LionHeart

Kinda confused by your question man. Are you looking for a bait casting reel? spinning reel? Or a rod?

Well you said he's your friend, and he's a dude. Just be direct and honest. That easy. Next question... P.S., dude don't do this by text message. Do this face to face

I'd say the quality is on par if not better than many $100 rods, and they have a lifetime warranty. I have returned many items to Cabelas and it has always been painless. I usually take 4 rods when I go out unless I'm on the bank, and a Cabelas ZX Spinner bait and Swim Jig rod is one of them. It is rated 1/4-5/8 oz., and while I don't regularly recommend exceeding lure ratings, I'd not hesitate to throw 3/4 oz. on this rod. It has a decent backbone with a nice tip. My only gripes would be that I don't really care for white fishing rods (but whatever), and they don't exactly have premium guides (although they have never given me any cause for concern). If you can catch them on sale, it be difficult to find a better rod for $80. If you want to spend your full budget, I'm sure you've already heard of the Diawa Original Tatula rods. You can get them on EBay for $100. I have a 7'2" MH, and it is absolutely fantastic. Very sensitive and well made rod no doubt about it. This option won't let you use the gift card, but trust me, those things spend themselves.

Nothing wrong with house rods. Cabelas Tournament ZX rods are excellent for the money and go on sale for $ 80 often. Never tried BPS rods though

Nah. Could it happen? Sure, but most times I'm gonna say they throw the lure. If the fish fully engulfs the lure then you break off, yeah they dead. No way to know for sure.

I started fishing crankbaits, spinner baits, and chatter baits. When I first started fishing jigs it was so painful to slowly work one across the bottom. I remember thinking I'd never enjoy fishing so slowly and wondering how anyone could. It was so painful. I still don't have much confidence in a jig even though I've forced myself to spend a load of time fishing them. What I have learned to really enjoy is dragging a Texas rig worm or other plastic slow enough to count rocks. If you can force yourself to do it, you'd be surprised how productive it can be. What I've found is that I'm often more productive when I fish from the bank because I do fish so slowly. I often will catch a fish after many casts to the same log, just from a different angle. This takes time and patience, but even though I never thought I'd adapt to fishing slowly, I now often prefer it.

It's not so your knots don't slip. It's because if you get a solid backlash that stops your lure mid cast, a heavy lure can snap your braid. I used to think this was hogwash, till it happened to me. Yes, a heavy lure can snap 50 lb braid if it is suddenly stopped due to backlash.

This is one of those things that come down to preference. Some people find it easier to turn the reel handle faster to speed up, others like myself find it easier to slow down if need be. IMO a 7 speed has the edge because it can always be as slow as a 6 speed but a 6 speed can never be as fast as a 7 speed. The only time it would really matter is when you need to take up line quickly, and even then there isn't a world of difference. I do have a couple of 6 speeds that I use for those lures that impose large amounts of drag like a big spinner bait or deep diving crankbait. It is during those times I find the extra torque nice to have. It'd be silly to not just get which ever you find the best deal on, at some point you'll likely have each.

That's great dude. Always exciting to get new gear. I've been using Plano Boxes and a bag for carrying tackle and have come to prefer it over a traditional tackle box.

Gear ratio? Too easy, 7 speed will do everything well except magnum crank baits. If I could only choose one reel speed, it'd be 7 speed no contest.

Duplicate post

Sounds like you already have a good rod for Texas Rigs. Now just get a cranking rod. Not sure why you would be looking for one rod that can do your two favorite techniques while you could just use a rod for each and not have to re-tie. Am I missing something? If for whatever reason you absolutely want a single rod for both, a medium fast or medium heavy moderate fast would do well with both IMO.

IMO a medium spinning rod should be able to cast a knot tied at the end of your line. I think it'd be a great choice.

Wish I could help man. I can't afford to give advice on rods like that.

Got a budget in mind?

I consider fast to be a rod that hits the backbone somewhere around 1/4 length from the tip. Everyone will have their own criteria I guess based on the rods they are used to using. As I'm sure you've noticed, even rod manufacturers have their own versions of what a fast rod should be. I only ask because Dobyns is pretty widely accepted as a great rod company, but equally known for having slower blank ratings. Not necessarily a good or bad thing, just never heard anyone refer to Dobyns rods as being on the fast side. Unless comparing them to a spinning rod 'fast which can be dang near parabolic.

You're saying Dobyns have fast tips? That may be the first time I've heard that.

Quantum just needs to pay a bunch of kids to use their gear on YouTube. Problem solved

Pretty much what Mike said. If your reel isn't properly filled you will sacrifice retrieve speed, which for some techniques is pretty dang important. Is it the end of the world? Course not. Some will claim that casting distance is decreased but that's more of a spinning reel problem, and negligible at best on a casting reel. On the opposite side of things, an overly filled spool will cause you many backslashes.

Nothing to do with slippage. I do it soley to save $

In my opinion 50 lb test Power Pro braid and 12-20 lb test mono leader 6-10 feet in length with an FG knot will take you just about anywhere you want to go. Honestly, I ignore the line test range on a rod completely and pay more attention to lure rating. Starting to take the lure rating with a grain of salt as well on many rods. As said, not a bad idea to fill the spool at least 1/3 to 1/2 with mono or flouro before putting on the braided line. Mostly because it can allow you to fill 2 reels with 1 spool of braid, and save $. The reason I recommend 50 lb braid has nothing to do with the breaking strength and everything to do with it being easy to see when you want to 'watch your line,' and the fact that it won't dig into itself while on the spool as bad as smaller test braid tends to do. Hope this helps man.

Okay, maybe I exaggerated a bit there. I admit it.

This. I can't imagine any reason to buy the XT.

Used the green stuff. Good line but fades pretty bad, if that matters to you.

Pitching maybe, flipping seems about right.