NorthernBasser

And I will say, I don't care what other people prefer. You want a hot pink rod? Go for it. You want your gear all black, great. But one thing that does get a little chuckle out of me is when people match their line (braid) color to their set-ups.

I suppose it's personal preference, too. I really didn't care for pitching jigs into sparse cover/docks with my 7'2 MH Expride's. Tho I do like them for T-rigs (under 3/8 oz). That's why I was wondering if the H would be a better option for me. Not that I need another jig rod, but I'm looking for a reason to get one of the new models.

Well now I know why I get rods with bent guides sometimes.

Same here. Ideally I'd like to feel rods first, but that's usually easier said than done. I'll try to gather as much information about a rod online before I order. I'm usually happy with my purchase. I have sent a few back, but that's because they either had a bend in the blank or had guides that weren't aligned. I'm a tad OCD like that.

While I don't consider it "bling", I fully appreciate the looks of nice rods/reels. The same way people fawn over nice cars, etc. Off-topic- I can never put a Shimano reel on a Daiwa rod, etc. I just can't. ?

The beauty of it all is there's enough rods/reels out there where you can get equipment that performs up to your standard, and look aesthetically pleasing all at the same time. The "fun to fish" part is so true. I have rods like Expride, Orochi, Kistlers, Posion Adrena, and one of my favorite rods to fish, for whatever reason, is a Dobyns Sierra 734. It's just feels "right".

To me, rod/reel looks aren't nearly as important as other aspects when it comes to purchasing a rod/reel. With that said, it does matter to me. Personally, I like blacks/grays/silvers the most. I just like the looks, and if I have a reel with some color to it, it's easy to match up with a black rod. That doesn't mean I don't like the looks of some rods like the Megabass Levante. Or the St. Croix Legend Glass. But to me, the best looking rods I own are my Expride's. As for reels, black/silver/white for me. But I do like the red on the Scorpion and the new Lew's KVD reels. What I really can't do are crazy colors like these. Even those new BassX rods...even tho they have black blanks, the label on them are BUTT ugly IMO. No idea what St. Croix was thinking with those.

Got a kick out of these huge markdowns.

If that weight keeps them standing up at rest, that'd be nice. As of now I only see it listed in 3/4 oz size, so it's possible. And then there's this.

*looks at your sig* ?

Bad pic, but you can kind of see the jig head in the pink bait. Also, those Agent E's are already available.

Possibly. I hadn't seen it before. My buddy just sent it to me.

Deleting thread in 3...2...1...

Ya know, I actually thought so. I also tore some out last year to get a good look at them.

Nice! Those definitely look like a goby more than the other 2 options. Interesting rigging BTW. I'll be curious to know how well they perform for ya.

Yeah, we'll have to see how soft that plastic is. Or might have to bend the hook up a tad. Like you said, hard to tell since the first pic looks better than the others. Little off topic, but have you gotten your hands on the Berkley Agent E? At first I thought "great, a Dark Sleeper knockoff". Which it kind of is. But that weed guard is gonna make it more weedless than the Sleeper, for sure. And I like the colors. And they come in 2 pack. I just got this color the other day. Can't wait to try them out.

Bluegill version of the Dark Sleeper. Supposedly the release date will be sometime in June. Not a lot of info out there on these, but sure to be a big hit. The Japanese release has 15 great colors. Here are a few.

Have you looked at the Crestliner XF?

I will say, TW has the easiest and best return system around. They literally send a return label with your purchase in case you wanna return something. Rods included.

Oh shoot, right in plain site. Well hell, now I feel cheated. Lol.

Is this a thing? I know they'll price-match, but have never heard of this. I still use TW, but I'll give Omnia my business first if they have the stuff I want in stock.

Came across these a while back while digging thru old tackle. Don't think they've ever been thrown.

Bass Pro as a whole just really sucks nowadays. And this is very minor, but still made me shake my head. I was looking at bibs in the new spring catalog. They have some new(er?) ones called the Guidewear "Extreme". But if you go on their site, they're called the "Xtreme". What's worse is they were hard to find at first on the site. If you click on "bibs", they're not even listed anywhere. If you type "Guidewear Extreme" in the search, all you get is a pair of gloves. Just by chance I typed in "Xtreme" and they popped up. ?‍♂️