Mikeltee

That 853 will be fine. I researched them for weeks before I assembled my list. If I was to wait a year, I would have picked up the 853 as well. It will make a perfect plastics rig rod for you. It sounds like we need to go day 1 to get what we want though. That's cool Ish was there. I love the AGS tatula elites. I have his flippin stick with AGS. I stole it for $99 on a misprint amazon deal with prime shopping lol. The AGS finesse is what the 893 will replace. It's a great rod in it's own right, but it's no NRX. At the moment it's my most sensitive rod but I havent put a reel on my new custom yet.

Were they out of 893? That's the only rod left on my list. I got a custom xray 936 to sub for the 894 nrx. I didnt know they have prices like that. I'm in Fishers. I'll be there next year.

The DC is good for 2 things. To learn to skip with and to teach your kids to use a BC. If those dont apply to yourself, park your money elsewhere. It was cool to have for all of about 2 days. I lose distance compared to the Curado or Tatula SV and they are half the price. You should be able to get $200 used if you cant get your money back. I wish someone would have told me this. I would have got a Bantam MGL.

Why $350? You can spend $50 more and get the best which is the NRX 894 or the Zbone heavy. I just picked up a custom with the xray blank, which zbone uses, for $225. Dont suffer from upgraditis. Get the best out the gate! Next, get the NRX 893 and you will be set from finesse to 1oz jigs. 895 will cover to 1.5oz.

Hmm... OP wants a light jig and senko reel an no one had mentioned the Alderbaran. I just picked up a 50 for $175. There isnt much difference between the 50 and the 30. For under $500, the Alderbarans are hard to beat for light weights. Granted I dont get the warranty but I can buy 2 off ebay for the price of 1 with a warranty.

Curado K, tatula sv, Lews tournament pro all are excellent performers for $150 and if you were blindfolded you would be hard pressed to tell a difference in performance. For $100 the SLX is hard to beat. DCs are trainers. I would recommend them for kids or for someone with money to burn and learn how to skip with which is what my Curado DC was used for after I learned that the cpu takes away performance from my cast. Now it sits in a box awaiting my daughter to get interested in BCs. For a $200 budget I'd get the SLX and invest that extra $100 into your rod budget. The rod is what makes the difference and there is more separation between a 200 to 300 rod than there is a 100 to 200 reel imho.

Being a contact bait rod you want as much as you can afford. What's your total budget including the well if it's a really good deal budget? NRX 894 is considered the ultimate 1/2oz to 3/4 jig rod, which I consider heavy. You can get them used in the winter for 350. They retail at 600. I plan to get one of these and an 893 before spring. I already have the Alderbaran50 and the Batham mgl for them. I cant wait for spring! Dobyns XP 744/745 will be an acceptable $200 rod which I would choose in that price range. You have literally a mountain of choices that would be good for this price range.

I'd skip the mojo glass. I checked them out at cabelas when I was on the hunt for a CB rod. They where heavy, unbalanced, and it was as wide as my ring finger. I saved for a month and got a dobyns glass rod. I also have their cranking composite, 765cb, and I like the glass a lot better. I paid $150 used on here for the 736cb glass. Winter time is the best time to buy used. If you wait a month you can get it for less than 150$.

B&Ms have to compete with online retailers nowadays and already have rock bottom pricing which leaves only in-house stuff to discount. I'm looking forward to cyber monday myself.

Heck for that price and waiting on a JDM I'd just get a Alderbaran 30 for light baits or a Bantam for everything else.

I just don't see the point in messing with your drag in a bass reel. Fighting a 500# tuna I see the advantage but a 5# bass I just don't get. Set the drag hard enough so the hook sets and reel that sucker in.

Ohh I see. I highly doubt it. If they did its one hell of a bond. My AGS finesse is an EXCEPTIONAL rod for the money in fact it will only be replaced by an NRX for twice the cost and I doubt there will be much of a difference but we shall see. For a bond that good I would assume that the joint would have to have some sort of splint inside the blank and the weight and balance does not reflect that at all. I think the act would constitute as pretty lousy craftsmanship as well and I don't see Diawa doing that to a rod that Pros put their name on.

Yep furies suck but I own a few champions and they are great. I am looking forward to trying an extreme as well. I'd rather recommend a $9.99 broomstick at walmart with an attached dustpan than a fury. I own more dobyns than anything too so yes... a true fanboy at heart.

My 2 tatula elite ags are 1 piece. I do believe there are a couple 2 piece. Their website has them all on one page and will tell you. They are great rods for $200 for the ags

Come on now guys... I am surely not the only one here that tries to set a new PB at distance when the bite is slow. I judge it by turns of the crank.

Yea I feel as if mine is in the top of the water column everytime. I dont reel fast and I sweep it every once and a while to change the action. I use 1/2oz. I just received a 3/4 today so I'm going to see how well that works this weekend. They even make 1.5ozers. I now only use jackhammers. I know they are 3x the cost but you can feel the difference and the underwater comparison videos tell the tale. I'm not a tackle hoarder and need 5 of every color. I only have a couple in each weight range so it's not like I'm throwing paychecks stocking them. I'm not sure if they catch more fish as I am successful with every bladed jig I've thrown. Its become my favorite technique mainly because the dobyns 736cb is such a pleasure to fish. I can't recommend it enough for chatterbaits.

I agree with your assessment on the DC. I have 50# braid and I think the big stuff is more susceptible to a birdsnest. My 100$ reels cast further. I did turn it to 4 and learned to skip. I usually have it on 2 and with a little wind in my face, I get birdsnest about 3% of the time. These birdsnest are stupid easy to pick out. I think once you get a birdsnest your chances of getting another increase exponentially with braid until you change your spool. I'll be damned if I change a $30 spool after a month. This reel will be good to teach my kids to use a BC. It's for newbs not pros. I wish I would have known before I bought it. The smart man would buy the SLX as I see no advantage to the Curado vs SLX in terms of using it for performance. You are better off with a non-DC if performance is your goal. Your only goal to a DC should be to learning to use a BC. I dont know about the upper end DCs. I would assume the non-DC would offer better performance but maybe not. I know its wider and heavier. Maybe someone would like to comment on the Mentanium DC.

Arent those 1/4s for panfish? My cabelas has some $3 chatterbaits in the crappie section and they are soooooo cute. I never bother to look at the weight on them.

If you are the type of guy to sit on, lose, break sunglasses then go to walmart and get some $7 strike kings. If you want an investment, spend $100 and they will last you a lifetime. I own both. The costas fit much better and look better. It maybe the placebo effect but they seem to offer clearer vision as well. My 7yo daughter doesn't complain about wearing my strike kings. Buy it cheap buy it twice.

I dont see anything wrong with it. You can go out and buy tshirts and stickers for every company out there... even here. Now it wont be officially licensed but that doesn't stop the guy selling NFL jerseys at 25% the cost on ebay.

I have heard many times that the Exprides are the most for the money. I would love to try one someday but they are always sold out everywhere which leads me to believe that they are indeed a great rod. Dobyns has many lines and I have no doubt that the Exprides are better than the XP line.

I normally dont use magnums for soft jerks. I would need a rubberband if I did.

I have the Dobyns 736 glass for my chatterbaits. It's been my favorite rod the last few weeks. It's a 6 power glass rod so I dont see how a 3 power glass rod would be too much. The dobyns is perfect. I know you had a bad experience with Dobyns but that was a fury and fury are junk. You should give them another shot especially when it comes to rods that the whole Internet raves about for a certain technique such as the 736glass and 735 for frogs.

My 7'3" frog rod is designated as a flipping rod as an alternate technique. I would assume you would want a F to XF action on either for quick hookset and to work the frog.

I dont think you will notice a difference between 3" unless you take a rod and cut 3" off the tip. Just get whatever you like and dont sweat the details. If you are stuck between the 2 rods read the reviews and match the one that seems more your type, but regardless of their opinions, there wont be much of a difference if they are the same power and action from the same manufacturer. You need to be upgrading to the champion line though and get rid of that broomstick. You can thank me later for that tidbit of advice.