fishwizzard

Cool, thanks for the info. Thats a great looking rod and I really like the full grip and endcap. I need to get a tuned Abu at some point soon, I have all the Pixies a reasonable man needs.

I would love to hear more about it and/or anything else you know about Valleyhill. I have heard the name a few times but never found any real info. I think the Hookup imports them from time to time.

The Sierra BFS rods will be way over powered by a lot of the presentations you want to throw, around 3/16oz is where it tops out imho. There are some reviews floating around for the Expride ML+. I feel like people found the rod a little stiffer/more powerful than listed, which may still work for you as you’re never really dipping far below 3/16oz. I fish a lot of BFS and honestly in your situation I would look at getting two rods or prioritizing one end of that weight spectrum and figuring out another way to fish the rest of it. One of the Light power Major Craft BFS rods would be a good compromise at the lower end and the Megabass XXX Black Themis would be one for the upper. The Phenix BFS rods are also worth a look, I know the old Recon 2 that I had was on the slightly slower side of fast and it was a very easy to cast right across pretty much the range you’re looking at. Edit: the PA 610m+ is an amazing rod and really shines in the 3/8-5/8 range. Super versatile and fun rod.

It's not my favorite rod by any means, but if I only was able to keep a single bass rod, a 844c would be the pick with very little thought. The 783c would be a very close second though.

I will throw this rod into the ring, the Daiwa BLX 63MHFB-FR. I was on the hunt for a short frog rod and it's what I ended up with. It's an amazing rod in a lot of ways and I have caught dozens and dozens of bass on it both with frogs and medium sizes walking baits like the PopMax. It's taper reminds me of the Loomis MBR rods, but maybe a tough slower. Despite being part of their "Limber Graphite" lineup, it's pretty sensitive. I also use mine for the occasional swimjig and it gives good feedback in terms of tail-thump. The current price I linked is less then I paid and I am thinking of picking up a second one for my yak arsenal. Cool, thanks!

I do like short butts in general but it’s the second point here that really drives my obsession with them for kayak use. I don’t feel like I hold a combo unnaturally close to my body but it always takes easily a half an hour of fishing every time I get on the yak to sort myself out. I think an auto-inflate PFD is on the list for early next year, I will miss having a single pocket to hold my phone though.

I use a bead most of the time. I don't know if it does anything really in terms of attracting bass, but it does seem to let the weight move a little more freely.

That was tried on the water, it was way worse before. It was a slow day fishing and I decided to see if I could skip a jig under a tree from a non-ideal angle. The answer was, no, I could not.

Using a blunt needle as a marlin spike, I think most braid backlashes can be picked out given enough time/patience. This one took however long it takes me to drink two cups of coffee and three beers, but the line was saved.

I will throw a popping frog any time of year if I think a popper will work and I want to fish right up next to hard cover and for whatever reason I know my accuracy will be substandard.

That is wild! Renting a lure seems insanely high-risk, esp one with a pair of trebles on it.

I have settled on Sniper/Invizx treated with KVD Line&Lure as my “standard” fluoro, switching to Shooter for heavier jig use or Tatsu for some plastics fishing. The line conditioner really helps a lot. I don’t use it much nor often, but a few sprays the night before a trip for reels that don’t see a ton of use really helps. Premium lines still have some memory, but they are pretty manageable once you get used to it. At this point trying to fish straight braid feels weird to me as I am so used to a stiffer line.

Hah, these are some of the only conditions where I can skip with conference. Being able to keep the rod close to parallel to the surface of the water is a ticket for me. The only reel I can consistently skip with standing is the Daiwa Alphas SV. Loose tension/max brakes make it very forgiving. It still a technique thing to make the cast but these reels make the failures a lot less punishing.

I am the reverse, straight mono/fluoro except when I can’t get away with it. My spinning combo usage is almost entirely weightless/lightly weighted plastics/jigs and I prefer the more connected feel of straight non-braid line. I also don’t like thinner braids as I always end up cutting myself with it. I run braid/leader on a single casting combo, my fluke rod. I have a rod I consider ideal for how I fish them, but spent a season trying out various reels and lines. I ended up with a shallow spooled finesse reel loaded with 30lb J-Braid to 16lb Sunline FC100. I would prefer straight fluoro but where and how I fish flukes keep it from being practical. In general I think all lines are a compromise of sorts and which to use can come down to small differences in style or conditions.

So you could try to actually counter any argument I’ve made but clearly that’s beyond you so I guess we will just leave it here at “I know you are but what am I?”

You’re making a ridiculous argument, like if what you’re saying is true why does anyone bother to buy anything other than the cheapest product available? Why do musicians spend considerable amounts of money on higher quality instruments? Why isn’t every mechanic out there using nothing but Harbor freight tools? No one is saying still has nothing to do with it but a “better tool in skilled hands will often produce a better result than a cheaper tool in the same hands” isn’t some shockingly controversial statement like you’re making it out to be. You either being deliberately obstinant or suffering from a serious case of sour grapes.

I mean I can’t even tell if you’re serious because the obvious answer is “they use the equipment that they are paid to use and high-end equipment represents a very small percentage of the total fishing market”.

He likely would, yes. Unless bass fishing is different than most every other human endeavor, a better tool will help a skilled user produce a better output. And my theories come from personal experience. I’ve owned very inexpensive rods around some very nice rods and generally agree that higher end rods tend to be easier to cast accurately vs inexpensive rods of similar published specs.

I would guess that lower end rods tend to be stiffer over all due to a desire to produce rod that is strong (less warranty/CS issues) and as cheap as possible to produce (lower cost goods tend to have tighter profit margins). You see so so many "whats a durable rod that won't break the bank" posts that it's reasonable to assume that some manufactures prioritize strength above all else in their lower-end offerings. I know the cheaper rods I started out with, Abus and Lews, were vastly stiffer for their rating then the nicer rods moved into.

I have never had an issue with hooksets with 884c or equivalent rods. I do use smaller hooked frogs, Gavachos and Sprinklers, for most all of my frogging. I referenced fish size in relation to rod power in terms of fishing them in cover. A 4lb bass with 4lbs of weeds on it is different then a 8lb bass with 4lb of weeds on it.

I only use tungsten DS weights when I am fishing 1/8oz weight in shallow, clear water. The 1/8oz tungsten weights are super tiny and I like them when I only have a 2-3" plastic on the hook.

I agree, I have been slowly buying up older GLX MBR and CR rods to build my yaking arsenal. In addition to being great rods, they offered a lot of shorter options. I will happily pay $200 per but it looks like the prices on ebay seem to be rising.

With a little splash of water to get it down to like ~80p it's very sippable. I rediscovered my love for Old English malt liquor this past year, so now the beer savings go right into the tackle fund!

A counter example is the Poison Adrena line. At ~$350 imho they compare very well to the GLX/Destroyer lines and just feel great to fish. I have a PA611m+ and it outclass the DX703c in every aspect. Somedays I prefer it to a glx 783c. But, I think it’s silly to spend more then $60 on a bottle of whisky and could drink Old Granddad 100p forever and be happy, so clearly different people get their skirts blown up by different stuff.

IMHO Dobyn's rods are good for the almost-always 20% off price. At full MSRP they are very outclassed. The higher end ones are not like actively bad, but bad for the money at full price. I lucked into a DX703c last year and while it's for sure a "Very good fishing rod", it's not an "Excellent fishing rod" like the GLX/Destroyer class while being pretty close in price. Dobyon's rods are on sale so often it's silly to compare them to other stuff based on msrp.