Bass Rutten

Did they send you a link you can share?

My “cranking” stick is a relatively soft tipped st croix 7’ med/fast, used primarily for squarebills and dt6’s. On occasion I’ll tie on spooks, traps, jerkbaits, dropshot (weedless), shakeyhead, neko rig, mojo rig. About as versatile a rod as I’ve ever owned.

I had to return the kistler klx, it was faster in action and more powerful then I anticipated. Exchanged it for another helium, a 7'3" mh/f, paid $198 #winning

I do not, just going off my current and past experience with medium-light rods and weight ratings, my ml/f kistler is rated 1/16-3/8 yet it begins to struggle loading at 1/8oz (total weight). If you know that blank can go lighter then I guess the only question is how light can it go?

It does for spin, so why not for BFS? A rod rated for 1/8-3/8 will very likely not load the tip enough to cast 1/16 or 1/32oz (total weight) well, at least in my experience, assuming that’s the weight range on the rod you mentioned above.

I've got zillions, alphas, ss air tw, just sold off my bfs slx/curado. Knowing what I know now if I was starting from scratch I would stay away from out of the box bfs reels unless you are planning on trout or panfishing or going really light, like under 1/8oz which that rainshadow blank won’t handle anyhow. I have one of my alphas svtw’s setup with a kkr spool (I have a rays studio sv spool enroute too) and roro bearings that I like as much and performs just as well on a medium light/fast rod as the one trick pony, albeit a very good trick, ss air tw which will cost you at least a hundo more. I’ll dabble with converting a zillion to bfs at some point too which bulldog has proven is a formidable bfs platform. My point is that the alphas and zillion is much more versatile and fun overall with the plethora of parts, spools, and high performance bearings available, and can be returned to stock should the need arise. Of these the alphas svtw 800 (my favorite) is the most compact even over the the ss air despite what daiwa implies. I was surprised when I received it to find that it feels a smidge taller and fuller in hand (steez based frame) than the alphas, but in terms of weight the ss air is the featherweight champ with the zillion even bigger and heavier than both. I’ll be perfectly content with the alphas and zillion one-two punch for the foreseeable future, which between them can be setup to handle everything from bfs to punching.

Can't go wrong with the Lucky Craft LC 1.5, comes in multitudinous colors (125). Has standard rattle and drs versions too, drs is deep rattle sound, more like a clackin or knocker sound. Great all around squarebill.

DIY Microcast SV spool for my Alphas 800.

After a short scrap with a little hairy midget I managed to escape walmart with my wallet mostly intact, found some big game in an interesting coastal brown color which might help for Floridas tannic colored waters, we shall see.

*SOLD* Tatula 200 for sale, exterior has some scratches and a little rash but is very mechanically solid. It has always been maintained, greased, and oiled regularly. Spooled up with brand new sufix 832 50lb braid. $OLDtyd

For any one interested there's a brand new LH 7:1 smoke s3 on ebay right now for $82.50, thought about it for a new froggin reel, but think I 'll stick to the new tatula which can be had new for $120

Edge is not affiliated with Shimano or Fenwick to my knowledge and is owned/operated by Gary Loomis and uses his own NFC blanks. Would love to know how they compete at their price point.

The hover rig deal was a short lived epic failure for me. May revisit it someday.

Hear ye dropshotters, the smaller 4 inch caffeine shad makes for a tremendous dropshot lure, it's got a very similar tail section as the dreamshot but a thicker body. It's killer rigged weedless which is how I caught my pb.

Cool, I ordered a klx 7'3" heavy/mod-fast, it's the a-rig/deep cranker rated for 3/8-2oz. Planning on using it mostly for chatterbaits and swimbaits, but I'm curious if it has enough power for punching and frogging too. It's funny but lately I never know how a rod will end up being utilized, sometimes they wind up being better at something I didn't anticipate. Supposed to be here Saturday. My last one was the helium 7'3" hmh, I'm loving it. I also have a helium ml/f and a lmh/f, both 7'0" casting.