JGBassinAL

Here are some of my best fish from 2014!

I honestly wouldn't get a Duckett. I have broken numerous Ducketts and quality control is pretty much non existent. Got tired of sending rods back cause of manufacturer defects. You know you shouldn't send that 734 back. You should keep it AND get the 735. Then buy another reel for the 734! EDIT: And I don't know about the warranty, I never had one break.

I have used almost all models of Dobyns. I would recommend a 5 power for what you want to do. I had a Champion 734 that was a little strained when throwing 3/4 oz jigs or c-rigs. The Dobyns Savvy isn't as sensitive as the other Dobyns lines, but it's nothing to snarl your nose at too bad. I have a buddy that throws wobble heads on a Savvy and he loves it. I throw all custom rods and I can get you one in that price range. The customs I use are made on Rainshadow Blanks and I put them above a Champion sensitivity wise and pretty darn close to the DX. But, I think you would be very happy with the Dobyns Savvy if you want to go that route. Great rods for the money and the tapers on them are awesome!

I throw jerkbaits and topwaters on different rods as I prefer fluoro for jerkbaits and mono for topwater. If you want to fish both on the same setup then I agree with DTack in that you should use mono. But to be honest I wouldn't throw a jerkbait on anything over 12 lb fluoro/10 lb mono. I actually throw mine on 8 lb Sunline Sniper FC and my topwater on 20 lb Sunline Super Natural Monofilament. Edit: Look into the Sunline Super Natural Mono since you want something stronger. The line diameter of the 20 lb Sunline Super Natural Mono is equivalent to almost all other 14 lb monos. The line diameter is what is going to matter on the jerkbait.

Haha my mistake man I gotcha!

No we are being serious about the soda part. Bleeding stops almost immediately, but I do agree that it won't treat a punctured blood vessel. Would be cool if it did though.

Agree. Could have been the GEN 1 rods in this situation, and he quit carrying them before the GEN 2 came out. Heard a lot about breaking problems on the GEN 1's but have not heard much at all about a GEN 2 breaking problem.

No Duckett doesn't use a spiral wrap. The first guide is the only one misaligned.

I wouldn't consider a Crucial cheap, I think they are great rods! I was talking about rods in the <$100 range.

Exactly what I was gonna tell kikstand earlier when he wanted to know why people always talk about their rods breaking but he uses cheap rods and never breaks them.

Yeah man I buy from them all the time. You ever been to their store? Their deal on the Chronarch Ci4+ is crazy but you have to go to the store to get the deal on it.

chuckled on that one. But Skeet uses them so they have to be good rods right??

You're making me hungry with this Doritos talk over here...

How does this make it out of the factory? Quality control at its finest.

Like I said I have 15 customs now that I've had for a year and haven't broken a single one. I have used so many different rods and the only ones I have ever broken are Ducketts. I'll tell you how one of them broke, and you tell me if it was user error. I was throwing a light a-rig on the 7'11" Heavy White Ice made for medium to large swimbaits. I casted it and the blank broke in half right above the reel seat. What do I do to my rods? Nothing. I keep them in rod socks if they are in the rod locker or out of my boat. I also don't keep a lot of rods on my deck so I definitely don't step on them. This is why I don't like Duckett rods. I treat my rods with the utmost of care and I have still had them break. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many I have seen break as well while fishing with other people. If I hadn't had bad experiences with them, I would probably like them. I think they are decent sticks for the price, but quality control on these rods is horrific. I'm about to post a pic of an offset guide on one of the rods I got straight from Duckett.

Coak, Idk why they do this but I would never buy a rod based on it's specs anyways. I have done that before and the rod wasn't what I was looking for. The main reason I wouldn't go by them is because each manufacturer MH/Fast rod for example is going to have a little different taper, power, etc. Same thing with technique specific rods, I find that info useless. Best thing to do is go handle the rods to see if it fits what you want to do with it. Also, just cause a rod says it can handle a 1 oz bait doesn't mean it actually can. Just another reason I render specs of rods useless.

Sprite is a lifesaver learned that from Derek Remitz.

I would love to throw my 2 cents into the pot on how much I DO NOT like Duckett rods but I don't want to beat a dead horse. Heck, Timmy Horton lives half a mile from me and I still don't use Ducketts, and he helped put them on the map! But if you come to my area and check out all the boats at a tournament, it looks like a freakin snowstorm. I just want to say one thing. I was told from someone AT DUCKETT, that it costs $9 to manufacture each micro magic. All praises to Boyd for makin a killin, but Ducketts just don't scratch my itch, broke too many. EDIT: I did have one Duckett that I liked. It was a baby blue White Ice which I am sure most of you have never even seen or heard about. It was the first run at the Duckett White Ice line. I liked it...until it snapped on a hook set, just like a bunch of my other Ducketts I had in the past. And no, I am not hard on my equipment. I have 15 setups now, all customs. Had them all for almost a year and haven't had one break yet.

Thanks bud!

5.4 lbs on the left and 6.5 lbs on the right. Went fishing with a buddy on Labor Day and had the best day of fishing to date. I have had a rough go of it lately on the water, and I almost stayed home instead of fishing. Pulled up to a shell bed at daylight and proceeded to rip the lips off of A LOT of good fish. We had a 30 lb bag on Pickwick Lake, where my biggest bag had been 21 lbs. We left the spot as it is one of my buddys tournament spots, and found a huge school of 1.5 to 2 lbers and caught around 40 of them on a drop shot. It was an amazing day and although neither of those are my personal best fish, it was my personal best bag! This is why I fish, the pure enjoyment of catching these beautiful fish and then releasing them for a long healthy life! Edit: BTW, the XShip on the Chronarch CI4+ is something else, it feels like magic in your hands when landing a big fish!

Thanks I'll have to check it out, almost squarebill season!

Right, if it's a big enough fish, it will hit the bait hard enough and hook itself. Or you could just count to two in your head once the fish takes it under and give a light sweep to the side with your rod. It's very easy to pull the trebles before the fish gets the bait. You shouldn't have a problem with just reeling and keeping the line tight though. Fish are good at hooking themselves when it comes to treble hooks.

Since you say you want something you can go hard on (a workhorse reel), I would look at the Tatula or the Curado I. My boat is full of Shimanos, but I've used the Tatula and for the price you can get it you will be hard pressed to find a better budget option. I love the Curado I, but I'm not gonna lie, the Chronarch CI4+ is something special. Being a tournament angler and being bit by the tackle monkey, I have 15 set ups and I can't afford to put Cores or Metaniums on all of my setups. While I have had a couple Cores and a Metanium, I go with the Curado and Chronarch to fill out my setups. The Cores and Metaniums are AWESOME, but the Curado I and Chronarch do the job just as well as the Core and Metanium, and I am able to save a few bucks in the process. Hope this helps!

I have tried a lot of new things this summer to become a more well-rounded fisherman. One thing I have tried is cutting the skirt off of a chatterbait, like you said, but instead of a tube I put swim baits on the back. A 3/4 oz skirtless chatterbait with a swimbait on the back is deadly on ledges! Idk how the tube will do on the back, but one thing I have realized as a tournament angler is that if you can find something that works that others don't know about, then you have a lot better chance of succeeding!

I don't set the hook when I use spooks. I keep pressure and the line tight and I let the fish hook themselves.