Bass Rutten

10# ygk soul sinking braid, 8# fluoro leader. The thinner braid the more sensitive due to less water and wind drag, no need for anything heavier for shakeyhead (on spinning) imo, most braids test between 50-100% higher break strength than their actual rating.

I’ve been pretty impressed with the curado mgl’s, I just about gave up on shimano but this reel has instilled my confidence in them once again, so far…[knocks on wood] edit: my bad, you asked about daiwas

If your'e mainly using it for chatterbaits I'd go with the lighter and lower profile reel which between the two would be the curado, the tatula 200 is a fair bit beefier in hand.

I have both, no contest, tatula 200 all the way for deep cranks, significantly more line capacity, bigger handle, it just flat out handles bigger lures better. IPT is 28” vs 26” on the curado. The curado is lower profile and may be a little more all day comfortable. If you’re a lefty they’re on amazon right now for $129 brand new.

Sportsman outfitters has a bunch of dobyns on sale right now.

@Siebert Outdoors The sniper jig looks like it has a pretty beefy hook, is it heavy gauge? I'm looking for a finesse jig with more of a medium wire hook, is the mini jig medium wire??

Vmc make a nice one.

I guess it couldn’t hurt, but a well tied knot doesn’t need it and this extra step takes all of 10 seconds to do.

The non-slip loop knot works fine with braid, I deviate only by using a few extra wraps, usually 6 or 7. Something I do that I rarely see come up is that braid ties better in any application if you use your thumbnail to "rough up" the last foot or so in your line before tying, I do this by pinching the line between your thumb and index finger being sure to dig your nail into it and pull the line through, I usually do this around 10 times, it will remove some or at least loosen the abrasion protection coating most lines come with, it makes the line more pliable and allows it to grip itself better, keep in mind doing this reduces it's abrasion resistance a little.

There’s deals to be found, I just picked up a legend off the bay for $360 by doing what I posted above.

If you want a discount search out the rod you want on the bay and filter the search to show listings that accept offers, then offer a price that reflects 25% off, you'll probably get a counter offer at 15 or 20% off.

I'd definitely go medium heavy over medium for swimjigs unless you use light wire jigs or use braided line. The legend elite mh is your prototypical mh/fast taper with slightly heavier action than most manufacturers mh rods, excellent for non-treble hook baits; swim/flip jigs, plastics, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits.

Yes good point, didn't think about the versatility aspect.

Solid recommendation, but for another $10 retail you can get the exceler which has a screw in aluminum handle. I got two of them for under $60 each.

Simple to define imo, it’s a reel that can withstand everyday use with minimal problems, with regular care and cleaning most reels above $100 are built well enough to be a workhorse.

For covering water the jika rig beats t-riggin and shakey head imo. I've had good luck on standard and mag sized straight tail worms casting them out and "cranking" them in like a football jig or the bottom bugging technique. The jika rig comes through all types of cover exceptionally well, the free swinging design used with a longer pencil shaped drop shot style weight in front keeps it slightly above the bottom at speed with a head down tail up posture and a nice little tail shake. Use a bit heavier weight than usual to maintain bottom contact, 3/8 or 1/2 oz usually works well.

No link but what you want is thin walled silicone tubing, 6/8mm, 8/10mm, and 10/12mm id/od (inside/outside diameter) covers a pretty good range of plastics from trick worms to stick baits, I got it off the ‘bay, a couple meters of each size cut into 1/4” pieces will last you years. Edit: I’m referring to tubing that will be put over the lures like o-rings, not through them like the inu-rig.

I find silicone tubing is superior to both heat shrink tube and o-rings. I haven’t tried this new method yet.

What is it about the imx that makes you like it better?

If it’s just minor surface rust I’ll take fine 1000 grit sandpaper to it, otherwise to the bin it goes.

Bumping this up, was hoping to get some feedback from any owners (@Tywithay @Junger @txchaser) on how the daiwa ehrler m-mh finesse rods taper and action might work for hard baits, I understand it’s xfst but has a softer tip than a typical mh rod, hoping it’s suitable for lures such as jerks (pointer 100), 2.5 sq bills, and topwaters (spooks) in the 1/2oz to 3/4oz range, any info appreciated.

Unless you have an obvious hole in your arsenal why do you feel like you have to buy a rod and/or reel? If you spend that amount on just lures and terminal you’d probably be set for a year or two. I’d just buy more of whatever is working for you now.

Between the many different actions combined with the ever changing buoyancy due to constantly changing water temps I find the jerkbait to be the most technically difficult and high maintenance lure category by far.