webertime

Throw some 70lb Daiwa Samauri braid on it and keep some 20lb CXX on hand to attach leaders if needed. Great set up for 8" Hudds, BBZ's, and Lunker Punkers. That being said the reel may be a bit small for the baits in the rod's weight range, you should be fine though for occasional use. Or you could probably sell the Curado and get a Cardiff 300 for little no extra outlay of $$$. The 300 size will still be fine in the salt, but give you more capacity (ablity to run ~100yds of 20lb mono) and have a bit more strength in the reel.

Lipstick Red... hmmmm

I wouldn't use a Recon for cranking. However Phenix makes some sick and highly regarded cranking rods (x-11 through x-13) and they're cheaper than the Recon.

Revo Winch @ TW for 159, slightly cheaper on the bay.

ebay, new Curado G's for less than that. MAYBE a new Gen 2 Revo STX as well.

I'm up in Vermont, I have fished all over New England though. Your 6' m/f spinning rod could be used for tubes. I didn't realize you used a ML for your DS. Here's your spinnerbait rod (no need to thank me): http://www.stcroixrods.com/shop/catalog/Freshwater-23-1.html#Legend_Tournament_Bass_Casting_Rod_LTBC66MHF_11-325-23.html That's a great rod and a steal! I use (for whatever this is worth) as a non boater: 7'6" H Phenix Recon [766] (Flipping, Jigs, Carolina Rig, Frogs) 7'1" MH Phenix Recon [715] (Keitech type swimbaits, spinnerbaits, bigger cranks, smaller jigs/Texas rigs, some jerkbaits) 7' M Lamiglas Excel [703S] (Spinning rod for DS, shaky, tubes, etc.) A Medium power with a more moderate actions so the tip is pretty soft, a fantastic rod. These three went with me to all tournaments I cycle in the following depending on where the tournament is, weather, smallmouth or largemouth bais: 6'6" Medium casting (jerkbaits and topwaters) 7' MH Cranking rod (cranks, ripping cranks out of weeds) 6'8" M XF Spinning rod (senkos/ikas) Another flipping stick if it's shallow and I'll have a frog on the Recon. Just another thing to consider if you already don't have one, one of the inflatable life vests, I just keep it on. For me I find the faster and easier I can move around (re-rigging, getting the net for the boater, getting settled when the boater says "we're out of here", etc.) the better I can concentrate at keeping a line in the water and not worrying about loose ends. If you are heading up to VT at any point drop me a line, I'll hook you up.

For your (our area): Rocky "Smallie" Lakes, weedy shallows, and in your case the CT River some funny tidal Largemouth action... If you haven't already done so, learn tubes/football head jigs (very similar techniques), Drop Shots, Shaky Heads (technique is similar to a tube and DS hybrid), and Carolina Rig. Flipping a Jig or T-Rig is very productive, fun and easy to learn, takes a bit to master. Tubes/DS/Shaky's can be fished on one rod, C-Rigs, footballs and Flipping "can" be done on another. Treble hook baits on another and a nice MH for spinnerbaits, senkos, etc., sort of a utility rod of sorts.

Southern Lake Champlain last winter, 18+lbs Northern, 14" Crappie.

If $ no object, Patagonia or south island of New Zealand, my brother is a guide down there. He's fished all over the world these are his favorites. If you want really crazy and hard to catch Browns, then sea-run Browns in Iceland or Argentina, mean mean trout. If you are interested PM me I'll get you in touch with him.

Non rod/reel stuff... Culling tags of some sort Scale Weigh bag of your own Bac Rac (I love mine, my boaters love no hooks near their seats). Lindy leader rolls for you c-rig and drop shot leaders... pre-tie a dozen of each in various lengths and you'll save a TON of time rigging on the water, makes life easier when you need to re-tie and you boater calls for the net.

Just to get you ice fishing stoke up...

"Fast Sinking Braid" is like saying "Skinny Fat Guy". 832 and Spiderwire Fluorobraid were supposed to be fast sinking, and aren't.

Rod: Lamiglas Excel 703S Reel: Pflueger Supreme XT Braid: Power Pro 15 or 20lb Leader: Orvis Mirage 1x Fly leader material (2'-3' long, hook 4"-16" from the swivel) Swivel: SPRO (tiny) Hooks: Gamakatsu Drop Shot 1/0 and 1 Weights: Danielson Pencil (belt slightly into a banana shape)

Tons of shops have Shimano Saharas for $45-50, I'd go that route. Rods... lots of nice ones out there, I LOVE my Lamiglas Excel 703S. I've landed 100's of fish on it, it's American made and the same blank as the Certified Pro. PM me where you can get this rod new for $80 shipped. (The Elite Tech's are nice too), Now I love braid for DS, you don't fish a DS on a slack line, so the "advantage" that fluoro "has" is a moot point, braid is just as sensitive. Braid will NOT give you line twist and loops, huge advantage there, just use ~20lb braid of your choice, a nice tiny SPRO swivel and make leaders up out of flouro. I pre-tie a dozen leaders in various length droppers and hook sizes and load them on this: http://www.cabelas.c...4620680��Inside the roll I put a selection of weights and keep everything nice and self contained. Saves a ton of time re-tying on a rocking boat. Lots of tournament guys are going this route.

I've had a MH Veritas and have a Recon 715. The recon is lighter and infinitely (for me) more comfortable than the Veritas. Action/power between the two is kind of hard since the Veritas fish a little heavier than their power and Recons fish a bit lighter. My 715 can toss a 5-6" Keitech on a 1/2oz head and not feel like I am over taxing it at all. The Veritas in a MH felt like I could snap it with a 1oz. bait (how it felt to me). Action-wise I'll put it this way, BOTH are called "fast" neither in reality are. Veritas is closer to an XF and the Recon is a bit slower, but nowhere near "Moderate/Fast". Now the M1 is, from what I gather, a 30 ton graphite (veritas grade, akin to IM6 graphite) with a Chinese version of that 3M resin that Loomis and NFC started to use a couple years back. With this resin less material is needed to attain a specific strength. With that you can go "ultra light" weight with adequate strength or you can go just plain old "light" weight with excess strength. The M1 is the latter. What are you planning on doing with this rod? (Reel/Line, etc) If you are prone to ripping fish faces or loosing fish once they are hooked, you may want to check out the Recon.

El Dee See... Local to you, call him... support 'merican made!

It looks an awful lot like the 17.5' Rick Clunn model 170 dc. I've seen 3 of those 94 to 96 go for $1200 (yes that's right) to $4000. A buddy has a 750 from 98(?) with a 115 and hits 48-49mph.

Silverbuddies DEEP for smallies.

I think you don't have far to go to get your rod! By all accounts those are great sticks.

Up here C-Rigs are one of the top 3 techniques. "Whatcha catch em on?" "Rig" That being said I sort of hated fishing it, just too big and cumbersome. Then I gave it and learned to embrace it and have to admit the darn thing works. Up here we use it in 17-30+fow to find fish on humps or flats. It's so windy up here you can't easily keep control of the boat and work a crank in those depths. Bomb a rig out, use the motor to control the drift ~.7-1.2mph. Pay attention to where the hits are (wind blown side of the hump? Top? etc.) once you get the pattern of where they seem to be relating to, you start concentrate on the spots with tubes, ds/shaky's (I still love flipping my T-rigs though).

Same here for my 6'9" all purpose, the line would slap the blank, until the trolling motor and 4 footers killed it...

Zombie

Go with the 6'8" Mojo Medium XF. I've had both Veritas and Mojo's. Veritas do have cracking issues, it's documented all over this site, the other larger forums, abu's own reviews on their own page, TW and BPS reviews. If you are looking for a ~$100 spinning rod, check out the 6'8" med xf BPS Carbonlite.

Lamiglas excel 705g can be had for ~$100. Same blank as their old SR models.

They will work anywhere. They not only look like trout, but suckers, shiners, bullhead and several other longer bodied forage.