JGBassinAL

I agree with iabass8. A 3/8 oz jig plus trailer is too much for the 703 and is at the upper limit of the 704 IMO. Anything 1/2 oz and over I would throw on a 5 power rod. So I think the 4 power would be your best bet. But why don't you just call up Dobyns and ask Gary himself!

I use 3/4 oz over 15 ft of water and 1/2 in the 10-15 ft range. Either watermelon or green pumpkin. If its sunny I throw watermelon, if its overcast I throw green pumpkin. A lot of times I like a little blue or purple flake in my watermelon, but I just throw straight green pumpkin.

Don't throw it on a flippin stick. I throw 10xds on a glass rod. I can get you a custom made glass rod in your price range, just shoot me a pm!

Check out the fish ranger out of Montevallo, AL. I'm pretty sure they have the Powell Endurance series for $150!

I just checked out their web site because I have never heard of them. All of my rods are custom built rods and I have a couple built on the Rainshadow Revelation blank, which is the blank that River Creek uses for their bass rods. It is a nice crisp blank and very sensitive. I can not comment on the carbon fiber grips and such, as mine have cork on them. That rod with carbon fiber grips cost $70 more than mine with cork, on the exact same blank.

I have never had a rod as light as a Cumulus I don't believe so I guess I really can't give any good advice on this topic haha. After two of you saying the same thing, I feel that if I had a Cumulus I would feel the same way as you guys. Good luck with whatever you decide to do Arv!

It depends if you are talking about the Chronarch E or the Chronarch Ci4. If you are talking about the Chronarch E then I would get the Curado over it, but if you are talking about the Ci4 then I would take the Ci4 all day long!

X2 I use Sunline Super Natural in 20 lb for topwaters. It has the same diameter as most other 14 lb mono.

Same here, first bad thing I have heard about them other than people complaining about how they palm.

^^^ What he said. If you are looking under $200, then the Curado I, Daiwa Tatula Type R, and Lews BB1 Pro would be your best options in my opinion. I am a Shimano guy, but have at one time owned all three of these reels. I only have the Curado now, but I am kinda biased. I didn't see a significant advantage of any one of these reels over the other, they are all great reels. Edit: BTW, you can get a Tatula Type R for $130 at many places online, so if you are on a budget then that is the reel I would go for.

I wasn't planning on using it for carolina rig, just mentioning that I throw that a lot haha. I use fluoro and then mono on the other end of my swivel. Pickwick is highly pressured and that's why I was asking this question. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to throw straight braid, but I know that some people say it doesn't matter (but I believe it does). Thanks for the response Kevin!

Yeah QuakenShake it is true. I used to have a few Dobyns and some Ducketts. The Dobyns balanced better but the Ducketts were lighter, and I would fish the balanced setup 10/10 times. I don't have any of those rods anymore, but from my experience a balanced setup is far superior to a light unbalanced setup.

I really want to know you guys' opinion on this topic. I fish Pickwick Lake, Wilson Lake, and Guntersville. Now I have a couple of punchin setups for Guntersville with braid on them, but Gville is a whole different beast than Pickwick and Wilson. Pickwick and Wilson are very clear, and while there is some grass on Pickwick, I do not fish it. I throw 3/4 oz jigs or a carolina rig 90% of the time on ledges (these are both ledge lakes), so I was wondering how using straight braid would affect the amount of bites I get. I would switch my rods up and start throwing these on medium heavy rods probably, because of the braid. I know I could use a leader, but that is not what I am asking. I already use braid with a fluoro leader on my spinning setups. I just really want to know your experiences in deep water on a clear lake with straight braid. Thanks!

A balanced setup is less tiring to fish all day (especially in a tournament) than a lighter setup that is not balanced. I am selling a Metanium 100HG that I just got because it doesn't balance with the rod that I have it on. Balance is way more important than overall weight in my opinion. But, to each his own.

If it's a glass rod then I would go for it. A glass rod excels with all the baits listed above.

I have had both in the past and honestly the Irod Genesis II was a better rod in my opinion. Slight nod in sensitivity to the Irod and just a little better quality control. Plus both ***'s I had snapped about 6 inches from the tip.

Agreed! I have 3 reels right now that don't have them but as soon as I get the money saved up they will have them too!

I love mustard on turkey, didn't know that was weird...

Get some Sunline FX2 Froggin & Flippin in 60 lb!

I use all high speed reels except for my deep crankin set ups, those two have Curado 200E5s. I feel like I can't reel in slack line fast enough with 6.X:X ratios and if I need to slow down a bit I always can with a 7.1:1 or higher. Oh and I have a Chronarch 200E6 for swimbaits, but my other 7 reels are 7.1:1 and above.

Now that I see your last post, get a Daiwa Tatula which can be found at various places for $100 and then a *** ***. Puts you right at $200 and would be way better than either of the options you listed.

Quantums low end stuff is not very good. Go with the pro qualifier/carbonlite. Had a couple those rods in the past and they are great for the price.

No problem man. I have always thought of a moderate fast tip as a soft tip like on the 734 but I could be wrong. Heck who knows haha.

My rods are custom made by Tigerodz. I don't know that I have ever seen one labeled as mod'fast from a MFG either, but have you ever used Dobyns? The tip on their 734 champion is a mod-fast tip, if you have ever used that rod. Actually, I find most of the tips on their rods to be mod-fast, especially compared to other companies. A lot of MFGs have mod-fast tips they are just not advertised as so. All companies have different meanings to the actions on their rods anyways. For example, the tip on a 7'3" heavy Dobyns is rated as fast, and the tip on the 7'3" heavy Duckett White Ice is listed as fast, yet the tip on the Dobyns has a lot more flex in it. And yes I used to have both of those rods so that is spoken from experience. To the second part, a crankbait rod is going to be more limber in the tip, a lot more limber. I am not an expert on rod blanks, but I know in the series of blanks that my rods are built on, they have a general blank for all purpose rods/jig rods/etc. and then they have crankbait blanks and flippin blanks. So, the action of the blanks may be labeled the same, but they are different. Just like a heavy power with a fast tip flippin rod is a lot more stout than a heavy power fast tip non flippin stick. One piece of advice tho, don't buy rods based on what a MFG has it labeled as lol many of us know that it might not be the best application for that rod.

What I would give for some mats and lily pads! Good thing Guntersville is only 1 hour away from me