Dan-K

FWIW, I used to fish with a Powell 704C and have given it to my wife. I now use Dobyns in all three series. The Savvy is a much better rod than the Powell, and the Champions are leaps and bounds beyond them. The sensitivity of the Champions could compare somewhere between an IMX and GLX. if you are looking at a Powell, do yourself a favor and check out a Savvy!!!

I have the 805 that I have been using for all of my flipping / punching duties. I also have a 735 that I suppose I could use if I felt the 805 was too much rod. I may be doing it wrong, but I figured it was better to have more rod than needed versus not having enough rod when needed.

I was wondering, what kind of damage would this have done to a glass boat? My current boat is a stepping stone to a nice Ranger or Skeeter (someday).

Good advise, unfortunately I could not see the log until it was too late.

Saturday was my second time on the Cal Delta. Went out with my wife and two sons in our 99 Bass Tracker PT185. Fished from Stockton to the south west. We were heeded back into Ladd's Marina on the deep water channel at WOT, which is about 32 MPH on my boat. The wind was blowing making a bit of chop on the surface. As we are just cruising along, I notice a log just under the surface about 50 feet in front of the boat. When I say log, I'm talking 2-3 feet in diameter, and about 50 feet long (from what I could tell). I had enough time to say "Oh S#$%" throttle all the way down and start trimming the motor up.... BAM struck it square on the keel, boat flew into the air, $4000 worth of rods and reels tossed around the boat (small miracle that none went into the drink), and it appeared the log was pushed further under the water because it never hit the out board (another small miracle). We drifted for a bit, making sure no one was hurt, then checked the equipment. After we gained our composure I beached it in the first place I could find to check for damage. I hit the bilge pump and it spat out some water, but I could not see any major damage. We high tailed it for the Marina and made it back safe and sound. The keel was pretty bent up and it ripped a rivet out of the keel guard, which was the source of the leak. Sunday I started tearing the front deck off, and reached the inside of the hull this evening. I have to say one thing about Tracker, they make some tough boats!! There was flotation foam filling every open space!! I was able to pound the majority of the dent out, and tomorrow I will replace the missing rivet. I plan to have a larger/thicker keel guard fabricated to add strength and hide the remnants of this dent... Out of all this i have learned three lessons: It could have been a lot worse. I will wear my PFD every time the OB is running. I will pay the $20 or so every month to insure my boat.....

Why not all Dobyns? Thats the direction I'm headed.... 6 down, 3 (or 4 or 5) to go!!

Norman quick snaps for all hard baits, remove split rings. Direct tie for spinners and buzz.

Skip the soapy water, no good can come from that. Copy that, thanks. This was my first try at tuning, 1 down 5 to go!!!

Just from the tuning I did on my Citica made a great improvement, my stock Curados feel sluggish now.

Maybe I wasted my money, I just ordered three sets of ABEC 7 orange seals for two Citicas and a Curado. I just finished tuning a Citica 201E and added a drive shaft bearing and Curado spool, what an improvement that made!!! I used the factory spool bearings on that reel, but I flushed them with carb cleaner followed by soapy water, followed by rubbing alcohol. I then added one drop of Quantum hot sauce. BTW I found factory Curado spools online for $41.00 at sea isle tackle. When the bearings arrive I plan to tune the other two Citicas and one Curado as well as add the ABEC 7 O/S bearings. I will post my findings.

I am going to second the recommendation for the Cal Delta, there is no other place like it... I have met Randy Pringle personally and he is a great guy with a great sense of humor. You should have a memorable day on the water with Randy.

What do you mean by "winterize my boat"??? I don't get it ... BTW, I just started wearing long pants again, wore shorts for about the past 6 months. Yeah, this winter thing kind of sucks. I pitty you guys in the north, I have never even seen a frozen lake, closest we get is a thin layer of ice over the mud puddles in the driveway come late January.

What do you mean by "winterize my boat"??? I don't get it ... BTW, I just started wearing long pants again, wore shorts for about the past 6 months. Yeah, this winter thing kind of sucks. I pitty you guys in the north, I have never even seen a frozen lake, closest we get is a thin layer of ice over the mud puddles in the driveway come late January.

What do you mean by "winterize my boat"??? I don't get it ... BTW, I just started wearing long pants again, wore shorts for about the past 6 months. Yeah, this winter thing kind of sucks. I pitty you guys in the north, I have never even seen a frozen lake, closest we get is a thin layer of ice over the mud puddles in the driveway come late January.

Hey Mike, welcome to BR. I sent you a PM with my cell and an open invite to fish "the river". Congrats on the retirement and the new(er) hobby, be careful it is VERY addicting!!!

Well, I pulled the trigger on a Champion 733 C FH today.... I compared a DX 743 C and the 733 C side by side. I could tell NO difference in balance or sensitivity between the two rods and the 733 felt lighter then the 743. I spent about one hour handling these rods in the store and felt I was paying an extra $70 for all the bling on the DX 743. By the way, the 733 C FH ballanced out about 1/2" past the reel seat threads with a Citica E. The 733 SH was about an inch beyond that.

Dobyns Champion 805 flip/punch. 8 foot heavy fast.

Dobyns Champion 683C to replace the 783, Dobyns Extreme 703 or 743 to replace the 843. I am now finishing the task of replacing all of my Loomis rods with Dobyns, I couldn't be happier...

I just went to dobyns website, it does say fast action. Tackle warehouse lists the DX703 and 704 as extra fast actions.

It's the dobyns extreme. My DX 704C says right on the rod, extra fast action.

Thanks for the input. I am on the fence because I feel the shorter rod will assist in making accurate casts. The longer for the reasons you stated, and also longer casts. I forsee the longer rod being better for deeper water applications being that it will pick up more line one the hook set.

Check out the Curado 300/301 series. Also has a "middle of the road" gear ratio.

I am looking to round out my arsenal of Dobyns casting rods and need advise. This rod with compliment a Champion 683C. I plan to devide up the duties of Jigs, T-Rigs, Senkos, Flukes, Spinner baits, and other bottom baits between the two "3" powered rods. The new rod will compiment the 683C and will be paired with a Curado 201E7. Please articulate why you chose the model you did with some reasoning, to give me an understanding of your individual choice. Also, note that the 703C has an extra fast taper and is 7 foot long, where the 743C has a fast taper and is 7 foot 4 inches long. The 683C that I already have is 6 foot 8 inches long with a fast taper. I also have a DX 704C which I use for pitching and heavy jigs and t-rigs. I have a 735C which serves as a frog rod and C-rig rod, so the new rod will not typically be used for C-rigging.

2 Citica 201E's, 3 Curado 201E7's, one Castaic 201.... All but one on Dobyn's rods, but the Excell 7116 will soon be handed over to the wife and replaced with a Champion 805. My two spining reels are shakespeare inspinity's, same as the Pfluger President spinning but only $36 at Wal-Mart

What revo model are you referring to? The only comparable model as price is concerned would be the S. The Revo S is a great little reel but I ended up selling mine and replaced it with another Citica. The nice thing about a Citica is you can add a bearing to the drive shaft, replacing the bushing, and add some ceramic spool bearings to upgrade it as time and money permit. You can also polish the spool shaft, inner race and leading edge of the pinion to make it super smooth and great casting. It will end up surpassing a stock curado with these upgrades.