bigfishbk86

Wow....i mean, you might as well have said they saw the hook and turned away....or your knot. Comical. I only fish lakes with 5-25ft of visibility and i can assure you if you aren't getting bites it isn't because the fish can see your line. I've put on serious clinics on the bay of green bay in 30 boat packs using straight braid while EVERYONE around me was using flouro. As others have stated, a leader can be useful with braid in rocky conditions as such, but don't ever think you need a leader for visibility issues.

Zillion. Period.

I too would go with the full cork, but i personally hate split grips!

I have the 735 and 736 and IMO the 736 is the PERFECT frog rod, even in open water situations. It has enough tip to cast and walk frogs perfectly, and plenty of backbone to get them out of just about anything. Go with the 736, its by far the superior frog rod.

Asics, nimbus for me personally.

coming from someone who owns both, without a doubt go with the Dobyns. No even close.

7'2" Heavy tatula with a 150 smoke high speed and 50lb suffix performance braid . How some of you guys get away with using a MH/4 powered rod is beyond me, unless there is no vegetation around at all, not even submergent.

I went through 3 tips last year on my micro magic, and 2 the year before that. A regular tip will be just fine, although it'd be nice if the inserts would just stay in.....

704

The new rage bug should be coming out soon shouldn't it??

The tatula 7'4 is EXACTLY what you're looking for and by far the nicest rod in the price range

I would go with the Johnny Morris signature rod in 7'2 MH, with them being on sale and the rod trade in program, it ends up at $90 and is a much nicer rod than the carbon lites and the falcon IMO, and would probably say its nicer than my tatula. Although i would rank the tatula and JM rod very close, both being very nice rods.

4x4 swim jigs are the best i've used and i've tried almost all of them. 90% of the time i either have a 5" kalins on the back or a skinny dipper.

15lb CXX

And IMO, a rod that works well for punching/heavy vegetation flipping, will literally never be an option for throwing anything weightless. So i'd discourage against tying to find one rod for both.

bflp3 has it right, I don't do much true "punching" perse. Just use heavy punching gear for flipping vegetation in up to 18ft of water.

As long as the hook was 4/0 in the 1/4 and 5/0 in the 3/8 i'd probably buy a few of each size, and if we could get the OOMOD skirt on it, i'd buy a few more.

Go with the punching setup, being in wisconsin and only fishing natural lakes, i punch ALL summer. If you aren't doing it regularly, you need to put your time in and you'll be doing yourself a huge favor. I'd go with a 6 power dobyns.

Coots, trust me, either use straight braid with no leader, or CXX in whichever # test you prefer. CXX runs strong though, if you want 14lb, get 12lb etc and if you use a line conditioner on it, you'll never have any issues.

Thats what flouro does, it breaks. Switch to CXX and problem solved!

For what you are planning on using the rod for, i'd definitely go with the 704. I bought a 703 and its a lot closer to a medium than medium heavy. I use my 703 for rage rigs and 1/4oz swim jigs and it works well for that, but is a touch light for anything more IMO. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

Like others have said, go with a M or maybe even a ML spinning rod.

The hook up ratio with these is phenomenal with a palomar knot. However, i have straightened out numerous 4/0 hooks, not from boat flipping mind you, but have found the 5/0 to be a bit more sturdy. These were all i used last year and boated over 100 bass punching with these hooks, however this year i'll be trying out the hack attack flipping hook, as i don't think they will ever straighten out.

Ummmm, the new LTB's have hook hangers....Anyway, i have 4 of the second generation LTB's and 3 of the newest LTB's and i most definitely prefer the newest. Not sure why there's all the hate on the new reel seat? I for one like them. The upgraded guides on the new ones are also a huge improvement. Remember OP, a lot of these guys here like the one above me, will defend how nice an abu veritas is....just my $.02

They absolutely are not line shy.