Dan-K

I have the 705cb glass an LOVE it!!!! It will throw a Rico popper 30 yards on 10 lb mono. It is now my "everything with treble hooks" rod. My next one will be the 805 flip/punch.

I have both rods, MBR 844 IMX and Dobyns Extreme 704. The DX704 feels lighter, more balanced, and more sensitive in my hands. I like the x-fast tip on the Dobyns, it provides for a more solid hookset. The Dobyns "no hassle replacement plan" is great as well as their customer service. If you decide to get the MBR 844 IMX, check out eBay, I listed a slightly used one on there yesterday . As to all you you who have not broken a rod, you don't fish enough 8-). I broke a Dobyns 683 C last week, totally my fault, while pitching to some shore line cover. My T-rig snagged in some grass and when I ripped it free, the 1/4 oz tungsten came flying back to me and struck the tip section of the blank. Three fish later, the tip broke at the second guide when the 2 lbr made a surge at the boat and I lifted the rod to guide it back. IT happens!!!!! When it does I prefer to walk in to my local Dobyns dealer, pay them $60 and walk out with a new rod.....

The tip insert fell out of one of my Dobyns Champions as well. One e-mail and two days later I recieved two FREE replacement tip guides in the mail. Their customer service is second to none. I am currently in the process of transitioning all my rods to Dobyns and I think you cannot go wrong with getting any of the Dobyns rods. Their rods are manufactured in Korea, but so are most high end reels..... With that said, all but Lamiglass, Loomis, Falcon, and St. Croix are made in China.

I am just getting into frog fishing, but I went with a Dobyns Savvy 735 and it works GREAT.

I don't know if this applies to red line, but I once heard a theory that red hooks kind of mimic gil-flash and trigger the feeding instinct of predator fish......... Ever wonder why two bass will try to eat the same crank bait? They can't be THAT hungry

Thanks for all the replies!! I will upgrade to a 24v TM as soon as I can. On a side note, I have noticed that when I trim the OB out of the water, I am more susceptible to being blown around. It's odd how having the OB in the water creates enough friction in the water to make a difference.

X2

I know there are a lot more experienced Delta anglers on this board, but I fished it for the first time this weekend. I launched and camped at Russo's on Bethel Island. Made a run into miner's slough and caught a lot of dinks. I had my best luck around Bethel Island fishing the endless boat docks in piper slough. Caught fish to 3 lbs around the docks and flipping the grass mats.

If I had that kind of money laying around I would update to a glass boat.....

nice_bass, that is what I was mainly wondering about, the drift sock. The anchor will work if I am fishing a spot loaded with bass, but cruising the shoreline gets tricky. If I go with the wind, it seems to push me along too fast the majority of the time. If I go into the wind I am on the TM the whole time, then when I land a fish or have to retie I am way aout of position by the time I am ready to fish again. Do fiberglass boats really buck the wind that much better?

I have a 1999 Bass Tracker PT185 (2nd year of the revolutionary hull) with a 50 hp Mercury. This year has been quite windy in my neck of the woods and fishing from this boat has been tough. Any wind over about 3-5 mph seems to blow this boat all over the lake. If it is a stiff wind I have to position the boat head on into the wind and stay on the TM. Any other tracker (or similar) owners out there have any suggestions to help stay in position in the wind? FYI, I do have an anchor and use it when I am fishing stationary spots.

Im confused by that statement. Fluorocarbon is more abrasion resistant than braid and mono. :-? especially AbrazX It is, just don't kink it. I have tried them all and recently settled on P-Line.

Another vote for the Curado!!! I have two and love them. I also have a Revo S (selling) and a Quantum Energy PT burner (keeping as a spare). From now on all I will purchase will be Shimano Reels.

Just an update..... I read an article here regarding using the proper hooks with soft plastics and it brought up a good point. The author explained that the angle of EWG hooks is more of a "G" shape while straight shank hooks and offset shank hooks are more of a "J" shape. Do to this the "J" hooks had a higher likely hood of hooking up with fish because it has more room between the hook point and hook eye. It made sense to me so I went out and bought some 2/0 straight shank hooks. While pitching under some trees in the river behind my house today, I hooked up with a dink bass and a palm sized bluegill......... who would have thought!!!!! BTW, these were caught on my Dobyns 683c.

David, thanks for responding. I'm (kind of) sorry for calling you out, but I know you have extensive experience with Dobyns rods so I wanted your opinion. If you could list the Dobyns rods you use for the techniques I listed as being most used (by me) I would really appreciate it. Thanks for the offer to check out your rod collection, but unfortunately I don't get up to the bay area all that often.

You would if they said that was part of the deal when you bought the gun, though. Should have bought a Glock anyway ;D

Chris and BASSclary, thanks for the feedback...... Chris, Do you also use the 703s for dropshotting? I will mostly be dropshotting with the sissy stick, but shaky heads and darters are always an option. I typically t-rig with 3/16 to 1/4 tungsten wieghts depending on current and or depth. I rarely go any heavier unless I am punching hydrilla or mats. With that in mind would you still recommend the 4 power?

As some of you know, I am replacing some of my other brand rods with new rods. I want to build my arsenal around one company's products, and it looks like Dobyns won a customer. I currently own a 683 c Champion and I am happy with it, although I seem to miss a lot of hooksets while T-rigging with it. The insert on the tip guide of my 683 grew legs and walked away. I emailed Dobyns customer service and within 30 minutes had two tip guides coming in the mail for free!!!! Richard Dobyns was the one on the other end of the emails and he just sold a bunch of rods!!!! OK, on to the advice part. As stated I have a 683c. I need three other casting rods and one spinning rod to add to my collection for now. I was thinking of the following rods to start with: extreme 703c for worms and weighted plastics; champ 684c CB for jerks, poppers, sammys, shallow cranks, speed traps etc; champ 764c for c-rigs, pitching, light flipping, and paddle tail swim baits; champ 702s for drop shotting, shaky head, darter head; and of course the 683c, which I already have, for jigs, senkos, flukes and buzz/spinner baits. I mostly fish t-rigs with all kinds of plastics, jigs, jerk baits (soft and hard), senkos, drop shot, darter/shakey head, and square billed cranks. Will this selection of rods be a good start or should I modify it based on the techniques I mostly fish at this time? Thanks, Dan.

Now I am leaning in the direction of Dobyns Rods.... The tip guide insert came unbuttoned on my 683C a few weeks back. I replaced it with a generic Fuji tip and it looked aweful. Today I e-mailed Dobyns customer service explaining what happened and asked how I could go about getting a replacement. Within 30 minutes Richard Dobyns responded, asking for my shipping address. Not only are they going to send me a replacement, they are going to throw in an extra one just in case..... Now THAT is great customer service, the kind of customer service that is disapearing at an alarming rate.... I may just have to learn to live with green reels on blue and silver rods

True, looking back the strikes were "tap-tap-tap" in rapid succession. This particular lake is also full of crappie. Would they strike like blue gill as well?

How do the caras compare to the champions in weight and sensitivity? I have one champion and five IMX's which the new rods will replace. In my hands the champions are a bit more sensitive and lighter/better ballanced than the IMX. If the Caras are truly comparable to the Dobyns champions I will go with the caras and never look back!!!

Yeah, Dobyns are nice I own one in 683 model and used to have the 703. They just don't fit me that well for whatever reason.

Well, between cara t7, St. Croix LTB, IMX, and Crucial the LTB and T7's are the only two to achieve 5 stars on the BPS reviews.

Thanks, that makes sense, they fish were probably dinks. I was using a 4/0 gamagatsu hook with a 7.5 inch yum ribbon tail to start, then switched to a zoom ultra vibe craw. On two occasions the back half of my worm was ripped off.....

So if I am pulling the bait out of their mouths, is that due to a slower rod or faster rod? From what you said it would be due to a slower rod, but my limitied brain capacity tells me it would be from too fast of a rod. I have been around this forum for some time, and I know what you are saying is the standard. I wonder if I have a quirky hookset or something.....