Angry John

Your story is only partially true. It very much depends on the type of lure. If the bait is a popper and most of the lure is sitting down in the water than i would be the first to disagree. If were talking about a walking bait then i think you may be right on the money. Frogs are another case where the bottom may be the same color as the body. High end lures are diffrent than the discount baits as easily seen with the megabass pop-x and max

St croix has an avid line that is pink. A 66mf is very versatile matched with the alphas sv it would be lite and a great setup. I would consider it medium price and good quality.

I was going to recommend a Matt lures perch and that's around 2 oz. A dobyns 807 would match well with a 300 series low profile reel on 20 lb yhb or cxx. That setup would fish almost any soft bait around.

I use a ml for 4 inch worms trick worms weightless and standard flukes. Of the two listed the 68mf would be my choice.

You must be watching you tube videos as they say that every time they set the hook. Never a giant in that case. 8 pounds and over qualifies as a giant in my book and any fish over 10 can be stated as a fish of a lifetime. Where your from changes that as a 5 pounder smallie is a giant in my book. Everybody has there own scale though. By the way heck of a catch!!!!

Most series limit rods to 8 feet but there has been a rule change lately to allow longer rods. You will have to check the series your in but 8 is a safe bet and i dont know any that require shorter. If your looking for a 7'6" i have and use the dobuns rm 764. Its a great little rod and i fish lures about in your range. I stop at the 6xd and the norman deep N. If your going bigger like the 8xd or dd22 you will want the 5 power rod.

I can backhand skip a frog. No nerve to try a jig

For that money i would be into a st croix medium xfast. I just ordered one for my son. Cant give experience on that rod but the many avid's i have are wonderful. I like the avid x for spinning and the regular avid for casting. If you have any problems ever st croix have some of the best warranty support around

The sv103 is a great reel for this and it has the same spool size as the steez. If your big into flipping the old steez 103 spool with the v shaped line area is very loose and will pitch like a mad man. The price is changing quick and there are sales. I picked mine up during the big sale at TW. 7.9 gear set makes the time between pitches very fast..... I have not swapped spools yet so I have not checked the fit but if your interested I can go home and verify in person.

I am a back of the boat guy a lot or in my yak. I always fish the same and me and my partner have a lot of fun. We communicate and we even talk threw castovers. I am fishing a swimbait or swim jig and he is fishing the bottom we cast over each other all the time. Guess if your having fun and working together even the crap things are fun. We give each other a ton of crap about getting hung up and we both keep score. Only had to untangle once in 6 tourneys so far. If your not happy change the situation.

Not the same at all. Mend-it melts it back together with no hard spot just like new. Superglue is not good and leaves nasty hard spots. Works on Huds also.

I was also going to recommend a dobyns 8 footer but the rm 805 would be my choice. I like graphite and some like glass. Your choice there are lovers and haters on both sides. I would also toss on a luna 103L

Seems like the guy in the back needs to chill out a little. If fun fishing then let it be fun. Friends should should understand each other and not quibble over little crap like this. If you are paying big money to fish the back of the boat in a tournament and being blocked the entire way then that sucks... If fun fishing have fun and dont be a jerk...

Even if i could have a second rod and i have many the avid does a good job for me on both. The large topwater baits over 3/4 i use my avid 66mhf.

For musky size lures and big baits it may be better to look at swimbait equipment. The older abu round reels can be found cheap and then grab a Dobyns Fury Casting Rod 7'9" Med Hvy Swimbait for 119 off tackle warhouse. The rod will be good for a long time and if you decide to upgrade the reel then you have very little money lost. The rod can handle most if not all the baits your friends will throw so if a good bait is found you will not be left out. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Daiwa-300-Bait-casting-Reel-MILLIONAIRE-CLASSIC-RED-/391815483795?hash=item5b3a05d193:g:gDgAAOSw~rpZQKS5 This has you right at 140 add in some 20 lb big game and for 150 ish out the door your in the game and have a decent SB settup to use all year.

order from platt and get some other things while your at it. Great store. I dont work on shimmano but if its like any of the others it will have a cover and a screw that you have to take out. Should be a youtube video on how to do it

That looks like an owner beast. I find they give a lot more life to the larger 4.8 in baits.

I use and love the avid 66mf for both with an alphas. I run 14lb xl during the summer for topwaters and 10lb YHB in the spring and winter for jerkbaits.

Sounds like you need a bottle of mendit or two. I tear up flukes all the time but almost never loose them. Mend them back up and go at it again. I cut the head in half long ways most of the time before application. This makes a great repair and they normally last longer than original after this repair....

That is a matter of choice on your part. I buy some more expensive baits to test and if I like them then I will buy more. Some people just go nuts and own every color just because. If you find one that works really well it may be worth getting one in that color to test for yourself. I own one MB pop-max and I have yet to throw it. Best looking lure ever, and the paint is outstanding. You may want to look at the other baits from duo, and lucky craft as they are also premium but not as expensive. Duo is where my money goes most of the time.

Boy on Saturday night 3lbs 12oz beat me by 7oz

The Alberto knot is your friend and is easy to learn. I hate learning knots and easy is better. The leader is completely up to you. Thats the reason for running a leader is you can match the situation at hand. I run a 10lb YHB leader on my dobyns dx 743 most often and its good all around. On my top-water rod i run 20 to a 14lb leader of XL.

I love YHB and if you have one setup it gets my vote. I run 6lb on my setup and dont seem to have any issues at all. How big your fish are and if you plan to throw any very heavy hook with guard type lures would change that. In a do everything with one spinning rod i think i would go to 8lb YHB or 12lb xl. I love the strength and abrasion resistance of the YHB but the xl handles sooooo nicely. The braid to leader is the best way to go on spinning and one really needs to know about three knots in fishing to be good to go. If you go to ***.com and learn the Alberto, uni and Palomar you will be set. You could get that down to one if you know uni and double uni but the Alberto is much better threw the guides and the Palomar you can tie in the dark and the cold.

The amount of damage you can do at speed is more worry some than slow speed dragging. Don't let him river fish. The possibilities would give him a stroke

There are a lot of good worms out there and i find that the standard GYB worms are to soft to last. They have a unique action that some times is unbeatable. Something very similar that you may want to try is a small 4 inch worm like a cane thumper. It has a smaller profile but sinks very slow. Fall rate has a big impact on how well they work some times. In shallow water early season i like the 4" post spawn the larger 5 and 6 inch work better for me.