kayaking_kev

You ever watched Cart Narcs on Youtube? Pretty funny!

Maybe that's what I'll start taking a trash bag with me also, it just amazes me as a pretty new angler, I see some pretty old trash sometimes that hasn't even been in production in a long time. You would think that the City would clean these places once in awhile seeing how they are public places.

These are only few at the top of my list, I'm sure there are more. It's my only my 3rd season of fishing, so I'm still recognizing some patterns, some funny ones and some annoying like these. The first is the littering and I'm sure I'm not alone on this one, but some people will leave anything and everything at their fishing spot. I've seen old lady ladies going around with trash bags picking up all the garbage left behind by fishermen, and I feel embarrassed as I'm fishing, even though I don't litter. I think I'm going to try to go out at least once a month and hit up some spots with some trash bags and help out, maybe when I know a lot of people are fishing so they can think twice about leaving stuff. The next thing and this just happened again earlier today, is people keeping big bass out of a small public park pond. I'm not going to debate about eating bass, but this was a small park pond where there is only a few 4+ lbers (Keep in mind, this is Ohio and those are pretty good size bass). Well some guy caught a nice size LM across the pond from me, I heard him say 4.5, but he didn't weigh it and it didn't look no bigger than the 3 lber I had just caught, but it did look like it had a stomach full of eggs. Two other separate guys that were near him, who didn't catch a single fish the whole time there, went up to the guy who caught the fish and asked for it and the guy who had been catching and releasing his catches gave them his biggest catch, and those two definitely weren't missing any meals. So now a small pond will be missing one it's bigger fish, one that was going to be spawning soon. This is the last really good public pond around here and that's because not a lot of people know about it. But, this year everyone is out and looking for fishing spots and lots of new people have found this little pond and if this keeps up, it's going to be ruined just like all the others. I'm not just thinking about myself here either, there are a lot of young children that fish the pond with their dad. Most people I meet fishing are some of nicest people I've met, but there are some that absolutely disgust me.

Are you fishing open lakes or skinny rivers? For me personally, rod length doesn't really matter if I'm fishing in an open area, but I prefer shorter rods when fishing skinny rivers where accuracy is more important than distance. More important for me is the handle length, I like shorter handles so their not hitting my pfd and it's easier for me to work baits. As far as power and action, it all depends on what type of baits and their weight you want to throw.

You need a bigger ruler! ?

I finally got out on the river on May 3rd and caught my first Smallies of 2020. I ended up with 5 Smallies and 5 Rock Bass, including a 9" Rock Bass, which qualifies for a Fish Ohio Pin. I caught half with a Whopper Plopper and half with a Neko Wacky Rigged 5" Worm. It felt really good to get out on the river and enjoy the serenity and sounds of nature.

That's good to hear! I've been hunting a 4.35 lber I caught last summer in this pond trying to get her before she spawn in hopes she will break my PB. I know it varies, but how much weight do you think a 4.35 lber would put on before spawn?

Look at this mondo! This can't be a year old can it or does it look like a recent spawn? I thought it was still early for the spawn in my neck of the woods. It tried to eat a whopper plopper.

I have 3, but most use the spook jr on small rivers in very early spring, before I break out the Whopper Plopper. It seems like they start hitting the spook before they start hitting the WP. I don't think I caught any fish on the Zara Puppy or One Knocker yet, but I have only fished them once or twice.

It appears from watching a PunchFishing video on YT, also a fellow poster on this forum, the Daemos weighs in at 4.59 and the Expride 4.55. That's about the same as my Xtasy 723c weighs and of course with it's excellent balance, it feels even lighter in hand and that's with all the kevlar wrapping it has on it. I would like to try something a little lighter, like a Conquest, NRX, Adrena, Legend Xtreme AGS, etc...

I just want to add I have other rods (listed below), for different techniques, I'm just looking for that one rod I can grab when I'm only taking one with me to beat the banks that can cover a multitude of techniques. So it doesn't have to be great at certain applications, it just needs to not consistently lose me fish. I have a few rods that are like that now, but I'm wanting to try something new. 723c 734c 704cb Glass 663c 735c 702sf Thanks for all the responses so far. I'm leaning towards a Conquest 843c, but I might be interested in an Extreme AGS if I could find a good deal on them, and I'm going to look into a custom build also. Does anyone know how much a Destroyer Daemos weighs?

That's why I need to try something else out and find out for myself. There are a few like yourself, who are not high on Dobyns, and there are plenty that are and some of them say they have NRX, Conquest, etc... and they say they like their Xtasy better. That is something I haven't thought of. Taking a NRX and putting Torzite Guides on it and carbon fiber grips. I bet that would be expensive, but possible right?

Interesting and good info to know about the Black Widow, I thought seen a few people on here the other day maybe it was an old thread I searched, where they were praising them.

I'm thinking about trying some other higher end rods besides the Dobyns Xtasy 723c and 755c. I like my Dobyns, but I really won't know how good they are until I try some other brands. I know all of these rods are good and it's mostly based on personal preference, but I just wanted to see how some of you would rank them, and how they might compare to my Xtasy 723c. Or, even some feedback from those that own some of these rods would be helpful. I'm looking for more of an all around casting rod for t-rigs, jigs, single hook moving baits, and the occasional lipless, nothing longer than a 7'3. My personal preference is for some softness in the tip with a little parabolic bend, and it has to have a good warranty. The lighter the better, and Made is the U.S.A. is a plus. I'm also a sucker for nice looking rods, a big reason why I choose the Xtasys. I fish for Smallmouth, usually no bigger than 3 lbs, and Largemouth usually no bigger than 4 lbs, with a lot of dinks in between with not much cover, which I why I prefer a softer tip with more parabolic action. Poison Adrena 7'3" MH (These have really caught my attention lately for the lightness and looks. I have heard some say they are pretty stiff, but I'm looking into the 7'3 MH with the Reg-Fast Action) Edge Black Widow 7'3" MH (I have heard these are insanely light, but there may be a long wait to receive one. I'm unsure on how their actions are) Conquest 843c (I already came close to getting this rod back when I got my Xtasys, it seems like an excellent all around rod.) Expride 7'2 MH (Probably not quite as good as the others, but everyone talks about how they are the best for the money.) Destroyer Daemos (I don't know how much these weigh and if they are as light as the others, but it seems like a good versatile stick that a little more parabolic than the expride.) NRX 873c (Not much needs to be said about this rod, I almost feel like I have to try one or I won't ever quit wondering about it. The thing that has prevented me from getting one so far, is that it's made from 10 year old components. I'm also not sure how it would do with single hook moving baits and lipless either.) Also feel free to add some other not on the list, because I know there are a few more that could be added, like a Kistler Helium 3 or Z-Bone, or a some St.Croix Rods. It has to be super light though, I would like it to be under 4 oz, but no higher than 4.2. Thanks!

Exactly! It bothers me sometimes though when it happens on a long cast and then I start making short casts. It's stuck like that until I hopefully make a just as long as cast as before. A few times I have tried to open the bail and let line out to fix it and reel it back in, but that led to a few wind knots. That's what might end up happening, now that I don't have to contend with microwave guides.

I've never had it happen with braid either, but has happened to me with 4 lb mono. It might be the problem. I have a whole list of things to try out now to see if I can resolve the issue. I appreciate the help and quick responses from everyone, I will let you know how goes after my next trip.

Seems flat to me. No jerkbait, but we have had at least 15 mph here in Ohio seems about everyday for awhile now.

Daiwa Revros LT

Yes, always.

I've been using spinning gear a little more this year for cold water finesse bass fishing and for pan-fish. I have very little experience with spinning reels overall, but I've been having a problem during retrieve, with my line missing the spool on the bottom and wrapping around the frame instead. What causes this and what can I do to solve it? I been using a size 2000 reel with 6# Mono.

I think I finally settled on a reel for my Xtasy 723c, I got this Tatula SV TW103 last week and it feels great together. I did have a Tatula 100 on it, but my brief experiment with left handed reels has ended already and so far this has been my favorite Daiwa reel out of the Tatula 100, Tatula CT Type-R, Catalina TW, which were all three handed reels. The Catalina was super nice also, but I just like the smaller size and weight of this Tatula SV better. As far as people comparing the SV spool to the Shimano DC reels, I would say they are close, but the DC still seems a little better in the wind, but I haven't spent as much time with the SV yet as the DC, so my opinion might change. But, the biggest difference between this reel and my DC is the weight, this one weights over an 1 oz less. So I would say SV for lighter rods and DC for heavier rods, IMO.

The Fury 703c was the first of 14 Dobyns rods I bought and there's really no difference between it and the 663c, the 663c weighs 4.4 and the 703c, 4.5. If I get a chance later, I might throw my DC on the 663c and see how it balances and take a pic for you, because it's kind of weird with Dobyns rods sometimes, they do seem to balance well no matter if it's a 6.9 oz or 7.9 oz reel.

The Black Max was my 1st BC also and I was able to pick it up easily as long as you do some research on how to set it up. But, after two years of hard use and abuse from taking it on the kayak, the thumb bar came loose on one side and I had to glue it back, and it's also pretty geary now. But, like I said I put that thing through the ringer with no reel cover and pretty heavy use, for the money, I can't complain. I believe all three of those reels will be similar as they are made from the same factory.

I have the 663c and I like it for jerkbaits and it's also my do all rod for kayak fishing skinny rivers. It's a very versatile rod and I can't really complain about the sensitivity. I guess my only concern if I were you, would be using a heavier reel with it and how it's going to balance with the Curado DC. I have a SLX MGL 70 on mine right now and also use a SLX XT with it and they balance great with it. I probably wouldn't put my SLX DC on it unless I had to, but that's just me. I mean it's not going to balance terribly with the Curado DC and you would probably have a hard time finding any 6'6 rod that's going to balance a DC reel perfectly, unless it's a Metanium. I did have a couple of Shimano SLX rods but they were 7'2 MH and 7'5 H and didn't balance well at all, even with heavier reels, even though they were lighter than the Fury. I have heard the shorter SLX rods don't have the balance issue and might even balance better with a Curado DC, but the warranty is crap on them compared to Dobyns. I've had a Fenwick before and it was a little to heavy for me with bad balance, but it was also a bigger rod. I've never tried a Daiwa rod yet, so I don't know about them. The AirXD and Tatula XT seem like good values. I'm guessing you don't have a store near you that carries some of the models where you can take your reel with you and test the balance out of them or else that would be the way to go.

What are the differences between the regular Tatula and the Tatula XT?