iabass8

The only rod in the skeet reese line up that seems to get any "praise" is the cranking rod.

i would give it time and you will probably (maybe not) change you mind. you'll start noticing little nuances these high end blanks have that lesser blanks don't. the blank these rods are built on, the SCV, are some of the best blanks you can buy. but again sensitivity is perceived differently by everybody.

just about any decent reel can bomb a 3/8 oz crank bait. especially if paired with that 72MM rod. that specific rod + a 51 size shimano reel (whether it be the core or the chronarch) will launch 1/4oz crankbaits further than you will ever need to. with the LX72MHM, curado 51e and 12# fluoro and one break pin engaged, i can cast 1/4oz kvd 1.0s a "country mile".

on one rod + one reel? i didn't pay retail price for very many of my set ups as i usually buy during holiday sales but a lot of mine retail for 400+ and a couple that are 600+.

solid choice on rods. it's one of those you will never sell. now just wait until you get the 745. you're going to be wanting a 743 if you can even put the 745 down.

mr crappie slab shaker. i don't think there's a smaller one.

when the line or spool comes to an abrupt stop in the middle of a cast, you generally are having a line digging issue or you didn't pick out a backlash all the way and the spool is stoping at that knot. it's more often the latter. give the line a soft toss and pull it out to the point it is stopping at. braid is probably the easiest casting line on the market. 20# braid, though it works just fine on a baitcaster, has to be watched for line digging into the spool due to its smaller diameter.

I've tried the hardhead and still on very rare occasions use it. I fish it on a 3/8 oz shakey head with a larger hook, 16# fluoro on a dx744. I don't "swim it" along the bottom like biffle describes he does it. I fish it a tad faster than a normal shakey head finesse shakey head. I also texas rig it in grass before i throw other plastics in the same area.

I'd hate to forfeit a few of my St. Croixs but Dobyn's would be my choice.

this was basically what i was going to write. i've never figured out the whole shakey head/worm thing for walleye/sauger but they seem to pop up from time to time in the most random places i wouldn't taget them.

I just got back from BPS as well. I don't get there often as it's over 3 hours away but have family that lives there which means visiting them always means i get to go.

zara puppy or the smallest pop-r you can find with oversized feathers on the rear treble. fish slow and let the feathers work.

the majority of my soft plastic tackle is Rage Tail, Zoom, havok and, just recently because i didn't realize how god#$#$ well these things produce on rock and sand, gene larew biffle bugs.

line visibility for swim jigs and how i fish them is really a non issue. it gets more of a "reaction" strike fishing them in places where spinnerbaits won't work. i do use them in open water from time to time next to laydowns and weededges and work them a little differently to entice strikes from bass that are following the bait and am still not really worried about the line visibility issue. I really think they just get too keyed in on the presentation of the bait and it's tail movement deciding whether to bite or not more so than looking the line in the front of the bait. bass chase the arig in gin clear water that has large gauge wires on it so i don't think my 30lb braid is really an issue. i really dislike using braid and prefer fluoro for almost everything but swim jigs are something that requires braid in the manner i fish them and the areas i throw them.

if it's just leader material, there isn't any reason to get picky. just make sure it has good abrasion resistance if it needs it. though not perfect, red label works fine just make sure you check your line as it's abrasion resistance isn't great.. another option would be suffix's new 100% fluoro. same price as red label. i would use invizX on a spinning reel before red label.

anything moving. topaters, squarebills, swim jigs, spinnerbaits lipless cranks, swim baits and of course a jig for the big ones feeding under the school.

that is one ugly smallmouth.

I like the baby brush hog in green pumpkin/red flake, green pumpkin blue flash and sprayed grass.

i've personally found the forage here in our great state of IA much smaller in streams than that of in lakes or the larger river systems. i've had luck fishing your "standard" 1.5 or dt3/6 size baits but the shad rap #5/7 seems to just outproduce the larger wide wobble cranks. I think that's mainly because in our smallmouth streams the water is much more clear and the wider body rc 1.5s just offer too much unnecessary wobble that may or may not turn the smallmouth/walleye off.

There is a noticeable sensitivity difference between the champion and the champion extreme series. the champion is no slouch in the sensitivity department and you would be more than happy with it but the extreme, to put it simply, is better. i use the 743,744 and 745s in the champ extreme. i like the longer rods. the 743 excels largely at your weightless baits like flukes, senkos, light texas rigs, etc. the 744 is easily the best all around rod in the series. i'm i'm throwing 1/8 oz weights + a plastic i'd be using the 743. anything over that up to 3/8 the 744(or 704 if you want a shorter rod) would easily be my choice. the 744 is what i primarily use for texas rigs as i throw 3/16 or 1/4oz most of the time. the 745 is THE jig rod in the bunch. it's basically just a more powerful 744. the 4 power dobyns handles a very wide range of weights and applications.

i prefer 1/4 oz swim jigs /w a subwoofer trailer or rage craws. i fish them primarily over lilypads, next to weed lines, etc on 30lb braid. you have decent visibility so i would try to match the color scheme of your swim jig to the forage that is in your pond. i.e bluegill, crappie, shad etc.

well he gets a 10k check just for being there. it would be neat to know whether or not he gets to keep any of it.

it's a matter of personal preference. I prefer a graphite MHM rod for squarebills and mid divers. the glass rods have a very slow, moderate action to them that helps keep fish buttoned. they are generally heavier rods and much less sensitive which helps you not to "pull the tirigger" on a fish too fast so. there's a bit of a learning curve /w glass rods and they act differently than your traditional graphite rods. you would really just have to try it to find out yourself. Either or will work great as long as you use the correct line. A moderate tip is ideal on a graphite rod for cranks.

i know what kind of rods you use and i won't say so this doesn't turn into a warranty @#@# match . If it is the rod series i'm thinking of I have no idea why these rods break so much as they are built on the same blank as the very durable rod directly above it. probably not entirely your fault. these rods seem to break a lot for a lot more people than they don't. that series, and particularly the ones /w the XF tip, seem have have the most issues from what I was told. boat flipping fish seems to but a lot of stress on that tip of these rods which causes lots of breaks.

the sensitivity gap between the savvy and the champion series is much larger than the gap between the champion and champion extreme. the DX is quite a bit more sensitive than the champ series but it isn't night and day like the savvy to the champion. handle one and then handle the next series up for the same technique and you will notice the difference i'm talking about.