recommend to anyone.

I fish in a pretty small creek at home and usually the big fish are about 3lbs. I threw a ned rig for one day and got a 4.3. Now I throw them year round.

Just wondering what other preferences you all have about leader line for smallies. I've been using 8lb Yozuri Hybrid and its worked fine, but could I increase bites with lighter line in finesse situations (Ned, drop shot, hair jig)? Maybe lighter line in colder weather? Thanks in advance

Not sure about smallmouth, but I've had largemouth spit up multiple small pinecones at once. Definitely an interesting topic.

I was fishing a creek for smallies by my house in early March. The hole I was fishing was about 7-8 feet (deepest hole in that section) with a slow current. The water temp had spiked up to about 41 degrees so I figured I'd launch the yak and look for some active fish. I would never get too many bites there, but the bites were usually decent fish earlier in the year. A good fish here would be about 18", considering it was a smaller creek. I drug my tube through the back end of the pool and felt a nice tap, so I set the hook. If I hadn't had felt the take, I would've sworn I had just set the hook into a log. After a few seconds she shook her head and started fighting. Hard. I eventually got her right under my kayak, but she wrapped the line around a log and snapped my 8lb leader like butter. I'm guessing it was upwards of 5lbs which is pretty unheard of in there. I cringe just thinking about it.