smalljaw67

Tatula is too heavy and too wide at the top, that taper is not comfortable to palm, believe me, I wanted to like that reel. At the time of the TD Advantage and TD-X, there wasn't any super light reels so it wasn't a problem, but after I've been using a Revo Premier, then a Quantum Smoke, and the Lews Tournament pro and a Pflueger Supreme XT, all of which are sub 7oz reels and then you pick up a Tatula, it feels like a brick, sorry. The JDM Alphas SV is what gets me disappointed, why can they have that reel in Japan and over here, unless you pay $300 you're stuck with reels around the 8oz realm. The days of Daiwa being one of my favorites has gone, nothing against them, just personal disappointment in that they don't offer mid tier anglers anything considered light weight (under 7.5oz) in that $150 - $200 range. They make the best high end reels on the planet in my view but they can compete with Lews when it comes to anything under $270.

Disappointed in Daiwa as a whole right now. Once again, no workhorse reel in the $150 - $200 range that weighs less than 7.5oz, no more Daiwa for me I guess.

Which Quantum did you buy?

Have you ever used a casting reel before? I'm asking because there are some things you'll need to know, so if you are experienced with a casting reel, I would suggest finding a store where you can hold the Tatula, it is a little bulky and it palms different than most other reels. If you have little to no experience with a casting reel, you may want to find a different one other than the Lews LFS speed spool. The reel is a really good and I'd say it is one of, if not the best $100 reels on the market but it uses only the spool tension control and magnetic brakes which in my experience teaching other to use casting reels, are the hardest reels to learn on.

That looks a lot like a Cabelas Top Popper, but if you want to be sure measuer it, if it is 2.5" then it is a Cabelas model.

You are a perfect example of what I'm talking about, when I was using leaders I used a blood knot and over time there were new ones being developed and used. The only constant was that you when by leader strength and matched it with an appropriate diameter braid and while it may not be an exact match you would still want it in the ball park. So if I was fishing a shaky head, I'd use a 8lb leader and if I used say, Suffix 832, 30# braid would be a match for diameter but it would be overkill so I may go with 20#, not exact but close enough to make my knot good and tight with less chance for slippage and now I am beginning to understand why guys want flipping hooks for finesse presentations, way too much overkill for fun fishing and even for tournaments it seems a bit drastic but that is how a lot of anglers are going now.

The triangle box is actually ok, the way it gets broke is from lazy employees or ones who are pressed for time. I worked with a guy that came to us from UPS, he told me his routes were so long that he would have to go back and reload twice so if they could find a way to fit an extra package on the truck they will and a lot of times your fragile merchandise may end up in a bad way. The other, lazy employees, happens as they know certain items are not to go on the conveyor, but they don't want to pick the item up and carry it and it ends up getting folded and it happens to cardboard tubes too, I know as it happened to me once. That came right from a supervisor from Fed-Ex, he told me straight up when I called and asked how the thick cardboard tube my rod came in managed to be bent in the middle, the guy was honest, he said that a person working on the line was too lazy to pick the item off the conveyor and carry it to the loading station, any long packages like that have to be removed and carried manually because the conveyor is on an incline and the long thin packages end up getting jammed in the rollers and then other packages keep coming until the one stuck gets removed or it breaks.

The Shock is going to be used with 10lb to 15lb braid, and you'll use that for finesse tactics, I'd use it for flukes and Senkos. The Sojourn is what you want for other finesse deals like a shaky head or drop shot and light T-rigs ( the shock can also be used for these) and I'd go with 8lb mono or fluoro, which ever you prefer. The MH you can use with 12lb line and use for spinnerbaits, jigs and worms which are too big for the medium stuff, you can also use the shock for these but it is a more moderate action made to be used with braid and so anything with a treble hook under 3/4oz will be used with the shock as well. A frog rod is going to be tough to find in a spinning rod, have you tried to use casting or don't you fish enough to justify the step up? Not wanting to make you mad but frogs in slop require a really stout MH or heavy power rod, and you might not have the budget for a spinning rod made like that, I don't really know as I never looked for a heavy power spinning.

The Veritas has been going strong for awhile and with good reason, it is a solid performing rod you get for $100 and the performance is well above the price point. Jigs and T-rigs are right in the wheelhouse of the 7'3" MH-F rod.

I agree with you, I too like a medium extra fast, I use a 6'9" and I think anywhere in the 6'6" to 7' range is great for those baits. I suggested the Procyon because it is a ML-XF but it under rated, it is actually a medium power, and I also agree, I'd go with the Rage but he is looking for something less than or under $100, not right at that price, when I see "under $100" I think $60 to $80 as that is what most anglers are looking at.

You missed the entire point I was making, I understand the use of leaders, what I'm having trouble with is the leader size being heavier than the main line. Everything I've read and watched always had the leader being lighter than the main line braid, it made the diameters closer together which made for better knot performance and deep snags were easier to break off. My question, to make it simple, is why use a heavier fluorocarbon leader than the main line braid? When did the trend of using 15lb braid with a 20lb leader begin?

Daiwa Procyon 7' medium light, extra fast will work fine. I was gifted that rod and I was going to send it back but after using it I decided to keep it as a back up and then give it to my grandson as an all purpose spinning rod. I have used it for shaky heads and flukes and things like that but it was good at throwing anything from a 5" Senko down to a 1/8oz tube jig with decent sensitivity for a $70 dollar rod. The extra fast action is probably where the added sensitivity comes from but it also makes it easy to skip with and it is nice for working a fluke and even though it says medium light, it is a medium power, if you went with a medium heavy it would be too much.

My question is why are a lot of you guys using heavier leaders than the main line? I started using braid when it came out, Spider Wire and Berkley Ultra Max, and after a while it was suggested that you need to use a leader, and not because of fish being line shy, but because guys were getting hung up deep and weren't able to break off. I remember all the magazine articles about using a piece of broom handle to wrap the line around so you can pull it, and the first lure retrievers came from this too. Then, the next thing was using a mono leader, you use 25# braid and a 12# to 15# mono leader and it would help with being able to break off deep snags and it was less visible to the fish, then we got fluorocarbon for leader material at first before we got full spools. My point is that I was always told that you used a line that was close in diameter to the braid and always use a lower pound test so if you break off, you break off on the leader somewhere, higher pound test leader material puts an ever greater difference in line diameters making knots even more susceptible to failure. I'm not saying you're wrong, I don't use leaders anymore and I only use braid for heavy flipping and frogs so I'm not aware of trends but seeing how many use heavier leader than mainline makes me wonder when the philosophy changed, that is al.

It is personal preference and each angler has there own likes and it is why you see so many different ones. I use to use my 7'6" flipping stick with 50# braid, and then I fished with a Quantum Dean Rojas frog rod, stout with a 10" tip section that was fairly soft, I liked the control of the 7' rod but the soft tip just felt funny to me. I got a 6'10" Heavy power, fast action Quantum Tour Edition Biffle Bug rod for hard heads and it is a broom stick so I decided to give it a try for frogs and now it is my number one frog rod, the length is perfect and because I'm patient I don't need to soft tip, I don't set the hook until I feel weight and this rod lets me set the hook. So, since you have been throwing it a lot, what rod are you using and what do you think about it, is it a fast action, extra fast, long or short? The rod you have now for throwing frogs should clue you in as to what to look for, if not then I suggest throwing them a little more, when you get to the point of saying to yourself things like, "I wish it was a little longer" , or "I wish the rod was stiffer or softer", that is how you determine what frog rod to get but start with a heavy power, fast action or a good stout MH.

I still fish with guys from the club I belonged to but I'm no longer an active member because I can't go out of state for tournaments anymore, at least not on a regular basis. Most clubs here have their tournaments on the Potomac, or Lake Oneida, or Cayuga and then 1 or 2 tournaments in PA and the reason is because we've had tournaments in which the top 3 places caught 1 or 2 and the rest of the field zeroed or didn't catch a keeper fish. I've caught bass in Blue Marsh, and my one buddy is good there, but good means he catches 1 or 2 just about every outing, he won quite a few tournaments there with 3 fish but he burns a lot of gas, I think the time we did keep track on the GPS, we traveled 11 miles total for the day for 2 fish. The problem is 3 things, the first is no weeds, the second is farm run off in the Tulpahocken creek, it creates blue-green algae and the fish that spawn there end up having the eggs blocked out of sunlight as there is zero feet visibility. The 3rd problem is it is a flood control lake, and the water levels fluctuate a lot and that leads to poor spawning, the fisheries biologist told me there hasn't been a successful spawn in Blue Marsh for at least 8 years now, almost all the bass in there now are stocked and if the Izak Walton League stops stocking it, the lake won't have a catchable population within 5 years. Marsh creek is a little different, but it has the same prople lakes up your way have, like Wallanpaupak, and Harvey's Lake, it has 30 different species of fish and the bass densities are low for the size of the lake, I asked the fisheries biologist about implementing slot limits and they won't do it, so the people who eat bass, and don't fool yourself, there are a lot of anglers that take them, end up taking the very fish you want to breed, the larger ones, and leaving the small ones and then you end up with lakes like Mauch Chunk where there is a good population of bass but the last time the lake was surveyed the fish commission discovered the bass were stunted and it was because of the "Big Bass" regulations, people can only take the largest fish so it leaves nothing but little fish. The state of Pennsylvania only worries about the put and take trout fishery, every time I asked or when our club tried for better regulations we would get the same old phrase, "Bass are a self sustaining species and therefore do not need to be stocked" or they need very little management. So that is why we have a better climate and longer growing season than New York but bass fishing is horrendous unless you own a Jet boat and fish the river and I say thank God for the Susquehanna and Juniata river systems, because those are the only good places to fish for bass.

I thought the same thing when I first saw them and then I had it explained to me and I'll try to explain it the best I can. If you use the smaller guide right off the bat, you will end up with line slap and a quick choke which will shorten the cast because a lot of friction at the first guide. By having a larger guide first, it acts as a funnel, the large guide grabs the big loops coming off the reel and then funnels the line to the smaller guide which takes out the rest of the loops. If you used 2 guides, the second would have to be close and stand tall off the blank to make a smooth transition, there is a lot of stuff at play and if you watch a video demonstration it is pretty neat and everyone I ever talked to that has tried it claims it does work. Now, I'm not entirely sure how much it helps or if it even helps at all on casting gear but on spinning the consensus says it does work, but it does look cool, watch a video on them.

We use to catch 10lb channel cats on Rebel Crawdad cranks on a regular basis. They are predators and if they moved more during the day you'd probably get a lot more, I saw Roland Martin catch a cat on a topwater during one show, so they do hit cranks, topwaters and even spinnerbaits when they are on the move.

You are one of a kind, normally anglers spending $100 or more on a rod and looking at buying a $300+ rod normally know what length they have, and more importantly, know what length they want or need. As for the wacky rigging, what # test fluoro are you using and have you tied other hooks? Why Gammy and Owner only? There is a lot out there and to begin at the rod right away when you didn't know what length it was tells me there is a good chance that operator error could be involved as well as equipment. I've been at this a long time and I'm still learning new things, and one thing I can tell you is I use to tie my own weed guards on wacky rig/octopus hooks because I found the ones on the Gammmy hook was causing me to lose fish and I found this out by going to a hook without any weed guard and the percentage of fish landed went through the roof. Yes, I had the problem which is why I responded and I kind of figured you were using the weedless versions of those hooks. Do this, if you can get away without a weed guard try that and if you have to have the weed guard go with the VMC Ike Approved weedless wacky hook, and if you don't need the weed guard I'll do you a favor and save you some coin in the process, buy the Gamakatsu plain octopus hook, you get a size 1 and in an 8 pack and a 1/0 in a 6 pack for $3.00, twice as many for less than the weedless version.

What kind of line are you using and what type of hook are you using and the size of the hair jigs. I use a 6'9" medium power, extra fast for shaky heads and there isn't a problem, the hair jig depends on the jig itself, if I'm using a warm water hair jig which the only one I use is a 3/8oz buck tail swim jig then I'm using a casting rod that is medium heavy, fast action with 12# to 15# mono, but my cold water hair jigs I normally use a 6'6" medium power, fast action or a 7' medium power, fast action on 6# to 8# mono. I don't think the rod is the problem unless it is too moderate in action, I don't know but I also didn't know the *** came in a 6'9" version, I thought it was only 6'7" and 6'10" but you learn something new everyday.

Well you already know that I don't like using a 7'5" rod for that kind of stuff...LOL!!! I looked around and think you are the only person using a rod that long for jerkbaits...LOL!!!

I'm confused too, so what pound test braid did you get? What kind of rods are you using? Shaky heads should be fished on 8lb to 10lb mono or if you have the right rod and know how to set a drag, 10lb to 15lb braid and leader. Frogs in coontail are fine, minimum 30lb braid and here is where things get a little hair as personal preference comes into it. I like using a shorter rod for frogs, I was using a 7'6" but I didn't like it, I went to a 7' and that was great but I found the sweet spot for me is a 6'10" H-F and my buddy likes his 6'6" H-F but I wouldn't use any lighter than a MH.

I'll tell you exactly what you don't want to hear, and that is they make a jerkbait/topwater deal in the bronze back series, the tip section on that rod isn't soft by any means. You can get the rod but what you'll find is you have a jig,worm, and spinnerbait rod, throwing a treble hook jerkbait or spook type bait will catch you some fish but I'll bet you all your tackle that you'll get frustrated at how many fish you lose compared to how many you land and the breaking point will be when you have a toad on the line and it comes off half way to the boat. I have a jerkbait series rod, and I looked at a few others and one thing I can tell you is when Loomis makes a rod for a specific purpose, it is going to be used for little else. I liked the bronze back rods when they came out but I went with the mag bass IMX rods because of the versatility, and I'm saying that to you, it is your money, do what you want but if you really don't want another jig/spinnerbait rod, then don't buy it because that is what it will be and any illusions of loosening the drag or light line to compensate is going to go out the window when you handle that rod but if you think you can use it then be my guest.

WRB is exactly right, the spinnerbait catching air is what was causing a lot of your problem, remember, you said that you didn't think it was slowing down enough to do anything, it doesn't take but a tiny bit of resistance and the next thing you know the spool is turning faster than the lure is pulling line and you have a backlash. There is a second part to your problem, and that is the line going back on the spool, remember, you said you were fine for about 2 hours, what happens is you put the line on your reel, and it was braid and you had some tension on the line to spool it up, right? Well after casting and retrieving, the line is now looser on the spool than it was, and then you take a spinnerbait, that is notorious for catching wind and the next thing you know you have a disaster. There are ways to counteract this, and the best way is the sidearm roll cast, it isn't meant for distance, it is meant for accuracy and that cast keeps the bait low with a nice easy casting motion, the other way is to learn to use your thumb and that will require practice. You learned the basic operation of a casting reel, now you need to learn to use it. Start off in the yard and make the cast like you know how to and then begin by backing off the brakes, not the spool tension, and then use your thumb to feather the line coming off the spool, it will take a little but you'll get it.

I'm from PA and sadly a lot of lakes are like that, I fish Blue Marsh and the same deal. Blue Marsh has Tuesday night jackpots and you get a lot of times the guy that won the previous Tuesday ended up zeroing the next. It isn't you, the problem is the lake, what is going on is the bass density is low, PA fish commission will tell you this, I've spoke with them lots of times and they don't take active management of self sustaining species. Being that there is low density what you find is bass aren't holding to any particular area, they become nomadic so what happens is the don't school up enough to find them on the depth finder so you are fishing blind most of the time fishing what little visible structure you can find. Because the fish are wandering with the food source they rarely stay in one spot so the spots that worked today may not hold a fish tomorrow and unless the population is increased or you end up with large weed flats that will give home to forage and give the bass a place to hold rather than wander, your fishing there won't change much. As I said, I've fished a lot of tournaments in PA and I've fished Marsh Creek Lake and it is like every other lake in PA, low bass density and sail boat clubs paying big money for permits to kill of vegetation or the corp of engineers owns the lake for flood control and the winter draw down kills off any weed growth once it starts and the lakes end up barren dead seas. The only way to fix your problem is to move around the lake and it is hard to do as it is actually a big lake for electric only so if you aren't around fish, the bait doesn't matter and that is the problem. During the colder months, the fish don't move as much and there is less pressure so they move to predictable places which explains why you can get them in spring but summer is different and again, I spoke to the fisheries biologist for the southeastern quadrant and he told me most of the lakes in our state have low bass density due to there being a much more diverse ecology, that means because a watershed holds 35 different species of fish, bass have to remain at low levels to protect other low level critters from being removed from the watershed making for lousy bass fishing. The only places that offer good bass fishing is the Susquehanna, Juniata, and Delaware rivers but for the Susquehanna, and Juniata, you need to either float fish in canoe, kayak, or jon boat, or have a specialized jet boat, a fiberglass or thin aluminum bass boat won't fare well on the rivers, you need thick hulls with 1/2" to 3/4" UHMW plastic attached to the bottom to allow the boats to slide off the rocks.

Welcome from another PA guy who fishes the Susquehanna river a good bit. Yes, the rain is killing me because the lakes in PA stink, very low bass density and the river is the only decent fishery we got, the Juniata is a good river as well as the Delaware.