bunz559

I have a ci4 on a Dobyn's Extreme 702 and an Expride 7ft medium. The 702, with its softer tip, makes a great drop shot rod. It can definitely be used for neds, but I prefer the faster tip of the Expride medium for those j hook style baits. Of the two, the Dobyn's is more sensitive but the Expride is lighter. Hard to pick which one I prefer as they both have their perks and uses.

Would love to buy and try a Launcher some time in the future. As most of our lakes here in California are deep reservoirs, deep cranking setups are a must have. I currently have a Dobyn's 805 and an Irod Fred's Crank Launcher, both paired with Abu Garcia Winches, and both are able to cast and handle 8XD's and 10XD's with ease.

I have a 702 Extreme and I throw all that you listed on it. I'd feel that a power up would be a little too stout. Just my opinion. I usually throw up to 1/4 ounce weights.

Just when I thought I had a solid collection of Metanium MGL's, Shimano releases this... I'll never be cool enough, just broke.

Don't quote me, but I believe the Sierra series was built on the older Savvy series rods which were really popular. I had 1 Sierra rod that I sold to upgrade, but it was great! As for the Fury 735 as a frog rod, it would work great if you prefer a faster and stouter tip for frogging. For me, I couldn't walk a frog worth a darn with it. I purchased it specifically for frogging since it was budget friendly and because I hardly get to frog much. I switched over to my 745 Extreme rod and walking a frog was a piece of cake. Partially was due to the softer and slower tip of the Extreme series. My advice, if you can walk a frog with a stout fast tip, go for the Fury. If you prefer the softer slower tip, I'd probably go with the Sierra. The Extra Fast and Fast actions printed on the rods are slightly missleading. They're all different depending on how Mr Dobyns wanted the rods to feel and materials used to build them. My Extreme series rods have much slower tips than most of my others, Megabass, Shimano, Irods....

Medium or Meadium Heavy with a fast action. Length depends. Weight of bait will often determine if you can throw it on a medium or medium heavy rods. I kind of rotate my rods around for walking style top water baits but I generally use the following: Dobyn's 734 XP, Dobny's 735cb XP, and Megabass Orochi XX EMFT.

Everyone's already put in great input. I've owned the 733, recently sold it, and currently still own my 744. Both great rods, but purpose is going to make the difference. I'd go with the 744 for the applications you mentioned. It's a bit stouter rod but still has a nice soft tip. Not quite as soft as the XP models, but comparable to a Shimano Expride, the Dobyn's tend to have a slower action making their rods very versatile. I've thrown 1/4+ ounce Keitechs, 6 and 7 inch Senkos, 1/2 ounce spinners, 1/2 chatter baits, texas rigs and lighter jigs on my 744 and it's performed well for all of them. I've even done some spoon jigging on it. Between the 2, I'd personally go with the 744. But if I could only carry 1 rod, for example during bank fishing, I'd go with the 733.

When bank fishing, I really liked my Dobyn's Champion XP 733. Alternatively, the Extreme 743 will do as well. This rod is a bit longer, but would work wonders in casting and hook sets in deeper waters. These rods will throw light finesse jigs, tubes, senkos, and much more. I've thrown jerkbaits, spinners and chatters on them as well. They have a soft enough tip to do a lot of types of fishing with a nice backbone. You will not be disappointed. Sometimes it comes down to preference so you'll have to see if you prefer the stiffer and faster tip rods or the rods with a stiff backbone and a bit slower tip.

I hardly do much heavy cover frogging. Heaviest rod I use for frogging is a Dobyn's 745. I wouldn't hesitate to through a 6in Senko on it. Dobyn's are known to have slightly light action than most companies. I feel the 745 has a real nice tip for Senkos and walking frogs. I do not like fishing frogs on brooms sticks.

I have a Dobyn's Extreme HP 702sf and the 7ft M Expride, both paired with Stradic ci4's. While they're not the exact rods you're looking at, I can give you my insight. Both rods are great for the price although the Extreme HP is about 80 bucks more expensive. I have several Champion XP in baitcasting as well as the Exprides, and I'd say the sensitivity is just slightly better in the Expride line. Of course it's arguable from person to person and it should be expected as it's a more expensive rod. Where I'd really make the decision is weight. The Exprides feel much lighter than any of my Dobyns. I'd definitely spend the extra 30 bucks and go with the Expride if possible.

Go with more expensive and sensitive for any bottom contact and slow moving baits. You can go a bit cheaper for baits that are moving.

Where does everyone get the IPT specs from?

From my experience, 10lb braid works fine but can sometimes be a pain. On windy days with slack line, your line may wrap and twist itself. Sometimes it'll knot itself and you'll have no choice but to cut and retie a leader. Not really a problem if it happens close to your leader knot, but if it's 20 or 30 yards out you'll be cutting away a lot of line. I'd really suggest going with 15lb or 20lb. Preferably 15lb. I'm currently running 20lb Power Pro Spectra Yellow on all my spinning reels and sometimes feel that the 20lb just doesn't come off the spool as freely and smoothly. After this season, I'll be relining all with 15lb. As for leader size I use a either 8lb, 10lb, or on some occasions 12lb depending on cover. Majority of the time, I run 8lb in the deep reservoirs around me. I only step it up when fishing heavier cover waters like the California Delta.

I don't have a 746 as most of my fishing is in open waters and I don't frog much in heavy cover. I hear the 746 is a great frog rod. But I do have both the 744 and 745. The 744 is a great multipurpose rod. 1/2 ounce jigs would be no problem with it. I also throw 3.8 and 4.3 Keitechs on 1/4 jig heads. Heavier spinner baits also go well on this rod. It has an awesome backbone with a very nice, softer than most, tip. As for the 745, it's a much stouter rod than the 744. You can definitely tell the power up when comparing to the 744. I use my 745 for jigs between 1/2 to 3/4. Again, it has a slightly softer tip than most companies make for being a 5 power rod. Lots and lots of backbone, but a softer tip. I've used this rod for frogging as well and it has done me well. I've thrown 1/2oz Keitechs on it, light wire Alabama rigs, and also heavier jigging and flutter spoons. I feel that these rods are all very versatile given their compliant tips. Bottom contact and some moving baits, they excel at very well. I haven't tried throwing larger swimbaits on this rod, although I do throw S-Waver 168's on a Dobyn's 805 which is their heavy flip and punch rod. Works great. Hope this helps.

Share with what you decided to go with. I'm sure future readers will find it helpful! Good luck on your purchase!

What's more important is the type of waters you're fishing on. Around me, 12lb Sunline FC Sniper is my go to. Our lakes are featureless deep reservoirs so 12lb is a versatile line. Strong enough to bring in a 9lb bass in and crawl a jig over rock piles. When I head up north to fish the Delta or Clear Lake, I prefer to stick to something stronger in the 14-16lb range. I also spool up with P-Line Tactical but I think I like the FC Sniper a little more. Both are quite spendy though.

The Curado K would be the reel I'd pickup for that price range. While I haven't tried every reel in that price range, I stick to what I know and have. The K is plenty strong and very smooth.

Tournaments and fun. I own a Ranger RT188 with a 115 and top out at 46mph. While it gets me on the water, moves me plenty fast to get around the lakes in my area, it's still SLOW. LOL! I've fished a few tournaments and it would be super nice to keep up with some of the more powerful boats. But I only run a few tournaments a year for fun. What I'd really like is to be able to boat around faster for the fun when I want to. Something that'll go 70mph, but can cruise at 50-60 with ease. Currently 45mph is at WOT. No matter if I want to go any faster, I can't. At least with a more powerful boat, I can boat around slow and have the option of going faster. My next boat will be at least a 19ft with a 200 or 225. That should give me a little larger deck room, that will still fit in my garage, and get me into the speeds that I desire.

What about brakes? When I start loosening the spool tension, without adequate thumbing, it'll usually blow up on me. Or is it all on thumb practice?

The Metanium MGL is a pretty sweet reel. I have 2 and absolutely love them. It's a slightly bulkier reel but it's super light. Probably why Shimano put aluminum gears vs brass. But none the less, it's quite the workhorse as well. I have my Metaniums on my jig rods and they perform wonderfully.

All my rods, with the exception of a jerkbait rod and smaller squarebill rod, are over 7'2. Most of my rods fall in between the 7'3 to 7'5 range with a few in the 7'11 and 8ft. This is most likely dependent on the bodies of waters I fish most and some the type of bait I'm throwing. Out here in California deep reservoirs, we're fishing deep with little cover and no docks. The extra length helps with longer casts and sweeping hook sets. If I had to choose 1 rod, it would have to be in the 7'3 to 7'4 range.

I'd go with the K for about $15 bucks more on eBay. You will not be disappointed in the few extra bucks spent.

Hard to cram a higher end setup and a budget setup together for $500. There are 2 ways I'd spend it, depending on scenarios. I'd get 2 budget friendly and good setups for that price or I'd get 1 great setup. The SLX line up from Shimano is pretty good. I have 1 rod and 2 reels from there. For $500, you could definitely fit a few setups into that budget. On the other hand, you could pickup 1 setup like a Shimano Expride or Megabass Orochi and pair it with something like the Curado K. The reason why I went with a higher price point rod rather the reel is because I believe you should get the most sensitive rod you can for your money. The reel is important, but I don't feel it's as influential as the rod. Something like the Curado K is plenty amazing as it is. Other than size, I honestly feel my Curado K's outperform my Chronarch MGL. Of the 2, I myself would go for the second. But that's just the scenario that fits my situation best.

Great points! My casting sucks. Regular overhead and side arm casts I am fine. My pitching and flipping could use a lot of work although I can get by 95% of the time. Quick roll casts and skipping is what I have the most trouble with. Around my area, we fish deep California reservoirs with hardly any cover or docks so roll casts and skipping isn't something we need to do often. But the few times when I do head up north and fish the Cal Delta or Clear Lake where there's tons of shallow and above water structure, these techniques would come in handy and I'm probably missing a lot of opportunities. I definitely need to work on these things.

I throw buzz baits on 2 rods, Dobyn's XP 734 or 735cb. Borth are paired with Chronarch 51e, one reel has 14lb fluoro and the other has 12lb mono.