Chris186

I ordered one from amazon once, the package arrived ripped in half and tapped together. Obviously the rod was broken when I got it, but it felt really nice. I got it super cheap too, but I blame both UPS and Amazon for it breaking. They packaged it in a 6x6 square box with no bubble wrap or anything to be found inside. Just thrown in there. Anyway I’m sure I would have loved the rod it was extremely light.

Luckily I made a big order from TW before this all went down when I got my tax return so I am pretty stocked up for now. If I really needed to though I have a Cabelas about an hour from me that is still open, plus the Dicks around here are open for curbside pick up.

I haven’t really bought anything TW lately. I have found much better deals on different sites. I know they price match, but with the limited staff who knows how long it would take for them to do that. Everything I have gotten from other vendors has arrived very quickly, it sucks because I’m a huge TW fan but I’m going to wait a bit for things to pick back up before I order from them again.

The bait monkey got me good the past week. Legend X, Quantum Smoke KVD and an FX Custom rod.

I use the palomar knot for everything. Every lure, every line with the exception of the FG knot for braid to fluoro. I can’t honestly say that in 25 years I have only had the palomar fail maybe twice, maybe.

I have only gotten out a few times this year so far, my biggest fish of the year so far is a little over 4lbs. Also have caught two more close to 4lbs, all on a Siebert Arky jig regular size. The water here is 48-50, if that tells you anything. Siebert jigs are actually the only ones I use, they are top notch!

I don’t believe it is a spook, with the one eye on the bottom. I was actually hoping someone could tell me, I know it is a wooden lure, for some reason walking woodeye comes to mind but I can’t find any info on any bait named that.

I’ll play along...anyone?

Surprisingly it’s my Avid X. I have a Legend X that I like, and also a Mojo series but after fishing 3 or 4 times with the Avid X I just don’t like it.

Anyone ever bought a rod they wish they didn’t after using it? For example it felt good in the store, but when you fished with it you were like I’m not a fan. Unfortunately I have a little of that going on right now, but I guess it happens.

Just bought the KVD myself for $109. It’s about an ounce heavier than the Smoke s3, and I like the trim of the KVD better. I believe the bearing count is the same total. It’s my first Quantum reel so I hope it works out.

I actually just weighed a bunch of 3/8 jigs the other day on a food scale, they were very close to 1/2. It was like a .47oz average

Why did you have to ask, now the bait monkey wants me to buy one of those discounted St Croix Legend Xtremes!?

I don’t know about the Royal, but I did get my father a Speed Demon rod for Christmas last year. I got him the 7’ medium cranking rod, and when I first held it i thought this feels comfortable. Then I shook it and the whole thing wobbled like a giant wet noodle. I have never seen a rod do that before, but actually when you cast it and are fishing with it it’s really not that noticeable. He is happy with it though.

I haven't seen a lot of reviews for these rods, so I thought I would offer my opinion on the 7'3 MH Zilla that I bought. For reference I will compare it to my 7'4 Avid X that I have since I bought them both for the same purpose, jigs and T rigs. The fit and finish of the Zilla is clean and basic.It is definitely not as flashy as an avid x, if you can call the avid flashy. The guides are straight, the wraps are good and now excess epoxy to be had. It has semi micro guides like the avid x which are nice. The Eva foam handle is comfortable but I find the foam a little stiff for my liking. I find the Zilla to be a true MH with a generous amount of tip to launch lighter baits. I had no problem throwing a 1/4 T rig with the Zilla, but I haven't tried anything lighter than that. The avid x seems to struggle with a 1/4 T rig, as the tip is stiffer. I really like the handle length on the Zilla, infact all the Alpha Angler rods have the same handle length, at 10" respectively. The handle thickness is slimmer than the avid x which I like, its more comfortable to fish with for me. I decided to test the sensitivity using 3/8 oz jigs since that is the low end of the weight range for both rods. Just like with the T rig, the Zilla casted the jig better than the Avid X. Not light years better, but noticeable. Using the same reel, same line and same jig fishing in the same spot, the Avid X gets the nod in sensitivity. The Zilla is still plenty sensitive, just not as much as the Avid X. That kind of surprised me since the Zilla is a lighter rod with a softer tip. The Avid X is more crisp if that make sense. Overall, the Zilla is a really nice rod, but it didn't blow me away. They market it as a multipurpose rod, which I can totally see. Im going to keep the Avid X as my jig rod, im going to try the Zilla for single hook moving baits next which I think it should excel at. I like to have a rod for jigs and also one for T rigs, im really looking hard into the Poison Adrena for a T rig rod as well as some others, maybe an ALX or something else in the $250-$350 range.

Anyone using one of these? Are they worth the money or are there better options in the same price range?

Deep Down Husky Jerk, I have caught more fish on them than all the other brands I have tried combined. Believe me, I have tried a lot of different jerkbaits, always end up throwing the Husky Jerk. The deep one though, I don’t like the regular one ??‍♂️

I do as well, nothing over 7ft though.i can get away with a longer rod because I like a sideways technique vs a downwards. I use 10-12lb fluorocarbon. I like natural colors, with the exception of clown, idk why but the smallies seem to love that one. Depending on what brand you get, Pro Blue is an excellent color. I have fished many different brands and honestly, the Deep Down Husky Jerks have never let me down. In fact just yesterday I caught one on a Megabass 110, then I put on a Husky jerk and said to myself I like this one so much better. Thats just me though, its all personal preference.

I used to use the first gen Orochi XX Diablo Spec-R for this exact purpose and it was an amazing rod for me. Perfect tip and plenty of backbone. I used to have 3 Megabass rods, but I have since switched over to try other things and honestly I still think it was the best rod I have used for that purpose. I just bought an Alpha Angler Zilla, we will see how it works out. But I would not hesitate to try Megabass if you are thinking about it.

Whopper plopper. I bought one when they first came out, what 7-10 years ago? I have thrown that d**n thing every season and not even a sniff. I even bought a smaller size last year and nothing. But I have no issue with any other top water. My buddy seems to catch a lot on the plopper though.

Good stuff going here. I guess what made me think about it was last season, I found myself only using 5 or 6 set ups. It was a good pattern year for me, and I don’t really need 20 setups when I’m only throwing say spinnerbaits or crankbaits all day.

Nothing major just local stuff

Has anyone ever decided narrow down the amount of rods you have? I think these season I am going to weed some out and have fewer rods that will pull doubly or triple duty. I was getting very specific with my rods, and as I sat back today and looked at all of them I said d**n do I really need a chatterbait rod and a separate Spinnerbait rod? I even have separate rods for like 4 different top water lures . I guess I got a little carried away with technique specific. ?

Or “it’s a giant oh man it’s giant!” 1lb 2 oz. It really is annoying every fish

It’s funny to think I started this thread 2 years ago. Since then I have switched over to all Ducketts, which I never paid more than $130 for. One of my favorite rods is the Duckett Triad I have, however there are a few that I have I don’t care for and I’m getting rid of them. The one thing I did do was switch to something much more sensitive for bottom contact, as I felt like I was lacking with the Ducketts and was questioning bites.