smalljaw67

These rods were originally slated to be $350, Tackle Tour gave them an editors choice and a best value award, something you don't see much from those guys. These are glass rods and the 7' fat mini magic model is almost 6 ounces so I'm guessing the 7'6" model is pushing 7 ounces but there is nothing like the action of glass. I can't wait to read your review.

If you are going to that type of fishing I would think the 7' medium power, fast action might be a better fit. The reason I say that is you are correct that using a T-rigged plastic with the medium light isn't the best deal but neither is a moderate fast action unless you use braided line. So, what kind of line are you using? If you are going to use braid then the 6'9" medium power, moderate fast action will be great, if you use fluorocarbon, mono, or copoly then the 7' medium power, fast action is going to be what you want. The reason is simple, braid don't stretch so the moderate fast action is going to absorb the shock yet still have enough to set the hook while going through plastic, if you use one of the other lines then you are going to have some line stretch, depending on what kind of fluorocarbon it could be a little or lot and the same for mono but mono will usually have more. Anyway, you are going to need a little extra backbone to compensate for stretch so the fast action is going to be a better fit.

The guy used a DT-6 in Ike's demon color to catch the majority of his fish, the area he fished was too shallow for the Livingston lure as he did use it but it got hung up and it was the only one he had. When he wasn't able to upgrade in the spot he was at he moved out to another spot in a little deeper water and it was there he was able to cull that one fish that put him over the top and it was on his Livingston prototype and he had the footage otherwise everyone would have assumed it was a sponsor plug as he really hammered them on a DT-6.

The 6'9" M-MF spinning is made in both a 1 piece and a 2 piece and if you want it for finesse tactics I'd go with the 6'10" ML-XF . I'm a Fenwick fan now, to make a long story short I was a G.Loomis guy but I got sick and after treatment I was no longer able to do the same work I always did and so my income decreased dramatically. I was depressed thinking I'd have to go with lousy rods that were heavy and not sensitive at all and about that time Fenwick came out with the Elite Tech smallmouth rods and I got one before stores had them, directly from Fenwick. Well I was super happy, I never dreamed I could get a rod with that kind of sensitivity, that was that light at that price point so I tried a few others and now I'm pretty much buying Fenwick rods. We all have our preferences, for me the Fenwick rods power and action fit exactly the way I fish, I have the Elite Tech Smallmouth in spinning and casting, the Aetos in spinning and casting, and the HMG in casting, and I am really impressed with all of them.

The description of tip to backbone is a really nice detail that I wish other manufacturers would put on their rods so if you can't handle them, you would know what you're getting.

BPS Crankin' Stick is solid, the only time I get a more expensive cranking rod is when it is a specialty deal like a finesse cranking rod or a super deep cranking rod.

Most of the time it was by accident but I also like to experiment. I was doing well with smallmouth about 10 maybe 12 years ago and we were using Yum Craw Bugs, well me and my buddy had green pumpkin Craw Bugs we got at discount that was old stock from a small tackle store. My buddy was set, he had 2 bags left while I only had 1/2 of a bag so we stopped at a shop and I got 2 new bags of green pumpkin craw bugs for our trip, well when I ran out of the old ones I put a new one on and I stopped catching fish while my buddy was still getting them, what was the deal here? Well I compared my new bugs to my buddy's and it seems my green pumpkin was darker, the old bags the color had faded or Yum made the color different but that day was an eye opener, it made me aware that the smallmouth can see shade differences and it has helped me, now when I make a green pumpkin jig I will use 3 different shades in one jig and they seem to work and I now have confidence in that.

I want to grab one myself when they come in but I'm talking about the Supreme. The drag is why I'm choosing it because I don't know what the XTX drag system means but the new Supreme has a sealed drag and I look for a sealed drag, that keeps water out of it and keeps it functioning smoothly. I don't think you can go wrong with either but the sealed drag has me liking that model.

Daiwa Zillion 7'MH-F worm and jig rod, this will be a really nice stick for your budget.

I think maybe you should look at small topwater frogs made for open water. The reason I say this is based on some of your other posts, it would appear that you don't have a rod that is capable of driving a large hook through a thick piece of plastic let alone the mouth of the fish. The frogs that sink are also called "toads", and even with the proper rods reel and line, anglers still miss and loose fish, hollow frogs that float are going to present the same problem as you typically hook a fish in the roof of the mouth and I don't believe you have the right gear for it. A Rebel Frog R or Poppin' Frog would work much better but you wouldn't be able to throw it in the weeds. I'm just trying to help you out here and keep you from wasting money on a lure you won't be able to use.

Here is the deal, yes, the bait was designed like the 110 but changing the hooks on that bait is tricky because it suspends decent and even a slight change in weight affects the bait negatively. Contrary to popular belief, the hooks on that bait are light wire VMC hooks with stainless steel split rings, anything over 8lb test line is going to bend the hooks out on this bait as well as the 110, the difference is the 110 floats a bit so you can get away with a little bit better hook. There are 2 hooks I like for this bait, the first is the Owner Stinger ST-36 in a size 6 for the larger bait and a size 8 for the smaller bait. The other hook, which I believe is a direct match, is the VMC 8540 in the same size 6 and 8. I did an experiment last fall when I was able to get on a jerkbait bite and what I did was I used my finesse cranking rod with 10lb line while fishing the small 3.75" bait and I managed to catch 2 smallmouth in the 4lb range and 5 in the 3lb range and 11 that were in the 13" to 15" class and the last fish I caught which was a 3lb fish is when I finally had the stock hook break and I only lost 2 fish during this time, I wrote it in my log book. I fished the larger bait with 12lb line with my regular jerkbait rod and it took all of 5 fish and the Owner Stinger had 2 hook points bend and after the first 3lb fish one of the hook points broke off and I was satisfied that line size and rod action play a big part of hooks bending out and breaking. What happens is with the heavier line and faster action rod, we tend to bring the fish in much faster than when you have to play it on light line with a moderate action rod. Now what I do is I use my drag on the fast action rod, I also dropped back to 10lb line so now I can work my bait but I won't try to muscle the fish in, I'll let the fish play itself out a bit more. Now, I'm not fishing for money and these are what I found, some automatically change them and I did as well and I emailed Luck-E-Strike to ask which hooks do they suggest I use and the response was that the hooks they use are light wire VMC black nickel hooks but any light wire treble should work but the problem has been there aren't many light wire trebles.

Your 2nd rod depends on what your preference is for length, I like shorter rods for poppers, spooks, and jerkbaits but the cranks is where it gets funny. Some anglers have no problem using a 7' cranking rod topwaters and jerkbaits, but it is just hard for me to compensate for the tip flex that I can't get any rhythm going and so I can only walk the dog for about a foot or so and the tip ends up stopping me. I'f I was going that route I could get a rod that would let me fish mid depth cranks down to say 6' or so and still be able to fish the other baits with it. For a rod for those 3 I'd be looking at a 6'8" to 6'10" medium power fast action rated to at least 5/8oz and the rod I think would work would be the *** *** Black 6'10" M-F, that should allow you to throw all those baits and it would allow you to spend more on a T-rig rod.

Lipless cranks are your typical Rat-L-Traps or Cordell super spots and there are a ton of others. For the fishing you do I'd look at the 1/8oz Rat-L-Trap and they sink but the brand Rat-L-Trap does make a floating version but probably too large for your tackle so go with the 1/8oz model that sinks and they sink fast. Advantages are versatility and speed, you can work these a number of ways but you can also cover a lot of water which is perfect when fish are scattered. disadvantages would be that they snag easily and that would be the only thing I list for that. The reason you would use this over a regular crankbait is a regular lipped model is set to run at a certain depth, you can fish the lipless at any deth you want simply by counting it down to how ever deep you want or if you want it shallow just raise your rod tip and reel fast and it is a shallow runner.

It depends on the water temp and the body of water. if I'm fishing a lake it is going to be a suspending jerkbait, probably an Elite 8 rogue or if there is a warming trend I'll be trying the new Bagley Balsa shad, the size 5 is 1/4" longer than the #5 Rapala Shad Rap but it weighs 3/8oz so I'll be able to get good distance, it should be a player. If I'm fishing the river it will most likely be a hair jig or suspending jerkbait, either a Pointer 100 or an RC STX 4.5" or 3.75", but one of those 3 will work.

You would do better over at crappies *, pro angler is a brand associated with crappie fishing, most guys here are more or less bass fisherman and there may be some, but not many who have knowledge of the brand. I have heard of them but it is only because I heard the name on a crappie fishing video. I'm sorry I can help but if that is what kind of action and rod you're looking for then check out B&M or anything Wally Marshall, that is all good crappie and panfish stuff.

5lb 3oz smallmouth on a Manns Waker Elite.

$250-$300 can get you a pretty nice set up if you shop smart and look around. Right now rods in the $150 dollar range are better than they've ever been and the same goes for reels. You will hear a lot of different options because we all have out favorites. So now we need to know what you are going to use it for and I'll give you some examples. For instance, say you want a rod to fish spinnerbaits/buzzbaits, jigs, and worms, what kind of weight baits? Are you going to throw say nothing over 3/8oz in sparse cover or perhaps you'll be fishing 1/2oz and higher in heavy cover, there are a lot of different variables but I'll give you my take. A 6'6" to 7' medium heavy, fast action rod will work great for everything but treble hook lures, I always say that crankbaits, punching, big swim baits and Alabama rigs are the techniques that require a specific type of rod as you can get by with the 6'6"-7' MH-F rod for everything else. If you are going to throw cranbaits and don't want a second rod yet, you can get a 6'6" -7' medium power, fast action rod, it will have enough backbone to drive all but heavy flipping style hooks through the roof of a fish's mouth and still have enough forgiveness to fight a fish hooked on trebles without yanking them out but there are going to be sacrifices. This type of rod isn't going to be great in anything over moderate cover and the baits are going to be limited to 1/2oz spinnerbaits, 3/8oz if there are Colorado blade on it, 3/8oz jigs with a trailer, and crankbaits that dive no deeper than 6' to 8' but it can work. A lot of anglers use medium power fast action rods as technique specific rods for weightless plastics and square bill cranks but they are pretty versatile, so figure out what you are going to use and then go from there to pick out a set up.

At that price point you're looking at the lower end Berkley like a cherrywood HD that is part glass, that would work for you.

The 7' Falcon original in a medium is what they call the "Mansfield" , be careful with this rod as you are going to be able to effectively fish from 1/4oz to 3/8oz, maybe 7/16oz and 1/2oz is going to tough. Every falcon I got to use has been spot of and crankbaits always run a bit heavy and anything over 1/2oz is going to be heavy for that rod. You would be better served by the new Jason Christie series 7' rated 1/4oz to 3/4oz because it is a moderate rod and like I said, Falcon rods are spot on with their lure weights, other manufactures you can fish a bait that is a little over what is recommended, not Falcon, if it is rated to 1/2oz, it isn't a hair over and you can feel it, as Rippin-lips has already said, anything over a 1.5 makes the rod feel as if it going to snap and that is when you know you are at the limit of the rod.

You like the GL2 over the GL3 and GLX?????? Are you talking new models or old? I find it funny because the GL2, while not a bad rod, it isn't close to being worth the price tag. The reason we say this is because the rod is considerably heavier than most rods in its price range and it uses standard aluminum oxide guides, perfectly fine for bass fishing but most rods in the $100 dollar range use better. I like the handle on the new models and I will also say that I'm a fan of the GL3 and with the price being so close to a GL3, it is a no-brainer to get the 3 unless the look of the new GL2 is what you want in a rod and I can see that but not over a GLX, sorry. If the new GL2 were in the $115 to $125 range, I'd consider it a good rod in that range, heavier than I care for but still ok but not at $200 when there are so many in the $150 to $180 range that are really good rods and much better but again, it all comes down to what you like, so let me in, what is it about the GL2 that you like even more than a GLX?

I'm already eyeing up the 845 CBR, but I was hoping for a good rod in the GL2 and kind of was bummed out and they raised the price. I am keeping fingers crossed but I'm not getting hyped because I'm afraid of the let down.

This is less money than a GL2 which means the blank with feel dull and it will be heavy and whan I say heavy I mean in the same class the GL2 is in which is heavy for the price range.

Which Mann's did you get? I really like Mann's crankbaits, they aren't flashy or much to look at but the action gets the attention from the fish. I use the Baby 1 Minus for the really shallow stuff and then the Baby X for just a little deeper 2' zone but with 8lb line I can get it to 2.5'. For this coming season look to find a discontinued lure, the Mann's Waker Elite, it is a big body wake bait that just gets hammered, there are still some around.

I have the 1/8oz with the #1 hook and I thought there was no way this thing is going to be any good, hook is way to small, was I wrong! I use 1 trailer, a Zoom Super Fluke Jr. in white Ice, or smokin' shad. It is an excellent presentation in clear water.

I actually learned something from him of his "facts of fishing" show. It was a swim bait show when he was sponsored by Rapala and he was using a Storm Kicking stick and he mentioned about popping the rod and feeding it slack to make it turn sideways. Well before that show I had a Magic swimmer, and a Kickin' Stick that I never caught squat on and after the show it has become a valuable part of my spring arsenal.