Eric 26

Hello and welcome from New Lenox Illinois 👋🏻

Nice haul and hey the dude wipes are the icing on the cake….or a way to clean the icing from the cake😜

Sending prayers and best wishes for everyone involved 🙏

This ⬆️

I have 3 (2) 1000 sized and (1) 2000 size, I’ve been using them for at least the past 5-6 seasons and I have zero issues recommending them to anyone and have to a few members on here who also purchased them. The biggest downside is parts availability but again I’ve had zero issues therefore it’s not been a problem for me.

First off thank you both @little giant & @GetFishorDieTryin for your input and after thinking it through a bit more I went ahead and canceled the Defy Black rod which was on back order anyway and me realizing I’m in no hurry. You both made a valid point about the upgrades for a minor price increase along with me thinking the blank reminded me of my Fate Black. I think I’ll stop at my favorite independent tackle shop and see if he’s got any in stock where I don’t mind paying full price.

I’m going to recommend you reach out to @softwateronly but don’t ask him about his magic rock or worse yet find out where it is as @Swamp Girl has already laid claim to it😆 For reference go to the “Latest catch pics thread” page 834 and take a look at the hogs soft water is catching.

So I’ve done some digging on here and I believe at least 1 or 2 members have some experience with the Defy Black crankbait rods. I was going to revive an older thread but decided to start a new one with the above mentioned Oath rods included. So full disclosure I purchased a Defy Black that is on back order and in all fairness haven’t handled one for a few years now especially since being bought by Rapala and curious if they made many if any changes. I did stop into a Dicks sporting goods and they had 1 each of the Oath casting and spinning rods, my personal feeling is they weren’t horrible but I would definitely hold off on the $99.00 price point until I caught a decent sale which the Defy Black currently is. I understand the Defy series is a lower end line but from my memory it felt better than its price point similar to my Fate Black spinning rod so again I’m hoping for some input if anyone can share any. I apologize for the long winded post but again I’m hopeful for some information.

Good point Tom👍🏻

@Pat Brown Speaking of water snakes although I wasn’t there a coworker of mine shared this guy warming up on the concrete yesterday.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that my first rod when I got serious about getting back into fishing is my Wright & McGill 7’-0” medium power and I absolutely love this rod. I’ve paired it with a few different reels over the years but have settled on a SLX MGL 71 as a combo. I liked it so much I bought the matching medium heavy & medium spinning rod as well.

@Swamp Girl It sounds like you’re figuring them out pretty well to me😉

Welcome from New Lenox Illinois 👋🏻 Glad your dad is doing well allowing some much needed fishing time for you.

Where? That is extremely tempting. Beautiful fish 😃

I’m going to add I’m in no way near as experienced as most on here so for me trying fluorocarbon I went the cheap route and tried 10 pound Seaguar Basix floro and had zero issues on my Tatula 80 with no line conditioner to boot. Again I’m not saying to buy this but rather if you listen to the above advice and use a higher quality version I don’t think you’ll have any issues.

I got out for another quick session on the same retention pond. This time it was my new Carbonlite med/hvy spinning rod and a VMC moon eye jig that caught these 2.

I was able to finally get a chance to try out my new bps spinning reel yesterday and on my first cast I can finally say I’m on the board in 2025. My session didn’t last long as the wind was cool and the water was colder along with a dad and son fishing with what appeared to be golden roaches under bobbers probably from a previous outing which was keeping them busy and making my little area a bit less productive. But I’m not complaining and I’m happy for them as I’m a guest on the pond and it appeared they live on it.

All I’m going to say about the little Tica Cetus that @bulldog1935 gave me and is referring to is it’s built way better than it should be, I know he shared that his daughter used it in saltwater catching fish that pull 10 times harder than the panfish and pond bass that I’m using it for and it’s definitely one smooth reel that outperforms its compact size.

@MN Fisher Sending positive thoughts your way.

@spoonplugger1 I have 3 of them from when Brent Chapman was on the team and they are marked as such with straight forward sea guide reel seats and guides. The new ones at Wal Mart have a cheaper version of what was found on the yellow Skeete Reese rods when he was with Eagle Claw with the double “trigger” on the reel seat It’s not the end of the world and although I would like to have a backup I can find a better rod for a few bucks more if the need ever arises.

I’m also going to suggest the Daiwa BG. I have a 1500 and it’s built like a tank.

I appreciate the offer but I’ll pass for now.

@Delaware Valley Tackle That’s what I figured.