Boomstick

Nice! But Caldor was still around in the 90s?

That' why we have the internet. Looks like it's rated up to 3/4oz. If you use a trailer you could easily exceed that, fortunately GLoomis rods usually handle over their weight ratings pretty well, not sure about the IMX and I don't use a trailer that often myself. https://www.gloomis.com/content/gloomis/northamerica/usconv/en/homepage/PDP.P-IMX_PRO_MBR.html

What are your MH rods rated for though? If they are kind of a MH+ rod, usually 10-20lb line and 1/4 to 1oz, then those are great for 1/2oz spinnerbait (and they work for 3/8 too). If it's rated for 1/4 to 3/4oz baits and 8-17lb line, sometimes called by many manufacturers as a medium then it's better for 3/8oz spinnerbaits. The only way I'm using a heavy rod for a spinnerbait is if it's a 1oz spinnerbait, which I don't too often.

Usually it's late February or early March. It's varied a little year to year.

I fish with my two sons on kayaks. Last year I had the only fish finder, but this year they'll each have their own so that will be new. Generally I'll paddle around the lake and they'll go ask me what interesting spots I found that hold fish. I imagine we'll likely do the same thing a bit next year with all three of us.

If I was fishing on Ontario or Erie and could afford that, that would be a pretty sweet fishing boat. Maybe a little bit overkill, certainly on the smaller lakes I normally fish on but pretty sweet regardless. Good luck with your new boat whatever you decide to do.

I'd normally root for the GOAT but there's a lot of bad players on Tampa Bay as well who I would never root for, so go Chiefs.

I believe he is looking for bottom contact jigs plus the ability to fish a paddle tail unless I missed something. I honestly don't have a preference between cork and foam. My only preference in regards to a vertical presentation is a split grip - for other presentations a full grip or split grip is fine. Yeah I'm curious about this rod, maybe if I come across some extra cash and find a deal or maybe for this year's Black Friday sales for finesse jigs and maybe lighter jigs, football jigs and T-Rigs. The other option is the 7'1" MH/XF which I generally know the action of, but I keep hearing that the 7'2" is a pretty decent all purpose rod from Matt Allen. But it's listed as a regular tip, which ranges from moderate primarily on composite rods to near fast from what I've seen with Daiwa. It also was listed as a spinnerbait and deep diver rod on the old Daiwa Steez AGS page. Curious if you have any idea what to expect. I would imagine one of those two would be a better option for paddle tails than the Bottom Contact rod at least.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. St. Croix rods are generally a better value and they make better rods at the lower end of the price spectrum, G Loomis wins at the upper end.

One thing to note is the NRX 873C is more geared towards lighter jigs than for lighter jigs than heavier jigs, although like most GLoomis rods they well over their weight limit. I picked up a Daiwa Steez AGS MHH/F Bottom Contact rod for jig fishing this year on TW's Black Friday sales. It's supposed to work well with up to 3/4oz jigs, but most of my jig fishing is 3/8oz and 1/2oz which it should excel at. It has that proper action that I was looking for in a jig rod, a little stiffer than your standard MH rod that runs on the heavy side, but a little bit of bend in the tip, sort of the GLoomis MBR bend if you will. Thick weeds aren't all too common where I fish, but we have a lot of wood, so that may be an option. I haven't got to fish it yet, but the vibrations I could feel just taking off the rod sleeve were insane. It also balances exceptionally well with the 5.5oz Steez SV reel I paired with it, and doesn't feel very tip heavy with no reel at all. It's a little heavier in weight than some other high end options, but for me due to how I fish a vertical presentation, the balance is a little more important than the overall weight. So my initial impressions of this rod are very high.

The Tatula Elite 7'4" MH/F is on my want list for deep divers and maybe some chatterbait or spinnerbait action too. It can handle up to 2 ounces, so it won't be a problem for those large deep divers. I have the 7' and 7'2" Tatula glass (composite) rods, and they're surprisingly sensitive for composite rods. I 've also heard many good things about the 7'2" Expride glass.

I cast primarily left handed unless there's an obstacle that is easier to cast right handed - after a few practice tries I can usually make weak casts right handed with acceptable accuracy. But I can't reel with my left hand to save my life, my reeling motion is so very jerky, so I always use right handed baitcasters.

You've clearly gotten good at it. I can tie a regular uni and waste less than an inch of line with a regular uni, with an improved uni I'm not that great at estimating it so it's usually a few inches.

I would definitely prefer 3/8oz baits on that rod. For 1/2oz spinnerbaits and chatterbaits, I generally use a rod rated from 1/4 to 1oz. 3/8oz works on either. Something else to consider is you can throw a spinnerbait with no trailer or just a trailer hook, but with a chatterbait you'll always have additional weight from a trailer, often a Keitech. So a 1/2oz chatterbait plus a trailer could easily exceed 3/4oz. Even a 3/8oz with a 3.8" Keitech would be nearing 3/4oz. A trailerless 1/2oz spinnerbait should still be under 3/4oz, but a slightly stouter rod would still be preferred for that although not required. Your cheapest bet would be to start at 3/8oz before buying a new rod. If you're pretty sure that these are presentations you're going to stick with then perhaps a stouter rod is worth it. On a side note, that stouter rod can also throw a senko with a 1/4oz weight pretty well and 3/8 and 1/2oz jigs, 4.8" Keitechs on swimbait hooks and a whole slew of other stuff and is probably one of the most useful rods you will ever own.

That's also known as the improved uni. That's probably the strongest knot out there and will definitely work as well but wastes a lot of line and is a little bit slower to tie. I just use a 4-6 turn uni because that's been adequate for me.

It's probably not good for the rod no, but unless I'm using a drop shot rod or I get a 4lb+ fish in which case I get the net out, I've had no problems to date pulling fish onto the boat so far.

Top fluorocarbon lines I've tried so far: #1) Berkley Trilene 100% Flurocarbon. I buy it buy one get one free from BPS/Cabelas every year during their spring sale, it's strong, casts well and the knot strength is great. The downside is that it's as thick as thick mono. #2) Seaguar Blue Label. I haven't tried the gold yet, but this has been my go to leader line for a few years now. #3) Seaguar InvisX. Strong, reliable, casts well, acceptable knot strength and a thinner diameter. I will be trying some Daiwa J-Fluoro Samurai this year, and I got some Sunline Sniper FC for my oldest son to try out. I will probably pick up some 12lb Assassin too for him to try with crankbaits, lighter T-Rigs and finesse jigs as well. One of these days I'll get around to trying Shooter and Tatsu. The worst fluorocarbon line I have used is Berkley Vanish. I bought some at Walmart when I was in a pinch, it doesn't handle very well and it doesn't hold up to abrasion at all. If you count copoly lines, I'd have to say that P-Line floroclear is almost certainly much worse. I didn't try it for myself, but I bought some based on tackletour's review for my oldest son and he instantly had issues casting and he typically casts extremely well. Plus when he picked out a birds nest, the line would coil and that made it easy for it to knot itself when pulled out. I went home and ordered some Yo Zuri Hybrid and never had problems like that again. I would recommend a uni knot. I can tell you from experience you'll be fine with InvizX but I have no doubts about the Tatsu and AbrazX either. Even Red Label is passable for a cheaper line, but the step up to InvixX is definitely worth it.

I generally prefer the paddle shape because those are a safe bet to be comfortable to me but the T shape if it's the right size works fine too, at which point it's different but fine by my standards as well.

I'll be honest here, the Ned rig isn't my favorite way to catch bass, I prefer fishing jigs, spinnerbaits, frogs or drop shots for finesse but they sure do work and they're fairly quick to tie on and they don't eat up a lot of leader line. When I'm having a tough time catching fish, they're probably the best lure to tie on. If nothing else, they'll catch bass in numbers and also trout and panfish eat them right up.

Typically none but I picked up some Hot Sauce I'm gonna try out this year.

I would do that for 2/14 but that is also Valentine's day. Given my kid's hockey schedule, I'll likely be going to Valentine's day lunch.

Yeah and your pipes freeze, or walk outside 50 feet to your car with wet hair in the morning and your hair freezes.

I would ideally prefer 15-17lb just because I'm not of the belief that a bass are line shy when it comes to moving baits so why not be prepared to throw it in cover, but 12lb should generally work fine unless you're going after giants or throwing into heavier cover.

@Glenn I said it a few weeks ago on a Zoom call but I'll say it again, thanks for taking the time to do reviews and I appreciate them.

I sometimes browse reviews on tackletour, but I found a couple of their reviews to be somewhat inaccurate from personal experience. For example, they really liked P-Line fluroclear, which I gave to one of my kids a few years ago. He instantly had all sorts of casting problems, which is not normal for him and the way that it would birds nest made it harder to pick out. And they did not like Yo Zuri hybrid, which I thought was pretty all around solid. I've talked to others with same exact experience with both lines. If I asked some forum users, they probably could have saved me the money on the Fluoroclear in the first place.