Hooligan

XL and Senshi are very similar lines in terms of softness and knot strength. The greatest attribute that Senshi has over almost all other mono lines is that it is lower in stretch by comparison. It has generally similar diameter, and is close to almost every other line in terms of handling, if not better. The single greatest drawback to Senshi is its lack of abrasion resistance. I would rate it slightly better than that of Trilene XL, but have not spent adequate time with the new formulation. I still lean towards Suffix Siege for mono lines, all else said. Yes, it has a bit more memory, but on casting gear that is minimized. Where Senshi lacks in abrasion resistance, siege makes up, and still has relatively low stretch, reasonable diameters, and is very consistent in diameter. I'll probably go back to Senshi for walking baits, but in those situations that I am in need of a dual purpose line for jerkbaits, top water, and small spinnerbaits, I will go back to Siege.

Ding ding, there's a winner folks! Shimano and Daiwa both still hold the same business that they always have, possibly better than it has been in the past. There is zero doubt that the components that both these companies use in their reels are better than what Pure Fishing and others use. It's undeniable because of the grade of the bearings and the quality of component manufacture. Take the out, look at the race, the shields, any of the gearing a polished brass gear is undeniably smoother and stronger than its die cast aluminum counterpart. Frames that are molded of lesser quality metals are vastly different than their cast and machined counterparts. We've cut many frames apart for inspection and only two companies had zero inclusion or voids in 12 frame cuts per reel on 15 reels. Shimano and Daiwa were the two. The new Revo is supposed to be on par with that, but we've not tested them yet. The gen 1 and gen 2 both tended to have a void on. The off side behind the level wind mount point. But I digress... In most cases the reels today are built light years ahead of those built just ten years ago.

I disagree that shooter is more sensitive than Tatsu, at least on the whole. Tatsu has smaller diameters across the board, with greater density, to me it's been more sensitive than shooter in the most common line sizes. The only instance that I've preferred Shooter to Tatsu is 8lb on a spinning rod throwing 4" Senko type baits. In that case, it was actually that I was skipping docks. The Shooter provides a little more purchase than Tatsu and I'm able to maneuver it a bit better. That's been the single instance Shooter performs better.

Lighthouse, without a doubt. Good quality, good price, and good folks.

It's been shown time and again that they do become conditioned. Not only to a bait but to specific sounds, and colors. If you can't condition largemouth or smallmouth, why is it that you can feed train them? 100% conditioning in the same way that they become conditioned to lures. That said, it has also been shown that the one bait they never condition to is a soft plastic worm. Dr. Cook has shown it in studies for Berkley, the biologists at SDSU have shown it in captive and wild fish, Glen Lau filmed it hundreds of times. No doubt in my mind that fish condition to specific baits. Zero.

Vast majority of what I fish is 1/2 and 3/4, with 1/2 taking the lead. In the past two years I've started to fish a lot more 3/4 and 1 ounce on Mr. Parks' recommendation.

Jig rod should be XFast. A punch rod can be anything from mod fast to Xfast depending on the graphite used, the resin, and the manufacturer. The XFast Cumara Punch is very close to to ModFast of the St Croix. That being said a good jig rod does not a punch rod make, nor in the other direction. Two different behaviors entirely. If you have to make due with just one rod, bypass both and get a flipping rod that will fit in the middle of the two.

There's no better line than Tatsu, period. The 6 is phenomenal for dropshot and shakey heads. I have all but about 10 of my rods spooled with it, and have used every line from every major manufacturer, no other comes close.

The primary difference in most reels, such as in the case you're speaking, is longevity. Most manufacturers reels simply will not last as long as a Shimano or Daiwa because of the way they're engineered. Yes, grades of bearing and components come in to play, but one of the biggest is longevity. I know firsthand, this issue. Having been sponsored by two companies at two different times, I continue to return to reels that I don't have to replace or rebuild on an annual basis. As a point of reference, there are several of my old Cheonarch SF reels Still floating around, and this is after more than ten years o my hard use.

Do a search on the topic. Neither company is in the wholly owned manufacturing business.

I use both for deep cranking. My general preference lies with the nature of faster graphite rods like the 7-11 GLX XH and the 7-11 MH Cumara. Those are my two favorite rods for slinging big baits like the Little John DD and SK 6XD, amongst others. I also very much prefer them for those situations in which I am ripping grass or when I am moving a bait with the rod rather than the reel. I like my glass rods for those situations when I am burning a bait, or when I am in lots of wood, the softer rod allows me to maneuver a bait a bit more delicately. Generally, though, my preference is graphite over glass.

Is an eleven! This bait is phenomenal at depth, and has the brilliant flash and roll that only a Rogue has. I fished it,and had a blast with fish in 10-15 feet of water. It casts superb, and gets to depth very quickly. The greatest key to this bait is that it performs well at a variety of speeds and cadences. When you're really slowing down and sweeping it, it darts very well, when you're speeding up, it is very erratic and darts wide. It is very stable in the water and suspends extremely well. I caught fish on the Blue back and Emerald, but Lady looks excellent in the water as well. I'm very excited about this one because of how versatile it is in terms of jerkbaits, and also because it really digs deep in a hurry.

Pm me your cell# and I'll text you some pictures.

I get paid to fish an awful lot, I figure me not calling in evens out in the end.

The double up is a riot with walking baits like a spook or sexy dawg. I fished one a lot last year with two Pop Max on it, too. Walking them in sync generated a lot of doubles, mostly post spawn fish that were bunched and on the feed.

Neither the Trash Fish or the Sick Fish are made with body roll. It is strictly fins and tail. They didn't want the bait to roll at all, unless I'm mistaken there is a video of Skeet and the guys from Creeper talking about it. Also if you want more thump in the tail, trim the top tail as on the Trash Fish. One thing I learned today is that the Sick Fish can be steered much more easily than the Trash Fish. Offset the hook point and you can make it swim under docks or under a tree that is laid down. I had a hellish hard time getting the Creeper to do that. That said, they both have a place in my assortment.

The brakes are very similar to that of the Gen 1 Revo, yes. But there is more to it, in that it seemingly changes from cast to cast without altering any of the settings. It's almost as though unless you make the exact same cast every single time, you never fully utilize the brake, or it is fully utilized when you don't want it to be. I'm much like you in that I will move a crankbait with my rod a lot at different times, essentially walking it over structure. Hence my preference for Ross's little faster than traditional glass rods. There are situations that I throw glass, but it's rare.

Zona is the original train wreck. I'll leave it at that, and direct him here to hopefully have some verbal jousting.

Part of the problem with Ardent is they're a small, American made, company that doesn't have the ability to build a million reels a year and have them sitting in warehouses. Sadly that's much the reason of their lack of availability. I'm told they are working on that.

Definitely. It softens your reaction and the tendency to really rip that bait. You become attuned to making certain that handle is on a stop,if you will, and then setting the hook. It's a great reel in terms of casting and in terms of fishing. The brakes are a tad finicky, but I've found that to be true across the board with Lew's. Not a drawback, but more a statement. I have yet to get used to the BB1, I'll put a lot of time on it this year, though.

I'm quite aware of the line you're indicating and I maintain my original thoughts. I don't need the reviews to tell me that the line does not perform to my expectations, or to the expectations of anyone I know that has fished it. What I see when I read those reviews are people that don't know the difference in good fluorocarbon material and poorly extruded material. Suffix has tried to make one line for the masses and it doesn't excel in any one area. It has poor abrasion resistance, and it has very high stretch- I particularly enjoy those that say they've been fishing that line for three or four years. It was introduced mid-year of '12. There are VALID reasons that there are different consistencies of fluorocarbon on the market. In calling a product "trash" one automatically denigrates the entire purpose and validity for doing so. As I initially stated; a very good fluorocarbon for mainstream use is Red Label- even Yo Zuri is better than Suffix. Better diameters, abrasion resistance, knot strength, stretch, and casting behaviour. That said, there are MANY manufacturers that make a better fluoro than the Suffix, for around the same money. If I wanted a line that stretches 25-35% per foot, I'd fish mono!

And I, on the other hand, would recommend a copolymer rather than braid or any super line. In most cases, I'd even go so far as to recommend fluorocarbon for what you're doing. Better abrasion resistance and better feel than braid on the whole. What I would not recommend is Suffix fluorocarbon. It's low abrasion resistance, high stretch, and relatively poor knot strength has you paying a lot for a line that for a couple bucks more you can get the reliability and predictability of Seaguar Red Label. Add just a beer more and you get Invizx. Don't skimp on line. That's the only connection between you and your lure.

My ardent reels cast further than anything I own. Period. Their greatest drawback is weight. Other than that I've had zero issue with them.

Owner beast 6/0 works, or the 8/0. The other that works well is the 7/0 mag trokar. I'm told the VMC hook works very well, also.

River2Sea. 5 to try- A jig A spinnerbait A swimbait A jerkbait A spoon. Don't care whose or what color. Spend time with them, learn to be effective with them. My preferences are Northstar for the first two, several swimbaits from Havoc to Roman Made, Megabass, Lucky Craft, Smithwick Rogues, and Ima for the jerks, and Lake Fork spoons.