Dens228

Going by gear ratio I'd be using the Tournament Pro on the M/Fast for cranks and such. I'd use the BB1 on the MH/Fast for other lures like jigs. I don't know that the small difference in gear ratio is that much of big deal though. I have both reels and really like them.

6th Sense Divine swimjig.........

I fish mainly from a kayak, so like you a prefer fewer rods, mainly 5, sometimes 6. I use the rod I listed above for squarebills and most crankbaits that go to around 10-12 feet. I also use it for some topwater baits like small and medium sized poppers. BUT.........................I have some crankbaits that have a big wobble that I just prefer to use with a MH/Fast rod, the action of those lures just transfers better to my hands with it....I also prefer to throw lipless on the MH/Fast. That's just my preference.

I have a St. Croix Avid series cranking rod. I went with the M/Moderate specifically for squarebills but I also throw medium depth divers on it and absolutely love it. I'm also extremely partial to Lew's reels.

For under $20!?!?! And where would that be?///////

Thank God I fish from a kayak! I take 5 or 6 rods and have to utilize multipurpose, so mainly MH/Fast, usually 3 or 4 are that rating. The reason I say thank God is that if I was on a boat with all those options I'd end up taking 100 rods!!! LOL

I have two Smoke S3's and really like them. I prefer my Lew's Tournament G's, they just feel better to me but that's my opinion. I wouldn't trade my Lew's though.

I think I judge the thumbing my the sound or feel of the spool. To be honest I'm not even sure! LOL I know that often times at my favorite fishing hole I am often heading into the sun at dawn and can't see the lure as I cast. Now I need to make sure that I don't think about it next spring because it'll probably screw me up!

Got it.....

Just out of curiosity why would you think you'd change the rod/reel based on time of day?

For me it's squarebills, jerkbaits, and jigs. One thing that is weird for me I keep reading about flat sided squarebills and cranks for cold water.......I tried them numerous times this fall and caught one fish....when I switched to standard wobbling round bodied I started catching fish. If the water vis isn't that good I go with the cranks, if it's pretty good I'll go with the jerkbaits. I did have decent luck on a recent outing with a rattling jerkbait in not so good visibility. The water was 44 degrees and cranks were not working, the jerbaits on the other hand lead to my best day numbers/size wise of the entire year.

I second what papajoe said. I fish several quarries and find that underwater structure and cast/retrieve parallel to it. A lot of the times I have three crankbaits and one swimjig tied on. The crankbaits are to cover three different depths from top to bottom, the swimjig can hit them all.

How long is it?

All I have are 6th Sense Hybrid and swim jigs.......love them, it's all I need. I do tend to use the swim jig a bit more as there a lot of weeds where I fish so I even use them in instances you normally wouldn't.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

Not arguing your success but you may want to give the white/chartreuse a shot, you may be surprised.

Did a search and didn't find much, thinking of pulling the trigger on a Lux rod. I absolutely love the 6th Sense cranks, jerks, and jigs so........... anyone have one or more? What's your verdict?

Chartreuse and white for one, black and purple for the other. A couple of each so that when you're nailing bass on one and you lose it you have another to tie on.

I don't weight mine anymore, I measure them. In my first two years back at bass fishing I caught one bass over 20 inches. This year was the year to learn to use a jig...........I caught 9 over 20 inches!

For me.... April/May was all about jigs, both hybrid with craw trailers and swim with paddletails. Far and away top bait. June was still jigs, and add in spinnerbaits and topwater,,,,,,frogs and poppers July/Ausust..........slow..............but topwater and deep cranksbaits September was spinnerbaits and pasddletails on underspins October was all about the crankbait, mainly squarebills by far,,,the 4-7 foot diving cranks November was jerkbaits........this includes last week when I caught 12 bass in 46 degree water in two hours, the smallest was 16 inches, the biggest was 20 3/4. All but three were over 18 inches. By far my best day numbers/size wise of the year.

I use a cheap BassX MH/Moderate for that purpose. It has a whippy tip so I can cast weightless farther than I need and is sensitive.

For a general purpose rod I'd go with an AvidX but in MH/Fast. I have two, one is a dedicated jig rod, the other I use for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, chatterbaits, deeper diving cranks, lipless cranks, and smaller swimbaits. I'll also use it for non weed infested topwater baits. 95% of my fishing is in a kayak so I can't, or won't, bring a ton of rods with me.......mostly five but sometimes six. When I bring five three of them are MH/Fast.

This summer I really concentrated on adding jigs to my arsenal and am VERY glad I did. I started out with a $110 MH/Fast 7 foot rod and liked it fairly well. Until I switched to a St. Croix AvidX MH/Fast. My ability to feel the bottom, weeds, rock, strikes went way up. I'm still far from an expert but I love that rod.

You can get a Pad Crasher Kit, 3 frogs for $12.99 at TW, 3 different versions of it to give you some variety.

I second the 6th Sense recommendation. I love all their baits, starting with their jigs, and now most of my cranks including squarebills are 6th Sense. You won't be disappointed.