FrnkNsteen

I put them in the corner until I find someone to give them to, or trade them in on something else.

I honestly don't see much difference between them and have about equal numbers of each. I will say I have a hard time slowing down, so Deep Cranks (6xd - 10xd) and Chatterbaits are on 5.4 Revo and Orra Winchs. Spinnerbaits. Shallow/medium cranks, and paddletails are on 6spds. Swim Jigs, Ploppers, squarebills, topwaters are on 7spds. I save 8 spds for Buzzbaits, frogs, or pitching jigs/plastics where I use the rods for action and just like the quick takeup for picking up slack or quick retrieves to make next pitch.

I have a 733 in Sierra and a Fury. I personally like the Sierra a little better for what you are describing. The Fury is a little faster rod, and I've heard the Champion is about the same. I honestly think if you are only using for squarebills and jerkbaits, the faster Champion may be ok, but like a little shorter rod for those, both for accuracy, and for snapping the jerkbait. I've heard a lot of people sayong the Champ 704CB makes a great jerkbait rod. I'm using 704cb for small topwater poppers and have a 6'6" H20 Express Ethos I love for my jerkbaits. It's light and short enough that I don't slap the water while working it. I plan to try the 704cb on jerkbaits sometime this year. Just haven't done it yet.

I personally wouldn't want an 8.1 for the uses you mentioned. MAYBE for the jerkbait. But not for a Spinnerbait, Crank, or Swimjigs. I'd prefer a 6 or 7 speed for those techniques.

I can't speak for recent, but the H2O Express Mettle has always gotten good reviews. Aluminum frame, 10 bearings and centrifugal brakes. Thwy only come in RH and 6.4 ratio. I had a couple and made nice spinnerbait, Chatterbait or cranking reels. Might be worth checking out if they haven't downgraded them.

I have two of them and neither is available any more. The first is an older Fenwick HMX 5'9" Medium. Back when they were brown and gold. I had two of them until one broke when my wife set the hook on a big smallmouth a few years ago. We hand-lined the fish in but the rod was toast. Tbe second is a Fenwick EliteTech Smallmouth rod. 6'9" ML that I absolutely love as my smallie wacky rig rod. The action is just right for me and it flicks those wacky stickbaits out there really nice. Love the grips on those rods too!!!

Last major one I had was a Daiwa that I had forgotten I had backed the brake all the way off. I run mine real loose and instantly knew I was it trouble when I HEARD it go Ffffffft! As it exploded under my thumb!! ?. I just looked down and said "I'll get that later!! ?? Typically can get them out in a few minutes though.

Yep,... Can't remember if I ordered mine from TW or Amazon. But that's what I use.

I use the 735cb glass for what you are describing. 6XD pushing the limit.I picked up a Fred Roumbanis 803sb that is supposed to be the same blank as the 806cb developed for 10xd. Plan to use that for heavier deep cranks like the 8xd - 10xd.

I agree with Bassjam. That 703C with the SV TW could alsi skip some jigs or Flukes under trees and docks

Limiting it to those two choices ( Fury or Mojo) I would suggest the Dobyns and ask what you are planning to throw with it. I personally think the Mojo rods feel a little heavy to me. I have a couple Mojo MH/MF Spinnerbait rods I really like for things like a smaller Whopper Ploppers or light Chatterbaits, but feel the Dobyns are a little better balanced for fishing bottom baits like texas rigged plastics. The reason I ask what you're planning to throw with it is Dobyns run a little lighter than their ratings, so their MH (703c) is more like a lighter MH. Their Heavy (704) is more like a heavier MH. So if you're going to throw 1/4 x 3/8 oz with light plastucs, I'd go Dobyns 703C. If you are thinking of throwing 3/8 x 1/2 oz,... I'd bump it up to the 704C.

I don't usually change hands, no matter which I am using. With LH reels, I cast with my right hand and then can immediately reel with my left. Hard to describe how I cast with a RH retrieve reel. It's a little weird, but I hold the reel with my left hand and right hand is right below the reel. Index finger is usually on the trigger, right below it, or on the butt of the rod, depending on how hard I'm trying to cast. The weird thing is I often still cast over right shoulder with the rod tip around 1 or 2 o'clock, so not really a sidearm. Kind of a hybrid of over the shoulder and sidearm, but the reel never leaves my left hand. Very rarely do I switch hands unless I'm REALLY wanting to zing it simething like a deep crank Can you tell I don't like the wasted energy of swutching hands? ??

I grew up with right hand retrieve spin cast. Used Zebco 33, 202, up to thinking I was big when I used my Dad's big 808 ?. Started using spinning reels set with left handle retrieve because that hiw they were already set up. When I started fishing baitcasters, I naturally bought RH retrieve since that's what I was used to on the Spin cast. Years later I decided to try a cheap Daiwa in LH retrieve that I saw. It immediatly felt fine and I wondered why I had been switching hands all those years. I now have a mixture. If I am fan casting something like a deep crank, football jig or Carolina rig on flats, I use either because I've learned to cast with either hand. Pitching. Rollcasting, or sidearming close quarters I use left hand reel so no switching and I can react quicker. The bonus is I never miss out on a good deal on a casting reel because it was the wrong retrieve!! ?? In regards to pitching setup,.... I rarely use a centrifugal brake reel, unless it's a dual brake like my STX, Lews Custom or MB , or a BPS PQ. I typically choose mag brake for pitching because spool speeds typically aren't high enough to actuate centrifugal brakes anyway. If I AM using a centrifugal brake reel for some reason, like pitching a spinnerbait around brush, I leave them how they are and thumb the spool as needed. My spools are usually free and just tight enough to eliminate side play.

Believe it or not, Academy brand H20 Express Mettle reels are a 10 bearing, aluminum frame reel that are a very good reel for the money. Only downfall is I think they only come in 6.4:1 ratio. Preferred would be 7 or 8 speed. It would work though and could also cast spinnerbaits or whopper plopper

I realize this is a really old thread that got resurrected, but since it's still open and getting recent replies,.... On spinning rods, I hold with three fingers in front of reel like the OP, so I too like a fore-grip and hate threads in front of the reel seat. I can then extend my forefinger on the blank for added torque, and when setting the hook I let my hand be the pivot point and lodge the butt of the rod under my forearm. I cast with the same grip either overhand, sidearm or back handed. As for casting vs spinning, I agree that spinning can cast the same weight lure much farther than casting. My issue is with heavier lures on the spinning, the line coming off your finger on the cast starts to get tender. My spinning rigs handle lighter lures like weightless plastics, small jerkbaits, mepps, etc. Baitcasting works much easier for heavier lures (3/8oz and up) though reels like Daiwa SV and Shimano MGL are making casting lighter setups much easier. Don't get yourself down due to Curado DC. I'm not a big fan of mine either. I have relegated it to bombing out heavy footballs jigs on deep flats. On non DC reels,... Once you get used to using your thumb to buffer spool speed, you can run spool tension more loosely and not have to adjust often. Just don't snap your wrist or run too heavy of a lure on too light of rod. Either will load the rod too much and over-run the spool and cause line to fluff. Try to center your lure choice in the middle sweet spot of the rod weight rating for best rod to reel performance.

Have to agree with Eric that the St Croix Eyecons feel nice and I saw they have a 7' ML Jigging version. I love my Dobyns casting rods but not a fan of their spinning rods. I don't like any spinning rod with the reel seat threads in front of the reel stem, because I hold my spinning rods with 3 fingers in front of the reel and I hate holding the threads. Two rods we recently got are a Daiwa RG for my wife that has a cork fore grip, and I bought a new design Feather spinning rod that has a unique all-polymer overlapping reel seat that has no exposed threads. The model is a Feather FTX series. It's different, but I kind of like it!

I really don't know how to describe it, but something just doesn't feel right. I have set them aside, then pulled them back out to give another chance a few times and just keeping putting them back in the corner. I would seriously give them to someone close if I didn't have to mess with shipping. For one, they feel a lot more tip heavy than the older black & gold one I have, plus Ive found that I really don't like foam grips. I realize "tip heavy" usually isn't as big of a deal on cranking rods since you're usually tip down anyway, but just not a fan of these and I've got plenty of other options.. For the price, I've found I like the H20 Express Ethos cranking rods better. And for a little more, I like the Fury 705cb much better. Obviously, I like the Champions even more, but those are on a different price level.

The Black & Gold older model was the 7' MF. Love that one. It has the cork handle with "Power Hump" cork grips. The gray versions I have are 7' ML F, 7' MF, and 7'6" MF. Bought them on trade-in at the Spring Classic sale a couple years ago before Covid hit. Fortunately, they were on sale and then dicounted for trade-in so I think they were like $59 each,... Doesn't matter though as they are still sitting in the corner! ?

I have the older black and gold Crankin Stick that I love!, but bought some of the recent gray versions hoping they would be the same, and hate them. I'd give them away to someone! Haven't tried the new black versions. To be honest, I've kind of given up on BPS/Cabelas. Seems like since they merged, quality has gone down and the only rods or reels they put on sale anymore are their own BPS lines. Everything else is always at list price or higher. We still go to the spring sales for tackle each spring, but my purchases have been more limited to lures and tackle.

I don't think you are wrong at all. We can buy the Tatula 100, 150, and 200 for $159 all day long, occasionally even cheaper, but they jump the price of the 80 up to $199? Don't understand this. And on the SV 70 bumping the price from $199 for the regular Tatula SVTW up to $229. Nope.... I'll go order the Alphas instead,.. Even though I generally like my Daiwas,... I will go buy another SLX MGL 70. I have two of those no and they are the smoothest casting little reels I have, other than the new Zillion and Alphas. Just my 2 cents......

Wanted to drop a quick note to say hi. I've been reading on the forums for a while and thought it was time I register and introduce myself. I currently live in Southern Indiana where Billy McDonald has been known to say "We only have about 5 or 6 fish and just take turns catching them!" I'm originally born and raised in Minnesota and go back as often as possible to see and fish with family around northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. I look forward to getting on here when I can and geting to know people!

Stopped by one of our local shops yesterday and asked if they had heard anything on these. She asked me where I heard about them and I told her about the ad in the new Bassmaster magazine. She said their rep asked them not to mention it because Daiwa was wanting to keep it quiet until they could get inventory stocked in stores and available. Looks like Bassmaster may have released the ad earlier that intended. She estimated receiving them mid to late March

"Daiwa Tatura"?? ?? To me it looks like an Alphas frame with a Tatula style sideplate and brake dial. I will be checking them out..... Along with the Tatula SV recently showing up in ads.

For me, line size is driven more by the lure I am throwing and the action I want, than what rod I am using. For instance,... If throwin cranks, I will reduce line size if I want them to run a little deeper, or increase it a bit if I'm near weeds I need to rip it free from. I'll run 60-80lb braid when frogging if I need to pull them out of the slop. Or 30-40 if I want it to cut through cabbage stems when they run.

I have developed a liking for Dobyns rods for their feel and balance. I know everyone brags up G Loomis, but to me they always feel tip heavy. For an "All Purpose",... I like either a 733C or 734C. I like lighter rods. So I like the 733c, which I consider a lighter "Medium Heavy" and use it for things like paddletails, swimjigs, spinnerbaits. If I want a little more uumph,.. I grab the 734, which I consider a lighter "Heavy", and use it for things like a buzzbait, Gurgle Toad, or rage craw on a weighted swim hook around laydowns or cover. I like the Sierra or Champion series, depending if I want a little slower or faster action (Sierras are a little slower). My 733C is a Sierra and my 734C is a full handle Champion.