breezy

I agree, if I could only pick one rod I would probably go with the 734c. IMO the 733c makes a great t-rig and 3/8oz spinnerbait rod. Although it would work I think it's a little underpowered for 5"+ hollow belly swimbaits. The 734c would be more suited to swimbaits, heavier spinnerbaits, jigs etc...especially if you're going to be fishing around any moderate cover. As long as the total weight of the lure is around 3/8oz or above the 734 should be fine.

Honestly, I don't think you will have a problem with either the 766 or 805. Those are both some seriously stout rods. If you're that worried about breaking it just figure out a way to start using a net, better to spend a few extra seconds messing with a net than constantly worrying about breaking an expensive rod. A lot of the time I will use the rod to partially or just barely pick the fish up and out of the water then swing it into the net. There is usually someone else in the boat to net for me, but if not I just hold the net in one hand and use my other to swing the fish in. I might have an incident occasionally where I look like a fool but for the most part it works ok Looks like your only options are a net or swinging the fish in though. Picking up a lot of slop in the net or snapping a rod both sound better than losing a hand/arm

x2 If you're not in a rush to buy everything shop around. There are plenty of items for sale on forums all over. Keep an eye out and you will find a great deal on rod and reel that will give you LOTS more for your money. For example, you could pick up a Loomis IMX and Stradic FI for just a little over $200...new MSRP would be over $400. Even if you want to spend half that you're still going to end up with much better equipment for the same investment. Also, I would rather give my money to help out an angler and get a good deal in return rather than a large corporation. I've talked myself into many purchases by saying, "I'm really just helping out someone else by buying this.." Also, for new spinning reels on a budget I don't think you can beat Pflueger. They have something in about every price range and all are good quality. Buy a President, find a nice used rod in your price range and you will be set.

I haven't fished with any of the new GL2's, but IMO if I'm spending $200 there are other rods I would consider before a GL2. My personal vote would be a Champion (or DX used will be ~$240 shipped) closely followed by a Cumara. The 733c vs 734c will depend on what baits you're throwing. I use my 734c for 3/8-3/4oz jigs, swimjigs, hollow belly swimbaits, toads, super spooks and basically anything in the 3/8-3/4 weight range. It's probably the most versatile rod I have owned and the only (very minor) complaint I have is the hook keeper. Although it's rated as a Heavy the rod has a soft tip with lots of backbone and I have no trouble throwing down to 5/16oz if necessary..but any lower and I will probably be reaching for another rod. The cut off seems to be in the 3/8oz range. If you're primarily throwing 3/8oz and under go with the 3 power, if you'll be throwing over 3/8oz most of the time go with the 4. Cumaras are also great rods, and if possible I would recommend just handling both in store and making a decision. If you like extremely fast actions then the CUC-X72MH may be the rod for you. The Dobyns rods definitely have a much slower action compared to the XF Cumaras. I like the taper myself but in the end it's personal preference.

I have stayed away from eagle claw from experiences as a kid. I've seen a few threads on various forums about how much they've improved though. I believe eagle claw is the parent company of, or owned by the same company, as trokar and the hooks are the same/similar. Have heard awful stories about trokar so maybe it's true I plan on picking up a pack or two just to see if anything has changed in 10yrs. 1/0 Owner Wacky Hooks are generally what I use just because they were available locally. I have seen a few bend when snagged on 10-12lb line...but no issues on fish so far. Use Gamas almost exclusively otherwise but have tried the octopus and splitshot and wasn't too happy. Their wicked wacky hook hasn't had good reviews and $5/3pk is pricey. I may try a pack of finesse wide gaps as a last shot.

Depends on the reel. I use my Zillion, Fuego, Sol etc (most Daiwas) with very little spool tension. They don't necessarily cast further but it makes for an easier and more fluid cast. The Revos I have owned however fish better with a bit of tension. I will set these where if I let the bait free fall it drops quickly but controlled and there are no overruns on the spool. If I try and back the tension off I end up losing distance because of too much thumb. IMO, if you're still learning to cast set it like I described above. You can back off some throughout the day and see how you like it.

I've heard things like this, fish being hooked by divers etc I have no personal experience so I'm not sure if they go that far. Of course they are going to edit shows to highlight the biggest fish and sponsors. One pays the bills, and I'm sure the public is more entertained (and likely to buy their product) when an angler is catching 25lb limits. I doubt ALL fish are caught beforehand and they simply fake the fish, but it wouldn't surprise me. Especially fish being caught on other baits and edited or staged to showcase a product. I would love to see some 'real' footage without too much editing and see pros being skunked or catching some dinks. Is the average person going to wanna watch a 30min show with no fish? Or buy the product that didn't produce anything? No. In the end it's a business and their goal is to make money...

I have just been fishing with whatever sunglasses I have handy, whether it's a cheap $5 pair or some oakleys I wear daily. Would like to pick up some polarized glasses but I don't think there's any way I can justify the price of some costas or oakleys strictly for fishing. Considering buying a pair of the $40 Eye Surrender glasses since I've seen a few good reviews. Does anyone else here happen to have any? Like a lot of people a hook, jig, egg sinker, etc in the eye is my biggest concern. When I was much younger I had a pretty bad eye injury and stayed almost a week in the hospital...talk about scary. I hate wearing a pair of expensive glasses in the boat because I worry so much about the stupid things I lose some of my fishing enjoyment On the other hand, I really don't want to trust my vision to a $5 pair of wal mart specials. Wish there was a little better middle ground with higher end glasses.

I started using yum dingers instead last year when wal-mart had them on sale for $2-$3 a pack. Bought everything they had in the colors I wanted. They are more durable than senkos which leads me to believe they're not as soft, but I don't really notice a difference in numbers between the two, although it's impossible to compare. Until I'm fishing tourneys where I have $100k on the line I'll stick with a product that (at worst) may not be quite as good as the original for 1/4 the price. Already starting to run low in some colors though and I'm worrying what I will do next When the time comes I will probably sample a few different senko knockoffs from the custom pourers and hopefully find one I like.

I've been considering purchasing a SOT kayak for a while now and was looking for any opinions on this kayak. Local store has one on clearance for $360 which seems like a great deal. Either way I would like to keep the budget $500 or less...don't want to spend a lot only to find out it's not something I really enjoy. Have owned several canoes and been on plenty of trips in the past, but it has been years ago (and never in a kayak) so I'm looking for a budget entry level boat to start off with. Majority of my fishing will either be in ponds and eventually lakes after I have some confidence (they're all pretty big...smallest is 30,000 acres). There may be an occasional river/stream but this is very low on my priority. So any thoughts on this kayak? Thinking very hard about picking it up because of the price, I've been shopping around used but there just aren't that many for sale locally. The store also has a Pelican Castaway 100 for about $320 but the Angler 144 seems to be a better quality overall, and from what I understand the extra length will be better for open/rough water. Thanks

The beavers get a lot of good feedback but I don't use them much. The Skinny Dipper on the other hand has quickly became a staple bait. My two favorite colors are bad shad and pearl blue shad; those two seem to work in almost any water conditions.

Revo S, Citica and Pro Qualifer would be my choices new. Revo retails for a little more but would be my favorite. It really depends...handle them at store and on a rod then decide. Like someone else mentioned, the best option would be to shop forums and buy used. You could get a great setup for $200, much better than spending it in store imo.

I think full cork grips are practically dead already and cork period may be next. Understandable with the high cost vs current alternatives. Personally it all depends on the specific material. My preference is a full cork grip as long as the cork is high quality. I have a few rods with cork handles and covered in pits where the filler has fell out over time that I always think about replacing them with EVA. On the other hand I have a few rods (1 Dobyns Champion in particular) that have immaculate cork that I wouldn't trade for anything. I like the way it looks, the way it feels...and it doesn't get hot in the sun. I have an Abu Vengeance rod with EVA or some other synthetic grip that feels wonderful and has held up very well. But I did not like the material on the Veritas at all. It was extremely slipper when wet and after only a few months of use had a few spots where it's scratched, gouged out, etc. Not sure how it was even damaged but it was. The way things are going I can definitely see cork completely disappearing from most 'budget' rods. I wish manufacturers would give us more choices (EVA vs cork, split vs full, etc) but with the economy I'm sure that's not going to happen. I guess when cork disappears from most/all commercial rods it's time to go custom.

I plan on purchasing a rod through a local builder and also building my first under his guidance (he's a good friend). I have a budget of ~$100 max (preferably under) for the blanks. Leaning towards the MHX or HM-MHX blanks due to price and reputation. Would be open to other suggestions but after doing my "research" (i.e. searching on forums ) it seems like the MHX may be the best bang for the buck. A few questions: 1) How do the HM-MHX blanks stack up to the regular MHX? Could anyone compare the two, or even better compare them to other manufactured rods? Something like: MHX~=Savvy/GL3 and HM-MHX~=Champion, IMX etc. I know so much of the finished rod's performance will be based on components and placement but it would be nice to get a rough idea what range it will compete with. Final two questions are regarding blanks. Will be starting off with two rods, here's what I'm looking for: 2) Weightless plastic rod. 6'6-7', medium, fast-xfast. Soft tip to throw lighter lures with good backbone, Cumara 6'8 M/XF would be a good example. Throwing weightless 4" flukes & senkos, shaky heads, finesse jigs, maybe some light topwater/jerkbait/crank. Looking at the HM-MB782-MHX (wish it were 6'8, and why is the MB842 a Med Lt??) or HM-SB812-MHX. The stats on the SB812 seem to be exactly what I want, but looking at the lure range and weight seems like it may be closer to a MH. 3) "All purpose" rod. 6'6-7', MH, fast. Plenty of good rods to use as an example. Basically if you were only able to grab one rod for a day of fishing this would be it (sure everyone has one). Considering the MB783 or MB843 (both HM). Would appreciate any advice BR has to offer. There's so many models just within the MHX brand it can get confusing, and when you add different manufacturers there's just a lot of blanks out there.

I was really hoping to see some cranking rods introduced into the Savvy lineup, but doesn't look like that's going to happen.

You've got a lot of options in the $100 range with all the sales going on. You should be able to pick up a new Citica, Curado or Revo S for right around $100 with shopping. The BPS Pro Qualifier and Carbonlite are also some great reels for $100. I owned a Carbonlite, Revo S and Citica at one point last year and would also rank them in that order. You get dual brakes, EVA foam knobs and lots of other options on the Carbonlite that usually only appear in higher-end reels. Personally, if you aren't in a huge rush and feel comfortable, I would search this forum and others and pick up a used reel. If you look around you should be able to find a 'used' reel that is practically new in box for 50% off retail.

I keep all of my plastics in the original bags. Don't have to worry about any reactions, mixing the wrong plastics, bleeding colors etc. It's also nice to know exactly what size, style or color that bait is when it slips your memory. I take the original bags and either place them in pockets in my soft sided tackle bag or two cheap envelope binders (think CD case but envelope sized, fits most bags perfectly). At some point I would like to pick up a worm/plastics bag and keep them separate. Anymore though, I find myself leaving the huge tackle bag at home and bringing a much smaller bag that I pack with baits I think I'll need. It makes the day a little more enjoyable to only deal with a small tackle box and a couple rods vs bringing everything. I'm always afraid I'm going to leave THE bait I need at home...but hasn't happened yet

I have some braid on it's 3rd season on one reel, but in all honesty it usually doesn't even last that long. Not because it needs to be changed, but because I've probably sold or traded the reel, moved it to a different rod, wanted to try a different line, etc. The majority of the time (unless I'm lazy) I fish with a 3-4ft leader however so the braid rarely gets worn. I've heard of people spooling the braid onto another reel so that it's reversed and you're fishing with the 'unused' side, haven't tried it but sounds like a great idea.

I think a 3 power rod should work fine for what you're fishing, and whatever length suits you the best. Unfortunately I don't own any Savvy spinning rods, but if they're anything like the casting lineup you should be very happy. I've heard mixed reviews about the Savvy spinning rods, but the Champion 702sf that I have is a GREAT rod, and from all of my Dobyns' experiences I can't imagine they would be "bad" rods. As for the Savvy sensitivity, unless there's a major difference between the spinning/casting blanks, my SS734c is as (if not more) sensitive than a Veritas, Carbonlite, Crucial and any other rod I've used in a similar price range.

I have 2 old 5'6. Casting rods. One fiberglass with a pistol grip but damaged blank unfortunately. Also an old Berkeley grapgite 5'6 rod. Haven't used it much but thinking about finding a reel and keeping in the truck, use wading streams, or for small topwater poppers etc. Hard to use a rod under 6' though.

I don't own one but have done a lot of comparisons in store. IMO the vendetta has a better grip but heavier than the Veritas. Two rods I own in the same range are the Veritas and Carbonlite. Both are great, balanced rods. I prefer the Carbonlite due to the grip. If you want to spend a little more the Dobyns Savvy line is great. Just like the champions and DX, balances extremely well. I don't own one but have heard good things about Powell also.

A 4-5" senko, either wacky or t-rigged depending on cover, is hard to beat IMO. I can't count how many times I've seen friends/family that are clueless when it comes to fishing catch nice fish on a wacky rigged senko. If he has the patience to fish it a senko will catch fish. I like to use a wacky rig specific hook or octopus style hook for wacky rigs. Fish will generally set the hook on themselves.

I'm curious about the big cranker too, what is everyone using it for? I've been looking for a general all around reaction bait rod and considering the LTB big cranker. Since most other st croix rods feel heavier than rated I was concerned it may be too much rod for the mid depth cranks.

I use my Revo S the same way, it's had 2 breaks on since I purchased it in 09 and I haven't felt the need to change it yet. Out of your choices, personally I would go for the Lews TP or consider an STX (should be priced similar online). The dual braking is hard to beat and you end up with the best of both: mags for distance, centrifugal for pitching...or anywhere in between. I've yet to use a Lews though so I'm assuming it performs similar to an STX or Premier. The suggestions for a Curado on sale are good, but I hate the color and don't like the way the reel feels in hand. IMO the entire Revo lineup are some of the sturdiest feeling reels on the market. I would go to a store and handle all the models you're interested in, then pick one based on comfort and looks (in that order). Don't think you can really go wrong with any of your choices.

I've had one for two years and have honestly been pretty impressed with it for the price. Maybe I just haven't used it long enough for the graphite frame to begin to "loosen up" and other issues people describe...who knows. It's taken a beating, has never been cleaned or serviced and casts extremely well. I really expected it to be junk by this point and I'm surprised it's still working, much less working well. For $50 MSRP for a new casting reel I would say it's a good choice (one of the only choices). That being said, would I prefer a slightly used higher end reel for just a bit more? Definitely. I think you're better off spending an extra $20-30 to get a used Revo, Citica, etc.