Choporoz

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/cast-adjust-baitcast.html

Going to be nuts on the river the next few days with FLW in town. Back to smaller water this weekend

Don't get a Kistler Helium 3. It will spoil you for all other rods.

Been struggling up here....boated just one fish in tourny last week...and still finished in top 50%

I've not used Shimano rods. However, I have used higher end St. Croix and in that price neighborhood, I would be shopping for Avid, or a LTB.

I've caught fish on a cane pole. I don't think that's a relevant point to the discussion, however. It would be hard to argue against my thoughts that there are a number of factors or attributes that can be found in more expensive gear that very well might translate to more or bigger fish: -Quality drag -Rod Sensitivity -Rod characteristics that match the intended lures -Rod (and even reel) weight and balance -Brake system that can be adequately adjusted to suit you I'm not totally discounting your point that @Catt frequently makes about the most important equipment being between your ears....but I also don't think it can be discounted that some aspects of the gear can be important.

I think @Fishes in trees said it fairly well. I don't agree with you that you explained it well. Do you have a budget? Do you have any preferences regarding grip types? Handle lengths? Rod lengths? Have you handled any spinning rod/reels yet? What did you like or not like about them? What weight ranges do you want to throw? I have shakey heads up to 1/2 oz.......can't be certain what you intend to throw. You say you prefer spinning....but you say casting or spinning....if you include both, the possible combinations, even for just finesse reaches the millions.

Roboworms are pretty common. Agree with Tom on the elaztech for this rig. Berkely Powerbait grubs work well on mojo and split shot Lots of good info in this thread. I just reread your title....don't get too hung up on looking for floating plastics. This is typically a 'moving' presentation. Nearly any of the finesse-y 3-4" plastics that you choose for this are going to be hopping along off of the bottom. If you really need it to stay well up off of the bottom, perhaps a dropshot might work better for you.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/advanced-drop-shot.html

You answered your own question. But, that said, I haven't owned a rod rated at XF that was any good for weightless flukes (or Senkos.) There probably are MXF rods that will do, however. What's the 7'2MXF lure rating?

Nope. Never. I don't care if you do listen to music, but like @A-Jay, @Scott F, @WRB and many others above, I care a LOT if you make me listen, too. It is rarely the more serious fishermen, but the pleasure boats' and more casual fishermens' music can put me in a foul mood....wish I could ignore it, but some days it is pretty bad

I love your threads, 9. But I do sometimes wonder about applicability...to me at least. Seems that you could tie a pull tab to a rope and catch two dozen bass in an afternoon....while I would be 30 yards down the bank struggling to bag a limit

I've tried, but found to be more trouble than it's worth. Some bait/trailer combinations can be really hard to tune to run the way I want. Plain skirts seem to be as effective for me

For jig craws, I only use SKRT craws. Tried some Christie and Papi craws, but I didn't feel the love like the Rage craws get. There have been a number of days this summer, however, when they were preferring a Pit Boss/Sweet Beaver...so there may well be some other subtler, wider craws that would work well some days

Glenn did a great vid on toads....check it out before you throw...in case you haven't: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=worwG4tLDXE

I usually use them around pads, so I'm tossing them with my frog rod with 50-60# braid.

http://www.luckycraft.com/luckycrafthome/Products/jerkbait/flashminnow110wk.htm http://www.luckycraft.com/luckycrafthome/Products/jerkbait/pointer128.htm

Awesome trip! Thank you much for taking the time to provide the detailed write up! Great fish, too

That's what we were thinking....been watching prices for a while....not seeing the killer deals we'd hoped for. Pretty cool standing on the shore and looking up 40 feet at the bottom of boats still sitting on lifts

Just go to church first

Holy cow! 37 different head styles!! Just about four years ago, you couldn't find a single mushroom head anywhere that would keep elaztech on without super glue.

There's a couple threads just like this. My wife and I have made the same decision....based on climate, affordability of waterfront property, quality fishing, tax treatment of our retirement 'income', etc. A few years ago we took a long weekend to checkout the TVA lakes. We absolutely fell in love with Dandridge and decided then and there that we are going to live on Douglas. I've been all over the country, and all over the world and I've never visited a place where the people were so friendly. I'm still a little uneasy about the drawdowns...and we've expanded our search just a little to include TN River and Boone...The entire area holds a ton of appeal.

One way to sometimes get a decent answer to this question is to answer a few questions in your request: 1. What is your budget? 2. What presentations do you plan to use this rod for? Such as texas rig...or crankbaits...or frogs, etc 3. Do you have a strong preference for grips? Cork/winn/eva? Split, full handle? 4. Do you have a strong preference for larger than micro guides? 5. Do you want to buy in person? On line ok?

this one time....at fish camp....

Tom, I figured you must use braid a lot. Since you're always so passionate about suggesting the rest of us not use leaders with braid.