5by3

The 110 seems to be the best size in my area for both largemouth and smallmouth. It’s big enough to draw the big bite, but still small enough to appeal to 1-2 lbers too. I’ve tried the 130, but seem to get much more action on the 110. You can get away with a medium or medium heavy rod with braid for the 110. You’ll need a stronger rod for the 130, that bait is heavy! Im not a fan of the WP 90 or 75. The ones that I have don’t run true and spin around on the surface if you reel too fast. I don’t have this issue with the 110 or 130.

I throw mine on 30 lb straight braid unless I’m throwing a bait that has a front prop, then I’ll add a short mono leader to help with the foul ups.

I like 40-50 lb.

I prefer to tie my buzzbaits to straight braid. Can’t see a reason for a mono leader unless you are concerned about pulling the bait away from fish and want some extra stretch.

Fall is also good. I seem to have my best luck when water temps are in the 45-55 degree range. i don’t fish it much during summer because my lakes get choked with grass.

What is your budget for this rod? Im more of a flouro guy for jigs, but the waters I fish are generally pretty clear. Flouro gives better abrasion resistance around wood and rocks. I have confidence that flouro’s “invisibility” gets me more bites on tough days, but that’s personal preference. Some will say the fish don’t care. I do like straight braid without a leader if I am pitching into heavy grass. Braid slices through vegetation better than flouro. Straight braid does not have good abrasion resistance by itself, so you probably don’t want to fish it around sharp rocks. Braid + leader can give you the best of both worlds. The only disadvantage of this is that you are introducing an extra knot into your setup that could fail, resulting in the lost fish.

65 lb will work fine, but you might find that 40-50 lb offers better casting distance and more than enough strength

I would agree. The NRX is still the standard for sensitivity. Would never pay the $550 price tag though.

Recently picked up the new 2020 enox lsb. This rod is not even comparable to the older enox (which did not get good reviews). Very comfortable to fish and sensitivity is great. First impression was that it’s on par with my GLX. Still need more time with it though. People rave about the Expride. I’m sure it’s a good rod too, but I’d rather put my money towards an American made rod.

I’d say go toadface unless you want the enox to pull double duty for bottom applications as well.

7’ MH with 30 lb braid. My rod is rated fast action but is on the slower side of fast.

Dobyns is better balanced and more comfortable, st Croix more sensitive

734

Curious if you have much luck with red/orange baits during the spring depending on the part of the country you’re in? Always read about people swearing by red lipless, squarebills, chatterbaits, etc. but have had limited success with red here in the Northeast... usually just in coffee brown water. Just curious if it’s more of a regional thing?

Find what works best and what is most comfortable for you and don’t think twice about it. I personally use a 6.3:1 for almost every bait. Slowing down a bit, especially with moving baits, so that I am not overworking the bait gives me the confidence I need to get more bites.

Yes those are the ones that always caught me more fish. They have downward looking eyes and the paint jobs are much, much nicer.

Here’s a few of the original stx. As others have mentioned, the current version of the stx sold in the yellow package is terrible. I don’t buy them anymore. The old one was sold in a white package with silver trim.

I’d go with the 844mbr

I fished Dobyns champion xp line and still own a few of their rods for moving baits that I fish regularly. Made the switch to the ALX Zolo last year and never looked back. They aren’t quite as balanced as a champion, but they are lighter and more sensitive. The build quality and customer service are great too, not to mention they cost less than a champion too. The Expride also gets excellent reviews. They are on my bucket list to try. Seems like kistlers get a lot of love too.

I’d go for the 735. 734 is a bit softerin the tip, but very versatile rod.

X2 for the Zolo skipper

This reel would mostly be used for a-rigs with 1/8-3/16 oz heads, hudd 68 specials, s-waiver 168, etc. Nothing too big.

I’m leaning towards the tranx. One thing I noticed is that TW has this reel listed at something like 11-12 oz. is it really that heavy and do you notice the weight when you’re fishing with it? Seems pretty heavy, but I guess when you factor in the 300 size frame, maybe not so much.

Looking for a heavy duty reel to use on a a 7’11 XH rod for swimbaits, a-rigs, and on the rare occasion, punching. Not a fan of the round reels, so I’d like to stick with a low profile in the 200-300 size. Probably won’t use this rod very often, so don’t want to spend more than ~ $200-250 on this reel. What do you guys suggest? Must say I’m a huge shimano fan, but willing to explore other brands too. Can I get by with a curado or should I upgrade to the tranx?

The e6x isn’t as bad as some people on here make it out to be. I fished them for a few years when they first came out (before they redid them) and caught my money’s worth of fish. They were comfortable to fish but could have used better components and better sensitivity. That being said, I feel that there are better options at or slightly above the e6x price point. Check out the shimano zodias/expride, megabass Levante, alx ikos/zolo, Cashion rods, diawa tatula