Boomstick

I would second trying a uni knot with 4-6 loops. It works much better with fluorocarbon and I find it works better than the palomar on many brands of mono too. I'll even use it for braid but the palomar does cinch down nice and tight on braid so I mix it up depending what I feel like tying at the time.

My personal experience is that with the Tatula SV, I'm not going to set any distance records, or even my personal best distance records. However at the end of the day, it will cast for a greater distance especially with lighter lures as it will birds nest less, so it's a trade off for a longer single cast, or longer total casting distance among all casts due to less backlashing. My oldest son's Curado K casts further, as does his Black Max. My youngest son's Pflueger Supreme XT casts even further and brakes every bit as well as the Curado.

I don't find the St Croix rods to necessarily be tip heavy, it's more that their rods are often lighter than others of a similar power and action.

I could have used this thread earlier, as chemo makes my hands go numb! Fortunately for my fishing hobby, they kept me off the drug that made my hands go numb for one treatment and it was much more tolerable until I decided to pack up the fishing gear for the winter as my youngest son's travel hockey starts which makes it really hard to do anything due to time constraints. I'll still pick some up for the spring and next fall however.

I have caught many more fish on the roboworms but to be fair, I have also fished them much more as I have had success on them. I have largely heard good things about both however, so I purchased both. I have heard about this tactic. Some have even said to put the bigger bait behind the smaller bait so it looks like it's chasing it, which they claim makes the fish want to get in on the action even more although I never tried it.

Trout leader is usually 2lb or 4lb where bass leaders are usually 6lb or 8lb. But the pound game is often misleading, so you can pay attention to the diameter of the line instead.

Basically there is power and action. Action represents the tip and is categorized by extra fast, fast, moderate fast, moderate and slow (although you rarely see anything that's slow). extra fast is a stiffer tip and less bend where slow would have more bend in the tip. Read more here The power is how the rest of the rod flexes. and is categorized by ultra heavy, extra heavy, heavy, medium heavy, medium, medium light, light and ultralight. Read more here Certain rods are used for different types of lures. Lures with large, solid hooks will typically want heavier power (MH+) and a faster tip to drive that hook home while treble hooks will prefer a moderate tip as the fish can often wiggle themselves free and the extra flex keeps the treble hooks from pulling out of the fish's mouth. Smaller thinner hooks might prefer ML/F action.

I have used 20lb Daiwa Jbraid x8 for jerkbaits. As long as you don't overspool the reel, you should be okay.

I would get a 7'+ cranking rod. There's several options here. I run a 7'2" Daiwa Tatula Glass MH/MF which is a good bet for pretty much any moving bait. It's a little on the stiffer side for cranks but I rarely lose a fish on it. It's best with deep divers or square bills but I can also fish a spinnerbait or bladed jig on it. You could also use a M/F rod and fish lighter spinnerbaits and square bills on it, or go with a M/M or MH/M rod as well. The Tatula Glass rod does compliment my MH/F rod quite nicely though, and I also have a ML/XF spinning rod for finesse techniques. I plan to add a M/F or M/XF rod for jerkbaits, topwater and weightless soft plastics and a heavy rod for frogs and jigs. Additionally, 7'2" is long enough to give me some extra casting distance but still small enough to fit inside my truck. I'm using 15lb Berkley Trilene Fluorocarbon this year and have used Sufix Siege mono 14lb last year -- basically pick your line based on the depth you fish at regularly. This way you can have a soft plastic or jig and a crank or spinnerbait rigged up.

I have a 6'10" MH/F Tatula that would do you well (I think I paid $110 on amazon but normal retail is $150). I also like the Mojo Bass line, but the Tatulas seem to have a little more tip where the Mojo Bass equivalent is lighter in weight (although the Tatula is not heavy). Another option I would suggest that might run a little above $170 is the Dobyns Sierra 704C. That rod has a very stout tip and would be a better option of you're looking to cast lures over 3/4oz.

I'm definitely going to have to consider the 705CB as well. Seems like each rod will have their advantages and disadvantages. Thanks!

I'm done for the year because the effects of chemo make my hands go numb in a very unpleasant manner, but I'd still be trying otherwise, at least as time allows with my son's travel hockey! If the water's 50+, I would try a lipless crank. Once it drops below 50 degrees, spoons seem to remain be rather effective if you can find a deeper spot.

I wish my hands didn't go numb from chemo so I could get out. I live just south of the VT border but fish a lot in VT. They really chase much more up there than they do in W. Mass!

I agree that more flex is better with trebles for hooksets for sure, I was just thinking more in terms of action. I use a MH/MF for most of my moving baits now and it's generally fine with most moving baits as long as they're around 3/8oz or heavier (I've thrown 5/16oz cranks on it without an issue). It's a stiffer tip for treble hooked baits but I believe I've only lost two fish on it (one was by far the biggest fish I've ever hooked but I hit my kid in the face setting the hook which was my bad) and it's stiff enough to work a jerkbait effectively but the biggest issue is throwing 1/4oz baits is rather difficult. What's the power on the 705CB like? Is it a solid medium or does it run on the heavy side? (I know the Dobyns rods run a little lighter than their rating). Also does it have enough of a tip to fish a weightless soft plastic? I could see this rod being used a bit for that too.

Do you generally prefer a more moderate action for jerkbaits and poppers? I was hoping to go with a lighter action and faster tip rod, as I feel that gives me better control over baits where you jerk or walk. I use a MH/MF rod or a M/F spinning rod currently for the same sort of baits, which actually work well but I was hoping to get a rod that could fish topwater, jerkbaits, squarebills and weightless soft plastics. This way I can use it or my kids can use it which will give us a variety of tactics we can use. I should also be able to cast lighter weight poppers better with a medium rod. I will say that I got my oldest son a Dobyns Sierra 704C and it's definitely a solid rod with a nice and strong tip. It seems to have a bit more tip than the Mojo Bass Jig rod so it can definitely handle those heavier, 1oz jigs just fine.

I'm sorry to hear that. Earlier this year, actually on my first day of fishing, I had a sharp pain in my side that brought me into the local emergency room (although I did make it fishing that day). It ended up being colon cancer with a 20x12cm tumor on my right side. I'm 10 chemo treatments in with 2 to go now and they say I'll have a high chance of survival. In my case, bad news comes in 4s apparently as shortly after, my refrigerator died, my dryer motor died and a drain pipe burst in the basement, leaking raw sewage all over. Anyway, for what it's worth modern cancer treatment (especially with prostate cancer) has really came a long way in the past 20 or so years. I'm rooting for you -- you got this!

Thanks! Looks like I'll be picking up either the jerkbait or topwater rod. I do use glass for a lot of my moving baits as well, but I was hoping for a faster tip for jerkbaits and topwater. I do love my glass rod for most moving baits as well, but I figure a M/F rod should cast lighter baits a little further and add some nice versatility to my setup.

Maybe you do have otters popping up?

I might have to try that.

Does the Goby color produce well for you?

I've seen a lot of people targeting salmon on their M/F bass rods and they seem to do just fine. I've seen others using a catfish/carp rod as well.

Catfish tend to largely self-sustain in large bodies of water with some deeper sections than you normally see with pike or bass. Is it possible the pond is too small for them to really reproduce as sofabasser suggested?

Both Sufix and Power Pro are acceptable. I peronally like the Daiwa J-Braid x8 for 40lb line. Once I get to heavier lines, the Power Pro Macuarto is my line of choice as it's a little more abrasion resistant, and I figure once you step up to 50+lb line that's going to be more important. I just use 40lb line as my all-purpose line, in place of 30lb braid which tends to stick to itself when it's cold a bit more.

I would suggest picking up a cheap ultra light or light spinning combo and use that for trout and panfish. Ultra light Ugly Sticks are generally a decent affordable option as it takes a long to break them should you land something much larger. Also as trout fishing is the most common up here in the northeast, you can probably find a lot of 5 light and ultra light spinning setups for around $30 on Craigslist.

I received the Bass Mafia Cranking Coffin in the mail today. I took a short break from work to load it up, and it's perfect. I have it filled about halfway so far (I lost a lot of cranks and broke a few trying to throw them under a very low bridge as well). It holds the 1.5s, 2.5s, medium divers, deep divers all without issues and gives me one large box that I should be able to hold all my cranks for a long time, and I have my 3600 sized crankbait box for overflow and backups. Thanks everyone!