Jrob78

If you look around you can still find U.S made Platinums and Team All Stars. They will say "Houston Texas" and "IM10" on the blank. The new ones don't say either. Academy and Dicks stores in Dallas still have some of both.

I have both and I find the Zillion to be much more comfortable to palm. It just fits my hands better the way I palm a reel. I find myself constantly adjusting my grip with the Curado. Performance wise i give the edge to the Zillion as well. That being said if the extra $100 is big issue the Curado is a good reel, just not as refined as the Zillion.

Yeah the one guy I know that bought one payed in the $250+ range for his and he is friends with the owner. The other guy is on the prostaff so that's a different story. If you want to go more custom I think G-Blanks rods start at around the $150 mark.

I know 2 people that own them, one is a prostaffer for Tigerodz. They use NFC blanks and quality components. From everything I've heard they are great rods and the owner, Tim is a good guy to work with.

I go off the top of the spool on a baitcaster and off the bottom on a spinning reel.

I bought a new Exceler on Ebay for $36 plus shipping, be patient and you can find some really good deals.

Even if they are the best rods ever built could they ever be perceived as anything other than a gimmicky Carrot Stix knock off?

I just finished a rod to fill that exact place in my lineup. I went with a 7' Lamiglass composite crankbait blank. Moderate action, line weight 6-15lbs. Part #ccb844m

I have one that performs really well, great reel for the money.

Someone posted this on another forum, I had never seen this before. These reels retail for $250 at BPS. Jimmy Houston is now using these and Guido and Dion Hibdon have their own signature Hibdon reel. Any thoughts? http://www.usreel.com/products/BaitCasterVideo.aspx

You should be able to find a Citica on Ebay for $100. The Daiwa Exceler is a decent $80 reel, I like the Citica better but the Exceler has performed well.

I've had good results using these weighted hooks with wacky rigged trick worms. I don't use any weights when wacky rigging Senkos. I doubt these hooks were intended for this application but they work well. http://www.***.com/descpageMUSWRMHK-MIWWH.html

I really like 3/0 Gamakatsu Skip Gap hooks for beavers. Beavers tend to slide down the hook more than other plastics. http://www.***.com/descpage-GSGH.html

I like Suffix Elite for mono, Yo-Zuri Hybrid and P-Line CX for copoly and Trilene 100% for fluorocarbon. The Suffix Elite is far and away my favorite mono. It is strong and has very low memory, even in heavier weights. The Yo-Zuri and P-Line are both super strong and have low memory in weights less than 12#. They are both so strong though that for my use 12# is more than enough. I don't really like fluoro that much but the Trilene 100% was the easiest to manage out of the few that I have tried. In my opinion the copoly offers the best of both worlds, low stretch and added sensitivity with a lot of strength. In my opinion 10# is perfect for bait casters!

Yeah, you guys are probably right. I put the P-line on and immediately fished it with no problems. The weather turned bad and I haven't been out since. I bet it looks like a phone cord now. I went with the 15 because it was going on a heavier rod that sees jigs, heavier t-rigs and the occasional c-rig. I don't really fish much heavy cover though. In fact I don't think I've ever even broken off the 10#. Maybe I should split the difference and go with 12, i'm sure it is plenty strong for my needs but will give me a little added peace of mind.

I've been using the regular hybrid in 10# on bait casters and absolutely love it! I recently purchased a spool of 15# and it had horrible memory. I switched to P-line CX in 15# and it was a lot better. I was really disappointed. Did I possibly get a bad batch or does the heavier weight hybrid tend to have a lot of memory?

These are probably my favorite shakey head worms, plus they're pretty cheap. The floating tail "dances" really well.

I've had my Powell 702c for about a week now and so far I love it. I have used it with weightless worms and 1/16th oz t-rigs. It is light, well balanced and very sensitive.

Obviously you can't go to any retail store and get a G-Blanks rod which is part of the reason I was interested in them. I do have a Kistler Magnesium which I love. Just wanted something different.

That's actually a very good question, I'm not sure why I'm so set on a Powell. I've heard nothing but good things about them and they are in my price range. I think I like the idea of having something that you can't go pick up at Academy, not that that is necessarily a good thing. Just one of those things that I've had stuck in my head and "have to have."

I'm normally not crazy about buying a rod sight unseen but I don't know of anyone in the Dallas area that carries Powells, however I think I am going to go ahead and order one from Tackle Warehouse. You guys have confirmed my impression that it is a great rod for the money. I will definitely put G-Blanks on my list of rods to get in the future. Thanks!!

Thanks for the input! I guess I will flip a coin

I'm looking for a med power casting rod to use with light texas rigs, weightless worms, shaky heads and other lighter tackle applications. I pretty much had my mind set on the Powell 702cef but have been reading good reviews on the G-Blanks rods. I would probably go with a 7' med/fast. I'm sure I can't go wrong either way but was wondering if anyone had any opinions or preference on these two rods. I also wanted to thank everyone for the wealth of information you all share on this site. I haven't really posted here before but visit daily. I have been fishing for 25+ years but I have learned alot of valuable information and new ideas from many of the posts here.

Thinking about getting the 6'8" ASR spinnerbait rod, anyone have any experience with these?