GReb

Dude is incredible. Everyone says he’s consistently one of the hardest workers on tour and he has a great support system. Success seems to come in waves for most anglers even the great ones. But he seems to be winning consistently on whatever format he fishes for a number of years now. And on all types of fisheries. Pretty impressive. Not to mention he’s only around 30 years old. I know his competitors are probably tired of seeing him lift trophies!

Any tournament where the fish are primarily caught on beds immediately goes down a notch in my book. It’s just not entertaining

One of the Steez variants or the new Zillion. I have a Met B and Bantam. Love them both and the Met B is the best reel I’ve ever handled. But I haven’t thrown any of the high end Diawas. I’ve owned just about every Tatula line and really enjoy the Elite and Coastal.

Mccoy mean green 12lb

It’s a sellers market. List it and see what happens. All they can do is tell you no

A nice set of precision screwdrivers is really important. Those little screws are easy to foul up if you aren’t careful. Most reels are basically the same design so once you get a few under your belt it becomes much easier. I usually just remove the sideplate, gear stack, pinion, and bearings, degrease, and add grease/oil. I have only felt like I needed to remove the worm gear a few times. That’s by far my least favorite part but unless you are fishing muck it’s easy enough to keep it cleaned and lubed without tearing apart. I have used Mike at DVT before and was more than pleased with the service, price, and turnaround time. Anything other than a simple clean I will send to him. He’s forgot more about a reel than I’ll ever know

Menace is my go to trailer for smaller jigs. I prefer a bigger profile trailer for most standard flipping or footballs. There really isn’t much I don’t have confidence in the Menace doing though.

Matt Lee posted in Instagram saying KVD won the tournament in one of his spots but just wasn’t there the right day and time

Cranking?

Same. I’m throwing swim jigs in pads with a heavy rod and 50lb braid. But that’s the issue with labeling something a swim jig rod. Light wire 1/4 oz swim jigs and heavy wire 3/8 oz swim jigs are two very different baits

I like the trap caster. Handles 1.5, 2.5, medium divers, traps, spooks, poppers, etc well. Also strong enough back bone to throw 3/8 oz chatterbait and spinnerbaits. Confusing but Falcon rod guys swear the swim jig is the best trap rod on the market. The ratings are a bit weird but everyone says it has no problem handing swim jigs plus trailers. I don’t own one. Ive called Falcon probably half a dozen times and they have always steered me in the right direction

Accuracy is the most important aspect. Don’t get caught up on distance. Honestly 10-15 feet is enough for most situations. Also learn how to drop it in silently.

Rapala BX Brat 6ft

I helped moderate a large sports forum for a decade and I can tell you there is a lot of work behind the scenes keeping a forum alive and running well. Combating spam is a full time job in itself. Glenn and crew do a great job

I bought the Frabill pole last fall and it’s undefeated so far and has more than paid for itself. I never could get consistent results out of the string knockers but still carry one in case I’m too deep for the pole. The pole extends to around 15ft I think and collapses to the size of a rod. I just keep it in the rod box when not using.

Obviously if you pay for upgraded shipping TW is moving your order to the front of the line. Enough are doing so that standard orders are being pushed back. Seems like you are paying for expedited processing more so than shipping.

A Walmart Shakespeare round Ambassador knockoff. It was truly terrible but trained my thumb well. Believe I was 11 years old

If you could extend your budget to $175-200 it would be worth it in my opinion. If you take your time you can find some great deals out there. I bought a Quantum Smoke KVD on eBay for $55 a few months ago and have been very impressed.

The Expert Bayou and Cara Eye Crosser are essentially the same rods built on different blanks. Same action however the the blank the new Cara is built on is a tad stiffer. I have confirmed this with a tech at Falcon. If you are solely fishing a frog I’m not sure there’s any real advantage in spending an extra $ on the Cara. If you planned on doubling it as a jig/plastics rod then maybe? The Expert is pretty dang sensitive to me.

If you could connect the dots from mobile to memphis to San Antonio and make a weird triangle, that’s my pick. Carolinas vinegar meat is not my thing. KC isnt bad but lacks the dry rub to me

Digitaka had all of them in stock a few days ago.

Too many other great rods from great companies on the market to waste my time with Loomis

I have 2 Expert Head Turners. Love them for pretty much any single hook moving bait. I personally prefer them over my Cara T7 Head Turner. Lately I’ve been smashing on a Thunder Cricket in emerging pads There are several legit retailers on eBay that allow you to make offers on Falcon rods. You can always get 10-20% off. Make a 25% off offer and see what happens. Usually they will counter with 10% off and sometimes will go a littler further if you counter again. I got my last Expert Head Turner for $150 and free shipping this way.

Over the last 12 months I’d say thunder cricket, spro little John, lucky craft 1.5, pit boss, and menace. Those 5 baits have really been consistent producers for me the last year.

I guess it depends on the situations. I prefer faster gear ratio because I’m running it around emerging pads and grass in shallow water. I want to keep the bait in the top foot of water and be able to pull the fish out of the grass.