F14A-B

Well in your case I’m picking speed over torque, but I river/creek fish with spinning so that’s me. But on Kentucky lake I’m using a Bantam 6.2:1 for all my crank baits. (Shallow)Pitch and flip baitcast reels are 8:1 Bantam I use 7 speed also. As soon as I find a mint 5.5 I’m buying it. (Shimano Bantam)

I’ve been a hardcore YH user for years, I also use CX and CXX on spinning but this past year I bought 22 pound Daiwa Samurai and I like it. Very much so..it’s on a 8:1 Bantam which is on a 895 GLX and it’s perfect for me.

Congratulations and thanks for the review.

I was just thinking.. I wonder what’s different. appreciate it.

This was hard on me, e-mail stuff, password stuff.. I’m calling my therapist..😂

Is this gonna be like Y2K?

Oh yea! That’s beautiful water 😂 And for the record, I’d take 5 of those hogs you catch on any lake, anywhere in this country and feel like I’d make the top 5 in any tournament. I’ve said it before but you and A-Jay post the healthiest fish pictures and the chunky monkeys 😂 it’s always enjoyable seeing y’all success

Yes I do prefer a stiffer tip. The 844c and the 895 F&P xtra heavy are about a year old and both were purchased new. Both GLX . Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s subpar but compared to my 895 it’s no contest. I love NFC rods and have 4. I’ve read a lot of good about PB also. I’m definitely in the market for a rigid 7 footer w excellent sensitivity. Appreciate your post.

It’s a great tactic, I’ve seen those hogs you post up!

I appreciate you Catt, perhaps it’s true. Perhaps I’m just a sentimental LMB fisherman that really loved the older ways.. but progress is inevitable. My many years in aviation has certainly taught me this. Nonetheless, I’m an old school guy and ya know what? Those tactics still work… The difficulty I find mostly is the States that spray for vegetation, kinda hurts this dude who swears by flipping and pitching, haha 🤣 it is my favorite way to fish & I can’t help that, electronics be damned 🤣🤣

Right on Catt, I was going to add this.. most guys that participated in this sport from its inception to 80’s or so grew up on a prolific watershed somewhere in this country and learned some fine details at a very young age. A strong community & that is like having the answers without knowing the questions. I know you’ve been on that lake a very long time.. maybe things are just too different now.. I’ve read Trey McKinney had an electronics coach so who knows. It feels like the good ole days are by and large over. I still maintain that anyone that grows up on a major waterway will learn way more than the average Joe..

Idk if this is a new thing or not, I’ve never seen much trash around. But I will tell ya about the time down on Lochloosa in maybe 87 .. we launched and as we were motoring towards Cross creek we could easily see dead gators on the shore. Apparently during the night they killed a bakers dozen of them. Yea, I couldn’t believe it. It was illegal at the time, it didn’t become legal to harvest gators again in Florida till 89. But yea, this country has some real low life’s in it let me tell ya.

Well it was 3* this morning so I took my 125 German Shepherd outside and we made a few casts.. (totally bored) but yea then ran back inside and got the fire going good. Oh the dog loves trying to destroy my equipment lol . Can’t go south they got bombed also. Guess I’ll vacuum now 🤣🤣🤣

Hmm, interesting, a gun monkey you say. Still I prefer the bait monkey 🙈🙈🙊🐒🐵🙉🦧 that’s a lot of monkeys lol

Plug them all.. at least you will know exactly where the plugs are.

I read so much about the 844 MBR. Most of the negativity was about the tip / action being a bit too soft rather than being a dud on sensitivity.. my favorite bait shop had to close his doors 2 years after BPS opened up in Clarksville, In. Otherwise I’d had hands on before. I’m not saying it’s unusable, but for the money it’s a dud. There are no rod builders in my area anymore either.. I talked to Trey K, back in late summer and his top rod is made with a Stryker blank, ok great but then he said it’s a bit to soft! I’m looking for a jig rod 3/8 to 1/2 w trailer. I like a stiff tip. I can cast fine with a more rigid rod. In fact throwing a 1/2 ounce on the xtra heavy 895 F&P is quite nice.. go figure. Have you any rod recommendations for pitching jigs and larger Trigs? BTW, I appreciate your knowledge on this.

From Tampa to Destin over to Gulf Shores.. depends on when I go and if and where the red death is or might be.

I use Stradic 2500-3000 in the Gulf of Mexico and they are fine.. FL, FM are generation, designation letters. The FM is the latest model.

Totally agree. Some folks claim superiority but the truth is fishing water that HAS a known propensity to give up bigger LMB. The same reality applies to hunting…

I have a few, but there is clearly a sensitivity difference between 2 rods. My 844 MBR and my 895 F&P My 895 has exceptional feel for a xtra heavy flip rod. You pick up the rod and it’s just got the 844 beat all to hell.. Any guess why this is? I’m taking a stab here and saying it’s a characteristic of the MBR series but idk, as usual I’m asking here because I’m interested in what you guys, rod builders, might have to say.

I find myself using more & more elaztech .. I like it.

Quite frankly it’s a perfect solution to this somewhat strange question by the OP. Tubes have crazy action in lots of ways.. perhaps the OP can experiment and create..as far as line twist and I can’t believe it has to be said is a ball bearing swivel or barrel swivel but yea, you said it earlier and I’m saying it again. The tube is a great solution imo.

Yep he has quite a few videos which have given me ideals on what to buy because he’s got it tore down right now, in front of him or is doing it step by step. Unfortunately he’s only available on Patreon or so I’ve heard. I guess that makes him the new school Allan Hawk.

Right and what would we do without memories?

Um not for me 😂 I lost one in the Osceola forest one time I’m saying went an easy 13 I saw that fish twice, and the second time she got airborne partially and threw my jig. My best friend at the time and we fished together, always.. said that was bigger than your 11.2 by a good bit, and it was.. her colors were beautiful like most Florida strain lmb. We all thought we could catch 12-16 pound fish, we were all boating 7-10 pounders fairly routinely. Central Florida was the Mecca in bass fishing in the 80’s. Even in February the fish had beautiful color. There were no efforts to kill the hydrilla like now, the Florida fish I saw this past Elite series schedule were sad. Bad color and oddly shaped, the last good looking fish I saw during a tournament was watching Clunn smoke check 2016 - 19 to win . Watching Clunn over the years he knows how to fish Florida. It’s a hard grind for sure but some of those lakes and rivers still give up some big fish, but I doubt we ever see a 16 pounder come out of Florida now. But yea, the 13 is very etched in my mind like a picture in a photo album. The best of days. I’d choose Texas over Florida now for big fish. Definitely Texas.