Brian11719

Pretty much what @MN Fisher said but I'd add Cashion to the rod list and Lew's Tournament Pro and Speed Spool 6:8 reels to the list. Then just pick up 200 yards of 15lb fluoro, throw half of it on the reel and save half for later. The Tatula 100 and new 100 SV coming out also look very good for reels. Rod wise I'm partial to Dobyn's for crankbait rods and have been using 2 of the 3 Kaden rods and have been very happy with both of them, but those other brands are mostly the 'usual suspects' that I'd be looking at. Sadly I don't own any Shimano rods...I think their spinning reels are some of the best out there and the Shimano rods I've held also seemed like they were very high quality, but I fish in a kayak and prefer a better warranty so usually stick to St Croix, Dobyns and Cashion when I'm looking at rods (although Phenix also seems to have a similar warranty so have been looking at them a bit lately too). The 6'10 Kaden is a fine jerkbait rod and also good for poppers and smaller crankbaits. For larger ones I like the KD 735CB. Between the two you've pretty much got everything except really big deep divers covered.

It seems like they might be trying out some sort of burst pricing model. It used to kick in on Sunday but lately I've seen it happen early in the morning on Tuesday or Wednesday. Generally speaking it gets up to 20% off then goes back down to 15% before getting turned off. Most major brands (eg. Loomis, Dobyns, Shimano, Daiwa, etc.) seem to be included and I ended up getting a few different rods through it. While it's not as great as say their St. Croix sale from a few months ago, it's still worth waiting for if you need a new rod or reel and don't want to wait too long for a traditional sale. I've got a Shimano reel bookmarked and just check it periodically to see when it is active. The Tackle Warehouse sale is also interesting...almost like a garage sale to get rid of some of the stuff that might not have been performing as well from the looks of it. Looked through the items on sale and nothing really jumped out at me...but if I did see something that I wanted I'd probably go with these...little more expensive than the stickers but I'd also probably be able to use them.

I personally use 10lb braid for my spinning rods, 30lb braid for topwater and 50lb braid for my frog / punch setup. For the 10lb braid I use a 10lb invizx leader and for the 30lb braid I use a 10lb yo-zuri copoly leader. No leader for the 50lb braid. So my personal vote would be 'most of the time depending on what you are using it for.' For the knot I use the improved Alberto knot shown in this video.

20% off almost everything at American Legacy with the code OPENHOUSE and it looks like it stacks with stuff that's already discounted. Seems like A.L.F. is becoming one of my favorite shops lately...as an aside it looks like this code works on the new Vanford and they have the 2500 in stock in case you were considering one of those.

One other thing to point out here is I (personally) think the action is going to be different with any weight. In my case I prefer the 1/8 (or even 1/16) weight. The 1/16 gives the fluke a slow gliding fall action that I like and seems to imitate bluegill well. If I go up to a 1/8 I've noticed the action is similar to what I'd expect with a stupid tube. Weightless is also an option but Zoom Super Flukes are really light, so I personally don't like throwing them weightless. On the other hand the weightless hook doesn't bother me with a D shad or Caffeine Shad.

So most of the time I don't have the patience to 'dead stick' the lure and it doesn't matter as much and I've also caught plenty of bass on a drop shot with a trick worm. A couple of times that I can think of where it might be useful to have the lure standing up like that are if it's really cold or hot and the bass aren't biting that much...or if you are trying to get them around beds. Several ponds that I fish around also have a fair amount of 'gunk' on the bottom so I like the idea of the lure sticking up rather than laying flat on the bottom. Also...one thing I forgot to mention is if you are going to try one of the elaztech lures on a shakey head make sure you get a shakey head where the screw sticks out a little so you can put the bait into it. I've noticed that the ones where the metal just starts spiraling immediately can be difficult / time consuming to get the elaztech lure on but something like the Owner Shakey Ultrahead where there's a point sticking out of the screw are much easier to get elaztech lures on. Having said that the main idea that I wanted to get across here is I found it fun (and useful) to test things out for myself rather than just rely on videos others have posted on social media. Not saying the lures I like are going to be the best for everyone and as an example if you prefer to nose hook your lures with a really light hook your experience might be very different from mine.

Thank you for reminding me I need to throw a bone spook more when I'm in my kayak

The drop shot is one of my favorite lures to catch bass. I realize there are some folks that think casting rods are the best but I'm not worried about looking macho in my kayak in the middle of a lake with no one around me...I'm looking to put fish in the boat and one of the best ways I've found to do that is with a drop shot. Having said that, the tackle monkey got me pretty bad recently and I found myself buying a bunch of different worms and shad shaped lures to try and find out which one was really going to be the best for me. Once I got them all I figured I'd test them out in a tank to see how they look underwater and since this forum (and Glen's youtube channel) has helped me out I figured I'd try to return the favor. I usually use a 1/0 ewg hook for drop shots and have it tied to a 10lb Invizx leader so in case you see any of the pictures and find yourself wondering that's what I used here. For testing I looked at the lure(s) while holding it still with the weight on the bottom and then looked at it again while giving it slight twitches since I'm using doing one of those two things when I throw a drop shot. I also put these on a shakey head since that's another one of my favorites so I'll mention some of that as well. Ok now that that's out of the way let's get to the lures (and the results): Trick Worm This is kind of the standard so I figured I'd start here. While holding still the lure slowly falls to the bottom and lays flat. Nothing necessarily special about it but nothing bad either. While giving it slight twitches it stays pretty horizontal. On a shakey head it slowly falls to the bottom and then lays flat. Overall Grade C 6" Roboworm Straight Tail Worm This one looked really good on a drop shot while giving it slight twitches. When I kept it still it fell to the bottom a little slower than the trick worm but stayed flat all the way down. Great action on a drop shot. On a shakey head it layed flat for me so I'm not sure I'd use this one on a shakey head but I think it's a good overall drop shot lure. Overall Grade B Yamamoto Sensei I was excited to learn about this one so picked up a bag in junebug since the water at my pond has been pretty dirty lately. On a drop shot while keeping still it did slightly better than the trick worm. Same thing when giving it slight twitches and it also did a little better on a shakey head and even though it would fall down the tail would stick up about an inch of the bottom sometimes. On a side note I took this to the pond today and it fits good on the hook and I ended up catching one with bluebird skies in the middle of the day on a Sunday with about 10-15 other people there fishing. They seemed shocked that someone actually managed to catch a fish. That said, I think the Roboworm looks better on a drop shot and there are others that did a little better on the shakey head so I'm giving it a C+ since it seems like it's a little better than a trick worm but not quite as good as the Roboworm or some of the other ones I tried on the shakey head. Overall Grade C+ 6.5" NetBait BaitFuel T-Mac This one behaved almost exactly the same as the Sensei. Not going to type another paragraph to say the same thing but basically I feel like it did just a little better than a standard trick worm. Overall Grade C+ Xzone Lures Deception HOLY CRAP. No really this is my new favorite worm and I'm glad I decided to pick up a pack. It looks awesome on a drop shot when I twitched it slowly and one unique thing about this one is when you hold the drop shot still the lure still falls to the bottom but then it stood up like you would expect a good shakey head worm to do and it did this consistently. Don't believe me here's a pic: Great colors too and this is pretty much how it looks on a shakey head too (although there was one other that I felt did a little better specifically on the shakey head that I'll get to shortly. Overall Grade A 6th Sense Divine Shakey Worm This one is a little bigger than the others but I figured I'd try it out and I'm glad I did. It looks about as good as the roboworm on the drop shot when you twitch it. When you keep it still it falls flat and then sometimes the tail sticks up a bit (not like the last one but still not flat like most of the others). Also looked very good on the shakey head (although not quite as good as the xzone or the one I'm going to talk about next). I also really like the darkwater bug color and caught a couple at the pond with that setup. One thing I don't like is it seems a little fragile on the ewg so for this one I prefer it on a shakey head or a 2/0 screwlock if I'm throwing it on a drop shot. Overall Grade B Z-Man SMH Shaking My Head Wormz This one is made out of elaztech so it looks funny on a drop shot when you hold it still and stands upright but with the head down. It does look good when you slowly twitch the drop shot. On the shakey head it did the best. The xzone was close, but if you are looking for a shakey head worm that will stand upright this is it. So I'd give it an A for the shakey head and a C+ on the drop shot. That puts it at about a B+ overall but I personally think this was the best one on a shakey head. Overall Grade B+ Ok let's get to the shad style lures now...sometimes I use these on a drop shot if the fish don't seem to want a worm. Strike King 3X ElazTech Baby Z Too Soft Jerkbait I had very high hopes for this one after watching this video, but for me the lure fell short. Keep in mind I'm using a 1/0 ewg hook and the guy in the video (Steve) might have been using a different hook. Also want to mention I like his channel in general and not trying to say he's wrong just saying this one didn't turn out as well for me as I had hoped it would. Ok that said here's a pic while holding still on a drop shot: I was really hoping it would be horizontal here but as you can see not so much...it still looked very good when giving the drop shot small twitches. Overall Grade C+ Z-Man Finesse Shadz I also figured I'd try these out to see how they did. Long story short ok but not quite as good as the Strike King Baby Z Too and it was even more upright when I held it still and not quite as good with small twitches: Overall Grade C Roboworm Alive Shad This one looks pretty darn good on a drop shot. It falls flat when you hold it still but looks great and stays mostly horizontal when you twitch it slightly. Cool colors too. That said I liked the next one slightly more since it seems to do a little better on the ewg I use but no complaints here. Overall Grade B Strike King Dream Shot This one looks just as good as the alive shad (I.M.H.O.). It falls flat when you hold it still but looks great and stays mostly horizontal when you twitch it slightly. It's also a hair thinner and fits a little better on the EWG I use so I'm putting a plus next to it but between this one and the last one I'm mostly splitting hairs at this point. Overall Grade B+ Summary Based on everything I've seen and on my experience up to this point I like the XZone Deception worm for a drop shot. Honorable mention to the 6.3" 6th Sense Divine Shakey Worm if you are looking for something a little bigger or the Roboworm if you aren't worried about dead sticking it. For something that has more of a shad profile I'm going with the Dream Shot (for now). And for a shakey head it's the Z-Man SMH worm...although the XZone comes close it's not quite as upright or as consistent. And again for a bigger profile on a shakey head the 6th Sense also did good (but not quite as good as the other two). Ok realize I probably left some stuff out and probably could have included more pics but I'm about done for now. Feel free to comment on what you like and why below...or if you have any questions let me know and I'll try to answer them over the next few days...however if someone comes along and raises this thread from the dead a year ago I promise nothing. Tight lines!

I typically only throw crankbaits when I'm on my kayak and away from the shore or if I'm on a rocky lake shore with little / no grass. Most ponds have at least a fair amount of grass in them so I wouldn't recommend a crankbait if your main spot is going to be a pond (assuming it has a lot of grass). In this case if it were me and I was just starting out I'd pick up a medium fast spinning rod then some flukes, 4.8" keitechs, senkos, craws and swim worms. You can use a 1/8oz or 3/16oz bullet weight and an EWG hook and texas rig the swim worm and craw lures. I prefer a 1/16oz 4/0 ewg screwlock swimbait hook for the fluke and keitech, and then pick up a 1/0 neko hook for the senko and wacky rig it. That leaves you with 5 baits you can throw on one rod that will do good in ponds with grass.

7' medium fast (pick a vendor with a handle style and price that works for you). Works great for a senko, swim worm or a shakey head but you can also get away with a drop shot or a fluke (although I prefer different rods for these).

Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper on a 5/0 Flashy Swimmer for me in this scenario. The Yamamoto D Shad or Strike King Caffeine Shad are also good since they have a nice shimmy on the way down and the action is a little different than what you would get with a traditional Super Fluke. It's also usually worth trying to go with a 4" Easy Shiner on a 1/0 Flashy Swimmer if they won't go for the bigger bait, but I like to start with the bigger one especially if the water is stained at all.

I had the TP1x (7'3 H F) and TP1 black (7'4 H F). Liked them both but ended up selling the TP1x because I felt like the TP1 black had a bit more feel to it. Both good rods though and that TP1x model was good a good frogging / flipping rod for the price.

+1 for the adrenaline craw....great for punching or just hopping across the bottom or as a jig trailer.

That sucks ☹️. If it were me I'd try ebay or facebook marketplace to see if I could find a cheap used one. Even if the reel itself isn't that great at least you could use it for parts and get this one working again...

I keep it simple and use 10lb braid for my spinning setups, 30lb (with a copoly leader) for topwater, and 50lb for frogs / punching. So my vote would be 30lb. Not sure what I'd even use 20 for to be honest since it seems like it would be a little to heavy for a spinning reel and too light for a casting reel.

Regardless of how great I thought a lure was going to do and how it has done in the past if it has been 30 minutes or so and I haven't gotten a single bite I'm trying something else. Usually by that point it's pretty safe to assume it has gone by at least a few fish and they probably just aren't in the mood for it on that given day. Case in point I was trying a new drop shot lure and was sure it would do well a couple of days ago, but ended up switching to an underspin after a while and getting a couple of nice ones (for that pond) in the same spots where I was throwing the drop shot. A drop shot is one of my top 'confidence lures' but even that has days where something else will do better. This is why it's best to have at least a few different options available so you can move on if something just isn't working that day.

Whatever you do, don't look at the same reel on ALF right now

Both fine rods but you specified a certain price point and for the $30 or so extra bucks I'd argue the Sierra is worth it. It's also a little softer action which will make it better for an 'all in one' type setup since you could still probably get away with throwing a bladed jig or smaller crankbaits / jerkbaits on it (although I'd ultimately suggest a mod fast action rod for these). The Fury is also not a bad rod at all and if you had said your budget was a bit lower I'd say go with that one but in my personal opinion the Kaden / Sierra series rods are probably the best in terms of value / bang for the buck and the Sierra is going to be a bit more sensitive than the Fury (I also own 2 Kaden spinning rods and 2 Kaden crankbait rods). In my opinion this is the best value price point and you start to see diminishing returns across most manufacturers as you go up from here in price. I also like St. Croix, but none of them around that price point are going to have a warranty like the Dobyn's rods. Cashion would be the other one you might want to check out and their warranty programs are also good but again you are most likely going to be looking at a little bit higher of a price point. One last one to mention would be the Johnny Morris Signature rods at Bass Pro Shops they also have a medium heavy rod and sometimes you can get they have a special for club members that gives you $20 off and if you wait for days when they also give club members 10% off that one has a pretty good warranty on it for around the same price. But out of them all I personally own the Sierra and it does great for the techniques I mentioned earlier and would also make good all around bass fishing rod. And that rod paired up with the Ultegra reel is hands down what I'd recommend to anyone looking for something like this around that price point.

I'd wait until ALF (or another site) has 20-25% off then get a Dobyn's Sierra SA 704SF and pair it with a Shimano Ultegra (3000). Not sure you are going to find a better rod at this price point with a lifetime warranty and this is what I use for a fluke / swimbait / bubba shot. In terms of reels I'd argue Shimano makes the best spinning reels out there and there are some very significant benefits that you get when you get into the Ultegra (or higher) models that will make the reel last longer and overall experience better. $140 for the rod (on sale) and about $120 for the reel gets you in just above your price goal. Not sure there's anything else out there that is going to match this setup in terms of value and warranty.

I would also consider a Dobyn's Fury FR 703SF at that price point. It's normally $130 but ALF will most likely have it discounted in the near future (good chance tomorrow) so you can get one closer to $100 and get a lifetime warranty. I really like the Kaden series but that's been more like $140 when they go on sale.

If money doesn't matter this one is my personal favorite: Alternatively, if you are on more of a budget I also like this one: Gave both of these a try after watching this post from BassFishingHQ and there's some other ones in there that he goes over in case you are interested or it helps at all.

This thread has forced me to re-evaluate my concern about throwing a senko instead of a dinger.

Ironic that someone mentioned Fenwick right above me. Brian from ALF has been making best rod for X lure videos on youtube and he mentioned Fenwick and how they have improved since hiring a couple of rod designers from Shimano in this one. Not planning on getting an HMG personally, but that did get me looking at Fenwick and I think the reel seat they have on the new Elite spinning models looks really good since you are most likely going to have some contact with the blank and a good experience in general no matter how you prefer to hold the rod. I also like the reel seats on the new Lew's Custom Lite spinning rods but that warranty is not even close to the one from St. Croix. The Fenwick warranty also says lifetime but if you accidentally damage it they seem to say 'call us and we will see what we can do' which is not the same as St. Croix and their warranty program which tells me exactly what I'm going to get and how much it's going to be explicitly. The reel seats on Dobyn's rods are also ok and I own a few of them and have been happy with them, but if St. Croix used that style then everyone that prefers to hold the rod another way would be upset which is why I think out of all the ones I've seen that one on the new Fenwick Elite series seems like a really good design. If St. Croix had a spinning rod with a reel seat like that and a 10 or 15 year warranty in the 150-300 range that would likely be what I used for every spinning rod setup I own (other than my drop shot setup).