Riazuli

I was carrying my second rod between my legs this last summer /fall too and yeah it's not convenient at all. Now I've got a crate system with 2 triple rod holders so they'll be neatly and conveniently standing behind me and not all over the place. Do you put floats on your rods? Or did it sink I picked up a rod and reel case that holds 8 for that purpose. It's just a long convenient tote made by field and stream. Haven't used it yet but once I set up my new equipment, I'll be using it for sure.

Hey everyone, I've purchased a few reels and rods this winter to start using once I get my kayak out as the weather continues to warm. I've been using older setups for the winter, but am ready to start prepping my new gear for the upcoming season. For those of you who have either of these reels, can you please offer some suggestions for the following lures as to how many internal (red or white for the metanium 13) and external brakes you are using? 1/2 oz lipless 1/2 oz chatterbait or spinnerbait (although I feel like a spinnerbait requires different braking than a chatterbait because it's wider) 1/4 oz shad rap 3/8 oz squarebill weightless senko whopper plopper spook frog 1/2 oz jig I realize some of these might use the same setting and that I should just tinker with it to see what works best for me, but I figured if you guys have some go to settings, I could start there rather than from scratch. I'm also thinking of starting heavier on the brakes and then just moving down until I backlash. I realize rod length/action/power comes into play here too. Any ideas?

Thanks, gents. You've successfully made me feel less crazy for wanting to take 5 rods on my kayak. Go big or go home, right? I know when I'm anchored up at a spot, I'll be glad I have several lures to run through without having to change anything. Will report back after my first yakkin of the season.

Makes sense...I've always been 50/50 about snaps and it's mainly a convenience thing...also I've only been using two setups since the summer and am just now expanding to 5. More the reason to steer away from snaps I guess (I'm apprehensive because I prefer to never retie at all lol, but what you're saying about action definitely is clicking).

Ah yeah, that's a great idea. Thanks for reminding me - I had just read about doing that recently and thought about doing it. Where do you think it affects action the most - anything without a ring already attached?

The action is definitely something I didn't consider as much, but I think definitely would make a difference with some baits...I'm thinking crankbaits would get hit the hardest here. I'm starting to like the idea of 5 rods now ...without snaps...more and more!

See, I use snaps but might reconsider using them if I take this many setups. I'm not worried about them being visible but they are a weak point if I were to catch a monster...the wire leaders have held up to some 8+ pound snakehead, but I'm not as sure about these snaps. Even with snaps though, it takes time to get a new lure out of my bag/boxes which isn't the easiest (but not the hardest either) in a kayak.

Ok, you guys are definitely making me feel better about wanting to take more than 3 now lol...I guess I'll take 5 my first trip and if it seems like too much I'll cut back. If it seems manageable, then why not? Better to have too many then not enough as the old saying goes (says the bait monkey).

decisions, decisions, guess I'll give them a look too.......... Funny...these are the only things (paddle tail or flat tail swimbaits) I am still wanting to add to my arsenal right now (trailers for chatterbaits)

The Bait Monkey told me to tell you that you can buy a lot of stuff online at the BPS website...like 5 dollar red eye shads and kvd squarebills...I bought too many already....but I'll lose them eventually and need them eventually...said the bait monkey.

Hey everyone, I'm rarin to take my kayak out as the weather gets warmer and I'm extra ready to put new gear I purchased over the winter to use. I've stuck with my older setups for the winter as I wanted to wait until the Spring to break out the new stuff - I ended up with 3 new rods and reels this winter. I've got two older setups I can keep using too, but I'm wondering if I should just stick to the 3 new ones...part of me is thinking that I might want to at least keep using an older setup for snakehead, which is pretty much what I'll get if I toss a frog into slop where I'm fishing. That would be on a medium heavy/fast action rod (I've considered a dedicate heavy/frog rod for this purpose). My new setups are a M/M for cranks, MH/F for spinnerbaits/chatterbaits/jigs/spooks, and a MF for all-round applications/jerkbaits/plastics/topwaters. The old setups are a MF and a MH/F. If I kept the older setups on the kayak, I'd probably keep the MF as a dedicated plastic worm fisher and again the mh/f as a dedicated frogger - it would have a wire leader on it for the snakehead. That being said, is 5 just too many rods? Worse comes to worse, I could cut it down to 4 and just take one older setup for the froggin as I mentioned before. I don't want to tear up my new stuff on snakehead...those things can get pretty big and crazy. I'll have two triple rod holders on a crate behind me. The extra rod holder (if I use 5 setups) will carry a decent sized net. For those of you who take 5 out, do you end up consistently using all 5 and does this at any point seem like it's just too many to manage? I'm not worried about loading and unloading and all that...I've got a 8 rod/reel bag that should make that part easier. It would add probably another 10 mins prep total for the day if I used 5 instead of 3 (and really you can cut that in half as I'm leaning toward keeping the 4th for the froggin).

The BPS Spring sale is the bait monkey's best friend, also my best friend, and my wallet's worst enemy For a dedicated spinner/chatterbait rod, I would look into MH/Mod-fast rods (although mh/f works well for me for that purpose too). St. Croix lists MH/MF as a dedicated rod for that purpose. Makes sense to me.

I'm a big fan of the bps rods, and have used a bionic blade for over almost 20 years. I even bought a used old model bionic blade over the summer for my second setup (first time having a second setup) along with the same reel, used, a quantum ac500pt. Then winter hit and the bait monkey bit hard. I bought enough lures to hopefully last me a long while (will still probably have to restock my favorites... Just lost 3 craw red eye shads this week alone!) I bought 3 Shimano reels this winter (including the Curado K), along with a bps Johnny Morris Signature series rod, an expride, and now getting this Curado rod to pair with the Curado reel. I initially went to see if I could get a carbonlite 2.0 combo for 120 at the bps spring sale but those were long sold out. Funny thing is I wasn't even looking for another setup but that combo kept looking better and better for the price. I ended up getting the Curado for reasons mentioned in my OP and am so glad I did now, as I can cover a solid 3 combo setup with new gear (mhf, mm, and mf).

thank you I don't think I can really go wrong here with this idea and at this point, I feel like it just comes down to personal preference, what seems right, and what's comfortable. I viewed a dozen videos on the curado reel and rod (separately and as a combo) and that was enough for me to seal the deal on the pair. The Curado name for both components just seems too good to pass up for a different option - it's like they were made for each other? Will report back with my thoughts on my new setups after I start taking my kayak out again (once the weather is warm enough on one of my days off most likely). I've been using my old setups for the winter as I wasn't comfortable breaking in my new gear just yet, but you better believe I'll have em ready for my first kayak outing of the year!

Hey everyone, so earlier I wasn't sure about keeping this Curado K that I got for a really great deal at BPS (120 out of pocket after tax after all was said and done). With a reel trade in, you can knock the reel down to 150 before taxes, which is still pretty good for this reel. That being said, I've decided on keeping the reel, rather than shelling out more than I should be for something else at this point. So, now I need a rod for it What do you guys think of pairing it with a Shimano Curado rod? To me, it just makes sense to pair it with that for obvious reasons, but would I be missing out on much better rods at that price range (~150)? How would you compare the Curado rod in a Medium/Fast to say the following: BPS Johnny Morris Signature Series St. Croix Mojo Bass Maybe something by Dobyns as I've heard good things about them Any thoughts on this are appreciated! EDIT: I've decided to get the curado rod...just seems too perfect of a combo to go any other route.

I grew up on the jitterbug, so that would have to be my all-time favorite. After that is booyah poppin pad crasher and lunkhunt popping frogs, which were my biggest producers this last summer. I'm also a big fan of spooks, and just started using whopper ploppers...I'd have to say the whopper plopper is my favorite now in terms of action/versatility.

I didn't understand the hype either, until I tried it. I was always a jitterbug fan and think I was just apprehensive about trying something new. The action of a wp is excellent...the fact that the tail end hangs down seems like it would be more enticing for fish, and you can vary the retrieves more, where a jitterbug pretty much just has one steady retrieve, with pausing if wanted. The wp can be played like a popper, buzzbait, it can be burned, or chugged slowly. Overall, it's very versatile for a topwater lure.

This is somewhat similar, and something I am considering to use along with regular whopper ploppers. It's the BPS double down plopper:

Bass pro shops currently has a sale running on KVD crankbaits and others. Red eye shads (lipless) and squarebills are going for ~$5 which is about 2 dollars less than usual. I've caught plenty of bass on the red eye shad and it's a popular lure in general. Some good colors to go for are: sexy shad, orange/red varieties, chrome, firetiger, and chartreuse varieties (switch up depending on water clarity and cloud conditions). Chrome and sexy shad will work well in clear water and sunny days (might also consider other natural colors depending on your local forage, like bluegill). For stained and cloudy days water I would go with the brighter colors. Those are general guidelines - you can get more specific depending on the particular combo of water clarity and cloud cover. You can check out guides for crankbait or lipless crankbait colors on google for that, and just go with what works for you in the places you fish at.

I would go with tests that are easy to perform and also ones that you can be more confident of the results for. To me, casting distance between different lure weights and types (spinner =more drag, lipless = better aerodynamics) is a straightforward test that offers results you can be more confident in after several tests. You could also test the same lure with different rod lengths to see performance differences there. Another factor could be m vs mh for different lure weights.

I would start with one and see how you like it before buying the second one. Also, the tackle trap has good descriptions of what each model is suited for (click on the rods you want and look at the bottom of the page) http://tackletrap.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=78_210_2444 Pretty sure the 7'2 mh glass is fine for the chatterbait and good for heavier cranking. St. Croix legend tournament bass, Dobyn's (not sure which series) to name a couple - those are the two I was considering before I went with the expride.

I got mine in earlier this week. Haven't had the chance to test it yet as I'm using it for a new setup that I don't want to use at my current winter spot. I did play around with it a little and it is super light. It's a 7' medium moderate glass composite and yeah they look pretty sweet. I'm pairing it with a metanium 13 and as far as looks go, you can't beat that match up. All the other rods I looked at in that price range did not seem they would really match, which makes sense as both reel and rod are Shimano. That being said, looks are secondary to performance, which is of course the main thing here. I would say it's comparable to other rods in its price range and have read mainly good things about it. I would say that if you're sticking to a certain price range, a lot of it comes down to personal preference at that point (at least when you're dealing with known brands like Shimano, dobyns, st. Croix, g Loomis, etc.) There's also warranties to consider which I mentioned in your other thread. Beyond personal preference, there may be some things to consider based on what you're using it for. If it's mainly cranking I would go with the expride cranking models as they are made of glass composite, which offers the best of both worlds between glass and graphite (parabolic bend where you need it and backbone where you need it). The comparable st. Croix models are only available in 100% glass, which I've heard mixed reviews about. If you're already leaning toward the expride and are looking for a way to be convinced otherwise, you probably won't find a good reason that doesn't fall into personal preference, again outside of the warranties. I'm very happy with my purchase. Another thing - Shimano is one of the clear forerunners in the fishing industry, so it's hard to go wrong there especially when I've heard so many good reviews about the expride series.

I started using hook covers recently because I was tired of my hooks getting stuck in my rod sleeves while my lure is attached to the hook holder on the rod. The covers save me the headache of always having to work the hooks out of the sleeves, and prevents the sleeves from getting torn up... Not to mention the other week while getting my rods into my car before class, I hooked a 3/4 oz red eye shad that was attached to one of my rods through my pants... No way that hook was coming out without ripping the pants, so I had to cut the hook after struggling with the hook for way too long and subsequently being late to class for one of the few times since joining this program. So, yeah, hook covers.

^I agree with Scott F. Also, I have a hard time justifying using braid at all if I'm just going to "weaken" the end of it by attaching a leader (unless it's a wire leader for when I anticipate catching toothy fish like snakehead). It is, however, something I've considered to clearwater/finicky bass. I feel like water with any coloration will disguise the braid well enough (especially if you're using low visibility line colors). I also use a snap because I don't like retying often, so that kinda defeats the "subtlety" of a fluoro leader as it is too.

St. Croix also makes rods that are MH/MF that are also suited for spinner/chatterbaits. In your current price range, the LTB series would be the best one to go with. The Expride uses composite glass. I was in a toss up between the LTB and expride and went with the expride due to looks, the fact that it's composite glass which is said to be better suited for cranking due to having a more parabolic bend while having the graphite for backbone to pull fish out of cover, and because I'm pairing it with a Shimano reel. The st Croix models have much better warranties, but that was something I was willing to forego as I take good care of my rods, and if there's a defect, I should find out within a year. After a year, shimano will take 50% of retail for a new rod and give you free return shipping for a broken rod.