5dollarsplash

Slow day at the office lol. Thanks for the input so far. Hootie, would you recommend the micro or standard Savvy? I haven't had much experience with Dobyns as St Croix is all the rage in Wisconsin.

I just picked up a NIB Curado 50e last night. And so here I am posting about it. Now I'm left searching for a rod far too many options out there. And that leads to more confusion I plan to use this for light jigs (3/8 and smaller), worms and creatures, both weighted and unweighted. I spooled it up with some 16lb Sunline Sniper I had and it actually holds more than I thought. I'd plan on either keeping this line on or switching to a lighter fluoro. I'd like to keep my rod price under $150.00 I'd prefer a longer rod, over 7' What do you guys recommend??? (Me looking at options) If the rods available at Gander I have a couple gift certificates so the price can creep up to $190.00 if they carry it. Thanks for any and all input

Welcome, don't mind the jabroni's

We've got Pike up here, but I agree with all the others. They love spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, and for me at least, expensive hollow body frogs. Nothing draws them in like a Live Target frog you just paid for.

7'6" Is a lot of rod for general purpose. For pitching and flipping (generally longer rods) I use a 7'3". That said, what makes it too long? Is it something you can adjust to? If you use this setup for things like cranking, or top water treble hook baits, then I could see it being a hinderance. But for most other techniques, provided you can adjust, the extra length will be an asset.

I find myself in a similar position when I don't take the boat out. Between my boat and friends I use this http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Gander-Mtn-Custom-Tackle-Bag&i=437862&aID=504T2A&merchID=4006 Its too much to carry with while shore fishing, so I was looking into maybe a tackle backpack or something like what you listed above. Hopefully you (and I) get some good answers.

I like spro. They look like they'll go down and get the fish whether he wants it or not lol

Personal opinion of course, but I'd look at a Abu Veritas MH, 7' if your comfortable with it. Length I think has a lot to do with personal preferance. Longer goes further, yes, but only if it's in a controlled fashion. I prefer longer, but I also use 8' muskie rods on occasion and I'm 6'2" myself, so a light 7' doesn't seem like much. I think the Veritas is a nice sensitive rod and with the MH has enough backbone for your applications.

I got the tournament MG last year, and its probably my favorite reel. They just seem so smooth, not sure why, but its worked wonderfully for me. Bang for buck I think Lews is hard to beat. I wish I would've been more aware of them a few years ago, I would probably have a boat full of Lews for my bass gear.

New rod yesterday, rod meet door, the door wins Then, after buying a new tip I managed to get epoxy on the lady friends kitchen table. Bf of the year material.

I'd tape up the rest of the bait with painters tape and spray away with rustoleum. You'll have to paint the whole head probably to get them to match really well.

I have 2 I use primarily, a 7'1" (<-whoops doorway ) and a 6'. I use the 7 most of the time, but if I'm in reel (see what I did there?) close I'll use the 6' for the added accuracy as said above.

Delaware nailed it on the low ratio for deep cranking. My home water maxes out at 12' so I often overlook deep cranking, if you think you'll use bigger lipped baits to go deeper 5: is the way to go.

I would look at a 7:, then I'd look for a medium action and swap setups with your smoke. That would put your new 7: reel on your MH carrot stick for jigs and your on 6:3:1 quantum on your new medium action for cranking. Just a thought.

Well, this thread sold me on them. And of course Mike has free shipping at 50, so I filled up, I mean who can pass up free shipping? not this guy!!! Can't wait to get them all in!!!

Personal opinion, but I was looking at both of these last year. The metal and higher drag ended up being the decider for me. If a pike or ski grabs a spinner, I feel confident I can get my spinner back as long as he doesn't bite the line. I probably could with the 10lb drag and plastic construction, but I like the added beef and and feel.

This.

All great ideas in the posts above. That said I'm going to go with bouyancy, the middle has less/more salt to increase flutter on the drop or while drop shooting.

I keep a pretty extensive array of colors ready. What I try to do is match whats in nature. Black seems to work well at times, but other then that around where I fish you see browns and yellows quite a bit and those tend to get bites. That got convaluted . Match nature works for me.

St Croix Mojo is a favorite of mine in that price range. Best part is its on the lower end of your range so you can look at more things to throw with it with the money you save!

Your gear is good, tie good knots and hang on! As for frogs, I mainly use hollow bodies. Livetarget is probably my favorite, but is also more costly. The Snagproof Pro Series Tournament Frog is another I have multiple of, but at a much friendlier price point.

Braid for mainline on everything, between 30-80 lbs. Like Kyle said, I deal with a lot of toothy critters. I'll use a mono, fluoro, or wire leader of varying lengths depending on the presentation I'm after.

That sounds like a great presentation. Just started using the jika and so far it hasn't let me down.

I use rule of hand. Any bluegill much bigger than my hand is big lol. I almost always take my ultralite along, just in case its a slow bass bite or I see a bluegill opportunity thats too great to pass up.

I run it behind a big 3/4oz bullet and skirt on a 5/0 or even 7/0 hook. I let it punch in and sit for the most part, working it slowly. Almost stitching or deadsticking it. I'll use it on a big round bc reel and use the line alert even. I think with these big worms I'll find my target spot, put the bait there, and let it work. If I'm throwing these baits I'm hunting big dawgs, not chasing a full livewell.