BrettD

Its my flipping stick and thats all I use it most of the time I just tried it for frogging for a day before I got a new frog rod. Ive never thrown a swimbait with it but most of your swimbait specific rods are fast action. If I ever used swimbaits over an 1 oz the 766 would be the rod I go to that I own.

I have a dobyns 766 champion and I use it for flipping but it would work for heavy swimbaits. I have used it for 1/2 oz frogs and it cast them no problem. The rod is a fast action but its pretty moderate for a fast action. Out of the two dobyns it would be my choice. The dobyns 735 is extra fast and might make throwing swimbaits a little tough and it might be a little underpowered for 1.5 oz lures. I dont have any experience with the phenix 766 or the zombie rod.

I would fish the edge of the grass or just outside of it on the side of the pond that the wind is blowing on to. There is most likely a drop off at the edge of the grass. Looks like a nice pond that would hold some decent fish.

Topwaters I have way to many there is just so many different types and its the funnest way to fish.

We fished a 30 boat tournement on th e lake sunday and had 17.3# our biggest was 4.5# and placed third we just couldnt find the kicker fish we needed. Second had 18 and change first had 19 and change.

This is good advice I also understood it as $200 per combo. For the money its hard to beat a BPS pro qualifier. I would recommend you look and try as many rods as you can and see what feels best for you.

Lews tournement pro with a 7:1 gear ratio for what you want to do. You can shop around and get them for around $160.

Check out sea-dek they make small pads just for what you need. I had them on my small poling skiff. Then I just used a simple rod bungie to hold the rods in place. http://www.seadek.com/c-5-sheet-material.aspx

I like how they are a little under rated I use a few of there heavy rated rods which are a little heavier then the avg MH rod but lighter then a true heavy.

I have one and it sits on the shelf if that says anything. I tried to use it but after using my lews TP or curado its like a meat grinder.

Yep its common to go up a power with falcon rods.

A few g2 gatorades, few water bottles, some peanut butter and crackers or protein bar, and a couple of PBJ or ham sandwiches for the ride home. Rarely eat while fishing except maybe snack on some peanut butter and crackers. As soon as the boat is loaded I go for my sandwich.

That was my first guess. If it was the Instant anti reverse that isn't working properly the reel handle will spins backwards so it would be hard to backlass with the handle spinning.

If you plan on fishing by yourself the majority of the time the 165 probably would be fine. If you fish with someone frequently get the biggest boat you can afford.

Poeple have been catching bedding fish for as long as fishing has been around. Alot of people in my area argue that fishing has never been better to the point that FWC want to increase bag limits to reduce the number of small fish in the lake. I fish one of the most pressured lakes there is granted its a huge lake.

The part in bold is what I agree with atleast in my experience. Maybe we are both flat wrong.

That why I said usually Im must going by two rods I have the are the same exact rods one is 7-7 mh fast and the other is 6-9 mh fast and the 7-7 rod has more backbone. This could be just this an isolated incident but they are the only two rods I have that are the same except lenght.

Your comparing to totally different rods. If you compare the same rod in a 6-6 MH -fast rod and a 7-6 MH- fast rod the 7-6 rod will usually have more back bone because the rod taper is different they start off close to the same near the tip so they have similar action. But because the rod is extended a foot the between the tip and the reel seat it gives an extra foot of blank with a stiffer taper.

+1 all aluminum decks with the xpress trackers have wood decks. Xpress's also tend to have a wider beam atleast on the 18's

I know alot of stand up off shore fishing rods are short because they are used in boats with t-tops or cuddy cabins. When we fished offshore I couldnt count how many times I hit the t-top even with a 5-6 rod. Also trying to get a long rod in out of the cabin is next to impossible.

Here is a good article about the university of Florida's research on it. http://news.ufl.edu/2010/03/23/bass-2/

Like everyone is saying put 1 very light coat on and thats it. I use a cheap foam paint brush from home depot for like 50 cents.

Thanks sounds about right.

Falcon bucoo regular guide or micro would be my first pick. I have a couple of the micros and feel for $130 they are hard to beat. The regular guide rods are only $100.

If its your first boat I would buy used let someone else put the first scratches on it. That way when you put a scratch or dent it you wont feel bad because it will just be another scratch. You also get the most for your dollar when you buy boats around 2 years old.