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I picked up one of those Tatula SV for $105. I was looking to get the 6.3:1 reel for moving baits, but it was the highest of the three. Too bad it was limited to the 7.3:1 since I grabbed four of the 8.1:1 reels as well but paid $138 for those.

St. Croix Avid is also a possible option. I have heard good things about the Tatula Elite rods. I prefer the feel of cork which kind of takes a few other options away. I am not deadset on Dobyns which is why I posted, but currently the way I am leaning.

Yes, that is true and I don't dispute that. I just tend to stick with the same brand for rods and reels. It's a personal thing, but probably more of an OCD thing.

Over the weekend, I decided to start over fresh since I have a much better understanding of how I prefer to fish and what I like to use. I was originally going to unload all eight of my Duckett rods since I have been wanting to move away from the micro guides for awhile now. After rejecting the first lowball offer, the buyer quickly countered with a much more reasonable offer. Long story short, I ended up selling all my rods and my Lew's Tournament Pro reels as well, but ended getting pretty close to what I was looking for. I was planning to keep the reels. I figured I would just order Lew's again and go with a different brand rod. But after a bit of research, I am starting to lean toward the Daiwa Tatula SV103 reels. I'm not a fan of the Type R color scheme and would prefer the SV spool. I'm also wanting to see if the Daiwa brakes are as good as everyone says they are. Nothing against my Lew's reels, they were always solid and customer support was excellent. I'm just ready to try something different and the SV spool seems like the way to go. Thoughts? Rods is where it gets a little more complicated. I'm leaning toward Dobyns Champion and picking up 5 or 6 to start. One of the things I ended up doing with the Duckett rods was having multiples of the same rod. Maybe because I just liked picking up another rod and not having to tie on another lure. The other was Duckett can be all over the place with their rod weights and lengths and I just never nailed down different rods that I thought would be versatile enough for different things. I do prefer longer rods and that's why most are 7'3". 734C or 735C - I'm looking to pick up two of these. One dedicated to texas rigs and the other dedicated to jigs. I normally use 3/16-1/2oz tungsten weights for soft plastics. I pretty much stick with 3/8-1/2oz jigs for now. I'm mostly pitching into or around submerged grass or isolated grass and pads, laydowns and wood. This is probably the hardest one I'm been trying to nail down. 733C - Light texas rigs and weightless. Maybe some heavier shaky head like 1/4oz. 735CB Glass - All around treble hook rod. Mostly squarebills like 1.5 and traps 1/2oz. Shallow cranks and maybe mid divers. 736C or 766FLIP - Punching 3/4oz and up in heavy vegetation. Frogs. Chatterbaits, spinner baits and toads would fit in somewhere. I lot of people recommend the 735CB for chatterbaits, but I have always thrown them on a MH/F. 735C gets recommended a lot for frogs, but is that toad or hollow body frogs? I have seen a lot of people state they hated it for frogs. I mostly toss toads around vegetation. I haven't decided if I wanted to get a sixth rod or not at the moment. Everyone seems to recommend stepping up one power on the Dobyns rods. Any feedback would be great.

That is going to be one awesome replica. The details look amazing.

It seems like these rods get excellent reviews from everyone. I have spent the last few days debating and researching and still haven't quite decided which model I would like. I know a lot of people use multiple rods for these techniques, but since I'm still learning and deciding which techniques I prefer with trebles, I'm looking for that versatile option that can work for multiple techniques. I was originally set on the 705CB Glass model, but the more I searched, the more people mentioned the 705CB graphite as a better option if fishing grass and cover. I would say at least 80% of the time, I am fishing grass, wood or some sort of cover. Right now, I'm leaning toward the 705CB graphite for that reason. I have also been considering the E6X and Fury line as well, but the Champion line is probably where I'm going to end up. I've read the Fury can feel dead compared to the Champion and the E6X reviews are mixed. I'll probably end up mostly tossing squarebills (Berkley Squarebull 5.5 or KVD 1.5) and lipless crankbaits (RES and Warpig) the most with this rod in the 3/8 and 1/2 ounce range. Though I'm looking to try out the Dredgers and maybe the Rapala DT for medium divers. Topwater lures like the Sammy or Spook will probably come into play. Does anyone happen to toss light crankbaits on the MH Dobyns? I have some Bandit 100s and Footloose that might come into play as well and was wondering how the 705 would handle them. The only thing that worries me with the 705CB glass is using it for ripping grass. I haven't considered the 735CB, but will look into it. I'm comfortable with longer rods and have three 7'3" for worms and jigs. I guess the reason I was leaning toward the 705CB was for easier target castings and maybe using it for heavier jerkbaits in the future if or when I decided to get into them. But I'm always up for other options if anyone wants to chime in.

How versatile is this rod? I have read a lot of good things about it and have been thinking about picking one up for crankbaits. But since I haven't used crankbaits near enough to justify buying two or three for specific techniques, I am looking for sort of a jack of all trades rod. Some of the techniques I have been wanting to use more often are square bills, shallow and mid crankbaits and traps. I've used my MH/F rods the times I've fished square bills and traps. I usually fish water around 10' or less and sometimes as deep as 15-17'. Often around cover, but I do have a lot of ponds I fish at times with open water as well. I know this is a popular rod so I am curious what everyone uses it for before pulling the trigger on it.

That place seems to be awesome. I was looking for a Hedgehog tool that was in stock so I wouldn't have to order one from Japan and came across them. Placed order yesterday around noon for the tool and some alchemy oil I decided to try. It's already an hour away at the sorting facility and should be here in the morning. I'll be using them in the future for sure.

Ever considered a backpack? Bass Pro makes a decent one that works great for bank fishing. I like the Okeechobee Fats bags you can get at Walmart or Academy, but only have experience using the larger ones so not sure how their medium bags are designed. Extreme 360 Backpack

Can't go wrong with Siebert Outdoors swim jigs. The menace has been an awesome trailer as well.

Or Mississippi!

That's a spread where Vegas is probably going to make a lot of green. I think everyone is expecting it to be a high scoring back and forth contest. I see it ending up like the Falcons and Packers game.

Very cool story Sam. Sometimes it makes you wonder huh?

It's same rack as the KastKing, except it is unbranded. I got it off Amazon and they paid for it as well. Think it was $45 shipped, but signed up for their card and they gave me $50 credit for being approved. It is listed as Qwest Portable 24 Rod Rack and there is also some on the bay with blue molding. Nice rack for the cost. It doesn't have wheels, but they can easily be added to it if you wanted them.

Not near as impressive as some of you guys, but these are the rods and reels I have acquired in the past year and half. Just got done with cleaning and lubing them. Put cork sealer on the rods for the first time. Think I really like the darker cork look. Reels are all Tournament Pros.

Been saying it for awhile. Don't see anyone keeping up with that offense. Matty Ice on a different level this year. As much as I like watching Brady, I look forward to Ryan getting his first ring and he definitely deserves MVP as well.

I think he pours his own heads.

I just picked up some of those Megastrike heads with EWG. Though I am more interested in power shakey rather than finesse.

Personally, I prefer to throw all of those on a MH. I use whopper ploppers in the 130 size and throw those on a H, but I know a lot of people throw them on MH as well.

A mouth full of fingers. What else?

You can see a lot of little things that isn't normally noticable with the Prizm lens. I've seen turtles buried on the bottom with them and fish that I would have never known were there. Everyone's eyes are different though. I don't switch glasses while driving. I wear my Prizm lens regardless if I am fishing. They will brighten what you see a lot and make colors pop more. I have normal black polarized lens as well and usually wear them on cloudy days or when I am doing something could could damage them. I noticed they just came out with Fives with Prizm lens. So I plan on getting another pair since those frames are my favorite.

A medium should be fine for fishing open water. What size lures are you planning to throw? Most of my rods are MH, but I am always pitching to cover or fishing grass most of the time. A MH would be better for heavier lures and cover. Both are very versatile and it really depends on what you prefer and how you plan to fish it.

That is about what I estimated it to be at judging by the width of the opening.

I'm lucky enough to get Oakley glasses for a huge discount so I have several pair of Prizm glasses. There is a huge difference on the water compared to my normal polarized. It's pretty amazing looking a water and then seeing it without the glare on top when I am wearing the Prizm lens. There is also a noticeable difference in how much you can see underwater between my normal and Prizm lens. Having said that, if I was paying retail without the discount, I would probably buy Costa. Oakley has started to outsource from China as well and not all their glasses are still made here.

One of the few shows I have set to record.