fishnkamp

First make sure you are using the double uni knot. I use that one exclusively and it holds up to big stripers, bass and big cats. There are plenty of other good knots, like a FG knot, but I use the double uni or uni to uni knot. I usually go 5 to 7 wraps through the loop/line. On the mojo, I might suggest going with a quality copolymer line instead of braid for your cranks, spinnerbaits etc. If you do go braid P Line CXX in 10 pound test makes a good choice for leaders. I would use about a 4 foot leader. Suffix 832 in like 20 or 30 pound test might be good braid choice for the cranks,, spinnerbaits, football head jigs. Not as good for the buzzbaits. Buzzbaits I prefer either mono like Big Game, or a copolymer line. For your third rig I would go with the Power Pro Spectra in green maybe in either 30 or 40 pound test and if I needed a leader again I would use the P line 10 pound test. That stuff breaks at around 24 pounds in tests.

Powell makes a 6'10" MXF that might work well. I realize it is a couple of inches longer, but might be worth looking at. The model is 6103MEF. My local tackle shop stocks them and I had some of these in my hand yesterday. Nice feeling rods. They also have a distinct coloring on that series. They retail for $99. The spec on it is 1/8 to 1/2, 5 to 12 pound line.

I have to be honest, I have never cast one of the Lews reels and they have so many it is hard to keep them all straight. I can tell you this, the guy that turned me on to the Daiwas owns another local fishing board. It is clled baybass.com. Bryan specializes in real-time fishing info for the MD and VA areas. He fishes at least 3 or 4 times a week for most of the year and he has a group of pro staff that help with local reports. I use him sorta as a gauge on equipment. He often does equipment reports. He also includes all the equipment and tackle used to catch his fish in his fishing reports, the whats, whys and hows. I figure if a reel holds up for him for a year it will hold up for at least 10 years for me. He has gone to all Daiwas on most of his baitcasters for the last 3 years. He uses Excelers, Tatulas, Tatulas HDs and a few JDM reels. I have compared the Exceler and Tatulas to my SHimano Curado and Chronarchs and then sold off my Shimanos. I own one Exceler, two Tatula CTs and 4 Tatula Type Rs, some in left and some in right hand retrieve models. The Daiwas were more comfortable and I found them to be smoother casting. I have noticed three of his pro staff have had a chance to fish with him, use his gear and over the last three years they chose to sell their Lews stuff, also in favor of the Daiwas. Bryan fishes on the Potomac and Upper Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake tidal rivers is my home waters. While fishing these waters for both stripers and bass we often catch big blue cats and even snakeheads. Some of these can easily go up to 20 pounds. Our gear has to stand up to that. I recommend you take a little time and read some of his forum posts especially his fishing reports. He is one of the best fishing "teachers: I have ever been lucky enough to share a boat with. With your budget of $250 I would go with the Tatula CT 6-3 to 1 and the Powell MAX3D 683CEF. That is a super versatile rod. Go read this. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpowell683cxfast.html THe Lews MB reel is .7 ounces lighter and has two more bearings, likely in the handle. You would need to go to a tackle shop and play with both I guess.

I have one that may work for you. It is a St Croix Premier P6CM, The rod spec are 6 foot medium power with a fast action tip, 1/4 to 3/4 lures and 10-17 pound line. They say fast action but it is built with a slower graphite than say a Mojo of today. I used to fish 5 St Croix Premier rods. They were well built and very sensitive. These rods are still being built today. The new ones go for $130. If it met your needs I would let it go for $60 plus actual shipping cost. Where do you live? Is it anywhere near MD or one of the surrounding states? If you are close, we could easily meet so you could check it out. I would be happy to attach a reel (yours or mine), string it up and let you cast it. If you are to far away, perhaps you have a St Croix dealer nearby and can check out a modern Premier series rod. Let me know if that interests you. It is not easy to find a quality 6 footer these days.

flyingmonkie which Sierra do you have

The next setup I would suggest is a rod around 7 foot and it would be a medium heavy fast action rod. Let me give you some rods to consider. It would help to have a budget, but I will give you a couple of rods in each price range. First in the under $75 range, consider a Berkley Lightning Shock rod in the 6'6 MH or 7 foot MH model. These do have a bit more moderate tip, but they are great rods and retail for around $50. Another good rod to look for is a Daiwa Aird X Casting Rod 7' Medium, This too sells for the same price. For a rod costing up to $150 consider these. First look at a Dobyns Fury FR 703C and Fr 704C. These rods are very sensitive and built well. These cost $110. Another great rod is a Powell Max3D 683CEF. I own one of these rods in the older model called a Powell max 683 CEF. Go read the review of this rod on Tackletour. It is my most versatile rod I own. The rod is now available in the Max3D series and sells for $159. It is also available in their more affordable series called the Inferno series. So an Inferno 683 CEF costs $99. For $100 Abu Garcia sells the Veritas rods, so a Veritas 2 MH 6'9" or 7 ft MH would work well. There are lots of other choices but any of these will be in your arsenal for years. I do not like buying "starter" stuff I will have to upgrade later, it is a waste of money. For a high quality, very reliable reel look at these two. First a Daiwa Tatula CT 6.3-1. This reel can be purchased for around $100. The other reel to look at would be a bit cheaper and built with most of the same hardware. It is a Daiwa Aird for around $60. These are 10 bearing reels. I again would get a 6.3-1 for versatility. It will work fine for throwing texas rigged plastics, jigs and small to mid sized cranks. You realize most of us have a dozen rods to do everything, so it KILLS us to make adjustments to our thinking! LOL Here I have tried to suggest some very versatile combos. In the future you could add another rod and that should be more of a crankbait/ jerkbait oriented rod. That rod would be a medium power moderate action rod. But that is not what I suggested for now. Enjoy every moment on the water!! They are precious!

You will find most guys use 50 or 65 pound Power Pro. If you want to try something different try the same pound test in Spiderwire Stealth, or SunLine has a Flipping Fluoro although I do not know how good it is. They also have many different braids. I think the FX2 was developed to frog and flip with.

I have tried lots of different braids. Spectra is the only Power Pro braid that I tried and I like it. I especially like it in 50 and 65 pound test. They cut lily pads and other vegetation like a knife. I like Spiderwire Stealth just as much, if we are talking 20 or 30 pound test, for throwing rattle traps and certain other baits for stripers and bass. I also like it if I am fishing deep water with a jig and trailer or a big texas rigged plastic. So no, I would not throw your line away if it is in deed Spiderwire Stealth. Another braid I like is Suffix 832, it plays really well in light pound tests. I used to troll several lakes for fresh water white perch. It was a perfect line in 6 pound test to rig a walleye style worm/spinner combo using an inline weight. The last braid I use every trip out is 14 pound Berkley Original Fire Line. It is spooled on all but one of my spinning reels. I attach a 4 foot leader made of P Line CXX moss green 10 pound test copolymer line. Anyway since you have purchased the line already I would try it out. I would spool my reel 1/2 full with 14 pound Stren Mono and fill it up the rest of the way with your Spiderwire. This cuts the cost of spooling your reel considerably. It also means the braid cannot slip on the spool either. As you fish that setup remember anytime you want to be more invisible or give a lure more freedom just add a leader made of copolymer or fluorocarbon.

I think I like the Rod runner, I had never seen it before.

There are lots of great choices if you make your budget $150. First I love WRBs suggestion of the Irod Genesis II rods. If so, I like the 704C personally. However If we go with your original budget look for a Falcon Bucoo either standard or Micro series. Look at their Amistad model or lizard dragger. Dobyns makes the Fury FR734C which should fit your needs well. Lastly the most versatile rod that I own is a Powell Max (original series) 683 CEF. That rod is now available in the Powell Mx3D series as well as the Inferno series. Go read tackle Tours review of that rod. They threw everything from 1/4 ounce baits up to 2 oz baits. I love this rod, especially around docks and tight structure areas, but it works fine out in open water. I throw primarily regular jig/plastics, swimjigs and texas rigged plastics on it. The Max3D goes for $159 and if you can swing it I would be choosing between it and the Irod Genesis II. If not, consider the Inferno for $100.

A lot of guys run Trilene Big Game mono and also MCCoy mean Green copoly.

TheRodFather Have your friend contact Shimano about that reel. There has been trouble with binding in many of the Shimano spinning reels. So far Shimano has had no solution, but needs to be hammered with complaints so they take this seriously. I have my fingers crossed because I purchased a Symetre before I became aware of it. That reel is on her frog rod.

Check these out: http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/rod-reel-storage/fishing-rod-tubes-cases|/pc/104793480/c/104812380/sc/104541480/cabela-s-rod-wrap-150-two-pack/2312372.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-rod-tubes-cases%2F_%2FN-1102356%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104541480 http://www.basspro.com/Rod-Tote/product/7558/ http://www.basspro.com/Fishing-Rod-Retainer-Caddy/product/2332918/

Go look at the Irod Genesis II IRG703CC “Gabe’s Rip Rap Special”. That is one of the rod I throw traps, squarebills, heck just about any small to mid sized crank. I use it to chase both tidal bass and stripers. My second rod that fills this need is a Falcon Bucoo Micro Trap Caster. That rod specs as a 7 ft MH MF. Both handle my needs well

If you are looking for high end sensitivity I would not go below the St Croix Axid X. These are really nice blanks with good components. The AXS69MLXF would fit your bill well.

Those Gheenoes are neet boats. I saw one at a show a few years back.

Can you tow with the cargo van? If so maybe you would be safer with a Vee hull boat like this. It is just an example but this is a brand new tiller control 14 foot long 67 inch wide hull. This one is located at a dealer near Toronto. The boat along with a 9.9 hp outboard and a new trailer was under $7000. Now i realize what you were looking at was only a fraction of that But I am sure if you liked this boat you can find a used boat like it with a little research. ALso if you liked this boat they can easily rig up a front or rear trolling motor for you. Just be careful getting say a 1436 jon boat or something like that as you may not be safe enough in rough water. http://www.parismarine.com/Page.aspx/diid/10103391/list/InventoryList/pageId/13459/view/Details/2016-Crestliner-1467.aspx Here is a great example of a used boat similar to the new one, https://porthuron.craigslist.org/boa/5887854469.html

Are you located anywhere near MD or a surrounding state. If so I could meet to let you cast it.

Over the last 40 years my wife and I have owned 11 boats. These included jon boats, canoes, aluminum and fiberglass bass boats. Often times we changed boats to better fit the water we fished. We moved several times during that time and that caused us to change the type of water we fished. Here is the deal. If you intend to fish small to mid sized rivers and streams, as well as ponds and small lakes the 1448 to 1648 jon or mod vee will work well enough. If the rivers are larger than look at a 14 to 16 foot v hull like the old Starcrafts, Grumman's, Lunds, Alumacrafts etc. The V hull will handle the rougher water. As for Erie forget it in this size boat. I have fished Erie in a 20 foot fiberglass bass boat. I would not venture there in less than an 18 foot high sided V hull again, like the larger Lund, Polar Kraft, AlumaCraft G3 etc. When I lived in PA (north of Harrisburg) the most popular boat combo on the river (this was before the engine manufacturers started selling "jet" packaged outboards) was a 16 foot "wide bodied" jon and a 9.9 or 15 hp 2 stroke tiller engine. I actually ran the first "jet" on the Susqy. I purchased the jet unit and installed it on my Merc 35 HP bass boat. A nice compromise boat for you might be a boat like the Alumacraft Crappie Deluxe. It comes in the tiller and stick steer versions. I used to own a Polar Kraft exactly like it in the stick steer. The stick stick steer takes some getting used to. These are "sit in" boats not stand on ones. That is okay my wife and I used it in lakes and caught a lot of fish sitting comfortably in it.

I am sorry you had problems with their spinning reels. The only Daiwa spinning reels I have owned were two perfect working Daiwa SS1300s. I purchased them back in 1985 or 86 (whenever they first released them) My wife and I have used them extensively for river smallies. They have been perfect the entire time. As for the baitcasters you mentioned. I do not run any baitcaster that retails less than $125. Most reels that retail below $100 are just not worth getting. The magforce I believe runs around $60. The Viento I have to say I have never heard of before. It is one if Daiwas with the gimmick of a twitching bar on it. The reels I own are Excelers and Tatulas (both Type Rs and CTs) I paid $60 for the Exceler but it retailed for $100. My Tatulas retailed for $130 to $200 roughly. I paid between $100 and $130. Most of the reviews for Tatulas, Tat CTs, Excelers are positive. I suggested the Daiwa Aird because it share a lot of the same hardware as the reels I own and love. However maybe you should look for a Lewa or Abu Garcia based on your bad luck with Daiwas low end stuff.

For a baitcaster check out a Daiwa Aird. I have 1 Exceler, and 6 different Tatula baitcasters. That Aird is built with a lot of the same pieces and all of mine cast great. They go for around $58 bucks with free shipping. This is a 9 ball bearing, plus 1 roller bearing reel. This should be even nicer than my Exceler. I would stay with a major brand reel myself. Daiwa and Shimano are the big boys for a reason. For a spinning reel look at an Okuma RTX 30S. I have several friend that convinced me to try one of these. This is a high speed composite reel that never feels weak. Hell my friend Bryan catches huge snakeheads with his while bass fishing. This reel runs around $70. For less you could go with a very reliable Pflueger President for around $45.

I own a total of one Daiwa Exceler and 6 Tatulas, some Tatula Rs and 2 Tatula CTs. The body or the original Tatula and the Tatula Type R is the same. The body of a Tatula CT and a Tatula CT type R is the same. I agree the ct bodies are smaller than the original but not by any huge amount. I like all of mine. They feel good on my rods, cast extremely well and have very good drags. I primarily chase both tidal bass as well as tidal stripers. Often while targeting them we catch big blue catfish. So many of my rods have done battle with cats up to 20 pounds, stripers up to 15 pounds and bass up to 8 pounds. They have never let me down nor needed any repairs. As for gear ratios. I do not fish deep diving cranks so I do not have any 5-1 reels. I do own 6.3 RH and LH reels and they are used for jigs, texas rigged plastics, jerkbaits. small to mid sized cranks and traps. I also use 6.3-1 reels for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, hollow bodied swimbaits like the Reaction Innovation skinny dippers and dippers. MY topwater rod has a 7-1 BPS reel that will get changed over to a CT soon. My frog rod has a Tatula Type r 8-1 and so does my punching rig.; I can tell you the "upgrades" between a standard and a Type R do not improve casting lighter baits or result in longer distance casting.. They change 1 bearing, so the reel has 2 sealed bearings, a lighter spool ( not a significant difference) and add some cosmetic changes. I purchased original Tatulas Type Rs because I got them on sale for about what the standard Tatula sold for. Personally I think the extra red cosmetics on a Tat CT Type R and the red and gold accents on the Anniversary CT are over the top. But I do like a black reel with a splash of red. After I got my first two Tatula Type Rs I began selling off all of my Shimanos Chronarchs, Curados, BPS Extremes and Lews reels I owned. I have a few more to sell and I will have an all Daiwa lineup.

First i am curios are you a member of the Bass College? Your handle reminded me of someone on there. Anyway to get back to the rod. The rod is 6 foot four inches long. The rear handle measures 12.5 inches in total length. The rear grip is 2 inches long, it has 2 3/4 exposed section of rod blank, then a 3 inch middle grip, the reel seat, and lastly a 1 inch fore grip. The foam is really nice firm type almost like cork, I never liked rods with spongy foam. There are 10 micro guides and the tip guide, The rod has plenty of backbone in my opinion. If you bend the rod the "moderate tip" section is about the top 16 to 18 inches and then the "power or backbone" kicks in. The rod is no wimp. He says he built it with composite material and it is 60 percent backbone and 40 percent tip. The largest bass I have caught on it was this spring on Dale Hollow I caught 1 smallie that went 6.2. I caught it on a Lucky Craft Pointer 110. It felt great. My rod is matched up with a Daiwa Tatula Type R in a 6.3-1.

I own that rod. I have been fishing it for over a year. That rod is exactly what Ike says it is. It is basically a 6'6 or 6'8" rod with a slightly shorter split handle. This really lets you jerk the rod without smacking my arm. For me I like the action and have not lost a fish while fighting it yet. I would suggest it to anyone looking for a good jerkbait rod in its price range.

Heck you forgot to include their Dobyns Fury FR 765 Flip. That whole series runs around $110. Another good choice is an Irod Genesis II Fred's Magic stick IRG 754F. That rod goes for $150. I belong to another board and its owner was friends with the owner of Irod. He used to put together big group purchases at discount. I know at least 6 guys purchased them and loved em. Lastly check out Falcon rods. I fish a Bucoo series and it fishes well. They have a model called the Amistad and two other options for flippimg and pitchin. Check out their website.