ibobpeb

I had the Curado I but after fishing my buddy's Lew's Team Lite, Tournament Pro, and BB1 Pro, the casting distance and braking system is superior on the Lew's. Lew's has a smaller profile and is lighter in weight too. Funny enough it holds about the same amount of line. I sold my Curado I and bought the Team Pro Z the next day. It's that d**n good. Sorry, but the Curado I is so overrated and over-hyped. I'm not surprised prices dropped down to $130-140. I have a Tatula as well and I think heavier reels like the Tatula is great for balancing tip-heavy rods. It casts better than the Curado I, too. That said, I prefer light reels below 6 ounces though. For anything under $300 it's all Lews for me. $350+ and I'd start looking at the Shimano Metanium and Aldebaran for low profile casters.

It's hard to tell without seeing what you're doing in person. The video Glenn posted is a great start. For my Lew's Team Pro, I have 2 centrifugal brakes on, the magnetic dial is set to 3, and the spool tension knob is set so that the lure falls very slowly when the thumb bar is activated. <-- That setting works very well for lures from 1/4 oz all the way up to 1 oz. I can cast a mile.

Everyone pretty much said it for me. If you want a rod that throws 1.5 oz or less I highly recommend the new G. Loomis E6X 7'4 swimbait rod. It's rated up to 2 ounces and is a true swimbait rod with moderate taper. If you don't mind spending $400ish then get the Megabass X4 Destruction (discontinued).

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. My heart was initially set on Megabass but they do not yet have the small swimbait rod I'm looking for. Most of their heavier flipping rods are not true swimbait sticks and have too fast of an action on the tip. A swimbait rod should have a moderately-fast tip and a soft gradual bend in the blank. I decided to go with the G. Loomis E6X Casting 7'4" Hvy Swimbait 884C SWB. It's perfect for my small swimbait application. The handle length is perfect for me at 15.5 inches, has a moderately-fast taper, and will handle all the small 1.5 oz swimbaits in my tackle box perfectly. 7'4" is also long enough to make far casts and short enough to transport easily. I took a look at the Irod Genesis II 7'8" Jr Swimbait and 7'5" Fred's Magic Stick, and they both had flaws that I couldn't get over. The handle length on the Jr Swimbait is a tad too long at 17". For me, 15-16 inches is the optimal handle length for swimbait rods, too long and it becomes cumbersome and unwieldy. The overall rod length of 7'8" would cause issues in transporting as well. The Magic Stick's taper was just too fast more suitable for frogs and flipping applications. Okuma Guide Select is so popularly recommended around here but I found the handle to be outrageously long at 22-24 inches. I couldn't get over how plain and mundane it looked also. Other than that, the MH would be fine for small swimbaits. A really good value budget rod. I just prefer something a little more. Anyway, I already bought my 884C SWB rod this morning and love how balanced and light it feels for a swimbait rod. I have it paired up with an Abu Garcia Orra Winch laying around that I previously had no rod for. It's a left-handed 5.4:1 gear ratio casting reel with 15 lb fluorocarbon. I highly recommend this combo for small swimbait!

Most of the swimbait rods are designed for 3 oz+ large swimbaits, and are too much rod for what I'm throwing. The lures I have are the Blackdog Shellcracker G2 (1.5 oz) and Savage Gear Line thru 6" (1.25 oz). I looked at the Megabass Orochi XX Leviathan rod and it's a 10 power rod, wayy too much rod for my needs. The Okuma Select Guide 7'6" MH fits the bill, but I want something built nicer with better components. It's too plain jane for me. Perhaps Dobyns DX 765FLIP? I have no way to handle one and test it out where I'm from so... My budget is $300. I'm looking for something around 7'5" give or take a few inches with a taper designed for throwing 1.5 ounce lures, well balanced, and powerful. Something that I can fish all day and not get fatigued.

Mono line + empty soda can = championship

I have all the jigs mentioned in this thread and I like the Booyah Baby Boo Jig the best. Only $2 at tw. The quality is way better than the bitsy flip and bitsy bug.

I love my Dobyns rods as well. Which rods did you get? If you pick up the 795 or 806 swimbait rods let me know how they fish! I've been thinking about getting one.

Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and got 1 slow sink and 1 floating. Can't wait to try them!

That lake is my backyard! And I know Eric too. Good dude. I actually got into salmon fishing because of him about 5 years ago.

ABW is right. All you need are senkos to start off with. Since you asked for 5 this is what I would use: 1. senkos (wacky rigged and texas rigged) 2. finesse worm (on shaky head jig) 3. floating hollow body frogs (pad crasher) 4. skirted jigs with a craw trailer (too many options. can't go wrong.) 5. 3" to 5" swimbaits on a weighted wide gap hook. (keitech impact fat on an eagle claw lazer weighted 60 degree hook)

Awesome tip Scott! I'm gonna pick one up now.

I'm in the same boat. The two that I'm getting are the Shellcracker G2 bluegill and savage gear line thru swimbait. Both weigh around 1 ounce so I don't have to buy a true swimbait rod yet, and can use them on my MH to H rods rated for lures up to 1.5 ounces. As for colors all I need is one dark and one light belly. For floating swimbaits, fish only see the bottom of the lure so the colors on top don't really matter. Take a look at hollow body frogs for example. You'll notice there's only 2 different colors on the bottom of the frogs. While there's like 20 different colors on top of the frog (intended to catch fishermen) that the fish never see.

I've thoroughly searched the forum but every query ends up talking about the larger 8" and 12" versions only. Has anyone had success catching bass with the smallest 6" version? I would love to hear feedback. I have a few added to my cart on tw, about to pull the trigger.

Can't seem to find them in stock anywhere now. I want the ghost bluegill color. Does anyone know if they stopped making them?

My favorite trout rod is my 6' ultralight st croix premier. I have it paired with a size 25 president.

Err I mean baby bass!

Holy cow!! I need some trout!

Wow I've been looking for something like this for a long time. Thanks for the suggestion!

I keep mine in original packaging inside pencil bags. I then keep the pencil bags together using carabiners.

I'd throw a strike king elaztech finesse worm rigged weedless in the pockets of pools, bends, and fallen trees. Most of my youth was spent wading 3 feet deep rivers fishing for smallmouth.

^ I agree. I would wait to see the Fury first. In the same length and power that you want. There's buzz going around that it's better than the savvy.

Avids are nice. If you can get them for $150 or less then even better. I advise against paying full retail price. I just picked up a Legend Elite spinning for $180 and Dobyns Champion for $140 both brand new. They retail for $340 and $260 respectively. Bought them at a fishing show/convention over the weekend. Bargain with the vendors and pit them against each other for leverage. Google for upcoming events near you. My friend bought 4 NRX casting rods for $350 each. I guess my point is that for your $200 you can probably get a better rod than an Avid like I did.

If possible, try to buy your rods at fishing convention/shows and bargain with the vendors! Just last weekend I was able to get a St Croix Legend Elite for $180 and a Dobyns Champion rod for $140. All brand new with factory warranty! You could probably get the avid for $100. I never ever pay retail. Search on google and facebook for convention/shows near your area.

I like the *** crazyjig.