ww2farmer

I have that rod, it will fling 1/4oz. baits very well, and anything above 5/8 oz. feels like it's "too much" for the rod. I have thrown 1/4, and 1/2 oz. Red Eye shads, KVD 1.0, 1.5, 2.5 square bills, SK series 3, and 3xd's, and KVD 1.5 flats. It handled them all fine, BUT, I tried a 5xd on it and it felt like the rod was not up to it. It's a little too whippy and soft for me, as I don't like it for cranking around grass, which is what I do 99% of the time. I am selling it if your interested.

I use zoom finesse, and trick worms..............they don't float, and senkos.........which really don't float, yet some how I catch a TON of fish on them with a shaky head..........I must be a wizard or some thing, cause we all know worms HAVE TO float to work on a shaky head

I use the Alberto for braid to backing, and braid to leader. No issues.

I use several lengths. 6'9", 7', 7'3" MH/F rods, and also my 7'6" H/F flipping stick.

Hooks..........can't catch a fish without one............well you can, but it's not the way we do it.

Big thanks to smalljaw67, whom via PM guided me along with this decision. I ended up ordering today from Fish USA, the 6'9" M/XF spinning rod, the 6'9" MH/F casting rod, and the 6'10" MH/MF casting rod................LOL none of which are rods I asked about in this thread.

I was thrown out of an Applebee's in Fredonia NY for ripping a decoration boat paddle off the wall and wailing my buddy on the backside with it.........I had a few drinks in me.

Bag of senkos...........BOOM...ten lures, one pack, discuss amungst yourself's, but please remember the children.

Just feather the line coming off the spool with the pointer finger of the hand your holding the rod in....your not going to get cut.

The best pike lure, is the bass lure your killing them on right now, and your down to your last one.........and TW is out of stock, and none can be found locally. They will be all over that.

I actually tried this a few years ago...........it was a miserable faliure for me, that's why I never brought it up LOL.

I pitch with every reel I own. I flip with a Revo STX

Nothing "gimmicky" about them. They work and they work well.....

I like the SK KVD's in all three sizes most of the time. I also use the SK series 1 and 4s in some situations, they seem to come throught wood better than the KVD's and they also rattle, so when the water gets murked up with an alge bloom here I often go to those. I agree with everyone on the stock hooks, as hooks get changed on all of them to the Mustad Elite KVD 1x strong, 2x short, triple grips, I don't find I need to tune them any more or less than any other brands, some need it out of the box, some don't, some need it after a while , some don't.

1/2 oz. Strike King. RES in albino craw, or Japanese shad.

R.I. Sweet or Smallie beavers. They add bulk with out adding much movement. And as a bonus, I texas rig, drop shot, and shaky head with them too...........a "do -all" bait for me, and saves me from having to carry around a bunch baits, like chunk style trailers, that I wouldn't use for much of anything other than a jig trailer.

If the weeds and cover are not too thick, I would go with a 6'6" ML power spinnng set up, with a 1000 sized Shimano/Daiwa reel or xx25 size Pflueger reel. 8 or 10lb braid, and 6,or 8lb flouro for leader material.That will be enough rod to handle most any bass in all but thick cover, and yet still light enough if you want to switch to bluegill/panfish it will do that just fine. Your not going to get much casting distance out of a 5'6" rod which might be nessecary in a pond to reah fish out away from the bank, and eventhough once in a while a big bass can be subdued with UL powered equipment, it's not the right tool for the job.

Unless you want to spend more money , rods that are 7'6" or longer in this price range are generally a little tip heavy. The Abu's IMHO are the LEAST tip heavy of the bunch in this price range, thats kinda why I went to them. You deffinatly DO NOT want a Shimano or St Croix, nothing short of a boat anchor balances them out. I use a 7'6" H Vendetta, and with an 8oz. Gen1 Revo STX it's not bad, not bad at all. The 7'11" H Shimano Clarus I had was terrible even with a 10 oz. Citica D on it, and the 7'11" H St Croix Mojo I had was OK with the Citica D on it, but overall just too heavy of a combo to flip comfortably all day with.

Are you related to my boss? LMAO

I only use a knot to connect my leaders. The Alberto knot, it's small and passes through "regular" guides with no ill effects just fine. I tie my leaders just long enought so that when the bait is at the tip of the rod, the knot is just outside the reel, I don't like the knot on the reel, and IMHO a 4'-5' leader is plenty long enough in bass fishing. However...I did not like it (the alberto knot) going through micro guides at all, so I sold my rods with micro guides. It's not a good idea to reel a swivel through the guides, for many reasons, #1 being that it will wreck the guides...metal swivel vs. guide insert............swivel wins every time.

It's been two full months now. No regressions or cheating. And I have done my best to avoid weight gain during this process............I haven't lost any, but I haven't put any on either so that's a win-win. I feel better, more energy, I sleep 1000 times better, and fall asleep faster, I have saved money, and I don't have to tote a bottle of spit around with me every where. Why didn't I do this sooner...........or better yet when I have stopped before, why didn't it last. This time it will.

I think I'll pass.

We think alike, but like the sheep...........I too have a favorite. It's hard to beat a good ol' cheap Rebel Pop-R. Change the craptastic hooks it comes with, and it will catch fish with the best of them.

Better check the standings, maybe your the next one if they decide to fill his spot. LOL

20lb braid with cranking specific rods, and flouro leaders ranging from 10-17lb depending on the cover, and/or type of cranking (lipless, deep, squarebill, etc...)