Craig P

Off the cuff I would tell you 3000 though I have learned that size is different amongst manufacturers. A Shimano vs a Pflueger for example, a Shimano 2000 is more like a Pflueger 3000. With that in mind, I started looking at the weight of the reels, the line pick-up, gear ratio, line size, etc. for the intended purposes and whatever series it is, it is, so to speak and just the model # I end up buying.

Wow, that is sweet looking. Let us know how it fishes.

You go eat a great meal, you’re stuffed, then you walk past a candy dish that has some peanut butter cups, you know you don’t need it, you may even pause a second….but just one little one won’t hurt right To me, this is finesse fishing. Oh, add in a bunch of pricey dishes to hold the goodies too. lol

I used it today with a variety of small baits. A Rebel Wee Craw, an inline spinner I make and a BooYah Pond Magic Spinbait. It was a learning curve though, I am use to grabbing a 7’ or so rod and putting some oomph (technical term) into it and doing my thing. While you can still do that with this rod, the best results came from just slowing down, letting the rod correctly load and being smooth with it. Once I figured that out, it was game on and my casting accuracy came together. By the end of the day, my accuracy and hooking ability with this rod is off the charts. I can’t really say anything negative about this rod. If I had to nit pick, the trigger finger rest could be just a tad bigger but we are really reaching for something here at this point. I caught a bunch of small fish today and going with BFS style presentations puts you into sunny territory so you have to weed through some of them but I also caught a couple of nicer ones today too on the BooYah. While the Booyah is small itself, it keeps the sunnies at bay.

A story is so much better with pictures! New rod showed up this morning, I already have it paired with my recent Curado BFS purchase. Can’t wait to give this thing a run.

TW sale got me today….kind of. I have been eyeing the 6’-8” Physyx Casting rod and TW had a 15% off sale. I have been waiting for my CC rewards to equal the cost of the rod so with 15% off, hey now! I did not buy it from TW though, I called my favorite store in Pa (Susquehanna Tackle) and they said they would price match it. Sweet! It will be here tomorrow and I am sure I will be fishing it Sunday.

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Overhanging trees and brush. Not many can make those kind of casts so those fish always seem easier to bite.

I had this situation with a Flathead Catfish a few years ago. Ironic but not totally, it came from the same body of water that the prior record was held. I had no desire to go through the process even though I hate what a flathead can do to other fish populations but what gives me the right to kill another creature? If for sustenance, I’m ok with that but for a certificate, nah, I just can’t do that. Another ironic part to the story, the prior record was beat a year later, which I know would have beat mine so nothing lost.

The YouTube trap, where’s my wallet! LOL As much as I hate to admit it, there are some magical baits. I think of a certain jerk bait I use for walleye or a swim bait I use for stripers and of course, there is the old reliable Senko and Ned. They just get bit more and have turned slow days into great days. One thing I have learned about those magical baits though, they’ve been proven over many years so when you see the next great bait hit the market, or YouTube, always raise an eyebrow. I have been bitten by the bait monkey the last 5 or so years ALOT! LOL but last year I started testing what works while there is a good bite going on to trim down tackle. This year I am going through colors. 3 colors just hit the archives yesterday as a matter of fact. I am liking my trimmed down selection though, it really helps keep me focused and for the most part, catching.

On my trout setup I always use 4# Stren Original in the purple package. I throw inline spinners exclusively so line twist can’t be avoided so every 3-4 trips, strip and reline. I’ve caught thousands of trout over the years and some big ones up to 25” in the mix. It’s never failed me, available everywhere and cheap. Not that cheap is my thing if you look at the other lines I run (invisx, assassin) but it’s nice to find a break anywhere you can.

Same here. It’s all about the line diameter. I tried making my 70 do lower diameter and it can by a couple lbs. but I find the happy place with 12 floro or 30 braid for both the 150 and 70 mgl reels.

150mgl is an excellent reel. If you’re tempted to throw a little lighter line, the 70mgl is also an excellent choice but don’t confuse the 70 with bfs, it is not a bfs reel.

I removed Livescope from my boat this year after seeing it literally chase bass off of beds. I could not believe my eyes when I seen that and I tried several beds, all with the same result. I turned LS off that day and immediately began catching. Coincidence? I can’t say for certain but I ended up removing livescope completely and sold it after using it for close to 4 years. End result, I’ve caught many more fish this year. Is it because I’m not “looking” for the perfect cast? Wasting time tinkering? Placebo? Who knows but I do believe fish on the pressures lakes near me are becoming keen to the sound and know when to keep their mouths closed.

1. Have fun 2. Catch fish

Sounds like you’re not sticking the hook with enough force which could just be the difference in rod length and the transfer of power. Glenn has a great video on hooking with jigs, search his channel on YouTube. In short, get a bite, drop the rod, reel slack, set the hook hard. If you are already doing that, I would blame the rod.

In tournaments, guys are using the 7’-3” + while livescoping with small-ish minnow style baits like a crush city freeloader. The tip is fast and the bend is light to medium light and it helps with the presentation. If you’re fishing suspended fish with a light swim bait, especially if scoping, it’s something you may want in your arsenal. I have my fair share of experience with scoping suspended fish and while I have found some success, it’s just not something I enjoy over other methods so I pass on these longer variants.

Use the Dobyns, let her choose what she wants? A Dobyns fury can be had for cheap in comparison and still fishes nice but the price is cheap enough you won’t mind it sitting around for just visits.

Either, doesn’t matter but I do feel like fish feel bigger when using a baitcaster.

Your and my background seem very similar, even down to the first two rods. All of my bass fishing was casting to shorelines so I wanted to learn about offshore and learned about football jigs. Fell in love with it, especially 3/4 ounce and bought a setup for heavy presentations. With that said, maybe buy the next rod based off of one aspect that you really like or think you will like. From there, I wanted something very Ned specific, I go against the norm, I throw Ned’s on a bait caster and bought a setup for light presentations. After that, something for just T-rigs and forward. I’ve found some of these setups to handle spinbaits really nice as well depending on the weight of the bait I want to use. I know I’m not being rod specific here, just a path as your path and mine are similar. FWIW, I like Dobyn’s Champion XP Rods and Curado Reels for most things but I also have Shimano and St Croix as I am enjoying these new monocoque handles.

I made a post about learning on a DC in another thread. I went to a Curado DC reel to give me some confidence as I was doing very poorly with a $60 Rod/Reel Combo I bought from Dicks. Hindsight being what it is, yes DC gave me confidence but reality is the learning curve was achieved because it was simply a higher quality reel. Any Curado I bought after (too many!) are not DC, I do not need it. In summary, there is no reason to not buy a DC, it won't hurt his learning curve, it will help.

I will be fishing it today for the 2nd time. So far I am enjoying it. I am a fan of that handle style after buying a Zodias a little over a year ago. Balance with a Vanford 2500 makes it feel much lighter than you would think. Hopefully get a bite today! lol

Kind of overkill for a dedicated wacky rod unless you have confidence in that blank over another for casting accuracy. I just picked up a Physyx that I am liking for that presentation but it isn't like the Mojo Bass, Triumph, Dobyns Fury I used before this rod were slouches. I just like shiny new things.

Bass are like grumpy old men. They don’t mind being left alone and out of sight.

My development has a retention basin that holds water since it was built 6-7 years ago. Sunnies, bass and catfish have made their way into it. It’s become a popular place for the kids in the development to go and fish all the time. Nice to see kids enjoying outdoor activities rather than staying inside playing video games.