Mikeltee

The lightest line you can get away with and be comfortable with. Banging on rocks, I feel flouro gives the best resistance. Burning traps through grass, I like braid. Mono would be great for treble hooks if you don't have a parabolic bend (moderate action) in your rod, however I do so I don't use mono at all.

Spin one yourself. I am not impressed with the Ish flipping rod. It's way too butt heavy and feels dead in my hands. I ran a 1/2oz swim bait with a 3.8 trailer on it and I felt that it didn't load well. I did catch a few and of course felt the bite, but I wasnt impressed with the sensitivity at all. Even with a swim bait I can feel when I brush up on some weeds but with this I didn't. I also didnt fish with my rod tip up which may have something to do with it. I guess I cant give it a fair shot until I do some bottom contact work with it. It's so dang uncomfortable that I dont see myself using it much. On a positive note it had no trouble setting the mammoth hook of my Seibert jig and the fish was surely pinned. A couple even jumped and it handled it like a champ.

This is what they recommended I buy for 3/4oz jigs. I asked if the H3 was more sensitive and they said a little so you should be happy. I ended up stealing an ags tatula elite but I may go back to Kistler for 3/8 jigs as the tatula is too heavy for them.

Thanks for the tips with the google searches but I dont have a diawa CT. I guess I should have been more specific. Tatula SV TWS and Curado K. I dont want anything aftermarket unless it's as good as or better than OEM. Most of these ebay stores seem hand spun and are in Asian countries and we all know where that leads... I didn't think of contacting the manufacturer. That is my best bet. I am happy to see some of you feel this way as I do. Theres guys with 2 rods here and theres guys with 20 rods here and they all seem to have a reel for each one. Im the type of guy that feels that spending more on a rod is much better than spending a ton of cash on reels. That is why I have 9 rods and 5 reels. With this philosophy I hope to have an NRX by next season. Ill probably have to put a Kastking on it though... just kidding

I have heard good things about the Sierra line and I would assume the Sierra Micro will offer more sensitivity that you require. I am not sure if a longer leader will be a hindrance or not. Slowly I am getting away from leaders and going straight braid for everything but cranking in which I use flouro. No matter what knot you tie it's going to mess up your cast and if you leave a 3' leader dangling upon casting what's the point?

I'm not looking for extra spools to be included in the reel purchase. I looked on ebay and saw none for my Tatula SV, Lews Pro Tourney, shimano dc nor the curado K. I'll look into the metanium. I'd rather spend $100 for an extra spool than $300 for the reel.

It would make sense to invest in a great reel and buy a few extra spools for it to keep an array of lines to swap. I assume they don't do this because we just buy the whole reel. Does anyone know of a $200-$300 reel that has spare spools available?

I agree with A-Jay as well. I have the casting version of his and its power rated M-MH. It is the Finesse rod. I can throw weightless Senkos a mile as well as Ned rigs. The AGS are fantastic. I can only imagine their spinning setups being much more sensitive than mine in a ML or M. I just got the 7'6" AGS flippin rod for $170. You can score a deal on them occasionally. I personally use an Alpha Angler Wrench for dropshotting and it is excellent. They also have a dropshot rod but its more for vertical work.

You cant go wrong with an Ugly Stik Elite at that price range. I would assume they make what you desire. My ML makes me wonder why I pay $300 for rods.

What kind of rod are you using? Heavy or mag heavy with a moderate action? Replacing the hooks will help for sure. Fish also flirt with big baits by bumping them without actually chomping down. Are you feeling hits or actually feel the weight of the fish?

Yea you dont need sensitivity with a frog rod. A broomstick is fine as long as it has a fast enough tip to work the frog. It will also be great for whopper ploppers. Just dont set the hook when you see the blowup or you will rip it right out of their mouth. I'd consider the fury 734 for a lighter tip. I assure you it is enough of a broomstick to drag a 10 pounder out of the slop. The tip is ok, but the 735 will be worse.

What I have found with the sub $250 rods is that anything over medium power is pretty much a broomstick. I know my 2 Furys are. 795sb and 744c. My Champs rock and I love them for their intended purpose. I think you would want to invest some money in any non-moving bait rod. Thats my experience anyways and like I said MH and up. Even my Ugly Stik ML is super sensitive.

I live in Indy. I believe it went out of business just as fast as they changed the last name of the store. Its ashame because when it was Gander Mtn this store was their premier firearms store in the country. It was the Costco of guns. When they first transitioned to this model, they gave you a ticket like a meat deli and the wait was more than an hour to get help at the counter. They had a half a dozen voting booth type things that people filled out their paperwork in. It was an exciting time as a gun enthusiast that the business could be that good. Once ammo started arriving again on big box store shelves and online it slowly went downhill and they could no longer afford the mortgage. That store has been many different outdoor stores over the past decade. The only one that did well was Dicks. It did so well they moved across the street to the mall And opened a handful more in Indy. This pretty much solidified the demise of all other outdoor stores except for a few mom and pop places. Such ashame but this is America. Buy more, pay less, put everyone out of business. Get called a monopoly and make some big campaign contributions and prosper.

If you dont like it I'll buy it. Let us know how it goes and post some pics of this masterpiece. I got a feeling you will love it and will be purchasing more of these blanks in the near future for all your braid applications. You make a good point about the broomsticks and braid. The other day I found a mistake on a Tatula Elite AGS 7'6" heavy flipping stick. It's a $300 and I got it for $170. I just did a little googling and came across this article. Apparently Ish Monroe feels the same about mod action and flipping and punching: https://www.westernbass.com/article/3-rods-heavy-cover-situations-ish-monroe-bass-fishing-daiwa Now Diawa lists this rod as fast and the 8' punching rod as EF but after reading the article I believe it's not the proper rating. I will have my rod next week. If you can hold out I'll let ya know its action. My other finesse AGS is stupid sensitive. I assume these are as well. Regardless I could not pass up that deal/mistake. Google Ish Monroe flipping rod and watch the videos where he talks about them.

Get the best you can afford. That way you wont be wondering what if and not have 100% confidence in your rig which seems to be the deciding factor between fishing and catching.

Bump it up a little and get the dobyns dc736. Its Gary's favorite rod. I have it and it's awesome for frogs. I know a 6 power sounds like a lot but I feel as if I could throw weightless senko with it. Those hollowbodied frogs dont weight much more and they sail! It's got enough power to get any size fish out of the deepest of muck.

Zbone 7'2" heavy is what you want.

Kistler Zbones are rated moderate. I would imagine it has something to do with the lightweight blanks (NFC X-ray I believe) they use and they utilize more of the rod with any sort of weight on them. Call them and they can answer. I am not sure if you want to drop $400 for a rod, but if sensitivity is your bag, I think you would be very satisfied with a xbone if they indeed load like you want them to. There is not enough reviews on the to tell so its definitely worth a call. I would assume detecting bites on the drop would be valuable information to have when punching, but I dont have a boat so would not know. I can see why braid would be key for your technique and why you want a little give when setting the hook and keeping the fish pinned.

Whatever color no one else is using

Spend the most on your rod. FYI my first ned rig rod was a $50 ugly stick medium light and it was super sensitive. Once you get over Medium cost factors in to balance, weight, and most importantly for non moving baits is sensitivity. You cant go wrong with any reel. A $20 reel will work. It might be noisy and only last a couple seasons but it will work

Why reinvent the wheel when you can sell it for half the price? It obvious that a lot of time and thought has gone into each of their rods. My Wrench has 2 different kinds of guides on it. Their business model is a lot more for less money as well as versatility. Its far from wanting to produce THE BEST and their price shows that. They have a satisfaction guaranteed policy as well. If you don't like it send it back on their dime. I doubt they have many take them up on that.

I just got an Alpha Angler. I wanted the DSR and Jake contacted me and told me to go with the Wrench. The DSR is for vertical dropshotting. I can confirm that the Wrench is freaking awesome! You can skip bait a mile with it as well. The lightest I have loaded it so far is a trd and 1/16th shroom head. Read the reviews of each on AA and if you are still unsure call Jake. The Wrench is probably what you want though. For me it was an easy decision. You don't read about AA because they don't pay for marketing and middle man fees. You get them straight from their hands and their CS department is the OWNER! You get twice the rod for the price. The AA website has all the info you need to get you started and Jake, the owner, can guide you the rest of the way if you have any questions. He is not arrogant at all. I asked how his rod compares to a Dobyns Extreme. While most CS will tell you it blows XXX rod out of the water, Jake said that he has never had the pleasure to fish with said rod. I got the Wrench for a steal and I don't regret it one bit. Ask A-Jay about his Slasher and watch his video of him catching his PB Muskie on it, AA's jerkbait rod and my next buy. Its a fun video to watch. Hopefully he posts the link for you to see. Knowing A-Jay uses AA solidified my buy into the AA family... which is exactly what it is. Not a business...

I set the drag to give when i pull medium hard and then adjust on the fly after I hook one. As long as you have the initial drag set somewhat and a good sharp hook you will hook the fish and will have time to set the drag perfectly. Once this is done, I don't touch it until I respool. Don't overthink it. This is fishing not aquatic engineering.

If you google that rod sku you will find it for $173 at some shady looking website. You may want to research the site and make sure you are protected if you are interested in purchasing from them. I will not link to it as I would hate for a casual bystander to get ripped off from a link I posted. I think there was one rod left from my original link after I purchased mine. A couple hours later a new seller had it for $190 using the same link. They must have ran out too it its retail price now.

I think this is a mistake. Tatula just released this 7'6" flippin rod with AGS. Its $170 for a $300 rod. I have the AGS Finesse and its my most sensitive rod by far! Its 41% off and free shipping via prime. This is cheaper than their nonAGS elite rods. https://www.amazon.com/Daiwa-Tatula-Signature-Length-1-Piece/dp/B073QD9YWC/ref=asc_df_B073QD9YWC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312830415552&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7331245581946765233&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016050&hvtargid=pla-617868496551&psc=1 This is sold out everywhere. It doesn't say ags on the ad but it indeed is. All the specs point to the AGS version. Better act quick!