evilcatfish

Can't go wrong with Chompers or Yamamoto. Damiki makes a nice one too

Seems every time the usual stores have a sale, people complain about the excluded items (that aren't really excluded anyway), and act like its the retailer's fault. I've seen people make comments about it on TW's instagram that make my 5 year old nephew look more mature than they are And as far as I know, the one brand that is ALWAYS excluded is Megabass

The Hookup Tackle actually stocks a decent amount of JDM colors, but the regular sexy shad has been my best producer

Anybody ever notice an eBay seller jacking up their prices when a coupon is running? I'd heard of it happening but until this recent 15% off sale had never seen it.

I'm in Missouri and the colors you mentioned, plus blue crawler, are my top 3. Pick a couple packs up, I bet they'll do well for you. Smallmouth seem to really like the oxblood especially

Very true, lots of deals on used Pixies out there

It really is a bad ass rod, possibly the most versatile I own. Not perfect for one application but pretty good at several. Sorry to rub salt in your regret wounds lol

Also, spiralite makes a telescopic swimbait rod

There are some JDM swimbait rods in the size you are looking for, but they are pretty costly. Not swimbait specific, but there are musky rods in that size range that could work for you.

For topwaters of that size I like 15lb straight mono, but a little heavier or lighter is fine. 30lb braid is popular too and works well

I feel like all my dobyns rods are pretty darn sensitive. Granted, the DX are more sensitive than the lower priced lines but even my fury and Sierra rods are pretty solid. Now we just need that enthusiast level dobyns series to drop...

Got a good deal on these. Interested to see how the reel performs, feels ok but time will tell

I ended up finding a deal on one and it should be arriving today. Not expecting it to perform like my Japanese Made reels, but on the other hand I'd hope Daiwa wouldn't put their name on a complete piece of junk either. Time will tell!

I never really understood why a reel would need to be super tuned and have the bearings upgraded, that is, until I had one of my reels get "the treatment." The difference was huge, and since then I've had several reels tuned up. I like TH Kustoms but Delaware and others do great work too

I've become a big fan of the Kaera frog, and when the JDM sites finally got a restock on the more fun colors, I had to pounce

I'm already thinking I'll pick up one of the new Daiwa 80 series reels, most likely the CG. Seems like these reels will cannibalize the other Daiwa offerings at the same price point though.

At that price point, Fury 735 or Daiwa DX. You can save 15% off either at TW if you order before the sale ends today....

If I buy a new car and notice a blemish in the paint a couple days later, it's going right back to the dealer. Would said blemish affect performance? No, but if I knew about it I'd of not payed what I did. In the case of this rod, you had reasonable expectation that you were paying for a factory new item free of defects, it should be made right.

Tackle Warehouse, Probably Monster, the place in Tennessee, others. Seems most places have a sale of some sort

Follow the link above, or get a Dobyns fury during one of the July 4 sales and it will be under $100

The Hookup Tackle has 20% off now through 7-9.

Daiwa has always been great to deal with. When I've needed smaller inexpensive parts they often send them to me for no charge. That's how you keep customers

eBay coupons pop up often and American Legacy honors them

I've encountered the same thing with ploppers, lots of misses and foul hooked fish. I have a theory that with the aggressive nature of smallmouth, they can't not at least bump the bait when it comes by, but aren't always looking to eat if that makes sense? On a miss I'll throw the plopper or another bait back to the same spot and often hook up.

I think you've got a solid setup for the application. Maybe try straight fluoro, or a different football jig? Perhaps something with a wider gap or lighter wire hook? I dunno, but that could be the ticket