adamney

Thanks for the thoughts guys! It is much appreciated.

I'm contemplating purchasing a new finesse setup. The rod and reel I've been using are years old and are starting to wear down, so it's time to upgrade. My budget is about $500. For those of you more experienced than I in this realm, I have a few questions: The Rod: After lots of research and careful consideration I decided I want to go with a Dobyns rod, either the savvy or champion series. My question about this is, for those who have used both series, does the Champion series provide a big enough advantage to justify it's price above the savvy series? If so I have no problem spending a little extra for the quality, but if it's uneccessary then it's a different story. I thought a 702SF in either series would be good for my needs: shaky head, drop shot, wacky rig, and weightless Texas rig primarily. However, I'm concerned that the medium light may have the backbone to set the light wire drop shot and wacky hooks i use, in which case I would go with the 703. The Reel: I love shimanos and they're generally the only reels I buy. My eye is on a stradic, either the ci4+ or the FK. Any opinions on which one is better? Their prices are so similar that it's hard to tell. The ci4+ is lighter at around 7 oz, but the FK weighs 8.3, and I don't mind an extra 1.3 oz. The Line: I want to use braid (power pro) to a fluoro leader (seaguar blue label). Any advice on breaking strength of the braid? I was thinking 20#, but am open to suggestions. The fluoro leader would be 6 or 8 pound depending on what rig I'm using. That was a ton of questions, so thanks a lot in advance. All opinions are appreciated.