thehooligan

I had the SS Air which is the same platform. I solely bought it for the factory ktf spool, but didnt like the reel. I think the zaion material felt cheap, and the reel was a bit bigger then what im used to using. Core 50/bfs xg. Actually anything feels big after using the bfs xg, lol. Performance wise, i thought the reel was smooth, and have only heard good things about those sv spools...

Under $200, im going fenwick elite tech spinning rod, shimano sahara 1000, 10lb pp, 6lb floro leader If you shop around, you can get the rod, reel, and line with that budget.

I sold my first and only core 51 i had to free up money for another reel purchase. What a mistake that was, picked up another one 3 weeks later, haha Awesome reel !!

I dont throw anything heavier then 1/2oz. My ideal setups have been 6'5-6'6 medium fast rods. For reels, gear ratio has to be 7:0 or faster. 7:0 has been great for jerks, and 8:0 for topwater is awesome.

Couldnt help myself, lol. My parents recently bought a house on a small creek in Pa. Will be fishing for some smallies now

Haha, Steve does great work. May have him do a k2 for me in the future.

Might be my favorite combo. My first custom rod. 2-piece St Croix legend Elite. Was a 7ft medium light spinning rod. Converted to casting, now 6'3, full cork, and spiral wrapped. Paired with the Conquest I was throwing 4 inch senkos a mile...

All my rods are medium/medium light, have one 6'10 cumulus thats rated medium heavy but its really a medium action rod. I think a good medium fast action casting rod is one of the most versatile tools out there. With my 6'8 cumara, im comfortable throwing weightless plastics, jerkbaits, topwater, cranks, and spinnerbaits. I rarely throw frogs anymore so i have no need for heavy action rods... One of my all time favorite rods, and a great review. You can see how versatile it is... http://tackletour.com/reviewshimanocumara68m.html

I cant imagine the 5 power, my dobyns 704 was a broomstick... For the fishing i do, there 1-3 power rods are great.

tatula and $100 dollar rod of choice. Id go most likely with the fenwick smallmouth rod...

At msrp, my cumulus/bfs xg combo, with all the reel goodies puts me in the mid $1200 range.

I'd go 6'8 - 7ft medium casting or spinning setup. Cover finesse plastics, small topwaters/jerkbaits.

I'm a reel guy, love upgrading them, but lately I've been getting more into custom rods. Another fun and expensive part of fishing...

Nice work Mike

Nice rod, cant wait for some pics

Ive used all five extensively and highly recommend the sufix performance and regular power pro.

Nice reels guys ^

Sell the citica and pickup a Cardiff 301. Perfect for baits that size and 17-25lb line

I dont really use spinning gear anymore, but for the years i did, 10lb braid with a 6lb floroclear leader worked so well. Ive been playing with a few different shallow spools in my casting gear now and most of are not braid friendly. So ive been spooling straight 8lb floroclear, 6lb cxx, and 6lb maxima ultragreen with great results. The one avail spool i have is spooled with 10lb braid and i havent even tried tieing a leader yet cause ive had no line management problems with the straight copoly. Need to pick up some 6lb hybrid to test it against the others...

If you look hard enough, you can find abu vertitas rods in the $50 range.

One of my favorite lines, always liked it because it didnt have alot of memory. Others ive been using on a regular basis now is p-line cxx, very strong line but it does have memory, and yozuri hybrid.

6'8 is my favorite rod length for most applications. When im bank fishing i prefer 6-6'6 for for easier casting in tight places.

6-8lb mono/flouro

Sweet reel, gonna make a great finesse combo with that recon...

Need to know what model reels..