Jrob78

I don't have experience with any of the rods you listed. In general though, I think worm rods are one place where you should buy the best rod you can afford. Soft plastic rods really benefit from added sensitivity.

I guess punctuation and sentence structure are optional With those swimbaits, a regular MH-H rod with 14-20lb mono/fluro/copoly will be fine. Those natural shad colored sq bills you got are awesome, I really like that color. With bigger, heavier swimbaits I prefer 20-25lb Pline CXX. I know a lot of people use braid but I don't like it. I've had cast offs using 50lb braid and I like a bit of stretch. CXX is plenty strong and abrasion resistant in my experience. You do have to retie fairly often but I would do that with braid too.

The PQ is a great choice for a beginner. It is a solid reel that will last you many years. I also think reels with dual braking are good for people starting out. It allows you to set up the reel in a way that will virtually eliminate backlashes.

I'm not a Dobyn's guy but the DX 701C is huge among the BFS crowd.

I will echo what the other builders have said. It would be pretty easy to have 1/4 of the total cost of the build just in the grip. You can use composite, burnt, burl cork in place of natural cork, which I think is what Fenwick is using on their new line of rods. It is quite a bit cheaper, makes a nice grip and doesn't require any filler. The downside to it though, is it's extremely heavy. If you've ever seen the way production rods are built, an extra couple of trim bands and 1/2" of epoxy take a matter of seconds to apply. It's way cheaper in labor and materials than good cork. Winding checks bought by the thousand are dirt cheap as well. Interestingly, the very best cork goes to wineries to cork wine and champagne bottles. As for split grips, I like them because I generally cast with 2 hands. The fighting butt makes a great handle to grab when casting.

Check this out. http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/country_pages/species_by_state.htm

I'll give you $80 for the beat up Pixy and you can double your money! Congrats on the good deal!

I'm not 100% sure what a Senko weighs but it's considerably more than 3/16 oz. The other thing you have to keep in mind is that a Senko is very aerodynamic, a Shad Rap is anything but. As long as you don't go too small or too light, you will be good to go. After you play with the reel on the rods you have, you'll have a good idea about whether you need a new rod or not.

The Sol is a fantastic reel. If it's in good shape, $150 is a good price. The Sol does a great job at casting the light stuff, the problem is generally the rod. I built a custom rod for my Sol. It is technically a spinning, drop shot blank. The blanks specs are 6'10" mag medium, x-fast, 1/8oz-5/8oz. I really like the rod but it isn't light enough to fully maximize the Sol's potential. It is awesome for Pointer 78's, smaller topwater baits and SK KVD 1.0's but it doesn't work well with small weightless plastics, small balsa crankbaits and other light, wind resistant baits. I think if the rod had a mod fast action, the tip would load better with the really light stuff. My point for telling you all that is to let you know that if you plan to throw really light stuff, you need to get a really light rod. The Sol is a great reel and works great with regular sized baits. It holds plenty of line and with a Carbontex upgrade, the drag is more than adequate for bass. I know a lot of people use Sol's for pitching jigs and heavy plastics. Just know, a normal, medium powered casting rod won't load up enough to cast really light stuff, even if the reel will.

Congratulations, you're going to love it.

Companies are under no obligation to "cover all price ranges for consumers." That's crazy. Besides, if Loomis (for example) did make a $100 rod, it wouldn't be any better than any of the other $100 rods on the market. They would have to cut something, either components, blank materials or both. St. Croix has a few rods in that price range, they're decent rods but nothing special and nowhere close to their higher end offerings. If anything, you could make a case that it hurts their brand. Loomis is held on a pedestal because they make very high quality fishing rods, they would be crazy to drop their standards because not everyone can afford it.

There are more rods in the $100 range than ever before. Everyone complained, myself included, when Shimano cheapened the Curado and Chronarch lines. Why on Earth would anyone want them to do that with Loomis? Not everyone wants to fish with a middle of the road rod.

You're right. The Tierra is built on the Advantage frame, it has less bearings, a different handle and possibly a different spool. The HSTA is a fantastic work horse reel. Some people don't like the width of the reel while others love it. The Tierra is a good reel too but lacks the refinement of the HSTA.

He has some great looking jigs. I will be placing an order soon. I only wish Owner would put out a cross line tie cutting point hook.

My favorites are LC's Aurora Black and Ghost Minnow.

X3 on the 50e, they are getting harder to find nib. It holds plenty of line for crankbaits and is a great freshwater bass reel. I would choose it over the 200G and the Revo. I'm not a Revo fan though. All 3 reels should be good for what you're wanting to do. The only other reel I would add to your list is the new Daiwa Lexa 100.

chartruese/black back tennessee shad ghost minnow

I don't think you will be disappointed. They are really nice baits and a steal at that price. I would consider them a slow sink swimbait. I like them better than the little Spro 4" baits and the now discontinued Tru Tungsten small swimbaits, especially considering the price.

Awesome report!

I can't say as I've ever seen a ball sinker with a wire screw. If such a thing exists, I would love to see a picture of it. Your best bet might be to contact someone who pours sinkers, they might could rig you up something.

I use one of these Rapala scales also. I am very happy with it.

My mistake. I was thinking of the older TD jerkbaits, not the newer DB Minnow, disregard what I said above. I'm sure the DB Minnow is a good bait (most Daiwa baits are) and it's only $6.99. There are always exceptions to the rule.

The Daiwa DB minnow IS a great little bait! Most of those TD baits are really good. But........I think the db minnow was a $12-$15 bait when it was originally released.

If you want your bait to run more shallow, throw it on mono, the heavier the mono, the shallower the bait will run. If you want to get it deeper, throw it on fluoro, the lighter the fluoro, the deeper your bait will run. If you fish a suspending jerkbait super slow with fluoro, it will actually make your bait sink because the line will drag it down. Choose the right line for the given situation. Also, in general, the heavier you go with your line, the less action the bait will have. For me, 10 lb fluoro is a good all around jerkbait line.

I'm a big fan of the Rattlesnakes, Honchos and Mutants. They make a nice bait with a good scent.