Tackleholic

Usually I'm a middle of the road guy, but I've decided to go all out this one time; top of the line, best of the best. My personal experience combined with AI research is driving me crazy. I began with Loomis NRX, moved on to Edge First Cast, then to Megabass P5 Destroyer, Daiwa Steez, and now I've hit a brick wall with the Shimano Poison Ultima. The reel will be a Daiwa Steez A 100 8.5:1. Each of the rods claim to have what I'm looking for to fish docks and shoreline targets with various kinds of jigs; 6'9"-7' MH or H Fast or XFast. What would you guys do?

Aside from all the informational comments already posted, I most often resort to lures with rattles, lures with vibration, and slow moving topwater which create noise; all fished close and parallel to the bank as possible.

My Vexus vx21 is too long for the garage; it sits in my carport usually for Dec. and Jan., rest of the year it is on my lift at the marina and has never had a cover on it. I have witnessed multiple situations where people have removed the covers and discovered cats, racoons, and other critters had been remodeling the interior.

In the 1960's I was in a military police unit stationed at the Presidio, 6th Army Headquarters. My barracks overlooked the bridge and Alcatraz; patrol areas included both sides of the Bay; old memories for sure.

ALL STAR T40X; the first rod I ever paid $100 for, still in use.

Welcome @Matt R. Cole ; always good to have fresh eyes on some of my dumb questions.

Thankyou @Hartwood71 , that is some very helpful information; I will call Edge as you suggest, and contact you if I feel the need.

I have discontinued the use of tackle boxes on the boat. I keep my boat in a slip at the nearby marina and it usually contains about 2 dozen rods, all pre rigged. I carry a few backup lures and trailers from home in a grocery store plastic bag which contains zip lock bags separating whatever I plan to use. At end of day, I carry the plastic bag and usually 4-6 rods home to be re-rigged and re-stocked for tomorrow. Works for me.

Lots of good input here, but I haven't seen any comments on the Gary Loomis Edge Rods, which I am currently researching and considering a purchase of the Black Widow/ First Strike series. I am aware of the 5 month average backorder, but that's ok with me. I would like to hear any personal experiences with the line. Thankyou.

I've bought and forgot many, many minnow look soft baits, but the one always left standing and holds my loyalty is the Zoom Super Fluke.

In my opinion, Smallmouth in medium to fast moving current are lean fighting machines when compared to the footballs coming out of mostly still waters. I love them both, but pound for pound the ones from current are longer, slimmer, and meaner.

Looks like Tatsu is the official line of Bass Resource!

That baby should move some serious snow.

Texas rig an unweighted Fluke and drag it across the surface, pausing at the gaps.

Tatsu for me.

I have used nearly every color of the rainbow, but most often it's Shad, Bone, chrome, or black; a friend of mine swears by clear, sometimes with red trebles.

Wow, I'm impressed by the input you guys have provided to my question and I'm sure other Forum members are learning from this as well. I will definitely be doing some experimenting, but in the meantime keep those suggestions coming in for the education of us all. One thing I failed to mention about my situation is that my lake is very deep and clear with visibility usually exceeding 20 ft, and it is all rock, no vegetation. Thanks again!

Most often my deep cranking setup is a 7'3-7'6 mh rod, sometimes a heavy, with a 6 speed gear ratio reel. My line is 30# braid with a 10 or 15# fluorocarbon leader. I am oftentimes dissatisfied with the achieved depth I obtain with deep running crankbaits on long casts. My question to all y'alls (I'm really not very southern) is this : do you get deeper depths if spooled with straight fluorocarbon, even though giving up casting distance vs. using braid to leader?

I've been in that situation many times. Maybe one day I will get smart enough to use only cheap lures and shallow runners in windy conditions. An unweighted Fluke on a red 4/0 or 5/0 wide gap hook is a long time favorite of mine.

I've never been to Maine and I'm always interested in forage vs lure selections.

I'm curious what kinds of forage are prevelant in your pond?

Yeah, but it hurts so good!

I know a couple of anglers who believe Daiwa's Elite Series are better casting reels than the Zillion.

Congratulations; you must have an exceptionally strong marriage to have pulled that off.

Good choices, I've caught fish on all.