Mumbly

I used mine in the past for tight target casting and they worked great. For some reason I got away from using them for years. Great thought of using the 5'6" as a spook rod. I will definitely give that a try this season.

I was sifting around the basement today and came across a few Shimano 5'6" casting rods which I've had for 20 years or more and probably haven't used for over 15. It got me thinking.....is anyone using the short rods anymore?

That bag looks nice.

Thanks RW. I sent an email to Mr. Jim and he responded that he doesn't ship to Canada so if I go that route I will just have them shipped to a friend in Oklahoma. How do you find them durability wise?

Didn't think of a small zip-tie. Great idea. Thanks

Thanks for the info guys. I will snag a skirt tool and collars....also really like the wire idea as well. Thanks for the link A-Jay

I searched the forums before posting but didn't see this question asked so thought I could fire away and hopefully get some help. I open up my spinnerbait box tonight to see if I needed to order anything and i noticed that on some of my older spinnerbaits the rubber ring or collar that holds the skirt on has rotted. They have turned all gooey and sticky. Do you guys just replace the skirt with a new one or can you just replace the "rubber ring/collar"? The skirt itself seems fine. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the advice guys. I agree with what was said about the 1/8 oz. I really appreciate all the info.

Well it doesn't seem like any of my local tackle shops carry any of the Fenwick rods and doing mail order adds $40 for shipping. I might have to go with a Shimano....either a convergence or clarus. No one is selling Falcon either. I saw a couple St. Croix's but they were the higher end Legend series. I did see a G. Loomis GL2 but it was tough to decipher the writing on it. I think it was 1/4oz - 5/8oz M/F 6'6" for $143 -25% off but wasn't sure on it. any thoughts? Edit: Looking at the Loomis website it might have been the Crankbait rod....might not be a good choice for an overall use rod.

Thanks tons for all the advice. I will try to track down a Smallmouth Elite Tech but I haven't been able to find a local dealer here to try the reel on it. I will take the reel with me and head to a few tackle shops and try a few that were recommended. Thanks for all the great info. It really helps a lot.

Hey Everyone. I am needing some help selecting a rod for my curado 50e. I have seen a few threads on the same topic but all those seem to have a specific use, where mine will be more of a universal application. This might be a long shot and perhaps unconventional but here goes. I am fishing smallmouth and do a fair amount of bank fishing and will only be carrying one rod so I need to be able to throw anything from a jig, tube, grub, topwater, spinnerbait, worm, senko and maybe a few cranks. I am guessing lure weight to be 1/8oz to 1/2oz. (heaviest would be a super spook jr.) To make matters a bit worse...I am on a budget so max would be $100. My gut is telling me a medium action, fast/xf 6'6" or 6'8" but I would love to hear your thoughts and advice on the "one rod to do it all" if such a thing exists. Thank you.

You might have a point here as this color is by far my most effective Torpedo color.

This might be a silly question but asking anyway. I have read a fair amount about folks recommending the bone with orange belly color but the only one I have seen was a bone color with a small orange spot under the chin. Is this it or was there a color version that had a orange stripe on the belly that ran the length of the lure? Thanks in advance.

Thanks guys. I have plenty of different topwater baits but just none of the "walking" type so I wanted to try them this year. I looked at the full size spook as well but thought the Jr might be the sweet spot in regards to size. Most of my poppers are Rebel pop-r's and the fish up here seem to prefer the bone color. I have also fished the Heddon torpedo's and have tried pretty much every color in those. The fish definately prefer the bullfrog color in those by a large margin. I know they make the fullsize spook in the bullfrog color so I think I will snag one of those as well. Leaning towards bone on the Super spook jr. I have seen and read about the Sammy 100, Sexy Dawg Jr and Gunfish 95. Sadly, I haven't seen anyone up here selling any of the Lucky Craft or Strike King baits (aside from spinnerbaits for SK) so online is my only option for those. Do you think they are a better bait and perhaps easier to "walk"?

I think this year I want to go back to what I love and try to focus on more topwater for smallmouths. I have been tossing around the idea of picking up a couple of Zara Spooks and have been looking at the Super Spook Jr. Anyone using them for smallmouth and if so could you share your thoughts, success and or failures? Also which color work the best for you?

Thanks tons for the replies guys. My biggest concern was the change from the aluminum frame to the graphite one but I have been unable to compare the two. Thanks for setting me straight. I knew you guys would know the deal. Dam0007: Thank you so much for the offer of getting me a reel but as I am up in Canada it would be an extra headache for you to ship it up here and i would sooner not put you through all that. Last question and I think I know the answer but here goes.....Do I get the Sahara FD for $60 or the Symetre FJ for $70?

I am in the market for a new spinning reel and I believe I have narrowed it down to either the Shimano Sahara or Symetre. I know there has been a lot of posts about the quality of the current Curodo G's and how much better the E's were last year. This got me thinking and wondering if the same holds true for the spinning reels? Do you guys think that new Sahara's and Symetre's are better than last years model? I now seem to have more questions than answers. Aluminum frame vs Graphite, X-ship....etc. Am I thinking too much into it? Any advice and information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks tons for the replies guys. I don't normally go for the cheaper ones but they didn't look too bad, especially for the price. Thanks again.

Hey guys. I was in the local Walmart today and just wanted to ask if anyone has any experience with Culprit spinnerbaits? Was curious on quality mostly. They appear to be very inexpensive ($2.47 for double willowleaf spinnerbait and buzzbait) and I was curious if it was a "get what you pay for" sort of thing. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.