shimanoangler

LMAO!!! Good one... In all fairness, I may have more rod and reel combos than she has shoes!! ?

Well, I have been on a crusade to whittle down the arsenal based on directions from the boss. She isn't kidding this time and I do have a slight obsession with collecting high end fishing equipment that she doesn't understand.... So I will have two when it is all done and said, I am just trying to decide which two.... It is like trying to decide your favorite child and then having to give the other way.... Impossible task... ?

I would love to get feedback from those of you who have handled and fished both the Alpha Angler Wrench and the Daiwa Steez AGS 7" medium power fast action spinning rods. Have a dilema on my hands, I own both, fishing season in Maine is over, and I they truly appear to be overlapping sticks. So ONE must go and I am trying to figure out which one to keep.... To complicate matters, I have a Shimano Expride 7' Medium that I have sworn myself to never sell as I have been more than impressed with its sensitivity overall fishability. So this one is in the mix of forcing me to consider my options, as owning this one gives me three really nice high end 7' medium spinning rods that all seem to fit the same niche..... Let me know what you know.... Thank you and I look forward to your replies....

If you want another Zbone, I have mine listed for a REALLY good price. PM me for pictures and details if you are interested.

Certainly not trying to dissuade you from another one. Are you able to throw weightless senkos well on your 7' M Zbone? If I thought it would be a good senko, neko rod, I would keep mine, as it is a well made, light stick. I can cast weightless senkos a mile on my 7' M Expride.

ABSOLUTE TANKS! Now you are just showing off!! Fall or spring of the year fish? Thank you for sharing!

I am with you, smallies are the fish that I pretty much solely target every time I hit the water. That said, I live in an area where I have many bodies of water that hold only smallies. I just love the attitudes of smallies. They act like they are always ticked off, and that attitude shows up every time you hook one. They get airborne and simply won't give up, even when in the net. And I prefer to fish the bodies of water that smallies tend to occupy in my region. These lakes are deep, clear and cold bodies of water. And with smallies being visual feeders, their ability to see long distances when fishing clear water, you really have to pay attention to your presence to make sure your boat doesn't spook the fish. I think that is the challenge and strategy that smallies fishing has that I don't find when fishing the green fish.

Kistler Zbones are $550, see attached right off the Kistler website. They are indeed having a big sale, but to get 30% off you have to spend $600. To get 25%, you have to spend $300, which is about the entry level amount to get a good rod from the Kistler site. https://kistlerrods.com/products/z-bone-fishing-rod?variant=29630928715824 So I have taken my Zbone 7'3" Light Medium Heavy Power Moderate Action (which is actually like an Extra Fast tip) and my 7' Medium Fast Action spinning rods out on the water for a couple of trips now and I my opinion is this, they are incredibly light. Okay with respect to balance (the 7'3" requires a heavy reel to balance, 8.0 oz & up). Both blanks are incredibly stiff for their action rating, especially the 7'3", which says moderate fast and it literally doesn't bend past the 4th guide. They seem to be well made and the craftmanship is really pretty solid. That said, I am not sure what one would fish a spinning rod for, application wise, with such super stiff actions. Maybe light jigs, shaky head and other bottom contact baits. Almost feel that it would be WAY too stiff for a senko / neko rig, as it would end up pulling the hook from a fishes mouth. Again, I think they are well built, extremely sharp looking sticks, great customer service from Trey and the crew. But the blanks just don't match up well with my spinning rod fishing style/techniques. Just my two cents after a few days on the water.

Truly hope that life gets back to normal for you with respect to the virus because shutdowns are not sustainable if we want to avoid a great depression. Best of luck to you and yours.

They don't carry Kistler Zbones. PM and I'll give you a deal on the 7' Medium 2 power I have. It's literally brand new for much less than Kistlers $550 price tag.

I am looking for feedback from fisherman who have hands on experience with Kistler Zbone Spinning Rods. I recently picked up a 7' Medium Power (2), and it is incredibly light, but feels very firm for a fast action stick. I was hoping to drop shot with it, as a 2 power seems like it would be a perfect stick, and I am headed out this weekend to put it through its paces, but it feels REALLY firm for a fast 2 power stick. Just curious if others have fished the Zbone Xray blank and have feedback on its stated action and power. I was looking at picking another one, a 7'3" Light Medium Heavy, but before we get too far down the road with picking up a second one, I am seeking feedback from others. Let me know what you think/know about the Zbone spinning rod lineup.

The MGL rotor won't make the reel cast further, in theory they should cast the same as the both have the Long Stroke Spool (better line lay, meaning the line comes off the spool with less friction due to better line lay). The MGL rotor provides lighter startup inertia, which is a REALLY fancy way of saying it feels easier to turn the handle. So that lighter feel in turning the handle theoretically will make the reel feel smoother. As others have said, the FL is ridiculously smooth. So that begs the question, how much smoother can the Vanford be.... My only comparison is I have a 2019 Vanquish, and OMG is that reel unbelievably smooth.... So maybe, just maybe, the Vanford will be Vanquish like smooth.... But casting will be exactly the same as the FL. Man, I LOVE talking about equipment!!!

The MGL rotor is a big deal. I have four FLs and they are amazing, but the MGL rotor is on the Sustain, CI4+ Stradic and higher end reels like the Vanquish. The FLs are incredibly smooth, but I suspect that the Vanford will be even smoother. That said if you like the looks of the FL, go with it. It's an incredible reel.

This time of year its seemingly a 1,000 casts per trip. I fished hard my last time on the water, fished all day, and it just took me a long time to find the fish. But when I did, the action was fast and furious. I have typically not focused on submerged vegetation when I smallmouth fish, but my last two trips, I caught more fish around vegetation than I did anywhere else. I actually caught my first smallie on a blade bait ripping through the grass of all places. Nice fish too. Just takes a lot of patience and resolve. This time of year I spend a lot time behind the console watching my electronics looking for baitfish and any other signs of life. Once find them, I fish them hard until I have exhausted area. The positive thing is that this time of year, I most often have NO company on the lake and there is nothing better than basically having a body of water all to yourself. Especially with fall foliage in its peak... Tight lines!

If it were me, in your budget / price range, having fished both before, I would look at the Abu Garcia Ike 7'2" medium, lure rating 1/16 to 1/2 oz, providing tremendous versatility or a Daiwa Tatula 7'3" medium, lure rating 3/16 to 5/8 oz. Both well within your price range offering solid sensitivity and excellent versatility. I would pay more attention to lure rating then I would power, as some ML are absolute noodles and provide you no backbone, and some can be broom sticks, which make casting lighter baits a real problem. The medium action rods give you more versatility in terms of fishing options/applications and with the right lure rating, can fish the lightest of baits up to baits like paddle tail swimbaits. Lure rating is really important, as is line rating. Keep an eye on those when making your purchase, whatever it is you decide to buy. Good luck and have fun with it.

As you consider the rod you want to pair with your Ci4+, I would think about what you want to do with that rod? Are you going to drop shot, wacky rig, paddletail swimbaits etc etc, and then choose from there. I would pay more attention to the lure rating of the rod you buy, as all ML are not equal, nor are all mediums equal. Without knowing what the lure rating of your 6'9" rod is, and depending what you want to do with your next rod, I might suggest that you go something a little longer, say 7'2" to 7'4", with a lure rating up to 1/2, maybe 5/8 oz, so you can throw paddletails if you want to, but if the bottom of that range is say 1/8 to 3/16, you could still drop shot with it. My assumption is that your 6'9" rod would be a good all around senko, skipping and light jig rod, so complementing it with something longer would get you more versatility in the applications you can fish effectively. What you buy would really depend on what you're willing to spend. Lots of GREAT options, but $$s matter, so without knowing how much you want to spend, hard to recommend a rod.

Yup, that is the stuff. Cut it to length and you are good to go. I typically place bubble wrap around the tip and fill the space between the tip and the tube end cover with crumpled up newspaper.

What he said! PVC is BRUTALLY expensive to ship though due to weight. However there are some sewer grade tubes you can buy that don't weigh nearly as much as PVC and are pretty rugged for shipping purposes. Just have to duct tape the ends after packing and you are good to go. Cardboard my preferred shipping tube, as it is a inexpensive way to ship rods, and is the cardboard is rugged enough to survive the intentional beating shipping employees give these easy targets as they pass through the terminals. The other advice from above that is IMPERATIVE is insurance. Must must must must must fully insure your package. Even the best packing efforts can get destroyed in shipping. So insurance is a must. I use the USPS almost exclusively as they are everywhere and fairly competitive in this space.

I always do braid to leader because it allows me to change up and go to a lighter leader material if the fish are truly finicky or line shy.... I can easily retie a lighter or heavier leader line based on situation and if the line twists beyond manageability, I can quickly cut it and retie. Braid to leader gives you all the benefits of braid from line management and all the invisibility of floro. Best set up IMHO...

Food for thought, if you really want to move a squarebill fast, most of your 3000 size spinning reels take in 36 to 38 inches per turn, and the 4000 get up to 39/40 IPT. I fish all squarebills on moderate to moderate fast action spinning gear when I am trying to "burn" a squarebill, and because of the greater line pick up, you aren't killing yourself cranking to make the bait move fast....

I only fish spinning gear, preference I guess, but even with my medium heavy and heavy setups, using leaders with braid allows me to change up the presentation end of my line based on what I am doing. If I am dragging a pivot head over rocks, I may step up to 15 or 20 lb floro leader material for abrasion resistance, yet still have the braid for sensitivity and excellent casting distance. If I am throwing top water, I can just cut off my 10 feet of floro leader, tie on some mono and wella I have the perfect set up for top water applications... Or if I am throwing moving baits and I want a little bit of an extra shock absorber to the braid, I again tie on mono for my crank applications. Braid is the best line ever on spinning reels and adding leaders allows you to really mix and match your presentations in a way that give you the very best chance for success, and to me success is hooking AND landing fish. Great post. Look forward to hearing how the gold label works out.

Let me know how your test goes, as I'm very interested in it as a braid to leader material for smallmouth bass finesse techniques. I've been using Red Label with great success in terms of not strength and reliability, and I've also dabbled with Tatsu a little bit but it's ungodly expensive. because of cost reliability and not strength Red label has been my go-to leader material but I've read some good things about gold label and I'd be interested to hear anybody's real life experience with using it as a leader material.

I have a bunch of these tube hooks in my arsenal, but I have NEVER fished them, and one of my biggest complaints about tube fishing is how often you get snagged..... Go figure... Thank you for sharing... I can see a tube purchase in my near future, from BPS, and picked up a few more of the owners.... I have these hooks and have never tried them.

I wish I had more tube success / confidence ! Just haven't been able to catch many fish on this technique.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, here is a good one!!!! Ready for this, since I first posted here, I have been notified by two different buyers that rods that I sent to them arrived (what for it) DAMAGED!!!!!!!! ALMOST LIKE BIG BROTHER WAS WATCHING OR LISTENING. That is TWO, and for those of you who know me, I tend to move a lot of fishing equipment as I am a true tackle junkie, which is to say that I had a pretty good run of non damaged shipments when I switched to fully insuring every package (50% of uninsured packages were damaged over a two year period), but this week, this is the first damaged rods I have hand since converting to shipping everything fully insured. Now it is time to see how good the insurance is, what loopholes they have and how hard it will be to get reimbursed (protected my buyers and fully refunded their payments and requested return service so I have the rods in my possession). Honestly, cannot make this stuff up. Two rods this week alone broken during shipping. There is definitely a problem in whoville..... AMEN.... Truth.....