kickerfish1

Don't do it! Tracking down the Cumulus rods can be a nightmare. Hopefully you will come to your senses and at least keep one of them!

Hope you still have a Cumulus or two in hiding! Nice rods regardless.

Praying for you and your family. Hang in there!

Price based off of retail pricing or what you can find on sale or used? For me it would be the Orochi XX EMTF if we are talking full retail price

Shallow dock fishing would not warrant much weight. I would use the 1/8 oz weight. These soft baits has some good weight in them. Plus you will have better action and a more natural swimming action with the lighter weight. Try them on a swim jig as well!

Thats alot of "big ugly"!

Seems like a good guy to boot. Congrats on the catch, heckuva fish!

Stradic FJ or Saros can be found new for under $150. Occasionally a used Stradic CI4 or CI4+ will show up for close to that. Either the 1000 or 2500 series would work well. Take into account the weight of the reel and how it may or may not balance with the rod.

I had to make this decision years ago. Ended up getting two rods. The first is the Dobyns 705cb glass rod and the other was a Powell Endurance 695 rod. I dont do any deep cranking really so these two handle 80% of what I need them to do. If I could pick just one rod it would be 705 cb glass rod. Topwaters, spinnerbaits, and cranks all fish well on this rod. For how I fish it really is a versatile rod.

Just got one not too long ago. Rod is the 682L spinning rod model. Not whippy at all even for a rod with very light bait and light line specs. The blank is crazy light and the finished rod weight is 2.64 ounces. The lightest blank you can build on from what I have been told. Probably a top 2 most sensitive blank to build on and some of the builders I know would say it is the most sensitive. I haven't fished it yet but will when things thaw out. At that time I can compare it to my NRX among other rods. The blank is similar in looks to the Megabass Orichi XX rods if you have any of those or have handled any. If you could afford one it would be worth it. Blanks alone are well over $200. To build on one with higher end components or close would be a very steep price tag.

Depends on water clarity and the part of the country you fish. Typically I have a go to selection consisting of: A drop shot Flickshake Finsee jig or hair jig Spinnerbait or chatterbait Lipless crank Jerkbait Rarely do I catch fish on other presentations but occasionally a weightless soft bait or texas rigged plastic has worked before. Top 3 would be a jerkbait,dropshot and hair jig.

Probably going to snag one soon again. Great reels especially if they are discounted prices. Wonder what this holds for the Chronarch 50e and Scorpion 1000xt? Shortly behind the Core 50mg7?

Praying for you and your family! Sorry to hear...

Treat the rod with U40 cork sealant. This is a $5 product that will preserve the cork and prevent pitting. I wouldnt sweat the cork filler in the Orichi rods. There is also a big difference in price depending on what MB rod line. Keep in mine there really arent many Rep sample NRX rods out there. Not sure what you want the rod for unless general purpose finesee is the idea?

I am a huge fan of the FJ and the Stradic line as a whole. On the used market the FJ can be found for $120 to $140 and the auction sites have similar prices on new and used alike. To myself I would say the difference in price over the Symetre is worth it. If you are using the reel a good amount the investment would be well spent but to someone that occasionally uses the reel you could probably get by with Symetre. My spinning reels get a good workout on average but I have a handful of them. I probably wouldn't buy a reel below the Saros personally.

Sales, a truly innovative product that I "need", clearance products, and winter.

Yes, the northern or bullet style jigs work well. I like a GP or Okechobee craw. A rage menace or RI little dipper seem to work well.

I enjoy there product lines, however I fear they will raise their prices more to be at the LC price point maybe higher.

Looks like you hooked into a nice sized couch! Nice photos!

The reviews on the Fewick Elite Tech rods are well documnented on this site. Probably a half a dozen respectable members rave about them. I have 2 of the spinning rods and couldn't be happier. I am not sure if you could find more performance in a rod at that price point. I was fortunate to buy both of mine from a local shop for well under $100 per rod. I haven't the slightest idea what you want the rod for? Regardless I have fished 78 and 100 series pointers on it, drop shots, smaller shakey heads, flick shakes, 4 inch senkos, and both finesse and hair jigs. I don't care for the rod for tubes or bigger shakey heads. If you don't venture to far off from 3/8 oz with the plastics and jigs you should be fine. The 100 series pointer is the only bait I will throw on there that is a 1/2 oz. If you are interested in the newest model I couldn't begin to tell ya.

I haven't had the chance to handle or fish the Diablo yet. I know a few guys that have and described it as slightly slower than the EMTF. I was told it was best labeled as moderate fast but on the faster side of that rating. I just prefer a fast or extra fast for jig fishing. The original post only mentioned 3/8 oz jigs plus trailer so if length isn't an issue I would suggest a slightly different rod. There are probably a few rods from that line that could fit the bill. The length, taper, power, and versatility is where they seperate themselves.

If you are wanting a rod for just jig fishing the Diablo Spec R is probably not the first rod that comes to mine. It is a much more versatile rod because of the action and taper which lends itself to moving bait apps as well. I would suggest the EMTF which I am a huge fan of for fishing contact baits on. The action is faster and the rod is very sensitive. I use mine for weightless flukes, caffeine shads, senkos, 3/8 to 1/2 oz standard and swim jigs and even spinnerbaits and chatterbaits. The rod is more sensitive than the DX rods from Dobyns or the previous Gen Cumara Black rods. Haven't fished the *** rod to be able to compare it there. Just because they are Megabass's cheapest offering doesnt mean the components are a slouch. I wouldn't complain if I was forced to fish the Orichi XX line of rods my entire life. For now I just enjoy using the EMTF and the Shakeyhead rod. As others mentioned call or email Gary at the TackleTrap. He will get you squared away...

^^ Nice insightful post Paul ^^

Just for clarity... it was the maintenance cost that I was referring to and not the initial outlay for the reel.

Guessing it will be redesigned and introduced with some of Shimanos new features. The features will be limited to what they can offer for that $120ish pricepoint. When they will be released, I couldnt tell ya.