Boomstick

Well if you can find a Tatula or Zillion HLC reel, those are going to be a winner for distance. The Tatula Elite is probably the best widely available model for distance, but the Tatula 100 (same frame as the Elite) or 150 or even CT will get you a little more distance than a SV. If you have the money to spend and are using 10 or 12lb line or thinner, the Aldebaran MGL 50 might be worth a serious look as well they are really light and smaller than the Metanium MGL 150s and I say this as a pretty diehard Daiwa user.

Bass just eat the Storm Wildeye swim shads. Once my oldest son had a horrible birds nest and a bass ate it when it was sitting still in the water, they just straight up catch fish. I haven't used the Berkleys so I can't comment. My most productive colors have been the shad and olive shad. The 4" seems to work well for numbers in most situations, but early and late in the year a 3" can work - and of course a 5" and 6" will catch larger fish.

The Berkley Cutter has been my #1 jerkbait especially in shallow water, and they don't break the bank.

Usually on the smaller hooks that are commonly used for the drop shot, you just have to raise your rod tip upwards rather than give a full hookset. If your drag is set right, you should be able to try to control the fish with the rod and reel when the fish swims at you and keep it pinned. A 2-3lb fish usually puts up a pretty good fight on lighter finesse gear, but I usually don't have a problem keeping them pinned. Just off on a thought here - what hooks are you using? I usually use Owner Mosquito light hooks and they work very well. Using 12lb Sunline SX1 and 6lb fluorocarbon leader, Seaguar Blue Label 6lb or Berkley Trilene Fluorocarbon XL 6lb to save some money when the drop shot isn't a primary technique.

The Bending Branches Angler Classic is pretty decent. You might be able to find a deal and get one closer to $100. Works well if you prefer high and or low angle paddling, and has a ruler so you can use it to measure any fish you catch and a hook remover as a bonus feature.

I haven't thrown anything heavier than a 3/4oz jig + trailer or a hollow body frog on mine, but I've had no issue, or with any of my other Daiwas that I've thrown the same lures on. But out of all of my Tatulas, the 150 is the one that I would use for heavier lures, it feels like it was made for them.

Are there any weeds? Hard or soft bottom? What's the water clarity like?

Let me know what you think because I'm interested in this rod - for 8XDs but also heavier spinnerbaits and chatterbaits.

I think you'll have a good market for at the very least non Bonafide models this year, certainly this fall if not earlier. I bought a Tiki special edition, got it for the normal price. Almost got a BK-52 bomber, but just missed it so since they didn't have it, they offered me the Tiki at the regular price. I'm part of the Bonafide Facebook groups, and shortly after the supply ran out entirely. People would sell them in the group at a near new price and they'd sell like hotcakes. I can say I'm very happy with mine at the very least.

I have no experience with either of those models directly, but I have a SS127 and my youngest son has an Old Town Topwater 120. I can stand just fine on both of them. The Bigwater should be more stable than the Topwater/Sportsman 120, and the RS117 should be less stable than the SS127, but you probably are a little shorter and lighter than I am too, so I imagine either would be fine. The high position on the Topwater's seat is roughly the low position on the Bonafide's seat. I pretty much largely only use the low position on my SS127's seat as it's much easier to paddle - you're going to need at least at very minimum a 280cm paddle to paddle from the high position comfortably, 260cm doesn't even come close. But the high is pretty sweet to fish out of for sure. Bonafide last year was so backed up with production that people would pay new prices for a used kayak. If their production backlog continues (I'm not sure if it's better now), it will continue to be the same.

I've heard him say something similar about Hakeem Olajuwon, but my vote goes to Bill Laimbeer, that guy really was a worm

I saw this last night and was going to post this today because this is valuable information. As a result of having cancer as well as lynch syndrome, I have been getting annual checkups for the past few years - so far so good.

If you keep two hands on the rod, you're putting less stress on the tip than catching a big fish or just pulling on the tip. The thing you wanna be careful with here is to NEVER hold it by just the tip alone. Grab the rods by the backbone like you do when you're hiking through the woods first. However this is not comparing just the power of two rods as you can move your finger from the backside of the rod to the front to find out where the tip starts.

It does well with light baits for sure, but also remember light is relative to the rod. For some things I just don't have any benefit casting on a SV. As far as being smoother, I have three SVs. One is now the second smoothest reel I own behind a Steez SV, the other is as smooth as the Tatula 100 and the other isn't nearly as smooth as any of the above. It seems hit or miss.

I do the tip trick as seen below to compare rods. For example, if there is a rod in a store I am familiar with, then I'll take that rod and the rod I'm looking at and do what PunchFishing does later in this video, which gives me a good idea about how much tip it has and depending where I place my finger, where the tip turns to backbone etc. It's gotten to the point where I generally see a line rating and a action and a brand name and have a general idea what the rod is going to be like. In cases where I'm not entirely sure, I'll ask on the forums or talk to owners. I've gotten to the point where I can find a lure and ask how well it casts that said lure. When I was jig rod shopping for a MH++ rod, a key for me was that it's a little heavy for a T-Rig but works great for dragging one.

I use 6.3:1 reels for moving baits and 7.x:1 for everything else. 8.1:1 would have been nice to have and I tried to buy one once, but I got the Tatula CT in 7.1:1 for $70 and 8.1:1 would have been full price. It would have been nice to have, but it's not that big of a deal. 29-30" IPT is pretty decent for reeling up slack - and even burning things like spinnerbaits. Eventually you reel so fast that your bait flies right out of the water anyway.

@ABrugs I might get two 100s for both of those presentations and save a little money to be honest. My reeling itself is jerky when I'm fishing a bait like a jerkbait and it's not a lure like a deep diving crankbait where I need that little bit of extra distance. My youngest son has a Tatula 100, uses it for treble hooked baits. Paired with a St Croix Mojo Glass 7'2" M/M rod, it casts very well - I wouldn't be surprised if it outcasted the Tatula SV and CT. I believe he had 10lb Sufix Siege on it last year (which runs a little thicker than some 10lb line).

I largely do the same thing. If I see a particular rod in a store, I can tap the tip on things and see what I can feel for vibrations. There's been a few rods in the $100+ price range where I couldn't feel the vibrations let alone anything unless I hit the tip fairly hard. I was in a store last week that had a handful of St. Croix rods and the difference between the Bass X and Mojo Bass was quite surprising - let's say spend the extra $30 or so, absolutely worth it. I'm not going to lie, there are several different rods available from several different manufacturers at several different price points that are all roughly similar in terms of things like weight, balance and sensitivity. Sometimes certain manufacturers will offer specialty rods where others won't - and sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's not, if you have a simple 3-6 rod setup for example, it's probably not. What I'm getting at is as long as you find the length, power and action that you're looking for, there are many right choices. And while I'm not here to brand bash, there really are a number of for lack of a nicer sounding term, simply wrong choices as well. I don't see those being thrown around too often on these forums though, for good reason.

It's just a matter of how much you're willing to spend. The elite will cast slightly further and feel a little smoother. They both have the same frame and solid brakes. I wouldn't buy a SV and an Elite for the same thing. For chucking crankbaits or even any moving bait in clear water, the Elite is really the way to go but the 100 is fine if you're on a budget. For skipping, or pitching or even making shorter targeted casts, the SV is the way to go.

1/2oz River2Sea white spinnerbait.

The only reason it works with spinnerbaits and chatterbaits is that you're generally keeping the bait moving and if you set the hook as soon as you feel a tug, you can give a great big hookset. It also keeps the bait moving through grass. Some people like it, some hate it. For me, it works either way I just need to remember what I'm fishing on.

Funny you mentioned that because Brett Ehrler uses a glass rod for chatterbaits - has his own in the Tatula Elite lineup for it even. What do you think of the 7'3"? Have you used a Tatula (not elite) MH? Curious if it'd be worth the step up.

Both the standard Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad and the boot tail version are very good. Keitechs rigged upside down or with the tail slightly chopped off, swim senkos and the many variants and on swim jigs I've had some luck with NetBait Paca Chunks

No the one I suggested is the Tatula Elite Ehrler bladed jig rod which is a line up from the regular Tatula that you listed in the title. It's listed as a MH but has a .5 - 2oz rating, definitely made for throwing at least a 1/2oz chatterbait or heavier with a heavy trailer.

If you're looking to spend up to $190, you might want to look at the 7'4" MH/R Tatula Elite glass rod. I've used the 7'2" MH/R Tatula for lighter spinnerbaits and chatterbaits without issue. When you get a bite, give it a great big sweeping hookset. Obviously, I get short strikes sometimes too where I have no chance to get a fish - and that happens on graphite rods as well, but my hookup ratio is about the same whether or not I'm using glass or graphite. One of the advantages with glass is the way it loads up when going through grass.