Rudy1922

So it's best to follow the rod's line weight. I do that with my spinning rods. They say 6-12 lbs so I only use 10 lbs braided line. I loosen the drag a lot so my line won't dig in and it's been working great. Now I'm moving into Bait casters and Shimano says to use Power Pro 30-60 lbs but the casting rod I'm getting says the rod's line weight is 10-20 lbs. Could I use 20lbs on the Bait caster and loosen the drag like I do on my spinning reels so it won't dig in?

I'm going with the 734c or I might go crazy and get the DX744. One last question. Any issues with line to line knots with the Champion or Extreme? I plan on using 30 lbs braid tied to a 10 lbs leader for jigs (o to very light cover) and weighted swimming senkos. If I like the 734c I'll get the 733c for 3/8 oz spinning baits. Thanks for all your help.

I've been using my St. Croix TBS71MF and Shimano Stradic FJ 2500 with 10 lbs Spiderwire Stealth and 8 lbs leader. It's great for any bait that weighs a total of 1/2 oz. but when I hit the 5/8 oz. range my index finger starts to hurt after a couple hours. So my plan is to get 733C for 3/8 oz. Spinnerbaits and use mono. For Swimming Senkos with a 1/4 oz weight (total weight approx. 5/8 oz.) and 3/8 oz. Jigs with a trailer (total weight approx. 5/8 oz.) I will use the 734C with some braid and a leader. What do you guys think? or I might just stick with St. Croix

Thanks for the help. The 734 is starting to look like a better choice for me.

I'm looking for a bait casting rod for 3/8 oz. spinner baits & weighted swimming Senkos. All I have ever used are spinning reels but using them for baits I have to throw out and retrieve sort of quickly is becoming a pain. So I decided to move to Bait casting reels. I own 2 St Croix LTB Spinning rods and think they are great but I'm willing to try something else. I narrowed the choices to the St. Croix LTB TBC71MF (1/4 - 5/8 oz.) or the Dobyns Champion 733C S/H (1/4 - 3/4 oz.) Med/Hvy. Or should I go heavier and go with the St. Croix LTB TBC71MHF (3/8 -1 oz) or Dobyns Champion 734C S/H (1/4 - 1 oz.) and maybe be able to use a Carolina Rig with it sometimes? Thanks for the help and BTW I'm thinking about getting the Shimano Chronarch CH201E6.

Hi everybody. I just got back into Bass fishing this year after a long break ( 20 yrs!!) I've learned a lot here and I'm catching a lot more fish than I did 20 years ago. Back then I didn't have the internet and I was using a broken spinning rod that I taped together and I was using the thickest mono I could find. I'm glad to say my gear is a lot better now I don't have a boat so you'll find me bank fishing at Lake Success. I use 5" Senkos about 75% and a light 3/8 or 1/2 oz. Carolina rig the rest of the time but I'll throw a light jig out there every once in a while.