Boomstick

I second that if you go Dobyns, the 734C is the way to go. It's called a heavy/fast action rod but dobyns runs a power higher, so it's really more of a stiffer MH/F. I have a Daiwa 6'10" MH/F rod and a Tatula SV reel that would also be a good choice.

Well, I finally got the results of my generic cancer testing today, a month late and was informed that I have Lynch syndrome, as well as some other malicious gene. I was pretty sure I was going to buy this boat since I won't find one that's virtually new at a used price like this again, but sadly this made my decision for me. I'm going to need to put away some extra money for medical bills before I can do anything. However, instead of looking at a Renegade, I may instead try to find a Pro V Bass used. It looks worth the extra cash, and my plan is to have whatever I buy for a while. If nothing else, it rides better on choppy water which translates to less chance of getting thrown overboard and has storage on par or better than most glass boats.

Believe me, I keep my tackle very organized.

So I should be getting the exact specs of the boat tomorrow. It's such a new trade they haven't even put that together yet.

Thanks. My doctors don't tell me anything about not fishing or not being active, it's just rather difficult being active or being outside in hot weather after treatment because even room temperature water is too cold for me to drink for the first 3 or 4 days, and for the next few days after that I still can't drink cold water. So it's rather hard to not be dehydrated and thus tired. The good news is I now have a truck, and I found a used Lund Pro V bass that's rather loaded I'm seriously considering. I wouldn't normally buy it this year because I will hardly get to use it, but it only has 30 engine hours so it's quite the steal. The truck's also much easier to just pack up and go too.

It is at a Lund Dealer, so that helps.

Wow, nice reviews thank you. Seems to be the most boat I could possibly afford and probably more boat than I'd ever need. The only tough part is I don't have money down now because I just bought a truck, so this is something I'll have to seriously think about.

Does anyone have the Lund Pro V Bass? One of the nearby Lund dealers has a very clean 2018 for sale with only 30 engine hours that's fully loaded and would run me the same price as buying a new Renegade 1875 (which was the boat I was considering). I'm seriously thinking of just biting the bullet and financing one (although my ideal plan was to wait a couple of years and put $20k+ down).

This past week, I took my boys camping up at Lake St. Catherine. It was supposed to be a Monday - Sunday trip, but I loaded up my car on Saturday because I was rather energetic with nothing to do and figured I could relax on Sunday and my car door locked but would not open. Given the difficulty of finding the rods and latches for a '92 Brougham (I had been looking for parts for a while to fix the power locks and interior locks) and that I had been wanting a truck for a while, I went out and bought a '14 GMC Sierra. I was fortunate that a local dealer had a very nice one in stock and made it up there mid-day on Wednesday. I didn't get to fish a lot. I had a flashlight die and had to get medicine for an earache and had having to buy ice daily was also a time-sink. But the time I did get to fish was great and we had a lot of fun despite all of the inconveniences. On Wednesday, we setup camp and fished a couple hours until it started to get dark. I had a bite but set the hook to early and lost it, but my kids got three between them one of them getting his PB. Thursday is where the magic began. Our good flashlight died and I needed earache medicine so I had to go to Rutland where I could find any real form of civilization, which ate up a good chunk of my morning. Seeing how well they chased the night before, I decided to throw a crankbait. During the first hour and a half, I caught a rock bass, largemouth, smallmouth , massive northern pike (which I should have weighed). When I caught the largemouth, I actually hooked two fish that cast but the larger one broke off as I was trying to pull him on the boat. Had my oldest son grabbed the line, I would have landed both. I also hooked another fish in the general area I caught the pike but hit my oldest son in the face trying to set the hook. It ended up towing the boat around like it was nothing for a few seconds, swam under the boat and set itself free. I did get a look at and based on the height, if it was a pike, it was a once in a lifetime catch but I think it was a bass that would easily have been my PB. It was only 72 degrees when we hit the water, but would eventually reach the low 80s by 5pm, and by 4 the bite was dying off. I spent Friday taking my girlfriend around Poultney to the yarn store (she crochets) and showing her the boat I hope to someday buy. I got up early on Saturday morning, so I went and fished from the shore and caught one more largemouth. Later in the day, we rented a canoe but by the time I got the fishing spot, I was too tired to continue as I was up very early on Saturday and Friday and I'm currently undergoing chemo so a lack of sleep really wipes me out. Given the little time we had fishing, we all caught a fair amount of fish, my youngest son (who usually catches more fish than the rest of the group we're fishing with) got his PB and I nearly smashed my PB while getting a giant pike. I will definitely be doing this trip again when I'm done with chemo and have more energy.

So I made it up there and nobody was at the park. My confirmation email plus paperwork at the park said checkin was until 9, but I called and the answering machine said it was until 9 only on Fridays and Saturdays. Gah!

Nice fish! I also like my Tatula SV's though. My biggest complaint is that one of them is just about as smooth as the Supreme XT -- the other isn't.

I haven't tried a straw but I have tried a plastic water bottle instead of my usual metal one, which tastes metalicy during treatment. I found that room temp water doesn't work no matter how slow I drink it for a few days, but room temperature iced tea or gatorade is much more manageable.

I will use braid to leader on spinning rods because the braid is less susceptible to line twist. On casting gear, I use it on my soft plastics and jig rod because I also use the same rod to throw hollow body frogs. On the rod I use for most moving baits, I use 15lb flurocarbon and have no issues. If I ever add a dedicated frog rod, I will use braid on that and put fluro on the rod I use for soft plastics and jigs, it's both cheaper and just easier. If it helps at all, I am using Berkley Trilene flurocarbon on the cranking rod which is a great line if you don't need high abrasion resistance because the knots hold up extremely well. For knots, I use a 5-7 turn uni and have snagged on just about everything but always get my lure back. I also have some Trilene FC XL 6lb I've used as a leader on spinning gear with great success as well, along with Seagar Blue Label.

Thanks. I honestly didn't plan to get into it because I didn't want to sound like poor me or anything, but yeah it's been a rough year. Having the door seize up was just a kick in the face. Honestly, if I could drink cold water right now, I'd hunt down the parts for the Brougham or try, but I might miss a trip or even two. I basically end up dehydrated for a week, spend the next week getting the proper fluids in me then start again. It's very unpleasant drinking anything even room temperature for several days after a treatment -- the best way to describe it is imagine you had a shock collar and someone shocked you every time you try to drink something, eventually you try to drink less. Trying to drink even room temperature fluids for several days and being constantly dehydrated and thus tired is by far the worst part of this treatment. On the bright side, my chances of survival are high and recurrence are low. So I just need to survive this year without going insane. And I should make it out a day late, maybe two depending on how bad the thunderstorms are. I get the truck at 11, so I'll see what it looks like later.

You can use roughly your rod length, no need to even measure it. What I do is I will put the knot just past the reel so when you hold the line when casting, you hold braid. The knot can be anywhere further up the rod then this. Then leave just enough line to tie your bait on, and you're good. You can always back the line out and move the rod further out as well, so there's no need to put on anymore than that. If you prefer to measure it out, 6' is generally safe.

I would suggest calling in a professional, or at least reading books about pond management. It may not be quite rocket science, but it's also no walk in the park either. You may find several things, for example perhaps the pond was overstocked with bass, they ate all the bluegills except the very large ones and now live by waiting to grow large enough to eat the other bass. Maybe you need to keep a few of the smaller sized bass you get, which will fatten up the larger ones. It could be a lot of things. Of course, if you think you properly identified the problem but end up being wrong, then you risk making things worse for yourself.

I agree with you. Also, I would think the larger guides of a spinning rod which are more designed to handle the line movement when reeling would make a spinning rod less sensitive -- whether that's noticeable is another debate. Also, if you were wrong, why is the action of the rod (the flex of the tip) the most important rod attribute when selecting a more sensitive rod? Because detecting bites is largely in the tip!

The Tatula CT should be a solid choice for someone who fishes daily, in fact if you fish daily I honestly think that makes it worth the extra money.

I have the 6'10" MH/F Tatula and the 7'2" MH/R glass cranking rod (which is a great all around moving bait stick). Both are solid rods.

Frogs are the most fun to fish, that said I don't get a lot of fish with a frog so I might have to go with spinnerbaits for that reason. Seeing a bass just swallow it whole is pretty exciting, plus you're always casting into different areas and you can skip them under docks.

For what's typically regarded as finesse tactics, which involves something like a drop shot with even smaller soft plastics or a NED rig or the like, I would choose a medium-light power, extra fast action rod. For shaky heads and weightless senkos, a M/F rod is the way to go.

I used a M/F spinning rod for a while for squarebills with 10lb and 12lb mono. No issues there.

I ended up preferring mine to cork to be honest. Anyway, as a Tatula rod owner, I would definitely recommend it. The Mojo Bass is good, but I like my 6'10" MH/F Tatula a little better and you can find them for even less. They retail for $150 but they fluctuate between $110-150 on Amazon.

If there is still a decent amount of current there, a drop shot might be difficult. However, a Carolina rig does sound like it might be effective there.

Yeah, I only miss one night. I almost bought a canoe too, but I'm going to probably have to wait a bit to get a roof rack, plus I have a leaking pipe I should replace. Not a huge deal, I'll only get to use it every other week anyway this year cause of chemo...