Bass Rutten

At that price if you see anything that says pointer buy them all! edit: except for the lightning pointers, they retail at $10

For anyone who needs to bring their estrogen levels down a little...

Number one factor for me is wind, light to no wind is swim jig/swimbait time, a chop on the water I go spinner/chatter bait, water clarity and wind are often tied together. Next most important factors imo is light, brighter days swim jig, overcast chatter. It’s just a general starting point, as we all know fish and Mother Nature rarely abide by the rulebook.

Actually my main workhorse is a 70mh legend elite, wished they made some of their 7'3" models in that line, the search continues...

Picked up the 7'3" xfast full contact finesse and fished it over the last week. The blank itself I liked very much but the handle was one of the most uncomfortable I've ever used and was a deal breaker. The overall handle profile is very thin and the trigger is too short and straight, I just wasn't able to get a good purchase even with a super low profile reel which made it feel more tip heavy than it probably actually is and resulted in my hand cramping after a short while, wound up returning it. May try the new tournament series which looks to have a beefier handle.

True, it’s got its limitations, but I think it’s worth it if it’s your number one trailer as he implied.

Snip keeper, dab of superglue.

There’s a guy in elgin, he’s on fb, goes by tricky sticks

.40mm copoly, spangler knot.

SLX 6'10 M/H, SLX 8:1 jigs n trigs HMG 6'6 M/F, MGL 150 6:1 treble hook lures 734c 7'3 H/F, 20 Met 7:1 jig hook lures 703c 7'0 M/H F, SV TW 7:1 finesse jigs/plastics

Booyah’s baby boo jig. It’s not a finesse jig in the traditional sense, It’s got a 60 strand skirt and a head shape that’s more of a flipping style, but it’s compact with a light wire hook and comes in 3/16 & 5/16. It comes through grass and vegetation really good. What I love most about it is they cost $2.79

I think the mojo/split-shot/petey style rigs are super underrated and overlooked because they’re not “sexy”. The rigging options combined with the literal thousands of plastics available makes it so versatile it’s silly.

Another tactical angler clip fan here. All my cranking rods and a swimbait rod sport them.

Black is my best clear water color. Black with black fleck is my best stained water color, and for really dirty muddy water color I like a black back with black belly.

Very helpful info, thanks. The funny thing about these two rods is that the “finesse” rod is rated heavy and has a lower max lure weight rating than the mh/fast, talk about confusing. I did handle the marshall (mh/fast) in store a while back and it felt like your classic mh st croix taper. I think I’m actually going to try the full contact finesse w/xfast tip out of curiosity, perhaps that bit of tip may be better considering I’ll be using braid to medium wire hooks and smaller plastics. Thanks to everyone for commenting.

Basically I’m torn between getting the St croix victory marshall (fast) or the full contact finesse (xfast), both 7’3”. This rod will be used primarily for rigging various plastics with the most used rigs being the mojo and jika 90% of the time, likely using 30-40lb braid to leader. Of the many rods I’ve owned none have had an xfast taper and from the bit of reading I’ve done it seems the xfast rod is going to be overall less powerful with more tip but I’m not sure how, if that is even correct, it will translate to fishing these rigs. Are the two actions drastically different or am I overthinking this?

I went to the booyah coverts a while back, I wrap the bends with .20 wire, prevents sliding.

This is what I’ve always thought as well, stiffer construction absorbs less vibration forcing the energy out into the water.

Mattlures hammertail crappie, baby hardgill. Been admiring these from afar for a long time, hope they live up to the hype.

They hit diapers down there? Have you tried brown? ?

Ufc and moonshine, what a combo!

The 705’s sweet spot is precisely 1/2 to 3/4 ounces, you won’t be disappointed. As for glass vs graphite that’s a personal preference, I have both and can live with and adapt to either. The caveat is I don’t think I’d pay full price on the champions, for that money I’d pony up a few extra clams and go expride or st croix legend glass. I have the 705 and 706 but picked them both up on sale for about $190, if your set on dobyns check their website, they often have refurbs there at discounts with full warranty.

It's everything I wanted the fury to be, all it took was more money lol. It feels a tad lighter and crisper and it has much better guides and reel seat (all fuji hardware), but overall it feels similar. I just got it over winter on a black friday sale so I don't have a lot of time on the water with it yet but I'll be chucking squarebills and traps like a maniac with it real soon, ice out was only about two weeks ago here.

@MN Fisher Funny you mention yzh, I just bought a few spools on a tip about bogo at dsg, just spooled up my champ 705cb with the 10 lb to give it a try, good to know it's lower stretch.