rangerjockey

I fish both . I feel like invisx handles a touch better. For a leader you will never know the difference.

Ol' James is building a new house on Table Rock and selling more fishing boat docks Tee shirts and hats than he can keep up with. Boyd is sure helping him pay for it. It's hilarious.

I like the old Chronarch but I don't obsess over reels. Today's reels are so good that for the price of a SLX or Tatula your in the game and they are all you need. Some guys are really into it and I get it but for me I'll worry about finding fish .

Jewel makes some great jigs at a reasonable price. Here on Table Rock I could fish Green pumpkin or PBJ all year. I like the Pee Wee jig a bunch with a smaller trailer like a cut down speed craw . The AJ finesse (old Eakins jig ) and then some heavier ,bigger profile Football jigs. with a full size Rage Craw or Zoom chunk. Weight depends on how fast you want to fall and how deep. Personally, I don't flip jigs much anymore. For me some kind of creature bait like a t -rigged brush hog works as well or better and I get it back more often. In a Dirty Jig the Luke Clausen finesse jig is a good choice.

Pretty hard to make that comparison. A shimano fishes like a Shimano and St. Croix in general is going to fish a little tighter but that depends on the series. The Expride and Zodias are both good rods. If they are good for you depends on what you want to do with them.

Yep, those are the right ones. The shad patterns are painters around here but still worth 25 bucks or so. That V37 looks really clean. I'd ask $50.

If that brown craw dad wiggle wart is pre Rapala its worth half of what you paid for the whole box.

The new Fenwick Eagle and HMGs are really good. I have the new World Class and Elite and I'm impressed. For moving baits, the HMG is all you need.

Well, the reason is to move rods. Now they are doing the ol everybody be on our pro staff deal. I'm sure that involves buying so many rods a year. Still, Trey is one of the genuinely nice guys in the business. It wouldn't surprise me to see him sell before too much longer.

A buzz bait is pretty much a buzz bait. You can choose between a head knocker or clacker. I do like to put a toad on them just because they cast better and plane a bit faster.

Suspended fish at that depth and water temp I personally would be swimming a 2.8-3.3 Keitech. Maybe the ol' Chandelier. Bass feed up. If they wanted it, they would come and get it.

The business model has always been odd But, He makes a good rod just buy the sales.

The victory MH Cranker is a great rod. It will easily throw a 1.5s great wart and RK crawler rod For me the tip heavy St Croix deal is way over played. Some of the older, longer LTB's. yes

I wouldn't change them on a new bait but I keep a eye on them. I usually switch the the ST 36 or Daiichi death traps .

Good rod. I don't have any lowriders that were made after the transition to off shore manufacturing but I do have Cara's that are both USA made and offshore and I really can't tell the difference and I like the newer reel nut better. On a side note I'm hearing the old Falcon facility in Harrison AR. , which is now the shop that builds Virtus and the Made in the U.S. BPS rods has been sold to GSM outdoors. GSM owns Phenix so it stands to reason they may be making them there. As to Virtus, I have no clue yet if they will continue on.

I remember the Browning branded reels and rods in BPS. In particular the Fritts crankbait rod. If memory serves Quantum was once a stand alone brand that was acquired by Zebco.

I haven't seen those in a while. They were supposed to be a wart knock off but with the RK Crawler and now the Gravel Dawg I guess they lost the niche they had.

When LOZ gets bad I don't think it matters a whole bunch what your in. They catch a lot of nice bags there and I realize it's a shorter drive but with Table Rock and Bull Shoals not that much further I would avoid that place like the plague. It's like fishing downtown St. Louis in a flood. You mentioned power poles. The only time you realty use them on our lakes is bed fishing .. Maybe, or beaching the boat.

I've never fished out of a deep V but I'd ask someone who has one if they blow around if it's windy. It wouldn't be a issue running but on the trolling motor with the deep sides I'd be curious.

I have run Rangers and Champions and now a Triton. I like it every bit as well as the other 2. The Champ is probably the best rough water boat I ever owned but if it's that bad I'll fish off my dock. I think you would be hard pressed to find a bad boat these days. Caymas , I wouldn't touch. A couple of their dealers have closed up around here and they have a bunch of inventory sitting around. If I were buying a new one tomorrow I'd buy the Charger copy of the Champion 210 or 196 and I'd look at the Ikon also.

Never.

5/16

Honestly, Whatever reel in your budget that casts and retrieves. The reel on a Plopper rod would be the least of my concerns and it's not a bait your going to throw year 'round. One is not going to catch and more fish than the other. Something in 7ish:1

I wouldn't throw honest 1 ounce bait on it, but I personally don't need to fish a bait that heavy. 5/8 is about is far as I would push it. You may want to look at my favorite Falcon model the Amistad as long as you don't mind the extra length.

I would suggest the Head Turner. The Cara version is a great moving bait rod as well as a Jig/worm rod. The Virtus Titan is a bit longer and tighter but it's also a bit quicker but still a versatile rod.