Boomstick

The tip is very thin. For example, you can buy the sets of three sizes of replacement tips, and they're all too fat for the Daiwa tips. Overall, it doesn't have much effect on the action and with lighter lures, they feel about the same. But if you get into heavier lures, the Tatula is much less ideal for lures over 3/4oz where it's rated up to 1oz, where the Sierra 704C should have no trouble handling it's max 1oz lure capacity. The advantage of the Daiwa tip is it offers quicker reaction when you get a bite. It still has enough power to fish frogs in moderate weeds. It's a tough decision between the two rods overall, but I give the edge to Daiwa simply based on price. Now, I wouldn't be too worried about the 7'2" H/F Tatula not having the backbone unless you're trying to throw a Huddleston on it. Typically, Daiwa's do tend to run a little stronger than rated. I was going to pick up the 7'4" frogging rod for frogs and jigs, but I gather it's a little too stiff to throw frogs very far, so I'm considering the slightly lighter 7'2" H/F rod as well. Sound like you'd recommend the 7'2"? (also while I'm pretty sure 7'4" will fit in my car, it may not fit on my rod rack).

Well, what's the actions of the rods for starters?

I have a Sierra and two regular Tatulas, and can provide some input on that. The guides are fairly similar, the reel seat is better on the Daiwa and while one of my Tatulas has the same line and lure ratings as the Dobyns (and are generally used for similar lures), the Dobyns certainly has more tip to it, as the Daiwa has a fairly light tip which is fairly standard for their more expensive rods. The Daiwa may win for detecting finicky bites, but the Dobyns wins at pulling a fish out of grass with a heavy jig. Probably not a huge help.

Yup. I mean it's not like we're talking about skipping weightless 4" senskos here either, which is obviously a whole lot harder. Sure, they'll cast further on a medium power rod...

Transoptic is a color changing monofilament, so you should be able to use either knot. I've had improved cinch I largely keep 2/0 EWGs for soft plastic crayfish, and 3/0 and 4/0 EWGs for senkos and ribbon tail worms. Also 3/0s work well with some of the rage tails. If I had only two, I would go with a 2/0 and 4/0. I like the Lazer Trokar's slightly better than Gammys - they're so sharp they set themselves, although Gammys are fine too. The rule is the larger the bait, the bigger the hook. The rule with senkos and knockoffs is for a 4' Senko I will get a 3/0. Anything larger than a 5" Senko will get a 4/0, and for a 5", I will usually use a 4/0, but a 3/0 works well too.

I've heard many different knots referred to as the fisherman's knot. In this case, I believe you're referring to the cinch knot. I would recommend learning the palomar or the uni knot, I generally prefer the uni and give it 5-7 turns because it works with all lines where the palomar doesn't work well with fluorocarbon, although I'll often use it with braid because it cinches down very tightly on braided line, although I never have issues losing baits with the uni on braid either. This video should help you out:

It's all in the angle in which you throw it forward. Casting from shore can be tricky depending on the shoreline and what you have to cast around, but the trick is to keep the rod down when casting and keep it down throughout the cast. If you can't keep it down, start higher and then try to keep it down.

Regular is basically a synonym for "moderate fast". I wish they would just use moderate fast for consistency, you know?

Since you didn't say casting or spinning, I'm going to go with the Daiwa BG, which I do believe is a no brainer for $100 retail. It's a little trickier with casting reels, although a Tatula CT can be had for around $100.

Even if you don't see the bed, work a senko slowly around the area you think the bed is in. Could also try a drop shot as well -- you just want to annoy that fish to the point it starts biting!

What I consider old school is catching a fish and using it as bait to catch a larger fish, and that works best when fishing catfish or pike.

I would normally use a ML/XF rod with 10-15lb braid and a 6lb leader for dropshot, but I largely fish it in clear water and not in the grass but maybe on the edges. If you're fishing it around a lot of grass then I would step up to a M/F rod with 15Lb braid and a 8lb leader. As for what t buy, you might be able to find a St. Croix Mojo Bass and a Daiwa BG (I'd with with a 2000) for around your price range, which would be a good setup.

For a reel, I would go with a Tatula CT, 6.3:1 gear ratio. Personally, I think that's kind of a no brainer given that you can get them on ebay (and I think Amazon) for $100ish. For rods, it's a little tough to find a rod that will work for both cranks and spinners and not do one horribly. I found myself in a situation, twice needing a rod for both. The other type of rod I would suggest is a true medium/fast rod, maybe a St Croix 6'8" M/F Mojo Bass, which I believe is labeled the soft plastics rod or the Dobyns 703C. Also a rods like the Fenwick Elite Tech Bass or the Major Craft Nanoace are true M/F rods. You can fish weightless soft plastics on these and people use them a lot for squarebills and spinnerbaits up to 3/8oz. This is how I'd go if this is going to be your only casting rod for a while, because they're also good for weighless soft plastics. If you plan on adding a MH/F rod in the forseeable future, then I would go another route. The Tatula class cranking rod I have which can be bought on Amazon atm for $125 (here) would do nicely. It's on the stiffer side, so it can handle a 1/2 spinnerbait with a trailer rather easily, but has enough play where I have yet to lose a fish on a crank as well. If you prefer something lighter, the St. Croix Mojo Bass 7' MH/MF spinnerbait rod isn't half bad. I own both, but prefer the Tatula, but if heavier weight is an issue, go with the St. Croix should you go this route.

Nice setup. You're going to like it.

Well first, it depends what rod I'm putting it on. If I am putting it on a medium or medium light rod that's going to be used for finesse fishing, I'm going with a 2000 size reel because it holds a decent amount of 10-15lb braid and 6 and 8 pound line, which are the lines I'd be likely to ever put on it and it's going to be lighter and not waste as much line (even if it's a cheap mono backing). I've seen several people even go as light as a 1500 for finesse, since they use 10-12lb braid, they can get away with it but I like the option to use straight mono or fluorocarbon. On a medium rod that's being used for finesse but maybe crankbaits and weightless soft plastics, I might go with a 2500 size reel.

It's largely the size and the way it "sits" in the water.

I doubt it's the "greatest" glass rod, but I picked up a 7'2" Tatula glass cranking rod, the MH/R one and that rod is great. It's slightly heavier than all my graphite rods (which doesn't really bother me), but the sensitivity of the rod is actually quite surprising. Vibrations from say a bladed jig are slightly muted, but at the same time I can feel more minute things on this rod that I don't even feel on the graphite rod. I also like buying American, but it's not because I have any complaints about the quality of this rod by any means, I just like supporting American businesses.

I got my youngest son a Supreme XT casting reel and I like that reel just as much as my Tatula SV and more than my the Curado K I got my other son! It's a really nice lightweight reel and the braking system is top notch. I wasn't sure what to expect from Pflueger's casting reels when I bought it, but I got it for $110 and in retrospect, it was easily worth every penny.

You can fish a wobblehead as if it was a swim jig; a slow, steady retrieve, varying speed retrieve or jig and reel. A shaky head is a more vertical presentation, which you can jig and reel up your slack and just let sit for a while.

I haven't used them (although I hear they work very well in the northeast so I'm interested in trying them), but Scott Martin uses 17-20lb fluro or mono for them and occasionally 25lb. I imagine many people would also use braid to fluro leader as well. I linked the video with Scott Martin below.

The "perfect jig" is the one that catches bass on any given day. I've probably caught most on Strike King's Tour Grade swim jig or Booyah's Swim'n'jig with the rattle, simply because I can buy them in stores easily and they work. I also like the heavy cover swim jigs with a heavier weed guard, which can serve as grass jigs. The next jigs I buy will be from Talon. I've heard good things.

I have had my rods and tackle in my car, often on hotter days. Granted, we don't see many days above 90 up in the northeast anymore, the typical hot days of the past several summers (minus a couple outliers) is a max of maybe 87, but never had an issue. The first thing I would be worried about is soft plastics melting together...

Thanks. For what it's worth, surgery was successful and the chemo I have to go through is not a very bad one and has a high success rate with a low recurrence rate -- the first treatment wasn't too terrible actually. I got this.

Since I don't own a boat, if it's too hot, I'll usually fish earlier or later in the day personally. But sometimes I don't have that option and I just want to get out, so I'll either go for areas with solid cover or with deeper water where I can go finesse.

It depends how aggressive the hookset is and how aggressively the fish swallows the hook. Occasionally, a senko is good for only one fish but far more often, I can salvage it for at least a second. Sometimes, they'll last longer than that. That's why I carry a backup bag with me.