skeletor6

I like a longer rod to get further casts. A NRX 893c works great for me. I also, throw this rig on a Cumulus 7'1'' MHXF and it worked fine. I don't think this technique is really too demanding. I would also think the OP's setup is just fine for the application as well. I just like being able to get the added distance of a longer rod.

I drop shot with VMC spinshots size 1 or 2, usually with a 3/16oz tungsten cylindrical style dropshot weights. 99% of the time I am casting and working the bait back in that manner. The rod being used in said scenario is a NRX 822SYR (chose this rod over the DSR for versatility), and a Shimano 2500Ci4 I use jackall and roboworm plastics either nose hooked or flickshakes wacky rigged. The amount of fish whether it be baitfish, shad, or bass (small and large), usually its the small guys that will swarm the bait inspecting it some taking small hits. Well I can easily tell when these fish begin to examine the bait. Whether it is the spinshot actually spinning as the current made by the fish cause it to move, or something else, but after using this setup for a period of time, I can literally feel a swarm swimming around it, by it etc. This is confirmed as I fish very clear lakes here up north and I've witnessed at a short distance this occurring and the different sensations that resulted. They were not strikes or little bites, as that sends an shock down the rod much different of a sensation. Anyways, I can feel whether a swarm of baitfish is swimming by and around it, a small bass is swimming by it, and I can't say I've felt felt or have knowingly felt a larger bass swim around it. It kind of goes with a statement Hooligan made a while back, some rods give more feedback than many even know what to do with. It actually took a good breaking in period for me with this rod until I could appreciate its capabilities. I, for a while, was actually looking to trade it for something different. Now I am pretty glued to it and I would like to give the DSR, a shot sometime as its action would be more suitable for dropshotting.

I will say, however, how do you know you missed a fish if you've never felt it at all? On some jig bites, the bass will lightly pick it up from the bottom and spit it back out. Don't think I could feel that with an ugly stick, its tough to detect even with a high end rods and line. You could say you hooked and detected every bite, but is that really true?

Leaving out how much a rod may cost. If it is more sensitive, there is a definite advantage, especially on bottom contact techniques. Being able to feel more leads to a better understanding of what your bait is doing and what it is encountering. This knowledge is helpful, whether or not someone can completely understand the rods feedback. The degree to which one can comprehend what their setup is telling them and the skill of the fisherman are two of many subjective factors that help determine the degree to which sensitivity matters to an individual. Bringing cost into the equation makes the whole thing a mess. Everyone's financial resources are different, how one wants to delegate these funds varies, to which component one decides to delegate these funds even varies. Some may be a reel guy, or a plastics guy, perhaps a swimbait guy. These will affect how much one is willing to spend on a rod and, thus, will not lead to a common consensus that leads to the answer the OP is looking for. My own experience, the higher dollar rods I own, cast better, balance better, are significantly more sensitive and are much more enjoyable to fish. So, within reason, they are worth it to me. I can say that when fishing deep dropshots on FC line w/ Tungsten weight 3/16oz, on a Cumara vs. a NRX, I can feel a fish inspect the bait, swim around the bait and many more bottom contact properties. When it comes to a fish biting the bait, both are transmitted perfectly fine, the NRX is just amplified. Take that FWIW.

The cumara is the best bet in that price range imho. The 68 and 72 dropshot rods are perfect and have the exact action for dropshotting. Very sensitive rods as well.

I'd go after a bunch of lifetime warrantied used cumaras. They have a huge offering and are great feeling consistent rods. No reason to tally go above them sensitivity wise. You can feel mostly everything you need to.

8# or 6# Tatsu

My friend uses an improved clinch knot for fluoro and swears by it. I think something went wrong in your knot tying process, or in your line checking process. It sounds like you are slightly in tune with what you should be looking for, but make sure the knot is very neat and pull at the tag end with lots of spit. If it does not tie neat, start over. Furthermore, I use the pitzen knot. It is a very easy knot to tie, and tie neat for that matter. Also, it has never given me any problems, however, I do use high quality FC.

The man has spoken. Take his advice.

From how higher performing the Shimano Cumara CUSDX72M has been to me, I could not see myself going any less than a DX702SF. That's the one rod I've heard consistently to be a great dropshot rod in the Dobyns lineup. I would recommend looking for a used cumara and select it by length, either a CUSDX72M or a CUSDX68M. The longer the length the better it performs in deeper water, from my experience. These rods have the perfect and designed action to be a dropshot specific rod. Also, its sensitivity is unmatched for what these rods go used. For straight dropshotting its tough to beat a designed dropshot Cumara. I dropshot with my Cumara and a NRX. I have no problem setting down the NRX to fish the cumara once-so-ever.

Francho and iabass said it very well. The density is what really separates FC from other lines. People far too often want to make conclusions on fluorocarbon based solely on how the line stretches. Increased sensitivity, wind resistance, refractive indexes, anti-bow properties and abrasion resistance all are at least partially in result to the increased density of fluorocarbon line.

Havoc Pit Boss, great T-rigged and As a trailer. Terrific action.

Not to be too far off-topic, but I would suggest you save a few dollars and buy some seaguar Invizx or abrazx, even Trilene 100% would be better. Vicious is exactly what the adjective entails. Since you will be using this as a leader, you will get so much out of a spool that the math speaks for itself. When I've used braid/fluoro leader combo. I always tried to match the diameter of the braid with the diameter of the Fluorocarbon. I just kept it simple that way and I didn't encounter any problems.

35 pounds....I am impressed! If you are in such a situation where you have too many you have to cut down. For general purposes make sure you have your go to baits on board. Its a must for me to have natural colors on deck and also my favorite unnatural colors. If you are going to a clear lake, plan colors for that lake. If it is murky you may want to bring those that fish well in those waters. Planos "worm file" is a convenient way to bring plastics. Also, you mentioned only being able to afford $4 a week in worms so maybe you are on a budget. If so, freezer bags work well and keep the worms in their initial packaging. Then place the freezer bag with the plastics in a duffle bag or backpack, whatever you have handy. I always end up bringing MUCH more plastics then I ever need for the day. However, I never know when I will need that one color or type that just seems right in a certain situation. On a side note, if you are a worm addict and have not given them a shot yet, Jackall and Roboworm make some great products for finesse purposes.

That was a well written account of events and an interesting read. The problem with buying anything fishing related is being content. There always seems to be something more that is needed and always areas that could be touched up and improved upon. The monkey strikes people in different ways. Sometimes its reels, sometimes its rods, perhaps plastics or god forbid expensive swimbaits. If you get hit with all of them then you better have a good job and relationship. I would like to know how many on here with a Wife or Girlfriend gets asked the "Why do you need so many rods" question. I am farily certain that the question is pre-programmed into a woman's mind. The problem is its more difficult to smuggle a 7 foot rod and its bulky packaging than it is a size 7 pair of shoes or 30 different colors of nail polish.

I am somewhat confused as to how taking a fishing rod to a fishing tournament, to go fishing would mess up the rod. Maybe something else is involved that I am unaware of. Perhaps, if you lose you have to forfeit your rod/reel setup to the winner? Anyways, I own the 7 foot MH Berkley Lightning Shock rod. For $40 you can't really go wrong. At this length and action its fairly versatile and served me well until I decided to invest more in my equipment.

Seaguar used to have on their fluorocarbon packaging to specifically not tie the palomar knot. It is not recommended for fluorocarbon. The point you are missing is that a palomar knot, when tied correctly, crosses over on itself weakening the line. The palomar knot used to be considered one of the strongest knots, but that is not the case anymore, especially for fluorocarbon. More and more pros have completely moved away from this knot due to its inherent proclivity to weaken fluorocarbon. Case in fact, Kevin Van Dam, Aaron Martens, Edwin Evers and others have made the switch and have openly made this suggestion. However, lets not take this too far. This does not mean that if you go out and tie a Palomar Knot on FC that you will break off every time. Moreso, I would take a carefully tied palomar knot over a sloppy (insert knot here), anyday. I believe that the pitzen knot is the best knot for FC, followed by a san diego double jam. Not single. This is my opinion. In regards to testing, I have not seen the pitzen put up against the palomar on in a valid experiment on a high quality FC which exhibits good knot strength such as Seaguar Tatsu. A simple experiment done by tackletour shown the palomar being 7.7% weaker than a simple improved clinch knot. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewfluorocarbon2pg4.html I would suggest that this percentage is much higher when compared to the pitzen, in a testing environment that I indicated.

All advice is sound. However, the palomar knot is the wrong choice for fluoro. It crosses over itself inherently weakening the line. Find a good knot and find a good line. Practice your knot and get good at it. Everything should look neat when finished and pull through at the tag end. Any weakened points whether crossing over, friction from not moistening, or pulling the tag end through so its right in front of your knot will increase the chance of failure. Once you get it down it won't be something you give any thought to.

^ sounds like an issue with your reel settings OP kvd L&L is a must I use it on all lines. Invizx is a good handling mid priced FC good choice. Many good knots, I have found the pitzen knot to be incredible and have had 0 issues. Easy to tie too

Swim Jigs = paddle tail swimbaits (keitech swing impacts) Traditional Jig = Rage Craw and Beaver Style baits....also, pit bosses work well too and are cheap. I get a lot more action on the rages than my pacas. If you are looking for something more subtle, paca is the ticket. Let the fish decide. But I go rage 95% of the time. Thats my guesstimate

Interesting to read what others are posting. Mine is just about a roboworm or jackall anything. They make great finesse plastics. The dropshot has been very effective this year for me so I will choose on that suits well for where I am at and that is.... Roboworm FX Sculpin "Baby Bass".....in these really clear water it looks exactly like the minnows we have here. A close second would be a Jackall Flickshake Green Pumpkin Pepper

I would like to feel the rod in person. Many I have held/owned have been tip-heavy. The captain might chime in about his fix for this, but I find it uncomfortable. Nonetheless, it is St. Croix's design to have a lot of power/stiffness in the tip portion of their rods, hence their crazy fast XF actions. Definitely get a Fast action or Moderate Fast for jerkbait usage. If you talk to some folks, get some different opinions, you will find that there are some gems in their lineups. One's that do not suffer the tip-heavy nature and perform great. Like any rod company really. As posted above, deals can be had on these. They annually offer great discounts in the bargain room and you should always buy on sale or used for that matter. The warranty will cover you, especially with St. Croix track record of taking care of customers.

Exactly what I was thinking. It costs me at least $25 on the rods I have shipped, add return shipping then you are paying $40 for a guide. Have them send you a new guide and find someone to put it on for you. The labor should not be too expensive at all. Good Post I.A.

I knew Snookie would be all over this one! 4000 size reel is his go to from the posts I have read. Good guy to talk about 4000 size reels.

They could call it a fly-fishing rod for all I care. St. Croix likes to label their rods, to point out that they have a rod for just about every technique in most of their rod series. I personally would suggest you get a 7' rod over your 6'6'', but it comes down to personal preference as well. Most rods that companies consider a spinnerbait rod will work just fine for jigging and tossing worms. Having used St. Croix rods, I would actually prefer the slower action in the rod you are using. When a rod has too much in the tip-section, it severely dampens its ability to toss a wide-range of baits and also throws the balance off. At least in my experience, not just with St. Croix either, I've had a few companies with said issue. In totality, don't be worried about what is on the label. You might actually not like it for using spinnerbaits, kind of like when my Legend St. Croix said "finesse jig", I found it better for other uses. Good luck and hope she doesn't break on you again. +1 for dicks for taking care of you. Most retail stores hold you in the system if you use a Credit Card or Debit. They can look up your receipt and should be able to issue a full refund. At least this is from my experience.