My Arsenal.. what am I missing?

[TNriverRAT]

For reference I fish the Tennessee river from gvill, wheeler, wilson, and pickwick. Took several year break and recently got the gear monkey on my back. I don't get to fish as much as I'd like, so prefer good reliable gear. Would appreciate y'alls feedback on what I have, if uses are correct, and what technique rod/reel needs to be acquired.

 

Spinning Combos

• Fenwick Silver Hawk: 6'6" ultra light, mod action. 1/16 - 3/8 oz lure, 4-8# line. Quantum smoke PT25

Technique - panfish, crappie, white bass

• Abu Vigilante: 6'6" medium light, medium action. 1/8 - 1/2 oz, 6-10# line. Abu cardinal 102, 5.1:1

Technique - panfish, crappie, white bass, light treble hook baits

• Megabass Levante "Shakeyhead": 7' med. light, fast action. 1/8 - 1/2 oz, 5-16# line. Shimano Vanford 2500HGF

Technique - shakeyhead, dropshot, wacky rig, neko rig, finesse jigs and tubes.

• Dobyns Kaden 713SF: 7'1" medium, fast action. 3/16 - 5/8 oz, 8-14# line. Daiwa Exceler LT 2500 D-XH

Technique - jigs, texas rigs, carolina rig, heavier shakeyhead/neko rigs

 

Baitcaster Combos

• Abu Silvermax: 6'6" medium power, moderate action. 1/4 - 5/8 oz, 8-15# line. Silvermax reel 6.4:1

Technique - moving treble hook lures, square bill, light jerkbaits, etc.

• Kistler Helium: 7' light medium heavy, fast action. 1/16 - 5/16 oz, 12-14# line. Daiwa Zillion SV TW 1000 XHL 8.1 reel.

Technique - weightless  worms, senkos, flukes, light underspin jig heads, powershot.

• G. Loomis SBR 812 (old red blank) 6'9" medium, extra fast action (says extra fast, but I feel its more like regular fast), 3/8 - 1oz, 10-17# line. Lew's Tournament Pro TP1SH 7.1 reel

Technique - close quarters spinnerbait, underspins, chatterbaits.. smallish single hook moving baits. Read this can work as jerkbait rod..?

• Shimano Crucial 7' (old green blank): medium heavy, medium fast action. 3/8 - 1oz, 10-20# line. Abu Silvermax 6.4:1 reel

Technique - treble hook moving baits, but also like it for bladed jig as the slower action allows the fish to really get the lure. Works great for buzzbaits and treble hook top water lures, just have to swap to a high speed reel.

• Dobyn's DC 610-4C heavy fast action. 1/4 - 1oz, 10-20# line. Shimano Chronarch 201E7, 7.0:1 gear ratio.

Technique - close quarter jig, texas rig, frogs.

• Kistler Helium: 7'3" medium heavy, fast action. 1/4 -1oz, 15-20# line. Daiwa Tatula Elite 8.1 gear ratio.

Technique - jigs, texas rigs, carolina rig.

 

Honorable mention: Cabelas Tournament ZX: 7'3" heavy fast action. No reel for this rod at the moment. Used strictly for top water frogs in heavy slop in the past. But the rod wore me out, too heavy and stiff tip made it difficult to walk the dog.. Figured in a pinch I could use it for punching mats?

 

So, what am I missing? Seems to me a 7'6" (or so), flipping/pitching setup, and an umbrella rig setup.

TIA

 

 

 

[softwateronly]

  Looks good to me.  My favorite A-rig rod and one of my favorite for pitching rods are the same; expride A 7'7H/MF.  It's also good at deep 16-22' cranks, big scroungers, carolina rigs, heavy football jigs, and preacher jigs, super versatile.  I fish braid to leader making all those techniques a little easier to swap between on the water. 

  I always thought a Dobyns extreme 795Flip or a Phenix feather 7'7XH/F would be possible similar candidates but haven't tried them.

 

scott

[webertime]

Pretty well covered.

[TNriverRAT]

@softwateronly I appreciate the rod recommendation. You happen to know the difference between expride A vs Expride B models? Can’t find the A models anymore. But funny enough, I was recently looking at the Dobyns extreme 795 flip. 

[softwateronly]

49 minutes ago, TNriverRAT said:

@softwateronly I appreciate the rod recommendation. You happen to know the difference between expride A vs Expride B models? Can’t find the A models anymore. But funny enough, I was recently looking at the Dobyns extreme 795 flip. 

 
I’ve heard from others here, that the B is a touch faster than the A. They also changed the top end of the rating from 2oz down to 1.5oz. I’d guess they’re not very different though.  Yeah I have a 735 and a 755 dobyns, can’t quite find a reason to get the 795 yet. 
 

scott

[TNriverRAT]

I understand that. Gear acquisition disorder is real!

[txchaser]

Irod's A-rig rod is pretty good, and it'd work just fine for punching too. I use it from time to time on 6" soft swimbaits (more like the whale or daingerous than a boom boom). 1.25oz chatterbaits, big spoons, etc. 

Fill the other spot with a H rod you like for frogs if you fish them much.

[TNriverRAT]

I appreciate it Tex! Will need to read up on it, but do most people use braid or fluorocarbon when fishing umbrella rigs, large swimbaits?