The Pond King

I think you might have received a lemon. I have the Metanium MGL, and it's by far the smoothest reel I've ever owned. I have a Core 50MG7, and even that does not compare. It is head and shoulders above the Curado 200e7 or Tatula CT. The casting with this reel is also effortless. The way it casts is amazing. I'm not sure if it's a BFS reel, but I can bomb grubs on an 1/8oz jig head out there like it's nothing. The SVS braking system takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it'll be hard to backlash.

I plan on Texas rigging them with the bullet weight pegged with a heavy wire 4/0-5/0 EWG hook. I've in SF Bay Area, so I target saltwater species as well as bass. So, I actually plan on using heavier 1/2oz - 1oz bullet weights, and use them to catch lingcods at the jetty. Beautiful baits!

I have the extra heavy 7' 11" Matt Daddy. It's great rod for the price. I'm particularly impressed with how well balanced the rod is. It does not feel like a tip heavy broomstick at all. The sensitive is good - not great like my crispy Legend Elite - but good, and it has a really strong backbone and power to muscle in fish from really heavy cover. I would sacrifice some sensitive for the strength and balance it has, so it serves it's purpose for flipping and pitchin or punching in heavy cover well. Overall, a great rod for the money. Plus you can find it online for much cheaper than retail. I got my for a little over a $100 AND it comes with a lifetime warranty. Can't beat that.

Thanks for the great suggestions guys! I did some research on all of the baits you guys recommended. So far, I really like the Gambler EZ and Reaction Innovations Big Dipper. Those will definitely be a couple I will try. Would love to hear some others. I'm all ears.

Hi all, I'm looking for swimbaits with a belly slot for texas rigging. In the past, I have used Zoom's Swimming Fluke, but I am interested in finding out about others. I want to be able to Texas rig swimbaits so that I can throw it into rip raps without having to worry about snagging them often. I personally wouldn't Texas rig full body swimbaits because it has too much plastic for the hooks to go through, and I believe it lowers the hook up ratio. I'm looking for the 5" (and up to 7") sizes specifically. I'm also don't want a skinny swimbait like the Keitechs. I want a full bodied swimbait similar to the profile of a Big Hammer swimbait but one that has a belly slot. My friend showed me some P-Line Kick'r Minnows he bought, and they looked great. I see a lot of swimbaits in the market and have tried filtering them on sites to find the ones that have a split belly to no avail. There is no feature to filter out swimbaits that have a split belly, and the descriptions don't always say they have them even when they actually do. One more thing, I'm looking for a decent quality swimbait, but at the same time, has a reasonable cost. Cost is actually more of a factor in this case because I will be throwing these lures into some snaggy shorelines parallel to rockwalls and expect to lose lures. So the cheaper the better. I'm all ears to hear your guy's recommendations!

I am in the market for a new reel. I want the best reel money can buy. Money is not the issue here, but I just don't want to spend money on TWO high end reels because I have other fishing necessities I still need to buy as well. I've done my research, but there isn't enough information out there because these reels have been released relatively recently. Of these two reels which one do you think is better and why? I'm all ears for anyones answer, but would especially like to hear your opinion if you own both. Thanks in advance!

Hey guys, I bought a new St. Croix Avid 7' MHF. I own three other Avids, and have been very satisfied with the Avids. I personally think that these rods are the best rods for the money - bar none. Unfortunately, however, the Avid I received looks like the tip is a bit over glued. Not in the eye it self, but on the smaller two "prongs" that attach to the blank. It looks like a tiny clear ball (see pics below). Because of this, I am not satisfied. I am thinking about sending it in for an exchange. I was wondering if you guys think it would be worth the hassle of exchanging it. I don't think the over glued area would actually affect the performance of the rod. Anyways, I'd like to hear your guys' opinion.

ROUND 2: Veteran's Day Fishing - November 11, 2016 Me and my friend Frank decided to go fish for stripers at O'Neil Forebay again. I start off with the Sammy 128. This size is bigger than I usually use, but I was attempting to get some bigger stripers by using a bigger bait. On my first cast I get a blow up. I miss two more blow ups shortly after, but nothing hooked up. We moved down to another spot, and then my friend Frank starts laying into them. He caught 5 in a short period of time. I kept getting the craziest blow ups, and one being literally right in front of me a few feet from the boat. I wanted to hook one up, but didn't mind watching the crazy blow up action either. I ended the day with only two, but caught the biggest and only keeper for the day. A 17 and a 22 incher. My friend Frank caught all shakers - most of them in the 16-17 inch range - but he caught the most numbers with 8 landed in the boat. However, I certainly missed over 10 blow ups and my friend Frank missed many as well. It didn't matter that the stripers were on the small side. Watching them blow up made up for it, but what's more, even though the stripers were small they still fight way harder than largemouth bass. There was a lot of boats and kayakers out there today. I guess my reports have gotten attention and more people have been hitting up the Forebay. It didn't really matter though. Despite the massive pressure, we were the only ones catching fish as far as I could see. The secret was that we were fishing topwater lures. Topwater lures were king. No other lure got bit. We threw all kinds of hardbaits at them. Jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, broken back rebels, and even crankbaits. They only hit our topwaters. Lucky Craft Sammy and Gunfish were the hot baits. I'm thinking about fishing the larger sized JitterBugs next time and see how it does and maybe even a Whopper Plopper. Anyways, it was my first time trying out the Lucky Craft Gunfish today, and this is a fantastic lure! I personally like it over the Sammy now. This lure is so much fun to use. It walks even better than the Sammy, and you can make it skip like a rock with a nice jerk. The Gunfish is amazing! I highly recommend you try it. Here are some pics we took today: The PumpHouse: My setups which consisted of.. - St. Croix Avid 6'6" Medium Fast Casting Rod paired with a Shimano Core 50MG7 - St. Croix Avid 6'9" Medium Light Spinning Rod paired with a Shimano Stradic CI4+ 2500 Spinning Reel - Okuma Helios 7'6" Heavy Casting Rod paired with a Shimano Curado 200E7 - Powell Diesel 7' Medium Heavy Moderate Casting Rod paired with a Shimano Curado 200E5 My friend Frank with one of his 17 inchers: Yours truly with the big fish of the day at 22 inches: Haha, here's a short video of me and friend Frank acting like fools. My first YouTube video ever. I will be bringing a Go Pro next time. I will have to work out a lot of kinks and improve my video editing skills so things are going to look amateur at first, but it will come along with time and experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufO3BSb0wVo Give O'Neil Forebay a try. Good luck to you out there if you do. Cheers!

I haven't posted in a while because I really haven't been fishing much. My focus has been on other parts of my life. I've only been dabbling with some local large mouth bass fishing here and there. Anyways, my friend invited me out to go fishing with him and another buddy on his boat this past Saturday. I couldn't pass up on a boat fishing trip, so I got everything geared up and ready to go. We launched around 7 in the morning, and the first spot we stopped by was a great choice because we started getting hit right off the bat. Lucky Craft Sammy's were the hot bait of the day and the top water bite was on like Donkey Kong! It was only within the first hour or so where we had the flurry of action, and then the bite died. We're so busy catching fishing, I couldn't take pictures during the moment. The only thing I was thinking was to get back out on the water asap. We've caught probably around 10 each and missed many more. There's nothing like a top water bite. The stripers were so aggressive. If it missed the Sammy, it kept jumping at it till it got hooked. Most were 17-21 inchers. They weren't big, but they were very fun to catch on bass rods. I highly recommend fishing at San Luis Reservoir right now. Catch the early morning bite. That is the key! My friend Frank and I doubled up within our first few casts:

Pretty crazy! http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/10/03/bass-pro-shops-cabelas-acquisition/91459212/ Bass Pro Shops has reached a deal to acquire outdoors retail competitor Cabela's and take the company private in a deal valued at $4.5 billion, the companies said Monday. The deal unites two outdoor supply superstores aimed at catering to every need of those who hunt, fish, camp or otherwise venture into the wilderness. It was not immediately clear whether the acquisition would result in any store closures, but the companies said in a statement that Springfield, Mo.-based Bass Pro Shops would "celebrate and grow" the Cabela's brand. The deal comes about 10 months after Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela's effectively put itself up for sale at the urging of hedge fund Elliott Management, which had declared the hunting-and-fishing retailer undervalued and called for the company to consider a sale or reorganization. Privately held Bass Pro Shops will pay $65.50 per share in cash for Cabela's, representing a premium of 19.2% over Friday's closing price. Cabela's had 68,909,403 shares outstanding as of its disclosure in a corporate filing. Cabela's shares rose 15% Monday, closing at $63.18. Long known for large-format destination stores, Cabela's has lost ground to smaller, nimbler competitors and online retailers. Sales at stores open at least a year fell ***% in the first half of 2016, compared to a year earlier, according to a securities filing. The number of purchases at Cabela's stores fell 8.1% during that period, reflecting a drop-off in foot traffic as customers bought less clothing and footwear from the retailer, although hunting sales increased and average revenue per transaction rose 8.2%. The deal marks a dramatic expansion of the outdoor retailing empire controlled by Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris, who founded the company in 1972. The billionaire will lead the newly combined entity as CEO and will retain majority ownership. Bass Pro Shops has about 99 stores and 20,000 employees. Cabela's has about 85 stores and had about 19,700 employees at the end of 2015, according to a securities filing. Representatives for Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops did not respond to requests seeking comment, questions about potential store closures or interviews with executives. "The story of each of these companies could only have happened in America, made possible by our uniquely American free enterprise system," Morris said in a statement. "We have enormous admiration for Cabela’s, its founders and outfitters, and its loyal base of customers." Cabela's CEO Tommy Millner said the company's board had unanimously backed the sale after "a thorough strategic review." Bass Pro Shops said it plans to maintain Cabela's operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Neb. "and hopes to continue the very favorable connections to those communities and the Cabela’s team members residing there." The companies said they expect the deal to be approved in the first half of 2017.

If Scott, who designed the TCS rods, says the 6' 9 MH is a cranking rod, then I would believe he's correct. The rod's action is Moderate Fast, so it should suit you for your cranking needs. I don't have your particular model, but I do own an Okuma TCS 7' 11" XH "Mat Daddy". I think it's good overall. Plenty of backbone and it's durable. Not particularly sensitive but good enough. What I like about it most is that it balances well and is not tip heavy like a lot of rods of that length.

I have a 7' 6" H Okuma Helios rod. This rod is extremely light weight for it's power rating and length. I've tested it against other rods in the tackle shop including brands and models with the similar specs such as the Dobyns Champion and Powell Max. It was the lightest most and most sensitive rod out of all of them, and that's why I decided to buy an Okuma rod. Despite Okuma being known as a budget brand that provided a lot bang for the buck but sometimes had dubious quality, I don't believe that really is the case anymore. The quality of Okuma products are very good now. The sensitivity on these rods are remarkable. It feels like a mini-explosion when you feel a fish hit it. I can fish all day with it and not be fatigued. Fighting fish on these rods are very fun too. There have been some reviewers that complained that this rod is prone to breaking, but I haven't had any issues with it and brought in fish 10+lb fish without any problems. The only thing I didn't like was the removable hook keeper. It fell off and it's gone now. I would've rather wished that Okuma just installed a normal hook keeper that's permanently attached to the rod. Using the guides as a hook keeper isn't an option either because they have mini guides on them. Speaking of mini guides, I'm not that big of a fan of them either. I suppose they increase the sensitivity, make the rod a bit lighter, and makes casts more accurate, but the line doesn't free flow out of the guides as easily. It's harder to create slack after the initial cast when you need to fish semi-slack line for weightless plastics. Although I personally don't tie uni to uni knot for making leaders when fishing braid, if you like tying leaders, the mini guides would definitely hamper the cast because the knot would get hung up in the guides. I also have the Okuma Helios baitcasting reel. Unfortunately with the reel, I have been less than impressed. I don't think it's worth it's price. This reel's performance level is on the caliber of a cheapo $75 dollar reel. It's fairly light reel, and it's ergonomic which I like. However, the "power" knobs on the reels are too big, so it's not very comfortable to grip. As for the retrieve, it's relatively smooth, but not buttery smooth. It'll backlash every now and then even with the proper brake settings which annoys the crap outta me. Although, I have to say, I can bomb some really far casts with the reel. Although, the Tackle Tour review said it could be used for inshore saltwater fishing, I found it to be not saltwater friendly. I've read many great reviews on the Helios baitcasting reel before purchasing it but have ended up regretting my purchase. I don't think all Okuma reels are bad. I've used their Avenger baitfeeder spinning reels and they performed just fine, but the Helios baitcaster is not all that good in my opinion. When it comes to baitcasting reels for bass fishing, I am a diehard Shimano fan. I've tried other brands, but Shimano is the best.

I am gonna go broke hanging out with you guys! Hahaha, the avid fisherman mentality is to just buy them all! Forget the consequences. Deal with them later! Hahahahahhaha Thank you to everyone that has replied! I am overwhelmed with all the responses I've got here. I love this forum and especially the people who make up this forum. You guys are awesome! It's so cool to connect with people all over the country. I am very happy with my purchase. You guys have made me feel very confident in the great deal I got. I wouldn't have hopped on this opportunity otherwise. This reel is so light and ergonomic. The smoothness is indescribable! I can't wait to put some hi vis Suffix 832 on this bad boy and put the hurtin' on some bass with it. Before this, the nicest reel I've had was a Shimano Curado 200e7 and 200e5. The Curados are great reels, but now, I see them more as utilitarian reels. The Core is like a sexy sports car, and my Curados feel like a heavy truck now! Hahaha! The only problem is..now that I have this bad @$$ reel, I want to get a bad @$$ rod for it. I've been eyeing the new GLoomis GLX rods that are coming out. Those things look sweeeeet! Tight lines y'all!

I felt the 100, but I don't like the ergonomics compared to the 50. The ergonomics and palmability is worse than the Curado 200e series in my opinion (not that the ergonomics/palmability on the Curado 200Es are bad by any means). And while the Core 100s are light at 6.5oz (if I remember correctly), it's not super light like the Core 50 at 5.5oz. I don't think they did for the 50s. For the 100s I'm not sure.

Hey guys! I bought the Core 50mg7 for a total of $260.99! Thanks for all the advice. Otherwise, I wouldn't have pulled the trigger! Hahaha Here's a pic: They also have the Daiwa Luna on sale for $207, Daiwa Lexa 400 for $187, Core 100mg7 for $259, and many more deals. I don't know what to do because I want to buy more!!! What should I do guys??? I'm dying here. I need to stop...but I want to buy more.

Awesome reply guys. Really appreciate hearing about your guys' experience. My question now is this: How does the Core 50mg7 compare to the new Alderbaran? Is there much of a performance difference? Thanks!

Alright, this is the answer I needed. Thank you! Ha ha ha ha ha Alright guys, I've decided. I'm gonna get the Core 50mg7! Ugh, I told myself I'm not gonna spend anymore on fishing... I've spent too much on fishing over the years. Thousands upon thousands hahahaha. There's so many other things that I actually NEED to buy. It is truly an addiction that cannot be quenched.

The Core 50mg7 has a gear ratio of 7:0:1 I believe. The CI4+ is available in 6:2:1 or 7:6:1. I plan on using these reels for flipping and pitching. So a high/fast gear ratio is preferred. Thanks for the reply. Do you think the Core50mg7 is still a good deal at $239.99 for a reel that was first released back in 2009?

Hi all, So, I've come across a local tackleshop that is having close out sales. They are selling a Chronarch CI4+ 150 for $209.99 + Tax and a Core 50mg7 for $239.99 + Tax. Normally, the Chronarch CI4 retails for $269.99 and when the Core 50mg7 were still being sold they retailed for $369.99. The Chronarch CI4+ was released more recently. Around 2013 I believe. It has new features and tech in it that the Core 50mg7 doesn't have. The Core 50mg7 was released around 2009, but this reel is still good. It's super light and is buttery smooth. I got the store clerk to hold the reels for me, but they can only hold it for a day. So I have to make a decision quick! And they only have a couple of each reels left in stock. I would prefer people who own both to chime in on what reel I should get. Because both are a great deal, but I can only afford to get one. I appreciate all advice. Thank you!

1/28/2016: Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Slowriprun. This guy is a master striper fisherman and overall, a very skilled and knowledgeable fisherman and cool guy. Before I met up with up Slowriprun, I decided to stop by Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael to pick up some live mudsuckers. Although we planned to do some lure fishing as well, live bait is a surefire way of catching them at this particular spot in the North Bay. It’s good to have as a back up if lure fishing is unproductive. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer lure fishing over bait fishing, but it doesn’t mean I neglect bait fishing. In addition to that, I wanted to meet Keith Fraser, a world-renowned San Francisco Bay-area sport fisherman and author. Keith is known locally as the "Sturgeon General of the Bay Area," and is currently a co-owner of Loch Lomond Live Bait shop. I didn’t know that it was a cash only bait shop and I didn’t have any cash on me – kinda embarrassing - but Keith was so kind and said I could mail the payment to him. He said, “I’m trusting you,” and let me get the live baits on good faith. He didn’t even ask to check for my ID or anything, so I offered him my business card, so he could check up on the status of the payment or what not but he said he knows that I’m going to pay him and didn’t want it. Wow, talk about a cool guy. There’s no other shop out there that I know - retail or mom or pop shops - that would just let you mail the payment afterwards based on good faith. Goes without saying, I’m going to mail him the payment today. I’m not affiliated with Loch Lomond Bait Shop whatsoever, but I highly recommend this bait shop. Not only do they have excellent quality live baits, they have superior customer service, and you get helped by the legendary Keith Fraser himself. Please support this local bait shop. Everybody wins. After one last pit stop at 7-11 to pick up a 12 pack, I finally get to the spot. It took me a long time to get there coming from San Jose. I woke up at 5:30am, left the house at 6:15 to pick up food, then bait, then beer, and finally got to the spot at 9am. Almost a 3 hour journey just to get there, but I didn’t mind if it meant that I got to meet the striper master Slowriprun. I get out of the car and start setting up my rod, and an older man approaches me and says, “Jonathan?” I responded yes and greeted David aka Slowriprun. He had a topwater spook tied on, and I proceeded to tie a spook of my own on and we started lure casting for a bit. We move down and proceeded to cover water, but eventually, we just decided to set up shop with live bait and crack open a few beers. I got a couple of hits, but missed them. Later, we decided to switch spots because it was slow in this area other than the couple of hits we had. Slowriprun took me out on his yak and we paddled down to an island in another part of the same spot. Once we landed, we set up again. We started whacking them in this area. We were really laying into them this time. It was one striper after the other at this point. We even had a double at one point. We fished until we ran out of bait and decided to call it day. They weren’t big, but they were all legal sized schoolies most were 18-22 inches with a couple 24 inchers in the mix. All fish were released. I also have to thank Slowriprun because he’s into kayak fishing these days. I don’t have a kayak, so he accommodated, and fished on the shore with me. He said he doesn’t waste his time fishing from shore these days because the stripers at this spot cruise near the shoreline and if you walk the shoreline they usually get spooked, but casting from a kayak to the shore makes all the difference. You can also cover more water as well. On good days he’s had 100+ fish days. He’s had 500+ fish weeks. He’s also caught 40+ inchers and 20+ pounders out of this area. I guess most people would not believe it and think it’s bullsh*t because it’s not even conceivable to most fisherman, but it’s true. Then again, most fisherman also believe all stripers are migratory too. I’ve learned a lot from Slowriprun. I was honored to meet one of the original guys who discovered this spot for stripers. Next step: I gotta figure out how to store my kayak, if I buy one again. Picture of me and Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Live Bait House: Not all fish we caught are pictured, but here are some ones we caught below. Again, not huge, but none of the fish we caught were shakers either. They were all legal sized. On the yak, you can get into bigger ones more easily at this spot: When Slowriprun and I got a double: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Side Reports: 1/21/2016: I haven’t fished for several months. I just needed to get out on the water, so I decided to go fishing. I caught a two largemouth bass in 10 minutes at an awesome local pond. Considering that it’s winter, I was surprised by the fast action that I got. I caught both of these bass on a Texas rigged Yamamoto Kreature fished weightless. After the 2nd fish, like all Yamamoto baits, it tore up fairly quickly, and it was the only the only Kreature I had on me, so I switched to a Fat Ika and fished 30 minutes more for nada and called it a night because I had to meet some friends. These bass weren’t huge. They were around 1.5-2lb class. All fish were released. 1/23/2016: Went fishing with some friend to catch some rockfish at GGNRA. We first started throwing bigger lures. A couple of my friends were fishing with 4 inch Berkley Powerbait Swim Shad, one other friend fished a double tail grub rigged on a 1/4oz jig, and I fished a 5 inch Texas rigged Zoom swimming fluke on a 3/16oz bullet weight. We didn’t catch anything for the first hour, so I switched over to a very small 2 inch grub rigged on an 1/8oz jig. I started hooking up almost immediately. Got several grassies and black rockfish, but what really made my night was catching a legal lingcod at night. Sorry, but no pics were taken this night. All fish were released.

Yesterday, Bass Pro Shops had a grand opening in San Jose, California. This is a big deal because most BPS stores are on the eastern half of the US. To have one here at home in the Bay Area was something I've been waiting for well over a decade! I've never been to a BPS store before until yesterday, and let me tell you, it is the best outdoors store you will ever go to. There simply isn't a better outdoors store that can compete with it. Big 5, Sport Authority, REI, Dicks, Outdoor Pro Shop, and local tackle shops are nothing in comparison to the grandeur of Bass Pro Shops. Don't get me wrong, I'll still always support my local tackle shops because there are certain items available at local tackle shops that aren't available at BPS, and the staff at local shops usually have valuable information about the fishing spots that area in the area. But BPS is humongous. They have it all decked out with a fish tank, herds of stuffed deers, top of line fishing boats on display, and much much more. It's something you have go see in person and experience. Words can't describe it and pics wouldn't do it justice. I won't post pics of the interior so as to not spoil it for anyone. Go check it out yourself! The highlight of going to the grand opening was being able to meet Kevin Van Dam. I'm fishing fanatic, so to meet Kevin Van Dam was like a dream come true. I would've never imagine having the opportunity in my life to meet the Michael Jordan of bass fishing! I also got to meet Jimmy Houston "America's Favorite Fisherman", the famous and entertaining bass fishing TV host, and met Ish Monroe as well. Last but not least, I got to meet Dwight Clark, the former 49ers wide receiver famous for "the catch" he caught from Joe Montana. To be honest, I'm not that big of a football fan. Sure. I like it, but not as much as I like fishing. So for me meeting Kevin Van Dam was way more thrilling than meeting Dwight Clark. I've already met Jerry Rice and Jeff Garcia earlier in the year at a bar, so meeting Dwight wasn't that big of a deal. I brought Kevin's "Secret of a Champion" book with me, and he signed it. Ish who was sitting next to him looked at the cover photo of Kevin on the book, and joked, "Man, that must've been twenty years ago!" and we all laughed. I also got Dwight's, Jimmy's, and Ish's autographs too. Here the pics I took with my idols:

Hi guys, Thanks so much for replying back. I am astounded by how many people have responded and how willingly helpful you guys are. I really appreciate all of your insights. I've definitely learned a thing or two that I didn't know about rod selection. I had no idea G. Loomis had power ratings like 3, 4, 5, unlike other rods. Since you guys provided me with so much value, I wanted to share with you guys what I've learned by calling a tackle shop yesterday while trying to see which local tackle shops had the rods I was looking for. Interestingly enough, I was speaking with Gill from Mel Cotton's Sporting Goods Store, and he told me that he has been in the pro circuit and did guiding for over 30 years! Unfortunately, their store doesn't carry the IMX or the model of Avid I was looking for, so the advice he gave me was sincere. He wasn't trying to sell me anything. He said he was sponsored by G. Loomis and owns a lot of the top of line rods from G. Loomis because he was able to get them either at a big discount or for free. I asked him what he thinks about getting an Avid vs. an IMX. He said it wasn't worth getting either of them, even the IMX. He said it's better to save my money and get the GLX or NRX. He said it's a world of difference. He asked what I was looking to fish with and I told him mostly jigs, t-rigs, weighless soft plastics, etc. He confirmed that it's totally worth it for bottom contact lures. He currently owns a G. Loomis NRX 7'1" Heavy 854C JWR and recommended it for the type of fishing I was looking to do. I've also learned something interesting. He said that after a while the graphite breaks down after it gets used. As the rod gets stressed over time by fishing with it, it gets less sensitive. For example, say you had a GLX and kept swinging fish to the boat with your rod, it'll become an IMX in terms of sensitivity over time. So he said if you buy a used rod, you have to keep this in mind. Considering the quality and price, I've also come to the conclusion that the St. Croix Avid is the best value. The Avid MH also has the specs that I am looking for. It's sounds like it's a workhorse from all the research that I've done. I needed workhorse rod thats powerful, sensitive, and light and the Avid has all of those traits. The G. Loomis, is sensitive and light, but I don't think it's that strong. I've heard of cases where the rod just exploded when flipping or pitching or trying to pull the bass out of cover. However, I do plan on upgrading to a NRX sometime in the future. Cheers, The Pond King LOL! Cool. Thanks for the insight! I see your point. I think I'll go with at least a 4 power for the type of fishing I'm trying to do. Cool man. Thanks for your insight! Sounds like the LTB is a bit tip heavy compared to Loomis'. Haven't even considered the 843 MBR. I'm glad you brought this up. With what I'm looking for, the 843 MBR fits the bill if I were to get a Loomis. Thanks! Perfect! This is just the kind of advice I was looking for. Thanks. Wassup FishingDad! Yeah sometimes I take it for granted how good the fishing is over here. We got it good. Have heard a lot of good things about Hi's Tackle Box, but never been to their tackle shop. I'll definitely give them a ring. Thanks for the advice! Great! Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like the Avid is a solid choice. This is good to know. Thanks DaveT63!

Thanks for your insight, BassinLou! That bass in your avatar is a beast! Just checked online, the LTB is slightly lighter than the Avid in the same class. A 7' 1" MH LTB is 4.4oz while the 7' MH Avid is 4.7.

Thanks for your insight, Andrew! I figure I could just a get a Legend Tournament for $60 more, but for an additional $30 more than the LTB, I could get an IMX. I also don't like the fact that the LTB has a blue colored blank because it wouldn't match with my Curado 200e7.

Thanks for bringing that up ABW! Really glad you mentioned that because I think it might be too light for my applications. I was plan on throwing weightless plastics like senkos, fat ikas, and kreatures. I also plan on throwing 3/8 ounce jigs but still have the power to handle 1/2-1oz jigs. I want to be able to flip and pitch in moderate heavy cover. I might get the G. Loomis IMX Casting Rod 7'1" Extra Hvy 855C JWR instead which has the same specs as the Avid 7' MH. Still I am wondering, is the G Loomis IMX worth the extra $100 to upgrade from a St. Croix Avid? I will be calling all the local tackle shops right now as well to see they carry these rods see them in person before purchasing, but would appreciate any information you guys might have.