Hammer 4

I only eat 2 kind's of fish these days. Salmon, and red snapper used in fish tacos. Use to be a big trout eater, cooked em the dishwasher, now days it's hard to find any good size Cold water trout.

Anyone happen to order a Irod gen II rod that was back ordered from TW that was suppose to be in on Dec 16th. TW hasn't shown any if the Irod Gen. II rods for a few days now, wonder why that is. I e-mailed them re: this, waiting for a reply.

I mostly use 50lb smackdown in stealth gray for most conditions. If I'm fishing really heavy stuff, I'll bump up to 65 lb.

RE: Tatula XT rods. I have the 7' m/h xt plus a couple of others. Great rods for the $. Light weight, good action. Just for instance compared to the Shimano SLX rods, I find the XT to be better balanced, lighter, and has better action.

Fixing small baits with mendit is a PITA..Works o.k. on bigger baits as Michigander stated. I gave up on trying to fix them..

Well, good luck, hope you find some fish.

Hmm. Some of my best fishing has been when it pretty dang cold out, i.e. water temps were in the low 50's. So, I'm guessing your not fishing where the fish are, or your presentation may need some adjustments, and a small probability that your baits may need some adjustment too.

Over the years, both the babycraw, and the reg. craw have worked well. Lets not forget the space monkey. Been fishing Rage products since they first came out. Anyone remember the Anaconda..?

Between the 2 rods, the 7 footer is a no brainer. You can always grab a shorter rod down the road if need be.

Size and weight would be the 2 things to consider depending on the rod. Other than that, brands/models to a point wouldn't matter all that much to me.

Totally agree ^^^^.

Hook sets are Free... use em.

Please note, 56 Diawa reels was a Typo, I edited to 6, which is what I currently have. Sorry for the confusion..

Any requirements for length..? Have a look at the Irod Geneses II rods. The 783SB jr. swimbait rod would work great for that weight.

Being an old Shimano fan from a few years ago, I now own 1 Shimano, and 6 Diawa baitcasting reels and 1 Diawa spinning reel. I feel the Diawa's are a better value. Out of the box, the Diawa reels are way smoother. I'll keep buying Diawa's, until someone has a Shimano Curado 301 E7 for sale at a reasonable price.

Good question. I have 1 Fuego, 1 Tatula 100, 1 Tatula 150, 2 Tatula 200's and a Tatula 100 type R. Very happy with all of them, also all are smooth as butter. I've owned some high end Shimano's in the past, so I have a good idea what a reels should feel like. As a side note.. My Shimano Citica isn't a smooth as the diawa reels are. All have been cleaned and properly lubed.

Yeah, asking gets me no where. I ordered a Irod 7/H and a couple of glide baits...hehehe

X 3 on the Smackdown braid. I agree with Glenn, very easy to use.

I can relate to Tom's statement re: obsolete gear. Wasn't that long ago, at least to me, that I was tossing jigs on my spinning rig, which on the cheap side. I learned long ago, that staying at the ready, sorta like a gunfighter was absolutely necessary. A finger on my line, and watching my line Intensely, I blocked, or tried to block out anything around me. Use to upset me, while jig fishing, only to have someone come close by and start jabbering, I wouldn't even look at them, just smile and go about my biz. Having said all that, I'm glad I began fishing long ago, I think we learned things that maybe those that have been fishing for a shorter period of time, missed out on. Kinda like growing up in the 50's..?

Jason, how about a review on the Tatula 300 once you use it for awhile. Contemplating grabbing one.

Argh..Waited a bit to long to order my Irod Gen II 7' heavy rod. Now back ordered until Dec. 16. Rats..........

TW is back up and running.

Give the Seaguar smackdown braid a try. I have their 50lb braid in my Tatula, no issues with the line or the reel.

May be the Bio Edge attractant..? At any rate, I have some and have used it sparingly on my 6" Hudds, no takers, but that shouldn't be a forgone conclusion to it's effeteness.. I'll give it more time and report back. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-ATTRACT.html?from=basres