TrippyJai

I rather companies not make technique specific rods. Not everyone's preference is the same, it's fine that they have a crankbait line of rods because that's different blanks usually.

I clean my reels once a year. If I open them up and grease is blacken then I remove the old grease and reapply new grease, if not then close them back up.

When it comes to fishing weightless, braid is the worse for slack line presentation. I absolutely hate it. I only use braid when there is weight to the rig or lure. Fluoro will have more sensitivity, but nothing wrong with a quality mono/co-polymer. What you want is control slack line. As in just enough slack in the line for the bait to free fall. Watch your line and if you see it jump or move, reel down and set.

I knew it was too good to be true since I didn't expect Shimano to give us a better rod with a lower price tag of $20. We saw what happened to the reels. At the 0:22 second mark, he said "you cumara guys out there... same blank design". Nothing about that rod is the same except the IM10 graphite they used.

Try another reel or mount your reel onto another rod. Sometimes, certain reel can cause pain.

Yep, take Shimano for example. When they said they were coming out with a new Crucial rod that would have an IM10 Blank, we all thought it was going to be the Cumara IM10 blank or at least similar and that wasn't the case. The blank (to me) was less sensitive than the old Curcial (cork) IM9. Then we find out it was because they used a different resin, that's pretty deceiving if you ask me. They always say, this new model is stronger, better, lighter, more sensitive every model that comes out.

T-Rig weightless is weedless. In open water, I like wacky.

From the website, the E6 spool seems the be the cheapest out of the Curado E7/E5, Citica 200E, Chronarch E5/E7 spools. You can double check if you wish. BNT4312 SPOOL ASSEMBLY US $26.31

KVD 1.5 Bluegill in this colour, glad I was able to stock up on them. Wish I could find a few of the rattling versions. I would pay double for them.

Do yourself a favour and buy a bottle of Mend-it to repair your baits. Throw all the torn baits into a pile and repair them when you have time. That last senko has caught me over 20 bass and I've repaired it a few times. I get a lot of use out of a senko.

Shimano and St Croix failed to get a piece of the full grip market that has made Dobyns so popular over the years. There aren't many options for a full grip cork rod anymore and there are lots of people who love cork. Check out the threads that asks foam or cork and you'll get what I mean. Absolutely. It'll teach people to take care of their gear. Some people use the warranty a lot and they are the reason why companies are making these changes. Edit: Seems like Shimano is coming out with both a split grip and full grip. Can't wait.

Those Fuji ECS reel seats are my favourite.

My worse experience was on a cottage trip. We decided to fish through the night and while moving to another spot, we had motor issues and were stranded on the river. We tried to row back, but we were struggling real bad with the swarm of mosquitoes. Literally being eaten alive. Luckily, a passing boater gave us a ride back to the cottage. Gave him a 6pack of beer to thank him.

I've always hated fishing games, every game I've ever played, they make it so easy to break the line.

Please have a few full cork models. Looks good so far, the green will match my Curado E7s nicely.

For those having different experiences of how bass taste, I think it's because bass from different lakes taste different. I had a friend who used to fish his home lake and would give us a few of his catches and it always tasted "sandy". I've had bass taste weedy before and sometimes they are fine. We eat it steamed so you can really taste the difference. When you fry it, they all taste the same like fried fish.

I feel the same way. All the places I fish are very pressured so I throw them back. If I were to fish at a more remote lake up north during a cottage trip, I would keep a few fish to eat. Each situation is different. The only time I keep a fish is if it dies.

What a crappy picture. They spent the time to photoshop it, but couldn't give us a better angle of the fish. Anyways, nice fish!

The 2 Curado 50E I bought brand new had issues with the AR bearing. It would slip and I would be able turn backwards until the pawl caught it. Take a q-tip and gently run it around the inside of the bearing to pick up excess grease and it should be fine. If that doesn't fix your issue, you'll need a new bearing. I don't think they can be fixed.

You mentioned that you had a few tug a wars, so I assume it's your gear. Maybe you should move up to a Heavy action and longer rod to get a better hook set. If you're pulling the bait away from the fish then you need to wait a second or two until you feel the weight then set the hook. If the fish is completely missing the bait then switching colour, size or style (to a non popper) might help.

Don't feel so bad about losing a crankbait that you can replace. We've all been there. What sucks would be losing your favourite crankbait that cannot be replaced.

If there was a situation where a crankbait rod would benefit most, it's when the fish is close to the boat and makes a run for it. That give on the rod won't tear the hooks out.

I have never caught a fish on a buzzbait. Haven't lost confidence in it though, I still throw it. I have not caught a fish on a hollow belly swimbait either.

McCoy Mean Green for almost everything. I do use braid for punching and frogs. Fluoro sometimes.

They are his rods after he gets from them Dobyns and he can do whatever he wants unless it's written somewhere that he cannot resell them. Either way Dobyns did not give him the rods for free. If he didn't pay with money for them, then he did so with his time. Being sponsored by a company doesn't mean you get free stuff for nothing.