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The monkey told me to go to the gander 40% off sale.. got 45% off with my Good Sam membership.

You're going to have a tough time finding people who have experience with both 2019 Zbones and Conquests. They are the fishing 1%ers haha.

Dangit.. they got me for another destroyer!

Side note, if anyone is looking for a good deal on a mint Gloomis GLX 852S spinning rod, shoot me a message.

He's being a company man. Not terribly surprised.

KTP has 20% off again. I loaded up on some dark sleepers. https://www.kitterytradingpost.com/special-offer.html?utm_source=Friends+%26+Family&utm_campaign=d6c4b36851-friends-family-092319_resend1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_11ad7f7953-d6c4b36851-151985509

The 7'2 MH would be perfect for 3/8th & 1/2oz, plus it does a ton of other things well like swim jigs.. spinner baits.. texas rigs. It's a really good all around stick.

What size jigs?

Did a morning on Mille Lacs yesterday in the NW corner around MyrMar. The big fish are biting! We caught 4 fish over 4lbs and several 3's. Some nice walleyes mixed in as well. The fall paddle tail swimbaite bite seems to be going. I tried ned rigs and dragging craws, but the big smallies only hit our white/silver paddle tails. Our best 5 went 21.7lbs. The kicker was this 4.7 that I got on a 3.25" silver/pearl biospawn exo swim.

What techniques to you like to fish? I love the Expride line, I have 6 of them now.

Answer is no then. Gore-tex is a more premium fabric that costs a lot to license. Its main advantage is it's breathability while being very wind and water resistant. You can definitely get by without Gore-tex though if you just want to stay dry.

@Glenn one small correction, the regular Simms Challenger suits are not Gore-tex. If you want Gore-tex with Simms you have to step up to the Transom or ProDry line of suits/bibs.

Wow that's a nice fish! mid 40's? How have you been fishing the grass lines?

There are some smallies in the chain, but they are tricky to target because they only hold to a few key area's and types of structure. I've caught some 3lbers.

Nice, are there any good smallmouth lakes in that area besides finding some in the LHD chain? Just curious. I stay at Lake Carlos State Park every year and just stick to the LHD chain.

Where are you fishing in Alex? Love that area.

I've had AGS and Non-AGS versions of the Tatula Elite Rods. The biggest benefit, IMHO, was the slight weight reduction. AGS guides are very light, so the rods with those guides felt a little lighter. Was the rod THAT much more sensitive? No. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between bites on AGS Elites and Non AGS elites. Do I think paying 100$ more for AGS guides is worth it on that particular rod model? Not at all. HOWEVER, some of the rods in the line up don't come with non-AGS guides so you don't have much of a choice.

Bingo. In the metro WBL and Tonka are the only smallmouth lakes. The rivers are FULL of them though. I wouldn't suggest smallie fishing out of a Yak on WBL though. The smallie "areas" are mid lake and offshore and that lake gets a ton of boat traffic. You would be in for a long day. I live near the Rum and I NEVER see Kayak anglers out there. I find it wierd since it's got some good smallie fishing. Especially in the fall. Another river stretch would be up in Monticello, south of the power plant. Some killer smallie fishing there once fall kicks in.

I played with one in the store.. it's just a metal version of a Tatula 100. Same exact frame and handle.

I can give you some Vermillion spots.. I highly suggest fishing the east/south/south east side of the lake for smallmouth.

I'm going to crowdsource this question.. has anyone fished Pelican Lake in Orr? I know it's the Linders home lake haha. I'm going to hit it this fall and I'm hoping to gather some information. Smallie hunting of course.

I've fished the following Exprides all season: - 7' M spinning (wacky worm, neko, finnesse jig, ned rig, keitechs) - 6'10 ML spinning (dropshot only) - 7'2 MH casting (swim jig, 1/2oz & 5/8th jigs, texas rigs.. does everything really) - 7'2 H casting (heavier texas rigs, frogs, bigger whopper plopper) - 7'2 MH Glass (chatterbait only) These rods are OUTSTANDING. I also use GLX's, megabass destroyers, and St Croix legend X & LTB. I find myself grabbing the exprides the most. They use stainless steel guides (which are more rigid and take more abuse) and they are stupid light and sensitive. These are $300 rods that are as good as +$400 rods. I've even been able to find them for around $220 shipped from certain shops. While they are all very good, the standouts are the spinning rods & the MH Glass chatterbait rod. I'm totally smitten with them. I've caught some very big walleyes & smallies on the dropshot rod and it's got a TON of flex to fight big fish right under the boat. The 7' M spinning rod has a pretty soft tip which makes it fantastic for skipping under docks. The chatterbait rod is well... my buddy Josh Douglas has won like 30 grand on the FLW tour with that rod alone.

I would go NRX everyday simply because of the resale value. You can get a used NRX for 350 bucks, use it for a few years, and sell it for 350 bucks. If you keep it nice you can basically "rent one". It's amazing how they hold their resale value. If you buy a custom for 300-400 bucks you could list it for 125 and nobody will even sniff it. If you have a custom built, you better like it because nobody will want to buy it off you in the future. Custom rods are radioactive on the fishing aftermarket.

I switched all my spinning reels over to either Tatula LT's or Ballistic LT's last year and they have been fantastic. If I was going for the 'one reel' approach, my current pick would be the regular black Tatula LT. I'm easily distracted by the shiny new things though, so I picked up a stratic FL 'just for kicks'.

If you wait until next spring, the CI4+ carbon body version of the Stradic FL will likely be out on the market.