Hooligan

They had a problem with quite a few of the plastics shrinking up during the pour process. It's not a long term thing, if you've seen it at all.

The dobyns 685 is less than even decent for a squarebill rod. It just doesn't have enough power to move fish efficiently in the situations I would generally be fishing squarebills. I really like that rid for fishing big top water baits like the Sammy and spook. It's an excellent rod for fishing 1 ounce jerkbaits like the EPG, too. It makes a great short range spinnerbait rod, as well. It just doesn't trip my trigger as a squarebill stick.

90% of my spinnerbait fishing is structure fishing. I fish exclusively Northstar spinnerbaits and 99% of those are 3/4. The primary rod I fish them on is a Cumara 7-0H Fast. The second rod that I fish them on is a Cumara 6-9MH Xfast. Typically that rod comes in when I'm fishing in ten feet of water or less. The third is the Cumara 7-11 MHXF. That rod is primarily the rod I use around grass and in wood, when I am fishing longer casts and targeting fish from a Lon distance in clear water. It's also the rod that I use for 1/2 ounce and smaller blades. The 7H is my preference for all around, typically. I can use it in many different situations for many different baits with no issue. I also prefer that rod for keeping fish pinned, it is more than powerful enough to drive the big hooks home, but it is limber enough to keep them buttoned. I really, really like it for fishing blades in deep water because it is sensitive enough that I can tell what's going on. I can't do that with a glass rod.

It may be four months out for some stores, but it is more like six to eight weeks in general. It is a huge bait, reminiscent of the old bagley db series, only bigger bodies. It's a really neat bait for certain.

I've given up on C21 for a variety if reasons. Initially I was very impressed with the qualities. After a period of time, however, it fell off my list quite quickly. The memory jumps dramatically after you use the Lu e for a week or so. It necessitates a change of line nearly weekly if you fish much. The fact that it picks up water is something I don't like either. It's almost as though the line swells with use, and the stretch is terrible. I was fishing it for jerkbaits when the Lu e first hit shelves this year, and it's very good for that purpose. For most other techniques though, it lacks quite a lot. The abrasion resistance is very poor in warm water, for some reason it seems like the line gets much, much softer it warm weather. Cheap line, you get what you pay for in this instance. Which is a bit of a bummer, because initially I was very excited about the opportunities it was going to present for a multi-purpose line.

Straight forward- yes. I've got several and have nothing but good to say of them. They're almost dead on to the old green machines.

The avid is a superb choice, I happen to know there will be one for sale shortly in the flea market; at a reasonable price no less. Another recommendation that I could happily make is the Carrot Stix Wild Black. I've spent a bit of time with that rod in my hands this year and am duly impressed with the sensitivity, the construction, and the overall feel of the rod. The rod performs well above its price tag, at least thus far. It seems, as well, that E21 has overcome their breakage issues on earlier rods. I've broken many E321 rods through the years and was intitially hesitant to have these put in my hands again, fearing tainted opinion of the rods. The single, biggest drawback to the rods are the messed up-stupid hook keeper placement. It is a completely bunk keeper that does nothing but get in the way. I broke it off and filed it down- the heck with it. Anyhow, like the rest of the gang has said, the Avid is a super choice for the purpose. That rod really is built around that exact purpose, you're not going to get a better one for the money. As stated earlier, as well, there will be one coming for sale shortly.

This is not official by any means, but the new Cumara is said to be built on the EXACT HM-1 blank as the cumulus, with the only changes being color and the additions of lengths and actions. It would appear, too, that the price is going to remain relatively stable. I have not seen or heard for certain what pricing will be, that part is the rumour mill. What is certain is they're coming! The biggest drawback is that the blank is a hideous maroon color. I've never before cared about what color the rod blank I was fishing happened to be, this one though, I'm not sure. Sounds like specs are much the same, however, SIC guides, Uplock reel seat like the Crucial, wide variety of lengths and actions in the bottom contact series. Unsure yet as to when they'll make it to a store near you or when Shimano will make it official. I've seen enough pictures to confirm the color and the specs, hopefully everything else rings true!

No, braid doesn't make the rod power or action any more powerful or faster than what it actually is. It doesn't make it feel that way, either; what it does is reduce the amount of force it takes to set the hook because there's less stretch in the line.

There are many theories on it, in terms of rise, sink, true suspension. I fish the Vision110 Silent Riser an awful lot, and I catch an awful lot of fish on it- the theory of not wanting a jerkbait to rise. I believe Mike was misquoted on that- he doesn't want a jerkbait that rises in very cold water. At least that's what I've gathered from conversations and from writing he's done on the subject. I'm very particular about jerkbaits, because there are specific things that I want them to do. A huge portion of my annual catch is attributed to jerkbaits; I'd go so far as to say that it's a full 1/3 of what I do every year. When it comes to what I'm doing in terms of which style, and the floatation of a bait, I'm almost always looking for a true suspending bait. That said, it's only at specific water temperatures that it is going to do that. I would prefer a bait to rise slowly in a nose down attitude than I would prefer to fish a sinking bait in cold water. I select my baits a lot by what I'm fishing them over, or around what sort of structure I'm fishing them. I like some baits more in rock than in wood, the same can be said for open water or over weeds. In the Highland Reservoirs that I so often fish in Spring and Fall, the LC Pointer 100 and Pointer 78 are king as my all around baits- the size is based on depth and forage. When fish are on smaller profiles, obviously I fish the 78; and vice-versa. I prefer the Vision 110 for shallow weeds and wood, and in open water where there's very good visibility. I'll fish LCP100 in open water and wood as well, but typically where there's a little less visibility. Only very, very rarely do I go to a silent, or wood, bait. I do love my wood pointers, as they're simply superb for those situations in which an absolutely stealth bait is the way to go. The other style of bait that I have a lot of confidence in is the Flash Minnow 110- This bait, or style of bait, if you will, is a far more active bait. It's a bait that I generally do well with in spring and in certain situations in fall. When fish are on the tops of shallow rock or shallow primary points in fall, it can be absolutely dynamite. I'm not 100% certain of why it's so much more effective in those specific situations than other baits I fish; I'm sure of it is just my confidence in the bait. Sure it's the right depth and profile, but there are other guys that would rather fish a Vision 110. The depth of the Flash Minnow, I'm sure, is what does it for me in those situations- or at least that's the heart of it. A bait that will without fail stay at the 2' depth is pretty key. Lastly, when I desire a deep bait, such as when fish are stacked on deep edges or on the backside of primaries in the 12-16' range- the only bait of choice is the Staysee90. It's extremely tight moving and it's very erratic. Overall, in jerkbaits, it's getting an idea of what works for you. For instance- less is more. I really prefer to move a bait far less initially, until the fish tell me what they want. I'll move the bait very, very slowly at first. Dwight's post is absolutely stellar with information, too. Hopefully he chimes in on this. I'm very proficient with a jerkbait but I took several things out of his post and have since applied them to my fishing style.

I've had mine out and played with it quite a little bit. I'm impressed at the fluidity of the reel, given the price tag. It competes with the Chronarch, and blows every revo out of the water except possibly the premier. The initial feel of the reel is that, while it is large for a 100 size reel, it's also very capable of handling smaller lures and lighter weights. The drag is quite impressive, very smooths for a stock drag. I don't like the thumb bar, but I've never really liked Daiwa thumb bars anyhow. I don't disagree at all on the handle, substantial is definitely a good word. Another thing that was interesting to me is that the reel is certainly not lacking in capacity; I fit an entire spool of 12lb Abrazx on the reel. Overall, I've been very impressed with the cast and spool rotation and braking. It's very well thought out. As much as I love my Curado/Chronarchs this little reel will definitely challenge them at the price point. I would easily call it the best value for $129-$159 right now. It will particularly appeal to those that want a slightly smaller reel, without dropping to a 50 size. As mentioned, it will handle lighter baits with ease. I've been throwing a 1/8 ounce hair jig on it with no issue. It makes a sweet little reel for 1/4 ounce spinnerbaits, too. I'm happy with the couple of them I have, and I really think that it will compete heavily for that market share.

Wow man. Color me jealous. There were only 200 LIn 10 25th anniversary reels made. I've had one in my hands only briefly. When I saw the $1425 price tag, I couldn't justify it, regardless of how amazing it was. Now, I kick myself every time I see one, because I should have bought that reel. Congratulations on the score, it's as excellent as they come.

Rage Recon and 10" Thumper. Those two have been dynamite this year.

Furthermore, it was directed more toward your statement of color, specifically the lack of large swim baits patterned in fire tiger. We're that the case, you would never see Southern fish eating trout patterned baits, either. It doesn't look natural to them, because they've never seen a trout. That's blown out the window, because trout pattern swimbait a catch largemouth from Canada to Florida, that alone blows the color theory out the door.

In general the vast majority of the baitfish in any given body of water, that fish are most likely to be feeding on, are young of the year. In most instances, yes, they are of a very uniform size and most often a very uniform behavior. Most often falling and rising in the water column at the same rate as the surrounding baitfish. If it is, indeed, a situation in. which fish are actively feeding on schooled bait, those that seem injured or those that fall from the school from being attacked are going to be very similar to one another. Fish are far more likely to recognize a difference in size before discerning color differences between, say American shad and sexy shad, or fire tiger and bluegill.

That's the old Berkley Frenzy Shad. No longer available and near impossible to find. I think they were made for a grand total of three years. 99% certain that's what it is- albeit I'm on my phone right now, so I cannot see it as well.

I disagree with that theory. Many companies have Fire Tiger and "as close to firetiger as you're going to get without calling it firetiger" swimbaits. Bettencourt, 22nd, Jackall, Caro. 99% of what, I am sure the issue is, is that the bait falls faster and isn't in the strike zone for the majority of the time that a half ounce bait is. It could also amount to fish not keying on the larger profile of a 3/4. I catch tons of fish every year on 3/4 and 1 ounce traps and 3/4 Aruku shads in colors that aren't anything close to a natural pattern. If color were that much an issue in those cases, there is almost no chance they'd eat the 1/2 ounce size, as they can see it well enough to define the difference. You give the fish far too much credit on that one.

I've used that method, the single greatest drawback is that it seems to increase line twist dramatically. I was shown that by Shin Fukae at Table Rock a couple years ago. The only time he uses it is when he uses a TX Rig dropshot, or Owner Downshot.

I've fished it only a handful of times, on all occasions pulling Little John's and RTOs in grass. I really liked it for that, in short range. Any more than about 40' and it would just load, not pull the bait free. Sometimes you'd have to really rip it three or four times, but for a glass rod it's quite nice.

Stuck using topwater for what reason? Many people fish braid exclusively for nearly all of their techniques, including jigs, senkos, spinnerbaits, cranking, and topwater.

If you have a buddy that told you they work great on waters you fish regularly, I would suppose that he's the one you should be talking to. As far as the head is concerned, there are far better heads with better hookup ratios and better hooks. In regards to the worm you choose to use, it's certainly a thing entirely of preference, one will say that your choices are excellent, another will say they are not- Personally I don't like Senko Style baits on a shakey-head as a rule, unless it's the thin or Slim variety. When it comes to what I fish on a shakey head, it's typically RoboWorm, Thin Senko, and 7" Rage Thumpers. Not often to I fish a ribbontail on a shakey. The Havoc Bottom Hopper is a good start for a cheap shakey, as is the Trick Worm or Finesse worm from Zoom. There are a multitude of baits that will work.

After Icast and learning the properties of the the new material, they're breaking ground in places none have ventured. The material is lighter and stronger than that used in the CI4. In essence, with Xship added to the Saros- It makes it a competitive reel with the Ci4, from nearly all accounts. It's going to be interesting to see the things to come in terms of design over the course of the next year or two. I'm looing forward to what's to come in the rod department, as well. Fishing both Cumara and Cumulus quite heavily, it's very interesting to me to see them both gone at this point. It can only lead me to believe they're doing one of two things- stepping up the game, or eliminating two series of rods that competed- heavily by many standpoints- with their sister company's top end rods. Let me clarify that statement a bit. The Cumara and Cumulus are built so similarly to the GLX and some will say the NRX that the upper rods weren't worth the money in upgrade. I debate that, as the NRX is definitely a better feeling rod. Were the NRX not in the picture, however, I'd not own a single Loomis bottom contact rod at this point, though. I honestly couldn't justify the upgrade from Cumulus to the GLX- frankly the Cumulus feels much better. Anyhow, enough diatribe... I see Shimano doing nothing but upgrade quality and materials in the release of reels for this season and last. I see them matching the desires of the market and re-introducing the classic Curado at a pricepoint that is feasible for more people than the $200 mark it was going to be. I also see that the workhorses of their lines have continued to flourish. To be frank the most bad that I read about shimano is from a handful of people that are recognizable on only a handful of interweb boards I visit.

Hey- no one throws shad raps anymore, what are you doing talking about it on a public forum?!? Since it's purely a rhetorical question, that is if I were to ever throw shad raps, which I never do in early spring or, late fall, and I never weight them with suspendots. If I were to throw, say... a sr5 or sr7, I'd be throwing them on a 6-8" medium xfast Cumara spinning. Any Xfast spinning rod in Medium to med-lite would suffice- This is all in theory, mind you. Because these aren't baits that are still thrown, right. They're old, and outdated and don't work anymore.

There's no one, single bait that appeals to more fish in more conditions than what you describe as a "traditional" jig. There's not a time of year that I will not have at least two tied on. There's not a single outing that I won't fish a jig. It just doesn't happen. In years past as much as 85% of my tournament winnings have come on jigs, and it continues to pay out. It's definitely not become a thing of the past...

Yeh, they're pretty neat. I've gotten to use them a bit this year, but so little of the fishing has been a solid crankbait bite for us. They definitely make the bait erratic.