GReb

I have a St. Croix 6’8 m xf and it’s great for shaky heads and jerk baits. It’s not the most versitile setup and I think you’d be better off with a Mh fast rod

I’m about to give McCoy a try.

That tube looks thin compared to other companies. I’d like to see them break the tube American Legacy uses. It’s thick and heavy. I believe the tube itself weighs about 5 pounds.

I use them until the head will not stay on the hook. If I fished more clear water I’d probably change pretty often though

I use braid on my two jig/frog rods. Mono or copoly on the rest 90% of the time. I can’t remember the last time I had a mono failure. The anti mono crowd has never made sense to me

I prefer straight shank in heavy grass. EWG in most every other application. 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG is the most versitile IMO

I used to fly fish for bass and bream quite often but haven’t in probably 5 years. It is a lot of fun. I caught a 3 pounder one day it felt like I’d hooked into moby dick The bait monkey has suggested I follow this thread

I was able to fish for about 30 minutes today in between rain showers and caught two pinned to a fallen down oak in about 20 inches of water. Where did you find them today?

I haven’t bought a rod or reel off the shelf in 15 years

I don’t see any difference casting but it does seem to flip very well. Could be the twing or not. I really couldn’t say

Try focusing on your speed and cast angle. If you around the bank fish it parallel or at a 45 degree angle. Try working it as close to cover as you can. Some days they like it burned on top. Others slow rolled. Just keep experimenting with colors, blades, size, etc If you are fishing smaller bodies of water try downsizing to a 3/16. The Stanley Wedge is a pond killer for me. And the mini strike king single Colorado blade spinner is great.

I’m jealous. However my wife and wallet are not. Lake #3 is like pretty much everything within 100 miles of me

Honestly none look ideal. Medium is too light of a rod. The only MH is 7’6” which is too long for frog fishing on the bank assuming you are not 6’8” or something.

Fairly stained. Probably about a foot of visabilty on average.

That’s shocking. Spinnerbaits are king down here in our shallow stained water. I’d love to know what percentage of fish in my life have come on a spinnerbait. Has to be over 50%. What size are you using?

I’ve caught more bass on a spook than all other top waters combined. My go to color is just plain white. I really like them around Cyprus knots. But only in calm waters

If the line is freshly dark green I leave it be. But if the line is starting to fade a bit and has a white hue then I will sharpie it. But the waters I frequent are stained fairly dark and heavily vegetated. I have no clue how much of a difference it makes but it doesn’t seem to hurt

Most all $200 plus rods have long warranties if not lifetime replacement. I would not worry about it. They are still capable of plenty of abuse

So many factors at play and there’s really no wrong answer. I tend to spend more on rods simply because I think you can get better quality reels for cheaper than you can rods. In the end it has more to do with the angler than the equipment.

Could also make for a good deep diving jerkbait rod

I shipped a 7’ rod a couple weeks ago for $14 through USPS Priority Shipping. Dropped it off at 5 pm Friday and it arrived at its destination Monday morning at 10 am

I have both. Personally I like MB for moving baits and Tatula for flipping

I use a 6’8” medium extra fast for jerkbaits and 12 pound copoly.

First of that is rough. Been skunked many times but 3 fish in 36 outings just sucks. What time have you been fishing? Have you tried fishing all periods of the day?

Seems to work best for me late fall to early spring. Crawfish them self slow down in cold water so it’s sensable