Boomstick

I have thought about this and if I can only have three, I might swap out the H/F rod with a M/F rod instead. I guess it depends where you live.

I usually tie an arbor knot and while it's not the strongest knot, it easily takes several times the weight of the reel to break that knot still. A lot of my spools don't have holes, so tying it is not option. On ones that do, I rarely tie it to the spool unless it's braid.

I usually stick with a 6.3:1 or thereabouts gear ratio, or about 24-26" inches per turn for crankbaits. There are some times where you can work them faster and maybe a 7.1:1 (28-29" IPT) would make sense, but that seems to be only a few weeks in August where faster is consistently better as far as I've noticed anyway.

Nice! I saw the post on Youtube so I wasn't worried it was a larger problem.

The lowest I own is a 6.3:1. I keep thinking of buying something a little slower, but it's hard to justify the money.

I use a Tatula Elite for deep divers. It casts further than other Tatulas. Might be something to consider.

As far as rod quality is concerned, the Sierra is more on par with the Tatula than the Tatula XT. The Sierra line is known to have more tip (as in the fast rods are more moderate fast than fast) compared to the rest of the Dobyns line where the Kaden runs a bit faster, but having gotten my hands on rods from both lines, I do think the Sierra is a little more sensitive than the Kaden which is roughly the same price point. I'm not sure what you're looking to throw here, but the Sierra 703C which they call a MH/F is really a fantastic all purpose medium rod and in my opinion is the standout in the series due to the perfect blend of power and tip for most things you would throw on a medium rod in a variety of situations. The regular Tatula line is also worth a look.

I mean this is my thoughts exactly. I wouldn't bother track down the best casting reel with a 5'9" rod, it's like putting Brembo Brakes on a Dodge Aries. My advice is do the best you can with it and try to catch fish until you can upgrade to a more serious BFS setup.

Here's one for you all, an outtake from an 80s Bob Dylan album that I never understood how it wasn't the first song on the album. I even went and learned this song, although I can't sing it like Dylan Leblanc. Okay I just posted one, but I have to post another. It slipped my mind a few minutes ago. Here's a track from Sierra Hull's new EP, recorded in my hometown at a studio I play open mics on Tuesdays at. I think I even posted a video of me playing there before..

We have a tiny pond that is probably 3' deep. It's the first to freeze every year and the first to thaw, but the panfish seem to survive most years. Maybe not this past winter though..

Glad everything seems to be going well. Hope you come out ahead when it's all over too.

The best all around worm rod I have ever used is the Daiwa Tatula Elite Brent Ehrler 7' M-MH/XF rod. It will throw them weightless if the wind isn't too bad and it will throw them with a 3/8oz weight just fine and still has enough power to pull them out of some cover. You can buy a more sensitive rod, but the power and action is what makes it.

I'm a little bit north but our lakes minus an area by a dam were still solidly frozen as of 3/22, although they thawed quickly a couple days later.

Smallmouth can be tough to predict. I got a few around Hero Island and Valcour Island on my kayak in early August last year. St Albans is right near hero island. The west side of the island around the boat launch near Gordon's landing has some roughly flat rocky bottoms that's roughly 13-16 feet for a bit and I got a few smallmouth on a dropshot and dragging a football jig there. Definitely prime smallmouth territory and because of its depth, it may be good year round. The east side around Grand Isle was more largemouth but if you go south so you're just north of 2, it looks like it should be a good small mouth area, but I think I only caught largemouth and pike there. The south side of route 2 is all shallow and weedy. The deeper part yielded a lot of smaller largemouth there, almost a creek channel. My best day ever smallmouth fishing came at the point at the Button Bay state park on a cool day at the end of a week long heat wave. They hit absolutely everything, every cast it was nuts. Will you have a boat or kayak? If not, it would definitely be worth it to visit Button Bay state park and walk to the point. It's a little bit of walk to the point but not bad, just be careful on the rocks that get wet, I slipped and broke some ribs when I wa there. Spinnerbaits worked the best at pre dusk, and once it started getting dark, crankbaits and topwater. Got a few on a T-Rig and football jig too. Champlain is a really fun lake.

Hey Evan, welcome to the forums. As others have said, you do write pretty good especially for a modern day (AI era) 14 year old. Are you sure you're really a 14 year old and don't just play one on the Internet? (kidding)

The AGS guides will break, but they do take a bit to break. If you never bent a guide on a rod, you won't break one. Based on your initial description, the BC2 or 873 would definitely be the way to go. The Power Pitch would work, but that's designed more for pitching and flipping and will be less sensitive due to more power. The ideal answer is both - if I ever come across the money or a good used deal, I may add a Power Pitch as well someday, it would be a nice addition for those lakes I want a football jig and a pitching jig for different spots.

The new Steez AGS rods are light, like 4 oz or so. The Bottom Contact 1 is like 5.5oz and I believe one of the heavier of the first gen. However, it balances perfectly with a light reel like the Steez SV I have on it, so I'm not complaining.

So the first Bottom Contact had a G Loomis MBR kind of bend to it, which is like 30% tip, but the tip is still quite strong. That's what I have and it works in most cover I come across. The Bottom Contact 2 is the same power but with a shorter tip, so it will do a little better in heavy cover. Either way, it's competing with the 873 on your list but it can throw 3/4oz jigs. The Power Pitch is getting much closer to a broomstick of a rod that's used for pitching and flipping. Now I had the Tatula version of it until my kid dropped it off his kayak and I ended up getting the Bottom Contact and not really needing it. I largely used it for flipping, pitching and frogs, but it would cast lighter weights exceptionally well for a stronger rod. T-Rig with 1/4oz weight? No problem! The St. Croix Xtreme AGS 7'4 should be more inline with the Power Pitch in overall power, although if it's like the other St Croix rods it's still more of a 1/2+ jig and frog rod and not as good for lighter weights. The heavy cover special is basically the Steez's frog rod, which I'm pretty sure is definitely more rod than you're after. My reasoning going for the Bottom Contact is in the northeast is that a lot of our lakes have no cover to moderate cover, but heavy cover is generally either very isolated or non-existent and the few shallow lakes that are drowned with heavy cover, I can bring the frog rod and pitching rod and still can usually throw a T-Rig instead of a jig on the bottom contact as well. If I throw a jig on the outside of a thick weedline, it still has enough power to turn their heads and direct them out of the weeds. I'm one to generally take the stance to use the least amount of rod as I can get away with but within reason (I don't want to bring 2 rods to throw jigs when I have a limited number of space for rods on my kayak). I imagine that you have thicker grass than we do, so by the same logic something like the Power Pitch or a 4 power NRX+ (844, 894C) might be great.

I bought my first Tatula SV as soon as they came out, and another one the following black friday sales, and my friend bought one on the same black friday sales which ended up with me after he passed. They all still work as good as new. I got another one later that did not have enough grease on the gears, which I hear is somewhat common but adding grease solved that and no issues since. The newer Tatulas are much smaller in footprint (my kid has a couple). The SV is what you want for fishing something like jigs where you might pitch it or skip it and control is more important than distance. With Daiwa reels, you set the tension knob to the point the spool just begins to click and set it and forget it. Max the brakes and you're good to skip. Set the brakes at 8-10 depending on the rod and weight you're using, and you don't have to worry about thumbing the spool and it'll cast beautifully and as long as you don't mess up your casting motion, have high wind or snag a tree, it won't birds nest. The Tatula Elite casts further than other Tatulas. I picked one up a couple of years ago to use with crankbaits, and it really does cast noticeably further than the other SV, CT or 100. But you will have to thumb the spool a bit. So the correct answer here is there are good uses and reasons to buy both. And there are also cases where a Tatula 100 is fine. A 100 will feel much closer to a SV in terms of control more than the Elite, but it's cheaper. If you're using it for a lure you will never skip or pitch and just want a controlled cast or are throwing a lure you don't really need distance, save money and go with a 100. I will also mention that I own one Steez SV. It has slightly better control than the Tatula SV with better distance (but not as much as the Tatula Elite still). I hear the Zillion SV performs closer to the Steez SV in those regards as well, but the Tatula SV's absolutely get the job done. Buy what fits the need.

A 100 size is enough for all of those, but a 150 does work as well. My kid has a Curado MGL 70 spooled with 16# fluorocarbon and it should hold almost 80 yards based on my calculations - certainly enough he's never spooled it.

My kid broke my Mojo Bass Topwater rod when I let him use it and he snagged a weed. The drag was set fairly light, in short it shouldn't have broke but it did, but they sent me a new one under warranty. My other kid broke his ML/XF spinning rod when he found a fallen tree and we didn't have anything to throw in the wood so he threw it around it, got a massive bass bite it and drag it around the wood. That one wasn't so surprising, but they sent us a new one under warranty still.

So the Steez AGS Bottom Contact rod would be about perfect for what you want. Power wise, it sits between a 873 and 874 in power. For G Loomis, the 873 is probably what you want if you're still casting and not pitching. The 844 would be better with more weight or thicker grass (which you'd probably want to pitch and flip anyway) but won't be as sensitive with a heavier power.

Yes I have seen the same inconsistencies as well. If I ever have a question if a reel can hold enough of a certain line type and it's getting close to being not enough, I have to find the rated diameter of what they call say 16# mono in this case. Usually it's on the box or reel manual. What most reel manufacturers call 16# mono is really some of the thinnest 16# fluorocarbon on the market (not even fluorocarbon from the same brand). So you probably will be able to get at least 70 yards of 15# mono on the reel and be okay, but 17# might be pushing it. Shimano actually has some of the more realistic diameters, at least on some of their reels.

I have a Steez SV and Tatula SV (well mine are older gen, but my kid has a couple newer gens), but it's basically the same difference.

A few years ago, a Fury was priced around $109 and the Sierra at $159, and it's a still a pretty big jump in quality from a Fury to a Sierra. I could argue it was worth it to just go with a Sierra then, but the $109 Fury was still great if you're looking for a rod for something you know you won't use regularly, maybe a second flipping rod for that one super weedy pond you fish twice a year, or something like that. Now that they're $149-159, I'd either go with a Sierra or a Kaden or another brand entirely. I mean, a Daiwa Tatula or St Croix Mojo Bass at $175 is worth the extra $24 and then some... All rod prices have gone up in recent years, but it's not been friendly to the Fury.