kickerfish1

Man, I have been fishing this rig for years and have literally hundreds of baits I bought to drop shot with. Some worked well, some didn't, and some were quite average. At the end of the day I feel these are my tops: 1. Jackall cross tail shad 2. Jackall I shad 3. Roboworm FX sculpin 4, 4 inch finesse Roboworm 5. Yamamoto shad shaped worm 6. Keitech 4 inch swing impact Select colors for your waters and you should be set.

Stellar combination Matt! Enjoy that puppy!

^^ Good choices! ^^

Since when is putting the future of an extended weather forecast into the hands of a rodent, ever a good way to determine anything!

A friend of mine got one to commemorate the passing of his brother who shared a love for bass fishing. It turned out nice and simple. Personally I would never get one though I know plenty of people that seem like they cant get enough of them.

Mike at DVT is your guy. Shoot him a PM and he will take care of your reels and discuss bearing upgrades. If the bearings aren't bad, chances are your stock bearings when flushed and lightly lubed will be just fine.

For me it would depend if I am texas rigging the craw, rage rigging it, or using it as a jig trailer. For baits with more weight, larger profile and a more subtle action I like SK rodents and RI beavers. For more action, more water movement and a little more kick a rage craw from small to big, paca craws, and the Megabass bat-n-fly all work well. There are dozens more variations and styles I have but those mentioned above are favorites.

Extra data or lost data for your phone, cant recall.

Original draft!

Best bet is to buy an under $50 rod for panfish perch then purchase a better quality Medium Heavy rod to fish for the larger game fish with. One will rod struggle mightly with both.

It would be a fair choice. It is a good rod for about 1/4 to 1/2 oz baits. I would personally look at the 734 if you are sold on the savy lineup. It fishes alot of things well. Savy rods are solid buys but they arent ultra sensitive. I fished a savy 734 for texas rigs and a savy 735 for jigs before moving up the food chain. They are now my spinnerbait/chatterbait rods and frog/toad rods respectively. A friend fishes the 703 as his primary rod. Uses it for weightless plastics, 3/8 oz jigs, and texas rigged plastics. He likes it quite a bit and catches quite a few fish with it. Your rod from the savy series could be anywhere from a 3 to a 5 powered rod depending on cover and weights being used. There are more sensitive rods in the under $200 range but the savy would get the job done and could be a step up for sure depending upon what you are using now.

Folks, my boat batteries are toast. I am in the market for a new cranking battery and 2 batteries for the trolling motor. Looking for some suggestions on what would be good options in the mid level price range or less. Not really looking to shell out top dollar for these right now. Suggestions welcome and thanks in advance for your help. Mods if this is the wrong forum feel free to relocate this...

Nope, no trouble at all. All I fish are Tatsu, Shooter, and Sniper for flourocarbon lines for contact baits.

Lots of good folks around these parts here. Some probably have gone through similar circumstances as you. Keep your chin up!

GL2 = run the other way! They look nice and carry the Loomis name but fish one and compare it to 1 or 2 other $200 rods and then ask yourself is a GL2 worth it.

The Skeete Reese rods are a bit of an eyesore. Also difficult to resell. I bought the fluke rod and the build quality was poor. Would not be something I would look at again. Sold the rod for $50 3 or 4 years ago. The BPS carbonlite will be on sale during the classic. It was suggested that it may be 40% off. That would be a much better rod and value IMO

A Loomis is only worth owning if the make and generation is right. Older IMX, older GLX, and current NRX. If it wasnt one of these 3 I would look elsewhere for bottom contact rods.

Thanks for the response. At the weight you are putting up it would put great strain on most systems especially home gym equipment. Just wanted to make sure it was safer than it looked and within the tolerances of the equipment. Sending a pm to avoid derailing your thread...

Very impressive AJ! Do you find it a bit nerve racking listening to the clicking and clanging of the weight station everytime the weight is being lifted knowing that those weight plates could land on you should the system give way? Perhaps it is safer than it looks/sounds...

Meytal Cohen would be the best female drummer. That chick rocks like nobody's business!

Sent Mike 10 of my reels that needed a good cleaning a year or 2 ago. They came back great and he is excellent to work with through the process. A highly recommend guy and for good reason.

Mike, this is a very good description of the bait from my findings. They have two sizes but the smaller size is plenty heavy and sufficient. They cast well distance wise but accuracy can be hit or miss. Rig them on a big enough hook preferably a 5/0 EWG hook. Using a bigger hook or a heavy duty hook can cause a decrease in baits ability to float. The insides of the baits contain some form of a foam like substance that as the bait becomes more used and worn stuggles to float and stay together. Having mend-it on hand will help some. I have caught a few great fish for my region on them. They walk well and are basically like a weedless spook. Can be fished in the same places you would toss a hollow belly frog but it is better in the fact that once the weedline ends you have a walk the do bait the rest of the way to the boat. I would look at the baby bass color and the black color to start. See if they fit your needs/wants. They are a productive bait for me no doubt.

Understandable. Dobyns and Powell are good rods and rod lines to work with. The older previous gen GLX rods are still highly sought after and still about as good of performing rods of today just without all the fancy bling. The avids are favorites of alot of guys but obviously no where near the performers of the GLX rods. Hang onto the GLX rods you may have. Chances are you wont find a rod that will perform anywhere close to what you would sell your GLX rods for. Just my $.02...

Sorry to hear. Maybe you have tried this or maybe you haven't but are you taking enough vitamin supplements or eating healthy enough with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables? I changed my diet completely 6 months ago. My first step was eliminating fast food and cutting back on beverages containing high fructose corn syrup. I have replaced them with more fish and chicken, a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, various forms of green tea made by Yogi, and drinking more organic fruit drinks like naked juice. The amounts of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and infection fighting "helpers" in these foods/drinks help the body with many things including health and wellness. Just a thought if you feel like you have tried everything...

Powell and Dobyns rods are close if you need a second option. Chances are between the two you could find a few rods to round out an arsenal. Dobyns has a few more rod options within their lines of rods and a bigger fan base. Powell may provide more value without much sacrifice in performance in the sub $200 rods. The 805 or 764 Champion rods would be two Dobyns cranking rods that could fit the bill for cranking needs. The 805 is a good deep crank rod. Browse the user reviews on TW for a few opinions. The Champion 735 or 736 would be a good jig/soft bait rod and flip/pitch rod. You can step up the Champ Extremes if money allows. I would not particularly suggest a Savy rod for either of your needs. If you are at this price point go with a Powell. I have four Dobyns and 1 Powell rod from those two manufacturers. Good rods and good warranties. If you call Dobyns you will speak to Gary or Richard Dobyns. They know their rods and fishing in gneral. Their suggestions would be spot on their customer service is some of the best in the business.