Westcoast

Lots of cheap budget rods available off the shelf. If I’m going to put in the time to build it myself, I’m going to build something quality with quality components.

All my medium and medium/light rods get the 20# braid. My medium/heavy gets the 30# and heavy rods get the 40# or 50#. Not a hard and fast system though as sometimes I forget what poundage is on what reel. And then some reels have fluoro or mono too.

I just upgraded my pelican catch 120 to a riot mako 12 with pedal drive. I love it. It’s quick to pedal it across distances, where as the pelican was a slug to paddle. It super stable, standing and casting is not a problem at all. It’s actu a few pounds lighter than the pelican which helps packing it on the top of my Jeep Cherokee. It was about twice the price but so far it worth it. I also have a helix 5 finder on the way too. Can’t wait to get this all rigged up.

I know competition fly fisherman will boil their mono leaders to soften them. The softer line has less influence on the nymphs and creates a more natural movement in the water.

893c/894c in nrx or glx. Just about perfect for what you describe.

If you really want to spend some money on a rod and reel get into fly fishing and tying. A sage or Loomis rod and Abel reel can set you back $1700-$2000 and the line is another $100 or so on that.

Newt porn!!

So far this year, I’ve found the fish where there is new grass growing. What makes it even better is if I can find some laid over or some other over head cover. The water is still cold so all of them have eaten a small 1/4 oz finesse jig with beaver trailer or this weekend it was a 4” Senko neko rigged with the tiniest nail weight I had. Another couple days of warmer weather and they will get aggressive just before the spawn in May.

So I have an x-ray mb736 on the way. I want to do this up right. I have a nfc grip coming as well. Does any one have a suggestion for a guide train that they have used on this that let the blank show it’s stuff. Also I’m not sure what reel seat to use. I used an American Tackle on my last build and have been taking a look at their ccf seats but can’t really find any info on them. Thanks for your help, R

Maui jim’s all the way

I fish lots of the dredge jigs, I really like that owner hook. Also I fish a lot of the sniper jigs and spinner baits. He has a great collection of colours and I keep finding new favourites constantly.

I think the baby bug works better on a finesse jig as the tails activate easier with the lighter weight and slower falls.

I’ll occasionally use the baby rage craw as a jig trailer ,but I always have t-rigged bug ready to pitch into cover.

Right now, I have a 1/2 oz on it but it does just fine with the 3/8oz too.

I have it and it’s a great rod for bottom contact but lately it’s been my chatterbait rod and it works excellent for that. It’s a rod that surprised me with how sensitive it was.

A senko (wacky or trig), a t-rigged fluke, a frog, a small spinnerbait, and a t-rigged baby brush hog. Those are my pond favourites and they work every for me.

A kistler crank/rip/twitch would fit the bill pretty good for what you’re looking for.

I have a couple megabass(destroyer,Levante), a few Loomis (imx,glx,nrx), a few kistlers, a few lamiglas, a few sage, a Winston, a t&t, a few nfc, a couple st croix and probably a few that I’ve forgotten. If I like the rod, I buy it with no consideration of the brand. It’s all function not fashion.

I definitely find I have too much of a selection of stuff. I kayak and bank fish mostly so it’s not like I can carry much with me. It makes it difficult to decide what I actually need to bring along and not have a bunch of crap I’ll never use.

I like using a zoom 3” double tail grub as a trailer lots of good movement.

I never imagined setting the drag could be so complicated. For me if I want it loose I set it loose, if I want it tight, I tighten it up, and if I want it really tight I get out my pliers and give it an extra turn at the end. Done..

I wish Kistler’s had some decent cork on them, otherwise I do really like the nfc blanks. In the price range and weight range you’re looking at, the 7’3” mh is just about perfect. But for me personally I haven’t found a rod I like better than an nrx. I use the nrx cr873 for over 1/2oz jigss, a glx 893 for under 1/2oz and a 852c or 842c for the finesse stuff.

I like buying my reels from Japan lure shop. The shipping is crazy fast and they always toss in a gift plus saving a bunch of money, it’s a no brainer.

Got my 2020 tatula 103xh in the mail. It’s a sharp little reel , lm really digging to compact size over the previous models. I put it on a newly built point blank 662mxf, feels like a great combo. Now all I need is a decent warmer day to get out there with it and chuck some small keitechs.

I like the strike king fat baby finesse in the dirt colour. Can be fished a ton of different ways and the fish just eat it.