Robert Riley

I have the heavy, I'd say its both under and over powered. I throw my big cranks on a Dobyns 806 and my others on a Veritas 7'6" MH. I think it'd be a good choice to grab that heavy, or the MH. You can definitely throw those cranks in a pinch.

I'd say the villain, I had one as my jig rod before I upgraded to a DX745. Good rod, good price as I get a similar deal. I have some veritas rods as my cranking sticks. Good for cranking, not much else, not very sensitive. Can pass as a reaction bait rod

I use a Champion 806, but I have faith in Dobyns, the Savvy is a very good choice. You definitely want to use 20-25lb mono. Use braid if you want to buy more A-rigs

I have a DX745, it's a "Mag Heavy" it's more of a Medium Heavy in my opinion. But my Savvy 703 is on the light side of medium. The 734 is a good choice for those applications.

Hey guys, So it looks like St. Croix has 4 different actions: Extra Fast (XF) Fast (F) Moderate Fast (MF) Moderate (M) What's the MF? I don't fish SC often, so Moderate is for cranks, fast is for spinnerbaits? Or is their fast a bit faster than usual?

Heard great things about the Powell rods. I really like the Dobyn's Savvys, they're light, well balanced and have nice actions. I wouldn't recommend them for a jig/plastics rods, I'd upgrade to the Champion rod. For a cranking rod, I really like the Veritas rods, which are around $100, so under your margin. I've always felt the best quality rod you own should be your bottom contact rod. Unless of course you crank 90% of the time or whatever.

With any single hook bait I use at least a fast, and when the bait is not a moving bait (i.e. spinnerbait) I prefer an extra fast. As far as length, I prefer 7'-7'6". I have a DX745 I use for jigs and plastics. It's a bit too heavy, but that's alright with me.

As most have said, non-finesse jigs and frogs generally. The heavier cover, and the heavier the bait, the heavier the rod. EDIT: I also use a heavy rod for my big spinnerbaits and 8/10XDs.

I wont make another thread for this, but what's the difference between ice braid and braid?

Can someone give me a hint on this evil brand?

I've used a Savvy 704 and it's a great rod, so the champion must be even better! Ive used a D735 plenty of times, and that's a phenomenal rod. So the champion MUST be pretty nice.

We are going for panfish, pike and walleye. I assume I could have one for panfish and one for the bigger two?

I'm going on a trip in January, need some ice tackle. I have a good deal at Abu and Fenwick, anyone use their ice rods and got anything to say? Also, can I just put one of my finesse spinning reels on the rod? They've got light braid on them.

If you can get a good deal on a champion go with that. But otherwise, ive heard phenominal things about the DX702, used it once and it was great. I talk to the guys at Dobyns often, and only two rods have they not talked me down to a champion or even a savvy, and that was for my DX745 and the DX702. I trust these guys, they know I'm going to buy one of their rods, and they aren't at my throat for a sale.

I've used the tatula and it's a good reel, but I'm a Lew's guy, I love 'em. TP is a great reel and the BB1 casts a country mile and a half. Honestly, I'd buy what you can get the better deal on. And heads up, Black-Friday is just around the corner, might find something good.

BB2 Inshore is a good reel, very well made. I'd go with that, its probably not up to the same quality as the Team Lews. The whole freshwater reels being used is apparently a big deal, I'm in Illinois so I have no knowledge of that. But the extra long-term durability seems more important than a rather minor increase in quality. I'd go with the BB2, I use one as my back up reel for muskie (It doesn't compare with the new Revo Toro Beast ).

Dobyns, they hook a brother up. Not to mention Gary tells me what to buy haha

I use a 733 or a 704 for mine. Mostly the 704, as the 733 is for buzzbaits mostly.

I use my buddies homemade FC leader, they're like #200 and don't kink like steel can. I have a Premier 8'6"MH, can comfortably throw 4oz. So the S-waver looks good.

I'm going to clarify something that i wasn't sure if I should say or not on this forum.... These baits are for muskie haha. I'm leaning towards that S-waver from what y'all have said thus far.

Anyone see this new Gliss line? It's new and i'm curious, looks good. Sounds like it's just clear braid. TW.com/Gliss_Supersmooth_Monotex_Line/descpage-GSM.html

Good explanation! I was about to post up asking the difference between muskie and swimbait rods, thanks!

I'm looking at shelling out for my first jumbo swimbait purchase. My first question is about the difference between glidebaits and jointed hard-bodied swimbaits, any difference? They're just a little different on TW. Second, do all glidebaits wobble on the retrieve? Third, anyone use any of these? Savage Gear Glide Swimmer River2Sea S-Waver (Is this a sinker or floater? TW is conflicted) Imakatsu Bassroid ABT Suicide Glide

Due to braid having a tendency to cut into itself, I just mono of the same diameter for backing. I believe that the same diameter is important when tying the connecting knot, but I'm a fisherman and superstitious. I also only put on about 60-80 yards of my main line, I bass fish in the Midwest, so we just flip and generally boat flip the bass. If we have a bass that can run that far, we have many other problems on our hands.

Above is a good point. I have a dedicated Mag crank rod (Dobyns D806), that I use for 6-10XDs and muskie baits. I've got a good deal on Veritas rods and I have a 7'6 MH winch rod that I use for every other crank/squarebill. I would recommend getting a ~7' MH rod. If you throw a lot of big spinnerbaits you might consider getting a glass cranking rod, they're oh so versatile. I'd highly recommend Dobyns glass-composite rods, dont own any, but I've used them and hear great things.