thehooligan

Another for uni-uni

I get about the same distance with both.

I understand that, i love the shorter handles on my other smallmouth rod and one cumara, but this is exceptionally short. Makes the rod feel way too tip heavy. Oh well...

Not sure if ill be keeping the rod, im really confused why they made the handle so short. Its even shorter then my 6'3 smallmouth spinning rod handle...

My new combo, loving this 6'9 smallmouth rod with the 51e. Only problem is the handle is way to short. Gonna have to get used to it...

I prefer shorter rods. I like 6'3-6'6 for topwater and jerkbaits. And 6'8-6'10 for everything else. I do my share of bank fishing with small cutouts in the brush, its hard to get a 7ft+ rod in there sometimes...

If your using spinning gear just buy a spool or yozuri hybrid or flouroclear like darren said and tie on a leader. If your fishing baitcasting gear, just spool up the reel, baitcasters handle flouro alot better then spinning reels. Just have to figure out what pound test your comfortable with. I typically use 6-8lb flouro leaders on spinning rods. And my baitcasters get 8-10lb flouro.

I moved, but still drive 45 minutes to my old local tackle shop, they gave me a great deal on all my shimano rods last month. Plus they do open houses with discounts. Its nice having a shop where the people that work there are tackle junkies like yourself...

I'll probally use mike this year to supertune my three shimanos...

Thats what i hear...

Another rod to look at is the *** ***, TW has them in the $100 range. Everyone seems to be raving about these rods...

At $180, the stradic fj would be the bare minimum spinning reel im going to use. I started at the bottom with the sedona, then the sahara, then symetre, then saros. I ended up with a stradic 1000 fj, stradic ci4 1000, and sustain 1000 fg. If i could go back i would of skipped all the lower end reels, skipped the ci4 and sustain and just bought three stradic fj 1000's. Best spinning reel ive ever used for $135....

Thanks bud, yea it was a toss up between the 6'9 medium x-fast and 6'9 medium heavy. I figured i really dont throw anything heavier then 1/2oz so hopefully i made the right decision... But at $104 on amazon you cant really go wrong. Plus the curado looks so good on that rod. I got one day shipping so im looking forward to getting it out for a bit today, hopefully it comes in one piece, its coming directly from amazon, not reeds. I fell in love with the 6'10 crucial 3/8-1/2oz spinnerbait rod, im really hoping this feels just like that...

Im kicking myself for not picking one up during the tw sales, they were pretty cheap.

I got both my cumulus rods for $250 each, it took awhile but deals are out there. Its pretty hard to beat the sensitivity for that money. Next step down would be the older cumaras. I think there very sensitive and you can find them between $140-200 on ebay. For a cheaper rod, i think the fenwick smallmouth rods are great, and they can be had at $99.

How to do you like the reel seat on the fenwick. I have the spinning smallmouth rod but havent held a baitcasting model yet. Does it have the rear locking reel seat ? Edit: i just ordered the 6'9 x-fast medium smallmouth rod for my curado 51e. Its 3/8-5/8, i think it will be perfect for spinnerbaits, small frogs, senkos and jigs. I have my chronarch 51e on a 6'3 cumara, might sell that rod because it is pretty short. Im looking at the recon 2's, the 682 or 683. Also looking at the 6'10 *** ***.... Decisions decisions....lol

I saw a curado 51e sell on ebay for $181, haha people are crazy...

Congrats, thats a sweet reel.

Yea, ive been looking at the 682 and 683, wish i could handle these rods before i order one...

I'd get those two exact rods with a pair of sustains, would be real nice...

I only use shimano spinning reels for a few reasons. 1. Excellent line management 2. Very light 3. x-ship 4. 6:0:1 gearing That pretty much sums it up for me, i had a daiwa fuego which was also a great reel, only problem was the gearing was two slow for me.

My 7 shimano reels all have a new home, but i want to get some rod socks to protect my rods. I bought a falcon rod sock and didnt really like it. Does anybody make a sock thats softer, more like the material you keep your sunglasses in ? Any info is appreciated.

Trust me, i had to sell alot of gear to make up for all the new purchases, lol.

Another shimano fan...

I do better with a regular dropshot hook. Ive been using the gami swivelshot hooks lately, but my best hookups have been on the regular gami splitshot hooks...