blckshirt98

I'm going to keep recommending them until they sell out, but St Croix has Rage and Mojo Bass rods on clearance on their website, both that fit the specs you're looking for!

The St Croix Rage rods are still on sale in their online Bargain Room for $89 bucks. Those things are pretty dang light, but you need to like microguides and their grip is a neoprene skin of sorts, not EVA or cork.

Basstrix made a meaty 8" slug if you can find them!

Band rot drives me up the wall, I've had to buy mini zip ties to lock down jigs(and spinnerbaits/chatterbaits) with band rot. I always try to buy hand tied now (Cooch's TnT Wadda Jigs!).

Some of you bank fisherman are hardcore, but I've never been fishing in an area where there's remote access that requires much hiking to get to the water. I pretty much fish only man made reservoirs in California so there's always parking nearby and no real dangerous wildlife to worry about. I'll take a water bottle, some snack bars/beef jerky, a small 4.5" knife, sunscreen/neck buff/hat, and then my fishing gear. I try to stay as lightweight as possible so I can walk along the bank efficiently, and try to keep my gear to a minimum so if I need to change tackle I don't have to dig through piles of gear to find what I want. PS say what a gun!?! what for, bear country?

I've gone through about 6 backpacks trying to find the perfect one and the Kelty Redtail 30 is still the one I always use. Lightweight and fits everything. I did notice the Redtail 30 seems to be no longer made and it's now the Redtail 27, so not sure what design changes they made to cut down on 3L of storage.

The only people you should tell about your secret spots are people who don't fish, in case something happens like you break your leg or something, so they know where to look when you don't make it home. But seriously keep your secret spots to yourself or other people who have shared secret spots with you. I have one person locally that I trade spot/bite info with, and he's been good with keeping my info between us (he has another person he shares info with, but keeps our info mutually exclusive).

I'll take up any loose slack and give it a quick short side sweep hookset.

I thought it was a spark shad but couldn't find that color anywhere...it looks like a chartreuse sexy shad of sorts?

It will work fine for smaller cranks but once you start going up in size with bigger billed cranks that offer more resistance and "pull" in the water, you're really going to feel it in your hands. It's like going uphill on a bike, you can theoretically stay in high gear and just pedal slower but you're going to have to work your tail off to get the bike to go uphill, or, you can go to a lower gear where you're pedaling faster but it's much easier to go uphill. The 8:1 reel is like being in high gear the whole time, where a smaller gear reel like a 5:1 is like using a lower gear, and will make it much easier to crank with larger baits.

Phenix Elixir - best trout rod out there!

I use a Palomar knot, and using a size 4 hook the hook will often bend before the knot fails.

If you wanna have some real fun fishing light tackle DS/SS, grab a Phenix FX802-1X (if an UL sounds sketch, I've hauled in a 6+ pounder on it with no problems). Otherwise look into the Phenix M1 rods, indestructable and light.

I use a Phenix XG3 fiberglass rod, paired with a Revo STX Gen 2 spooled with 20lb Sniper fluoro. Can cast chatterbaits a mile, feels like a crankbait on the retrieve.

Drop shot any 3-4" plastic, they'll tear it up.

I've tried the Missile Baits drop craw but it's too small for my liking, the Fuse is a better option and one of the most durable plastics I've used on a dropshot. My favorite dropshot craw though is probably the Lake Fork LFT Craw.

Also make sure you're using the right hook, where the eye of the hook/knot can be tucked into the head of the plastic. That way the bead/bullet weight is flush against the plastic and not leaving a gap where the eye of the hook is.

Ziploc Freezer Gallon bags are the best way to store plastics, hands down. Just be sure to put them in the freezer bags so the narrow sides of the fishing plastics are facing the bottom/top of the freezer bag.

I use 15lb PP or 832 on almost all of my 2500 size reels. I think I have one spooled with 12lb, and one with 20. Anything in the 15lb ballpark is fine, just up to your preference.

Shore fishing in Florida sounds scary to me, with the gators, pythons, and water snakes down there!

Use any plastic just use a weighted hook!

+1 the fitted slot Plano for terminal tackle is a must or you'll have things sliding under/over the adjustable dividers. Anything with adjustable dividers for terminal tackle is a no-go for me.

Where does GLoomis fall into this discussion since it's a subsidiary of a Japanese company(Shimano)? The rods might be made/assembled in the US but the profits from their huge markup all go to Shimano.

St Croix is the only American rod company that I fish, though I do have a couple of their Rage and Mojo Bass rods that are assembled in Mexico. One company on the West Coast that's putting a lot of advertisement in the Fish Sniffer and that I've seen in a couple of local tackle shops, is Cousins Tackle. Felt a few in one of the stores and they felt great in hand, though I haven't seen too many reviews on them. 100% made in Huntington Beach (SoCal) and it looks like they have a lot of East Coast stores.

kaisei0121 seller name on eBay, sells a million things you can't find on normal online websites.