adrenalizd

I use a 7 foot ultralight St. Croix Avid and a Pflueger President 6920. I can cast anything with it, even heavier flies. I love the setup.

Check out pawn shops. I grabbed a St. Croix Mojo Bass and Abu Ambassadeur 4600 for $30 for the pair. They were in like new shape too.

How much are you looking to spend?

Another vote for the Daiwa Tatula! I own several of the type R'so. You can find them on a good deal right now. The regular Tatula is wonderful but I like the extra features of the type R. You can find them for under $130 right now. I don't think you will find a better real for that price.

Thank you, that looks nice, I will check out BPS next time I am up there, that really looks like it would work great. I would need the 18' one you have though. I fish some deeper parts of the lake in summer and winter and 12' wouldn't reach the submerged trees that I like to hook into...lol

Now that is awesome, which one do you have?

I own the 701mfs and I love it. When I bought my first Tatula rod, I was so impressed that I bought 3 more. They are my most used rods. They are comparable to rods that cost more than double the price of this rod. I own a few St. Croix mojo bass rods, a St. Croix Avid and an Abu Garcia veritas. I would recommend the Tatula over all of them except maybe the Avid and they are so close it would be hard for me to declare a winner. I am talking about the original Tatulas, I have no experience with the XT. Given this is just my opinion but the Tatulas are my go to rods and the ones I use the most.

J babb, If you let the pressure off it releases, it may catch again but you can bounce the rope and it will come loose. DrMarlboro92, I agree completely no reason not to leave home without one, they can save so much.

It weighs about 10 ounces, not super heavy but it is stainless steel. I lowered it down my line using the paracord so it didn't slam into my crank on this occasion it didn't even touch my lure since I actually hooked the limb it was stuck on. The dedicated lure retrievers I have are easier to control but that is just because of how I had it attached to the line. If I would have used a second carabiner so that it would go straight to the lure it would work better. The biggest advantage I see to it is that I can actually grip the limb and/ or the lure. So it didn't even bend my hook. Also I have had dedicated lure retrievers break my line while trying to bounce them, with the hook that wasn't a problem because only the carabiner was on the line. I think this could be adapted to become a perfect retriever with just a little bit of thought. It has the added benefit that if you happen to be in clear water and drop something overboard you can retrieve it, that was the main reason I had it with me, was just in case.

I bought one of these gravity hooks just to play around with and to use when I am camping. Well I happened to have it on the boat and one of my crankbaits got hung up. I thought about it for a minute and then got the carabiner and clipped it to the hook and my line. I lowered with the paracord and bounced it around for a few seconds and I felt it hook. I pulled up the entire limb with my lure still attached. Now I am not recommending anyone spend $25 on a lure retriever, but if you happen to have one or you want to play around with one, it does a great job getting your lures back.

Thank you all so much! I am going to look up and see. I am glad it won't effect it but I think I would like it to match.

I would have never thought about that, that is a great idea! Thank you!

That is good advise, thank you!

Thank you! I didn't know if it should be sealed or how but I knew this would be a good place to ask. Here is the spot I am talking about.

Thank you! I wasn't sure, I own a few st. Croixs but I have never bought one of the factory returns before.

I picked up a two piece St. Croix Avid for $30 from an online auction. It is a factory return. The tip was broken but the entire top piece was replaced from an identical rod so it is back to normal and in great shape. However, since it is a factory return the label has been scraped off. My question is what can I use to seal this small area? It is a 7 foot ultralight that I am pairing with a pflueger president 6920 for an ultralight setup so I didn't want to spend a fortune on the rod. I don't know if the fact that the label has been scraped off would even affect it but I want to seal it to be sure. Thank you!

Hello everyone I have a quick question. I picked up a two piece St. Croix Avid from an online auction. It is a factory return. The tip was broken but the entire top piece was replaced from an identical rod so it is back to normal and in great shape. However, since it is a factory return the label has been scraped off. My question is what can I use to seal this small area. Thank you!

I would be curious about this too.

Lol, you are right! Cane poles in a bass tournament!

If you go up $10 a Tatula type R can be found new for $109.95. It is as good as anything up to the $200 to $250 range.

With ten foot you don't have to cast, just drop the jig in the water.

I don't think anyone is taking into consideration the way the graphite of the rod is spun. You have to get a reel that is opposite to the spin of the graphite to balance them out.

You are very welcome! By the way a couple of guys on the lake today had vengeance rods so I got to handle one. It's a pretty nice rod. It was actually more sensitive then I thought it would be. If you decide to upgrade later I would still keep that rod, I could see quite a few uses for it. Out of my rods, I feel that my tatlua rods are the most sensitive, but I honestly think my veritas edges out my mojo for sensitivity. I think the biggest difference between the vengeance and my other rods was the accuracy. I can pin point my other rods but with the vengeance I was within a couple of feet. Not bad at all, especially at the price. Of course if I had put my reel on the rod the accuracy may have went up some as the brakes weren't set up quite like mine are and I didn't want to adjust someone else's reel.

The only one of those rods that I have is the mojo, I have a couple in different sizes and actions. They are great rods but I would also check out the daiwa tatula rods. I like them better. As far as reading the bottom what kind of line and what # are you using? I am asking because I can read the bottom with an ugly stick if I am using braid, mono however depending on the # depends on which rod I can really feel it with. I am really liking the yo-zuri hybrid line that roadwarrior recommended. There are plenty of people on here that know way more than I do that I am sure will give you great advice but the cheapest way to change how the bottom feels is with line.

I love the Tatula, I think they are the best at their price range. Such a major improvement from other reels.