waymont

832 has zero issues for me, I see no reason to spend more money for the smackdown.

There’s no nightmare traveling. there’s traffic, but there’s traffic everywhere in large cities. LA has traffic as does Philly. Cities offer a lot, why bother dissing Chicago?

Boss Dock Knocker, buy some skirts and make your own jigs. It's cheaper, you get exactly what you want, and the Dock Knocker is one of the best designed jig heads around. Tackle Warehouse has everything you will need.

Switch to mono. I have great success using McCoy 6lb

Light weight and balance are a team for me. I can't fish with a tip heavy rod, it causes wrist and should problems for me.

Sorry dude, you ask an unanswerable question and expect what? I wasn't being sarcastic or snide, just real.

Sounds like you have bad luck to me. Maybe you should buy $99 reels, and when they feel bad you won't have to complain about it on BR.

Do these rods have micro guides?

Two newish Rapala, two consecutive days, two different lakes. 1-3.5” original in gold 1-3.5” broke back in gold two favorites on mine

The Phenix Feather L and ML casting rods have a thickness of a “normal “ bass rod, but great light powers and great tapers.

I use 30 and 40lb Seagur Blue label as leaders with great success. However, I am talking about 20"-32" pike in general. I have never had one bite off, but I can see a bigger pike biting off that size leader. I just got back from a two week fishing trip in Michigan, and tried out A Jay's recommendation of the AFW line as a leader and had excellent luck with that too.

Are you using 15lb braid on your Alphas 800?

Loomis IMX-Pro chatter bait rod.

Go to a hardware store and buy a few sizes of screws. They work great, and screw right in. You probably have some laying around anyway.

There is not enough space on this website to list all the things I love about braid.

The Tatula 7’1” ml is the rod you want. super slick rod for less money

Cuda 5” for me

Yes, that's the one. It's not a whippy rod, it's very crisp. The "+" gives it a little extra. I think it's perfectly rated.

I checked it out, and liked the Expride 7' light rod more. I have been using it for two years and love it. I like the fast over the extra fast. I use it with 8lb power pro, to 8lb FC leader. This combo is extremely sensitive, and keeps fish pinned.

I have three JDM Mets, they are excellent casters. Really nice reels. I bought all three for under $300 too.

832 and original Power Pro, neither ever let me down.

I regularly fish 20lb braid on jig/t rig/flukes and don't have an issue with digging. After a hard hook set and catch of a bigger fish, my next cast will have a little "sticky" spot on the line where I had the hook set. However it's not stuck, or even a little annoyance. I never understood why people complain about it so much. I load my reels with 1.5 times of my longest cast, and use mono backing. Maybe that's the answer, but I have no idea.

2021 Zillion sv Tatula LT 3000

If you can get by with a 1/4oz these: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Big_Bite_Baits_Shorty_Gamakatsu_EWG_Head_4pk/descpage-BBBSHH.html 3/0 Gammy hook too

I have a L and ML Feather casting rods. Both are killer rods. I use them both with 8lb FC and have caught bass up to 6.5lbs with them, and lots of 3+ fish. I use them for Neds, smallish cranks, and 1/8oz tubes. The ML is nice with a 3/16oz bitsy bug jig. They are really fun rods to fish with.