LionHeart

Tough situation dude. I've changed the advice I was gonna give you twice already. How serious is the relationship?

What if I told you the weight of your reel does not affect balance of your bait casting rod when you are palming the reel?

I own an 8ft. Sun Dolphin and for me it is perfect. It weighs 100 lbs, so if you plan to just throw it in the back of a truck, the difference in size and weight from a 10e is considerable. The whole reason I bought one of these tiny boats was to be able to fish solo and launch nearly anywhere. Doing this with a 10e would be exhausting, considering I use a homemade 2 wheeler alot to hike the boat through trails to reach the water. The floor space on an 8 foot is plenty if you fish alone, and totally doable if you want to bring a friend. Crowded, but doable. I also like the raised sides on the Dolphin. I usually take 4-5 rods with me and I never worry about them rolling overboard. I have not fished out of a 10e but they look awesome, just too big and heavy if you don't plan to use a trailer. I wanted something that absolutely didn't need a trailer so to me the Dolphin was an easy choice.

What Largies said except I'd go with a 4 power for chatter, spinner, even weightless plastics. 3 power Dobyns is pretty wimpy. I think treble hooks

Dude get the fury and the MB. MB is usually 99 bucks on Ebay with free shipping. American Legacy is an excellent seller. They have 10% coupon on their site also. Order today and you may have it Saturday. I'd call and see if they could ship today 734 vs 704, meh not a huge difference but I'd go 734.

I use one of these. Will just about fit into back pocket of pants. Pretty tiny. Love it

Ultra finesse

I had a 1036 Topper for years. Took that thing all over the place. At the time I had a Jeep Cherokee. I'd just ratchet strap the sucker to the roof. Looked about as red neck as it gets. I cared not, I am a red neck. One piece of advice if you go that route. Never leave the plug in if it's about to rain.

Clear line

Absolutely. With flipping, all you are essentially doing is dipping the bait into a spot, and if a fish bites it, set the hook upward as you hoist them out.

Sensitivity is the last thing on my mind when I cast.

I have own 2 Original Tatula rods. One 7'2" Heavy Fast (excellent pitching rod) and a 7'2" Medium Heavy Regular. I knew I'd regret selling it, and I do. The 'regular' to me felt like a fast action by most standards. Maybe, maybe a faster version of moderate fast, but it was an excellent trig and 3/8 oz jig rod if that tells you anything. Very light, and sensitive rods, period. Not perfect though. The handles are shorter than I prefer, and the reel seat never quite felt right to me. I have also owned one of the newer versions. I really liked the change to full cork handle and different reel seat. Sensitivity seemed on par as the original version. The Steez or NRX I can't speak for. I got bills.

Good looking rod dude. What $ was he asking? I don't think it would be considered confidential or uncouth to say, but if you don't feel comfortable posting, I totally get that too.

Really? Well crap. Wish I had know this.

$150 for both? Or each? Flipping, the reel doesn't matter in the least. Pitching? If you're new to baitcasting, get something with excellent breaks and at least fair drag. You'll want something fast, at least 7 speed. Ideally, a flipping rod would be a completely different setup than a pitching rod. But if you want a single rod for both, see below: The rod should have some muscle, but a fairly forgiving tip. As others have said, go with a Falcon Bucoo SR heavy power and a Diawa Fuego CT. Over your budget by a smidge, but solid setup for sure. Dobyns Fury extra heavy would be a smart choice for the rod also. I don't like to tell people to stretch their budget when they start a thread with a particular budget, but $150 IME makes it tough.

You can use any size line you desire. The only penalty you will pay is less line capacity, but let's be serious, does anyone need more than 70 yards for bass? Don't believe the "pros," fluorocarbon has tons of stretch.

I always bring a paddle for just in case. Having said that, if I didn't have a trolling motor, I wouldn't take it out. Paddling that thing around would get old real fast

Ray Robert's 26,000 acres and if wind kept me off the water I'd miss fishing all Spring. 20-35 mph out of the south all spring here. Just the way it is. Last year I used a 14 ft jon and probably looked a little crazy going out in that crap. If you treat the situation for what it is though, it's doable. Miserable, but doable. I fish out of an 8ft bass buggy these days and it can almost be as bad when the wind gets crazy as not fishing at all. I will say it is a stable little sucker though. I always have a life vest, share my GPS location with the Mrs., and never go further from the launch point than I'm prepared to hike in case my trolling motor can't get me back. Obviously the main lake would be suicide so I stick to the coves. They can get pretty wild though. I've been close to hiking back a number of times. The wind has to be pretty gnarly for me to walk the bank. I'd say 30 knots and the buggy stays in the garage. I have recently discovered how much fun it can be wading the banks. Not trying to sound macho, but 15 mph ain't nuthin.

IMO the difference is pretty noticeable. I use 8 speed reels for jigs and Texas rigs, nothing else. 7 speed will work with just about everything. BTW 11 lb drag is plenty.

Diawa Tatula sounds like what you want. Excellent, excellent braking on that reel.

I have often pondered this. Then again, how much of your hand actually touches the handle when you fish? I'd submit nearly none for most guys/gals.

Your gear sounds proper. Is it it possible that you aren't getting a proper hook set? How biga' fish are we talking? I've reeled in plenty of fish that are barely hooked in the side of the mouth and think, wow that fishes lip almost ripped out. One more good tug and that fish would have gotten away.

The way I see it, #50 is over kill for any fresh water rod, but I still use it because it doesn't dig into the spool as often and is easier to see. #30 works well also though.

Any man willing to go through this much to get rid of line memory, certainly has what it takes to learn the FG knot. Passes through fairly small guides better than any other knot, and I would argue possibly stronger than any other knot if properly tied. Not sure why this posted four times. My phone does the weirdest things on this forum some times

I will suggest that they have a specific target audience and leave it there. Will they catch fish? Sure