fishballer06

Yes, and it works. However, I prefer silver buddy style blade baits. The Damiki Vault is one of my favorites, along with the Lucky Craft ILV50.

Cleveland?! Oh boy... Welcome!

Around here, a bluegill/perch color will catch me fish year round. Next choice would be olive craw color.

Last June, fishing a giant bay in Canada. This bay is probably a mile wide and two miles long. We had been fishing it for probably two hours and hadn't seen a boat the entire time. The bass were surfacing and eating dragonflies and we were killing them on topwater. Out of no where, this guy comes buzzing in, shuts it down, and parks his boat about 50 feet away from us and starts flinging giant musky plugs. We literally couldn't even cast because he was so close and he was throwing his lures out and we weren't going to tangle our lines up with him. We asked him where he was from and he told us, and then we asked if he ever learned about respect? He ignored us and kept fishing. So we proceeded to just throw our topwater lures directly at his boat for the next 30 minutes until it got dark out. He never said a word the entire time...

Get the Stile. That's what I use. It's essentially the Aldebaran, but it comes in a 5:1 ratio and it has a 102mm power handle. It will sling a Shad Rap as good/better than a spinning setup.

In all seriousness. I own both. I've only used the 71 for 3 outings so far, but I can say I think it casts better than the 201. Plus I like the smaller overall size of it.

You want both, so you should own both. That's my opinion... -Bait Monkey

I don't have official weights/lengths on a lot of my best fish because I caught them whenever I was a teenager, fishing with my father and grandfather, so I can only go off what they've told me. But here's some bests from recent years. 2015 - 5lb 1oz. Largemouth - Daiwa Zillion 4.9:1, Dobyns Champion 765CB, Sunline Sniper 12lb, Rapala DT10 craw color 2015 - 4.4lb. Smallmouth - Shimano 13 Mentium, St. Croix Avid 7' M-F, 14lb. Sunline Sniper, Keitech 4.8" Swing Impact Fat on a 1/2oz. swimbait jighead 2016 - 22 7/8" Smallmouth, 3.6lbs (fresh post-spawn) - Shimano 13 Mentium, St. Croix Avid 7' M-F, 16lb. Sunline Sniper, Keitech 4.8" Swing Impact Fat Mid 2000's - 21 3/4" Smallmouth (no weight) - Shimano Curado Bantam, BPS Extreme 6' MH, 40lb. braid, Rapala Skitter Pop frog color

You look a lot younger than I remember, Francho...

It happens. Next time, keep some pliers with you so that you don't have to leave the fish. Hook removal is easier if you pinch off the barb on your hooks. You might lose a few more fish during the fight, but it will make hook removal easier.

If you're not willing to spend over $15 a spool for fluoro, I would suggest not buying fluoro. If you can steal a $5 from the old ladies purse, try the Sunline Assassin. That's the best FC I have found that is a little more budget priced.

8 pound is pretty light for most casting rod presentations... But I use leftover spools of line for leaders.

For bass, I've probably had a few like 3 in 5 casts. For crappie/perch, I've had days where I've probably caught 5-6 in a row, easily.

Agreed. They all look like largemouth. If you think you ever have a spot, put your thumb on their tongue. It will be rough, rather than smooth like a largemouth.

When the bite is tough during a tournament and I need to fill out a limit, an 1/8oz or 1/4oz Rooster Tail can quickly get me a few fish to fill my limit.

I own 3 HMG's and 1 Aetos. All four have had guide durability issues. I own 2 of the new style Crucials and they're decent rods, but certainly no where near the best in their price range. I own the new Zodias and it's a great rod. One of the best in the $200 price area. If you want the most bang for your buck in the $130-200 range, I recommend the following rods: Abu Ike Series Abu Veracity SC Avid Shimano Zodias

Exchange rate is down to 22% right now, so your $200 CAD would get you about $160 USD worth. If it were me, I'd do anything possible to get $30 and get myself a Zodias or an Avid.

Order two, they both come in one box. Order two, at separate times, they get shipped in two boxes. Perhaps you need me to teach you how this whole "sneaking fishing tackle past the wife" thing works?

You asked for "the best" at the $200 mark. Did you want the best or the most economical?

7'2" MH Zodias. It's a great combo.

You should buy both... Feed your inner bait monkey.

I've had mine for probably 2-3 months. I forget where I ordered it from though.

I've never heard anyone call a Champion "dead". I own three Champions, including one of the new XP's, and all three are graphite cranking rods. All 3 of them are the best cranking rods I've ever used for their respective applications (684, 705, 765).

A lot of truth in this post. The only braids I have had issues with is Spiderwire. For some reason, that line would break off during a cast fairly often. After two spools, I ditched it.

I'm guessing you used the old braided line trick?