LunkerFisher

Jig bite is on! 18.5" fat largemouth and 32" northern

I've been through quite a few rods trying to find the "right" topwater rod. Since most topwaters I throw have no inherent action on their own and all the action is created by the angler, this is one area where trial and error becomes necessary. I've tried super short and somewhat longer rods to find the sweet spot of where I can work the baits I throw properly. For most of my topwater fishing, a 6'10" mhf crucial gives me the best results of those I've tried so far. I tend to work my rod more to the side than straight down fishing either in a kayak or from the back of a boat, and I find the slightly longer length helps me walk and pop much easier than a rod closer to the 6' mark. You'll just have to give it a try to see if it works for you. If not, you'll still have a nice cranking stick.

Has anyone fished any of these yet? The flipping stick is intriguing.

I'll play! 6'8" mxf avid saros 2500 10lb pp with a long leader of 6-10lb fluoro (trilene 100% or sniper)

River fishing has been good to me lately:

Nice setup! That rod will treat you well!

Green pumpkin! for senkos I use a different color altogether but that's a secret

Spend it all on a st croix of your choosing.

Nemesis baits bullet craw with a 3/16 tungsten.

I spooled the reel with 16lb sniper and plan on throwing 3/8 to 5/8 jigs and t rigs with it.

Scored a new casting combo with a Cabela's employee pricing coupon. 7' MHF Avid x curado I 200HG

Zoom super chunk bottom half of a zoom brush hog various craws

I agree with starting with your favorites and hitting the clearance bins. If it were me, I would definitely start off with: 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs (6 or so of each with an all-purpose head design) 6 lipless cranks (2 of each in my favorite 3 colors) 2 spooks (white and black) 2 frogs (white and black) 4 poppers (1/2 and 1/4 oz) 4 3/8 oz spinnerbaits (2 double willow or tandem and 2 single Colorado) 3/0 worm hooks 5/0 worm hooks size 2 hooks for dropshot (dealers choice) 1/4 oz dropshot weights 3/16 oz jigheads (ball and shakeyhead) 3/16 and 1/2 oz bullet weights hope this helps, sorry to hear about your loss

I like your thought process here: Spinning winnings=spinning rods

GYCB Tate pencil is easy to walk too. Definitely start with a spook-type bait and work your way up from there

I like booyah and spro

Mine was a zoom super fluke. First fish was on a road runner.

Do yourself a favor and buy an avid or LTB.

Sounds like a rod for big braid and big baits. Why not have a 2nd flip/punch setup with a different bait tied on from your IMX?

Scooped up a Cabela's Tournament ZX Crankshaft (7' medium) and some Eco Pro tungsten weights (1/8 and 3/16 oz) today. It's snowing in MI so I'll have to wait a little while longer to get them wet.

Don't overlook the road runner. I was catching em on 1/8 oz heads and small plastics yesterday.

I've never caught anything else spectacular, but I can't resist posing this:

My biggest loss last year was the St croix premier and pflueger summit casting reel that got ripped out of my hands and lost at the bottom of the lake. I set the hook after a hit on my 1/2 oz spinnerbait and then a huge pull straight up overpowered me. I'm more upset about losing the fish (can only speculate what that monster looked like) than the combo. I've also learned to loosen my drag now and am always checking it ?.

I saw one of these in a Wally World the other week and couldn't find anything either. It looks like it was marked as "IM8" graphite. The $100 lews speed stick is also marked as IM8, so I am curious here too!