Boomstick

You might want the Dobyns Champion 744C if this is mainly for T-Rigs and jigs. It's a special power and action, a little heavier than the 734C with an extra fast tip. It's not as good for paddle tail swim baits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, etc although it will work. You could add a Fury (or Sierra) 734C at a later date to use for moving baits since they make that rod in the cheaper lines and you don't need the extra sensitivity for moving baits. You might also want to consider the Expride which is only a little more expensive, or the St Croix Victory, which I think is a little more sensitive than the Champion XP, and cheaper. The Victory is the one you'd want.

It might be a bit fast for crankbaits, it will work with chatterbaits and it will work quite well for Texas rigs and jigs. What you can do is replace your crankbait hooks with thicker wire, larger hooks which will work better with the extra fast tip.

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Honestly, we haven't tried, but it's a little heavier of a rod than I would normally use for a T-Rig with a 1/4oz weight, although I'd throw a Carolina rig with a 3/8 or 1/2oz weight all day. Although I would imagine it would cast well especially with heavier plastics. If you're looking for a rod for T-Rigs and jigs, I might consider the St Croix Victory "The Marshall". I can attest that the Dobyns Champion XP 744C will also cast a T-Rig with a 1/4oz weight if you're using a heavier plastic very well, but neither are as good in cover. You can get away with a fair amount of cover with the Full Contact Finesse, really any cover that you wouldn't need a heavier weight for.

I don't think so. I have the Steez AGS 7'5' MH-H/F rod that I use for jigs in most situations, and that is super sensitive The Victory full contact finesse rod is not as sensitive, but it's not too far behind. I mean I can feel the jig scraping on rock unmistakably on both rods alike, and it only feels a little muted on the victory after fishing my Steez for a full day. Where I feel the Champion XP isn't bad either, but feels a little muted in comparison to the Victory when scraping a jig on a rock on the bottom. It's still a step above the Sierra and my Tatula (non elite) rods so it's not a bad rod by any means, it's just the Victory has sensitivity that is above its price point and that particular rod is absolute money for all around jig use

Well as I tried to explain, the Dobyns Champion XP 744C is a special power and action. It's basically a MH-H by most standards, with an extra fast but fairly soft tip. The St Croix Victory rods seem to run a little bit lighter than other St Croix rods, but still run a little heavier. Yes, this rod is a full heavy, but the tip is pretty soft so it casts very well. It's really designed for 3/8oz and 1/2oz jigs and casts them very well, but because it's a heavy you can throw it into some pretty thick cover too, as long as you don't need a heavier jig (it's rated up to 7/8oz, likely because the tip would overload casting a 3/4oz jig pretty quickly). My youngest son uses this for his football head and arky head jigs in both cover and open water alike.

I second this. The SLX 70 MGL is probably the top of the SLX line and is fantastic for casting lighter lures. As long as you aren't using above 16# fluorocarbon.

In the Dobyns Champion XP line, the "jig special" or 744C rod would be the way to go. It's a special power and action, has a bit more tip than your typical dobyns and it's between the heavy and mag heavy in power. It's not for the real thick stuff, but you can throw in some moderate cover. Even better though, I would probably go with the St Croix Victory 7'3" H/XF "Full Contact Finesse" rod. It's a heavy power with a soft tip and a quick transition to the backbone, and will do anything from flipping, pitching and casting jigs well. It only costs $200 it's pretty light and honestly I think it's a bit more sensitive than the more expensive Dobyns Champion XP 744C. My kids have both rods, so I have experience with both.

Oh so you're up in my neck of the woods!

Well it's getting to that time again! How about Thursday, September 23rd at 7:30pm?

Yeah, between my oldest playing soccer and my youngest playing hockey which started last week, fall is usually pretty busy. I can't get much fishing time in today because I have to get my youngest a new hockey bag. Maybe I can hit up some place on the way home.

Yeah, since I got my kayak I tend to not go shore fishing as much. It also doesn't help that I now work long days and work from home, where when we had an office, I would pass two shore spots on my way home after work.

I finally got to go fishing today! Between all the rain and taking care of my dad who recently had stent surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm that was quite large , I haven't made it out since mid August! Still getting over a gout attack in my foot so I didn't dare try to take the kayaks out (and coming back, I don't think I'd have been able to get it on the trailer to go home) but I made it to a shore spot that sometimes produces pretty large fish. I missed one, and my youngest had a decent bass jump out of the water a good foot that missed his T-Rig. When I just got rigged up, someone else who was just coming in caught a 5 pounder in the general area I was fishing. Had to leave early to take the kid to hockey practice. At least I got out finally. If all goes well, I might make it out tomorrow too.

There is that too. A lot of times doing it professionally takes the fun out of it.

I bought a SS127 last year. All around it's a pretty solid kayak and nearly impossible to flip. Be sure to add the rudder or flex wings (depending if you plan on putting a trolling motor on the back), without either the tracking is awful but I have the rudder and with the rudder deployed it completely solves that. The one thing to keep an eye on is the pads that the seat sits on tend to come unglued and slide backwards pretty quickly. I have been gluing it, but that takes 24 hours to set and without a garage, sometimes I can't always reglue them if it's pouring out the day before etc. I have been told to try 3m double sided tape, and I can spend a minute before each trip and add new tape as needed. I find that the W shaped hull does tend to rock you back and forth more than many kayaks, but it's pretty hard to flip. Basically, when it gets choppy, I'm at risk of falling off myself.

I doubt there are any nameless anglers who can simply dominate the pros. Let's face it, if anyone was that good, they could quit their day job and became a pro. It arguably may have already happened when Kevin Van d**n made his way through the ranks. The real question is how many non pros could day in and day out compete with pros? I have no doubt there are non-pro pros out there, but that's an elite group and not the majority. How many non pros have the same level experience of learning a lake the day before the tournament?

In later August and fall, the NetBait paca chunks or Rage Craws are my go to jig trailers. That doesn't mean a Rage Bug or a Sweet Beaver won't work on the right day though.

My rods are usually paired with the same reels most of the time, but there is some time I will pair different reels with different rods based on conditions.

Nope. This is a bass that has been exposed to too much country music.

This is what happens when a bass is exposed to punk rock for an extended period of time.

With a bottom contact bait, yes.

This looks like a prime opportunity for a spinnerbait, swim jig or arky head jig to me. I usually throw Carolina rigs when there is a hard bottom and the fish are suspending near the bottom and drag it vertically.

I have the Tatula (non-elite) 7'4" frog rod. It casts the 2 1/4" LiveTarget frogs (my go to) very well and has all the power I ever need. That said, I've heard exceptional things about the Irod Genesis II Fred's Magic stick frog rod from many people, so the Genesis III might be worth a look as well.

How about another Tatula LT? Picked one up earlier this year, great reel.

I got my oldest son a Shimano SL-X MGL70. It's a nice size and it's real good for 10# or 12# fluorocarbon. If you use anything above 15# fluorocarbon (.33mm diameter), you'll want a larger reel though.