j bab

I don't think that's necessary, personally. I'd get a fast action since you're dealing with a single hook. Might be just me though

Crankbaits

A couple nit-picky things... A skirt is this, the word you're looking for that goes on the back of a spoon or popper is a feathered or dressed treble, this. Rooster Tail is a brand of inline spinner.

I think it's safe to assume he means inches...

Honestly there's no way that it won't produce. I'm going to order one along with a gantarel jr

I thought I had my mind set on the Zillion 8' Heavy swimbait rod... Now I'm thinking about the G. Loomis IMX Swimbait Rod 7'11" Heavy 956C too. Anyone have experience with either? The price difference is only $10, I don't care about that.

Well TW has the Zillion on sale for $100 off right now... I'd go with that out of those with that budget!

Yeah I know, I didn't say small is bad. He asked what size is best and in my opinion the bigger size is best.

Get the bigger one. The small one is realllly small, probably good for small pond fish or something though

Oh I'm sure I can handle it, it's just a matter of comfort/convenience.

What's your budget?

I plan on getting a Daiwa Luna 253 for big swimbaits. I decided on that over the Calcutta options for the price. However, Lew's has a new Super Duty coming out with a wide spool and a big handle... Awfully tempting. The most appealing thing about the Lews over the Daiwa is that it weighs over 2 ounces less... A significant difference. Thoughts?

Well a lot of that is going to come down to personal opinon. As far as options go, there are a lot of reels out now with 8:1 gear ratios. Lews BB1 Pro & Tournament MB are great options. The Daiwa Tatula CT & Type-R's are awesome and come in 8:1. TW has the Zillion on sale right now and it has a 9:1 option. The list goes on... Pick your favorite brand.

Nobody has mentioned my favorite yet... Stanley Top Toad. You can pop it along like you would with most frogs, but you can also buzz it because of the paddle tails.

I don't think it will be as bad as people are thinking. I think Cabela's will stay open, just under new management. Everyone here is assuming that BPS buying them out means that they will turn all Cabela's stores into BPS stores, which is pretty ridiculous.

I'm with you on this one... TW is the problem not my settings

Well if we're going off of what pros say... KVD uses palomar for fluoro and he's one of the best of all time

Maybe open the reel up and see if it has enough lube/grease?

It will be interesting to see which rod is truly the most sensitive when we can accurately measure it... Does anyone here have experience with the Daiwa Steez SVF AGS rods? They're supposed to have comparable sensitivity to the NRX, they have carbon fiber guides. I have the 7'9" for flippin, but I haven't used it enough yet to compare it, and I don't have access to an NRX that big to compare it with

There's been a live chat option for at least a week or two, before the updated site. Only sometimes though, which is interesting. Maybe the live chat icon only appeared when someone was available. As for my opinion, I like the old one better too, but that's probably just because I'm so familiar with it... I'm sure the new one will grow on me eventually

Though I agree with some of this, I do have to say that sometimes fluoro will clearly outfish braid, I've seen it happen. But I do think you're right that green vs clear cxx probably doesn't matter...

Glad to hear you like the Zillion rods... I plan on making the 8' H Swimbait model my next rod

I plan on purchasing some 20lb CXX to use for swimbaits and maybe the occasional A-rig. I have typically used moss green CXX, but I'm wondering if clear would be less visible when the water is more clear... Does it really matter? Anyone have a link to some good info on this, or just a personal experience story? Or should I just go with fluoro so that it's completely invisible? The only problem I have with that is that I'm super confident in the strength of CXX...

The topwater bite was absolutely on fire yesterday at the pond in Bethany that I fish... I've never seen such an active topwater bite, it was a blast. Nothing big (all less than 2lbs), but it was fun!

I have a 3D Shine Glide that I got in December, I like it, especially for the price I'm saving up to get a Daiwa Luna reel and Zillion swimbait rod