Luke Barnes

And...... They sent me the wrong got dang rod!! I took it out of the tube and thought man, that looks way shorter than 7'2. Flipped it over and its a 6'10 M/XF!!! So have to return it and get a the right one sent to me. The reel was correct and I love it just holding it!

I red a research project that scientists dissected the eyes of bass and studied the rods and cones and such, and determined bass see red and green as colors, and everything else as light or dark based on what shade they are. Chartreuse would then in turn look white. If ones to believe the scientists. Well light chartreuse atleast. But honestly who knows. I still use colors other than green or red. I also second.... Or fifth, the Booyah Pad Crasher. Of the 5 frogs I have, 3 are Pad Crashers, one Booyah Toad Runner, and a cheap Ozark trail popping frog with a white belly, because i didnt have a popping frog with a white belly and I was at walmart with the wife and it was easy to sell a $2 frog over a $7 frog.

Last night I threw a 3/16 shakey head with a strike king ocho on a spinning rod but ive throw the same thing on a baitcaster. Only reason I didn't last night was because i wanted to use the lure on the baitcaster still.

The Diawa Aird-X rods have gotten many good reviews and at $50 is a great option.

I throw shakey heads and drop shots on a baitcaster. As light as 3/16. The only spinning setup I use is for the Ned Rig. I throw the shakeys on 15lb copoly line. I tend to run my spool really loose and adjust with the mag brakes. Its now been an issue. I wouldn't want to throw weightless Flukes on a spinning setup, so I learned to do it on my casting setups.

I'm going to jig with this rod too. Let me know how you like it and I'll do the same.

When everyone said they are the smoothest out of the $100-$150 reels and dont need a ton of bearings to be that smooth it made me realize it's a quality product. Plus the XT comes with 1 more bearing than the regular SLX and is lighter and smaller than the Fuego, and I realized I dont want to hold a bulkier reel all day. I wasnt concerned about comfort and weight at first then thought, Luke, you know when you pick that rod up with a frog tied on you're not going to want to put it down the rest of the day. So took that into consideration too.

Yeah I got laid off within days of making the post so I put it on the back burner. But unemployment finally came in and my wife told me to pick out what I wanted for fathers day. I had been expanding my options and doing loads of research and feel good about what I ended up with.

I finally decided on a setup and pulled the trigger. I went with the SLX XT 8.2-1 and the SLX 7'2 H/F rod. Got a deal on it and watched hours of reviews and read for hours and this setup made me feel the best about spending the money. I cant wait to get it and try it out!

So after all of this, hours of reviews on you tube and online, I decided on the SLX XT combo and just pulled the trigger. I like the dual breaking and external braking of the XT over the regular SLX. All reviews showed the SLX out casting the Fuego by a good bit, and the XT outcasted the regular SLX. All reviews on the SLX rods from here and you tube said it was a good rod, not the most sensitive, but i wasnt looking for sensitivity. I went with the 7'2 heavy/fast. I know its marginal, but I like that the SLX rod is 7'2 over the 7' Diawa AirdX. So all in all I'm happy with the decision i made. It was very tough deciding between the Fuego and SLX XT. But in the end castability and smoothness won for the XT. Ill let you all know when I get them in and fish with them!

I do but only with my thumb and pointer finger. I dont have the middle finger on the reel, I tuck it under and touch the gearbox with it.

Good idea. Im going to Google it and see all online prices. I watched you tube reviews earlier and that was about the only complaint. Some not even a complaint but an added point, that it is bigger than others. That's fine by me really. I would rather have a sturdy slightly bulkier reel.

So it can throw a frog and winch them out, plus be versatile to throw other baits? Man thats a win win right there!! I'm going to look into them now and see what reels DSG has too. My problem is when I finally decide to pull the trigger I get super impatient and if DSG has the rod but not the Fuego in stock, but has a Lews Speed Spool LFS I might get antsy and buy it haha.

Now deciding on the reel. Probably going to go with a Lews Speed Spool LFS or maybe an Abu Revo X, but ive been looking at the Diawa Diego CT and i like the system they use where it backs off the brakes on the initial cast and they kick in after its spinning. They claim it gets better casting distance. I have 2 Diawa spinning reels that have never done wrong by me. Hhmmm. Probably getting the Diawa AirdX rod so maybe a whole Diawa combo i put together......

Ive got a black max combo I use for cranking. For this setup I'm wanting an aluminum frame reel. That's the only thing I am going to be a stickler on. After all your comments I have decided to take everyones advice and buy seperate. $100 reel and a cheap rod because i dont need sensitivity and I'm pretty big so not worried about it being light weight.

I third Berkeley Lightning Rod

I have a 4'8 UL with 2# Trout SOS mono and landed a few 2lb bass so far. All was fine and taught me more about drag and not just burning the fish in.

I plan on it!! What reels in that price point do you feel are better?? That's the $100-$150 range I'm imagining

I had heard the Revo X was a good reel, but nothing about the SX. You guys gave me an idea. The Falcon rods plant is like 3 miles from my house. I ought to call and ask if they have any dent, ding, scratch rods they dont send out that they sell on the cheap.

So its on sale at that site? Or do i have to buy direct from Shimano to get the option on rods?

Budget is rigid, brands not so much. Just want a reel with an aluminum frame and if a rod that's listed as MH is actually more like a H. Thats it. That or if anyone knows of a good combo that comes with a H rod well that solves all that haha. When I'm not frogging I'll use it for jigs and maybe heavier t rigs so I want some sensitivity, but it doesnt have to be high end sensitivity. Very smart statement. I didnt know if the rods that came on the Revo or Speed Spool LFS were any good. I assumed a Revo rod would be good, but what you say makes so much sense. That I'm better off getting the reel I want and a rod that will do what I want than settling or compromising.

I go with the Alberto knot. I use it on my fly rod and anything that gets a leader. My ned rig setup ive caught some good fish and never once have retied the leader. My advice, get all the line in the knot really wet when cinching it down and it makes it nice and small.

Personally I would love it in a 7'3 H but would be just fine with a 7'

When i go catfishing I use three different presentations regardless of the bait I'm using. Heavy carolina rig, santee Cooper rig, and a circle hook under a bobber. I cast to generally the same area and have three areas of the water column covered. Catfish dont use lateral lines like bass, to detect vibration and movement. They go on sense of smell mostly. But they dont just bottom feed. A flathead catfish is an apex predator and prefers live bait. Which swims and squirms on the hook. So they do sense movement better than channels and blues. Channels will eat just about everything. Cast and wait unless you know there are flathead there and you're targeting them. Then you can use a live bluegill, cut the tail fun off and hook it in the tail end and slowly drag it.

I see they advertise a Revo SX with a Johnny Morris Carbonlite 2.0 for $159 on sale right now. I dont remember if its just a standard 7' MH but i dont think there are rod choices, just the one power and action. That would be awesome if they offered it in H.