Hogsticker

Any troubles keeping fish pinned or ripping treble hooks from mouths with that medium fast Croix? I was thinking of building on that same blank in a two piece for travel purposes.

You said high quality? An option would be the new Cabelas XML spinning rods. If you really want a high quality two piece blank with quality SIC guides you will need to look at the Japanese market. St. Croix makes some decent SCIII two piece blanks, but they aren't fantastic IMO, but still good.

River2Sea Touchdown Jig Head

Trokar wacky worm. Green Owner wacky hooks. VMC Ike approved wacky. In that order

Set the drag to accomplish the task and catch the fish.

6'10 medium *** would be my choice.

I believe those are Avail aluminum handles...no? They come with your choice of retainer color

Don't fight it

I like something like a 5.5 stripper and 4.5s the rest of the way down the blank on a casting rod. No casting improvement over larger guides, but I think they look cleaner and are harder to damage. No loops to worry about so the larger guides are not needed. I also like them on a spinning rod if it is built with the rapid choke design. Just make sure that stripper guide is a 25 if you're running fluoro.

The only fluoro lines that are "somewhat" headache free on a spinning reel are Invizx and Tatsu. If you want better than Invizx, you're gonna have to pay to play. The Sniper will not handle as well, but will have better abrasion resistance and quite a bit less stretch. It's a harder line, so make sure you spool it on right and treat it if going that route. I use it for slack line bites with weightless senkos on a casting reel only.

And if you're fishing from the bank, it will keep ya from snapping your line on tree branches and sending your lure 100 yards down river!!

One if my all time favorites, and for the original msrp and tuning options available compared to other reels at that price point, IMO it can't be beat. The stock handle is short, the stock knobs are lame, but if you think you may want to tune up or trick out, this is the perfect reel that won't brake the bank. When I fished primarily from the bank, I can't tell you how valuable it was being able to pack around 3 different spools loaded with different line for different techniques and presentations.

They may look the same in pics, but in person the basszone has a thicker more glossy sheen finish on it. At least mine do.

Daiwa peanut! If you don't have any, get some!! Also a grub on a darter head is deadly. Swim it, twitch it, snap it, dead stick it. Senko of course, and this is top secret but why not. Owner Cultivate zip n Ziggy. This is my recipe fishing the same exact conditions. Good luck

I never really counted. Just tied it so often I know what looks right with certain diameter braids and fluoros.

The old pro lite finesse rods from a few years back. They were introduced to be paired with the original gold carbonlite reels. That aside, I can't stand the powerhump cork handles.

The knobs are thick, cheap, clunky plastic. Not cork like the nice Daiwa knobs. I like the handles, but the knobs are garbage. They also use a larger bearing than the stock Daiwa, so while coming with 4, they are useless if your not using the knobs. I ordered two handles and both came with knobs that are torn up. I like the hedgehog handles better. I had to use quite a few shims on one of the handles to remove all knob play. The basszone aluminum knobs are pretty sweet. Long story short, if you already have a set of Daiwa knobs get the handle, if not I'd go with hedgehog or semper fi.

Koppers, R2S, and Excalibur to name a few

Hopefully that guy doesn't come across any low flying birds......snap

Wow man. Like I said....get some performance braid or 832 ghost if you don't want color bleed. Neither will fray.

That HMG 6'9 medium light spinning rod has my attention as well. Might make a good tube rod. I wonder if these are true titanium guides on the hmg line??

That's the way it should be for sure, and what keeps people coming back!

It's a bushing on the worm shaft. One bearing under each handle knob.

Daiwa and Shimano. They don't contract through Banax or Doyo as Okuma, Lews, BPS, or Abu. Daiwa has markets in the US, Japan, and Australia. Shimano in Europe, US, and Japan. Most current Daiwa reels are built in Thailand or China. Shimano in Malaysia. Some of both in Japan, and most parts are made their as well, then assembled elsewhere due to costs.

Be prepared. This could get real long. I think you will see a 60/40 split in favor of rods. For me, the only time a rod becomes more important is with bottom contact. I'm a line watcher so not to big of a deal. I enjoy fishing with a quality reel, so that gets my vote. I can catch fish with an ugly stick. A crappy reel that doesn't cast fair with a sloppy drag can make your day terrible. On the flip side its nice to fish a balanced rod with quality components and nice workmanship. At the end of the day just give me a high quality line and all is good.