martintheduck

Yes - in almost every aspect of my life... "when it rains, it pours." Just think of it this way though: It all happened at once, so you'll only experience the sting once. If it was two separate outings (and if you're anything like me) it would have been SO much worse! My recent string of bad luck involves various fishing gear.... 3 days ago I bought a REVO Winch and tried it with 10lb fluro. Well, it casted like crap and snapped one of my deep divers off. The lure sank and was lost. Respooled with 12lb and now it's good. THEN I snapped the tip on my $250 Cumara, and shimano can't warranty it for at least another month! Next, bought 3 new deep crankbaits and fished them yesterday in some heavy wind. Hooked a 3lber and he shook the hooks at the boat. One of them caught the wind and got snagged in a tree. Another hooked a tire on the river bed and was lost for good. About an hour later I went to flip stumps and laydowns.... hooked a T-O-A-D!.... biggest bass I have seen come out this rirver @ at least 5 pounds. Set the hook and pulled him up to the surface. Got a nice look and then BAM he ran into the logs and shook the hook. My past 3 days has been filled with aggravation! Did I mention my fuel gauge is jacked up too? Or that my dog has crapped on the floor for 2 nights in a row?

What slone said.

DD22's all day. Caught my first deep diver with one. I've always been a fan of their natural color's and today I grabbed a bright chartreuse/black-back. Went out even though it was super windy and managed to get a 3-pounder on the SUPER MUDDY river. Sure enough with my luck, the next cast I chucked it super high, it got caught in the wind, and went straight into a tree.... quickest $5 you can spend! But yea - DD22's.... nothing but success for me.

I do know that in the past 2 months, Humminbird units have gone on sale through Universal Mania and Digital Oasis. The sale price was down from $1699 to $1270-something... I've been holding out for a few months to see if I can get ahold of one cheaper, but I might just be holding m breath for nothing? What makes sense is: All the stuff out now (aside from 360 imaging) is "old technology" that has been around for near 5 years.... never has ANY OF IT decreased in price! At some point soon I can see all the units going down in MSRP. I can also see them NOT going down in price with the mind frame of "what else are you gonna buy?" I'm in the same boat as you buddy... just trying to hold it out for an actual DEAL.

I'm only using a MH when flipping your average situation - docks, stumps, laydowns, edges of pads. It work perfect for me. NOW - a Heavy rod is only getting used if I'm pitching into some heavy mat, heavy pads, or just thick brush/cover altogether. What I understand is this: It's not simply about having a stiff rod to pull the fish out of the hole. The stiffness is needed to set the hook while SIMULTANEOUSLY pulling that fish through the stuff. With a MH rod, I can rip a hook, but theres so much play in the rod that the fish doesn't exactly move once the hook hits - the hook sets but the fish isn't pulled but a few inches in the pocket. With the heavy rod, the hook sets AND the fish gets pulled up and through the muck. I don't really know how to explain is better than that, but it's the only reason I'll think "I should use a heavy rod to flip this stuff....." It's so I can get a hookset while simultaneously pulling that fish through the stuff. MH that doesn't always happen - sometimes the hook will set and the fish is still in the same spot chillin'.

I don't really know the answer to your question, but I will say I have a 70 MK Edge from 2011 and I hate it! I'll be buying a fortrex 80 once I scratch $1000 together. Just wanted to mention, don't get an edge... it's garbage.

Good lord, man! Thats a substantial price jump right there! If you're willing to spend $400+ on a rod, just buy the glx!

My dream boat is a phoenix. Gonna need an update on how she rides once you break in that motor!

If it's good enough for Bill Dance, it's good enough for me! Bill is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSrfB7JIzxY Don't blow it off until you try it. I've had this problem come up since I was 17 playing guitar. Both my elbow and hands cramp up REALLY bad. These stretches help IMMENSELY. Granted it doesn't ALWAYS help in the heat of the moment, it does help to stretch everything out before a day on the water.

Shimano Cumulus blank customized... and a NIB Diawa TD-ito

Good luck finding a 1st-gen Cumara! I can tell you, I've used my 7'2" MH Cumara for anything (except deep cranks) and it works great. Granted I've never thrown something smaller than a 1/4oz shaky head with it. If you don't want to spend $250, look into a Crucial too. It's a LITTLE heavier than a Cumara and a LITTLE less sensitive. Only time I can tell a difference between the two is switching straight from one to the other. St. Croix also makes a great rod. Have a Medium Triumph for dropshot and really like it. Regardless of what you choose, a MH in 6'10"-7'2" is solid move.

What'd you end up with? Iabass seems to know about the smaller shaky heads.... I've mentioned in a previous post I throw nothing smaller than 1/4oz, which is what the MH is rated for. Let us know how you like whatever you got.

Is there some advantage to the ones with chains hanging off them?

Did it. Didn't work in these cases. I was fishing some steep bank drops on the local river and people has a tendency to dump crap in it. I'm pretty sure I snagged into a large barge rope or a tire or something stupid like that. Tried for 5 minutes all three times from every possible distance and angle and wouldn't come loose.

I've just always been skeptical about them. I've been forced into a spot where I'll need to actually try using them. It's not a big deal for me to be losing a shaky head here and there... I've never been unable to free up a spinner.... but man oh man - losing these crankbaits HURTS!

Thanks fellas

This summer I have forced myself into fishing deep cranks and have gotten pretty used to them. I've built up my confidence considerably and have gained a feel for what I am knocking when against the bottom. I've gotten used to getting snagged and freeing them up without any tools, but this past week I snagged 3 different lures and couldn't free them up. Had to cut them off! ($25 down the drain) SO - This leads me to - What lure retrievers have you guys used with success? Whats the correct way to use them? I've used a 3oz catfish weight snapped onto the line and just drop it straight down, but that has only worked maybe 25% of the time.

Your posts regularly cause me to laugh, Sam.

That's AWESOME man! Congrats! I'll say, yak fishing is a blast, but I haven't touched mine since I bought my boat... I've become VERY lazy! hahaha. If you're into saltwater fishing, you'll LOVE catching salties from it too. Nothing better than hooking into redfish out a yak!

And I say that after just purchasing a 7'11" Medium Cumara this week for deep cranking. The Medium just does NOT have backbone enough for legit ripping hooksets. If you go with the MH, you'll have an awesome shaky rod as well as a great t-rig rod.

Negative. MediumHEAVY x-fast is the way to go IMO. CUCX72MHA

That's so bizarre... maybe mine rotted? Crazy!

That's literally 10x nicer than ANYTHING that popped up on my CL. Sweet boat...

Really happy I went with Xpress. Wanted glass but decided on aluminum because I figure I'd be making a few mistakes along the way. Really happy I went aluminum after being on the water constantly for the past month! A couple h17's have popped up on my craigslist and sold for $11,000... in top shape. I stated looking for a boat in a similar price range to you. I quite a few people, called quite a few people, and went and actually checked out 4 boats. In that price range I was running into a ton of stuff with problems and frankly I didn't want to deal with any of them. I just wanted something I could get in and be worry free. Finally gave up after the last boat I looked at, decided I'd up my budget ONLY for something in mint shape that was either an Xpress h18 or a Stratos w/ 150. Couple days later an H18 popped up on CL's and I jumped on it. Just be ready, at your price point, to keep a level head. Don't jump into anything. Check everything!