punch

These are all fair points. I am a shakey head guy so that's probably why I feel more comfortable/confident fishing heavier Ned heads and TRDs.

What rod is that?

Sorry I don't believe you haha. Ned himself says a way he fishes it is to drag and shake it ok the bottom. Infact most of the techniques he talks about involve bottom contact. Yes he uses light heads, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to fish it. I've have a lot of success dragging and deadsticking a Ned on the bottom for smallies (and walleyes). I won a tournament this year dragging a 1/5oz Ned over a rock pile very slowly. I don't see why feeling the bottom is a bad thing? Guess it's just an angler preference. I doubt the fish care that much.

Thorne Bros and Capra's dude. Two of the best tackle shops in the state and they are on the same road.

Yeah the regular shroomz heads are trash. The hooks either break or the plastic keeper breaks. Step up to the nedlockz or go custom made and pick the hooks you want.

Yeah, there's different ways to fish them.. that's for sure. I keep all the different size heads, but over the years I just find myself gravitating to the heavier heads if the bottom is hard. I'll go 1/10 or lighter but usually only when i'm fishing them in-or-around grass for largies. I'm just trying to make an argument for trying out heavier ned gear in deeper water for smallies.

Ya'll must not fish rocky/sandy lakes for smallies! I'm all about the heavy ned heads. I use 1/5, 3/16, 1/6 and even 1/4. I will agree 1/10 is probably the best 'all around' size for largemouth around grass, but if you fish smallies on hard bottom don't be afraid to throw the heavier ned heads. I even have some custom made in heavier weights and 2/0 owner hooks so I can fish smallies/walleye in 15-30 feet. I think most ned fisherman usually go pretty light, but I want that ned to get on the bottom as fast as possible and I want to feel every little little thing that I can. I also like fishing the ned in tournaments and if it's a windy day, you need that heavier weight to maintain the feel of the bottom in the waves. My point is.. don't be afraid to toss the heavier heads on hard bottom. You might enjoy it better, especially if you have very sensitive spinning rods. A few guides I know on Mille Lacs (world class smallie lake in MN) won't throw a Ned head lighter than 3/16. Even shallow. Smallies tend to lightly pick up a ned rig and swim off with it, and you USUALLY only detect a bite when you "lose contact" with the bottom. That's why heavier heads w/ sensitive rods is great because when you drag the ned... and you're not feeling that contact for a second... you set the hook. I always toss a ned on a 7' to 7'3 medium spinning rod w/ 10lb braid to 8lb floro leader. A lot of pro's, like Mark Daniels Jr (zman pro) will toss ned rigs on a 7' MH spinning rod.

If you're on a budget, my suggestion is to keep an eye on your local craigslist & facebook marketplace for used gear. You'd be surprised the deals you can find if you stay vigilant and can offer a quick payment. There's a ton of bass fishing buy/sell groups on FB as well (Bass Fishing Yard Sale is a great one) where you can snag a deal out-of-state, as lots of people are willing to ship tubes & reels. I've found some incredible deals on name brand gear on FB & CL over the years. Just gotta ABC - Always Be Checking.

I'm smitten with the new real seats on the LTB spinning rods. I didn't mind the 'old' version, but these new ones are much nicer.

Scored a couple lightly used LTB spinning rods for great prices, thank you facebook!

Only 4?! Come on man, step it up.

See, you're quickly learning that there's low end, mid range, high end, then REALLY high end. A lot of people think that $200 real is high-end, but there's a whole nother world out there of the true "top shelf" stuff.

Umm get another NRX 852S? Absolutely one of the best 7' medium spinning rods on the planet. I had one for a while and it's about the best you can get for finesse fishing those baits you listed. If you want to get away from Loomis (why would you) and you got a healthy budget, then id suggest looking at a St Croix Legend Tournament or Legend X/Elite spinning rods. Also the Shimano Expride spinning rods are supposed to be fantastic (I've not used one personally). Also on the list would be the classic Dobyns 703 (or 733) in any of their trims.

Shimano made an all black CI4+ for the Japan market and they unfortunately decided to call it the "Exsence Ci4+". It's not the real Exsence however. The actual Exsence has the same body as a Stella. It can be confusing.

I meant Washington, brain fart in my part. The Gloomis factory is in Woodland WA.

Yes, everyone knows Shimano owns Gloomis. This happened like way back in 1995? Not sure why it's relevant when they own and operate their own factory in Washington. I don't think their are any Bass reels manufacturered in the USA. They all come from Asian companies. I know there's USA made fly reels, but I can't think of any baitcasters. Is Penn USA made?

If you got the money to spend get an Exsence. It's basically a cheaper, and arguably better Stella. Watch this video and you'll be convinced that there's really no reason to buy a Stella with Exsence out there.

I'm pretty sure Gloomis is still located in their Woodland, WA factory. Where they build their rods from start to finish.

One thing that I think isn't really being talked about when you bring companies like Gloomis into this kind of argument is the fact you're largely paying for the craftsmanship that's involved with their products. Companies like Loomis & Croix build their blanks from scratch, by hand, in a very long (and expensive) process. A NRX/Legend rod's level of sensitivity is somewhat subjective, BUT when you're buying a USA hand-made rod you're going always pay more for that product. Yes St Croix has lower end rods that they make in Mexico, but when you're talking about a GLooomis or Croix Legend you have to take into consideration that you're paying a premium for that rod to be touched by many american workers throughout it's creation. Some customers feel a sense of pride in that. Are they 'better' rods than what's pumped out by companies who buy blanks from korea/china/japan and have them assembled overseas? That's a matter of opinion from the consumer. If you've not watched the Gloomis factory tour video's on Tackle Warehouse's youtube, I highly suggest it. Yes it's a few years old but it helped me realize WHY gloomis rods are so expensive.

Slickdeals usually lights up when an ebay coupon is posted, but you just gotta check the main ebay site every day. They always post it on the front page. If you have the ebay mobile app you usually get an alert when there's a sitewide coupon.

I wouldn't hold your breath on 20%. Next coupon will likely be 10 or 15% tops. As of January 1st we got sales tax added to all our ebay purcahses in Minnesota. Really sucks.

Where does Dobyns get it's blanks from? I'm assuming they don't make them.

Jerkbait has been king, but Ish was wreckin' them flipping a craw w/ a big weight. Lipless seemed to do really well for a bunch of guys today also.

I'm shocked how bad Justin Lucas did.

That cut from 40 to 10 is going to be very entertaining.