Chris at Tech

The anwer is "yes" Weightless, t-rig, dropshot, split-shot rig, carolina rig, wacky rig, shakey head, slider hear, rage rig. You can fish these straight tail/finesse works in many, many ways. As far as what rod/reel/line combo -- to me that's largely a function of the rigging you select from the options above, and the cover you're fishing it in. It can range from a spinning reel with 6-lb test for dropshotting or shakey heading in open water, to a MH/H baitcasting rig with 17 lb test for throwing the worm behind 3/4 oz of lead on a Carolina rig. Regardless, my preference of line for plastics is fluoro, followed by braid/leader, with mono lost.

x3. I can't wrap my head around this being MH power. Why not just call it M power? Oh well, let's see what the OP says on how this thing fishes

Just in time for sled dog season in the Great White North

I like whichever result that puts fewer SEC teams into the playoff.

Yup. I've got a 6:1 Revo STX on mine and it does great for jerk baits and topwaters

In my experience, Gulp is worth it. Perhaps try a a Gulp shrimp to eliminate the loss of the tail on the mullet, but I think any similar curly tail bait would lose the tail to a toothy bluefish. Don't mess with success, man

All I saw was a note from his wife on his FB account

I just saw a post on Facebook and it looks like our own .RM. passed away. RIP David. I didn't know you, but your opinion was always very valuable.

You know Dwight, I think your results on the water would improve if you invested a bit in some halfway decent equipment

Terrapin. The only good thing that comes from Athens, GA.

My only advice would be to select the appropriate knit when joining lines. Some knots excel at joining lines of similar diameter, whereas others are better for lines of different diameters.

Is he on the way in, or the way out?

Is there cake?

It makes no sense to me that they would assume some arbitrary amount of backing, especially since they don't indicate that. Bottom line to me is that the mono equivalents listed on braid packages are crap

For that reel, I'd recommend 10,15 or 20 lb braid. On the topic of mono to raid comparisons...To me, there's a good disconnect between what's published and what's realistic on this subject. Here's an example... As per Dwight's link above, 30 lb Power Pro has the diameter of 8 lb mono. That tells me that I should be able to spool an equivalent amount of either 30 lb PP or 8 lb mono on the same reel. But if you look an manufacturer specs on reels, you find that to not be the case at all. For example, Shimano's specs on the 2500 Stradic say it can hold 140 yards of 8 lb mono, and only 95 yards of 30 lb Power Pro. Why not the same amount?

I started with Stick Jackets, but I'm trying to transition to Rod Gloves. Both are fine but the tapered tip on the Rod Glove makes it much easier to get rods into rod locker tubes.

I think the rod's got more power than you're giving it credit for. Mine has landed my biggest LM ever, 8-15. I use it for shakey heading but also other finesse presentations on or near heavy grass. I've also had A ton of fun throwing small scroungers and 1/4 oz rooster tails for hybrids. In my time with the m/XF, I'd certainly use it for 5" senkos but not the 4" Sounds like you prefer a bit more power, I prefer a bit less

It's not really a case of the reel not being able to "handle it". It's more as issue of finding a reel that can hold enough line since generally you're throwing heavier line with swimbaits. Look for something with a higher capacity spool.

Yeah, this reinforces the comments I've seen elsewhere. It's a tough enough of a pill to swallow to see a Stradic FH, for example, that you paid $120+ for 8 years ago no longer have parts available. But when you're dropping 5x that amount on a Stella, I'd kinda expect that getting factory parts for at least ten years should be a no-brainer. A reel like that is purchased for the long-haul, at least in my opinion. I think by sheer luck, I happened to get my two Stradic 2500FH reels service by Shimano a few weeks before their end of parts support. Now it appears my two 4000FI and one 5000FI are on the clock

I personally have not had issues with Shimano CS but there's a vocal group on another site I visit that are quite frustrated with the inability to get parts for older reels due to the constant intro of new models.

But are you sure the line is breaking as opposed to line slipping? Try a double palomar and see what that does.

Serious question... When you drop that much coin on a reel, how long do you expect to be able to get parts and support? It's great that Shimano keeps innovating, but it also starts the countdown on the previous version's parts availability.

Why would you say that? I think this would be a fun rod for 4" senkos.

As ole' George Welcome told me when I fished with him a few years ago... "Where you see wood, there's wood. Where you don't see wood, there's wood". So as mentioned above, BE CAREFUL! Baits I remember using we're senkos, chug bugs, rattle traps

Rage craw, grub, Gambler EZ Swimmer