Triton20XSD

I'm surprised that there are not more Stratos boats run by pros as well. That is probably the majority boat brand in the bass club I belong to. We have 2 Tritons, 2 Rangers & 4 Stratos...among some other brands...a Skeeter, 2 Bass Cats, etc. We did have 5 Stratos but one guy switched to a Ranger Z Comanche...........

Can't speak on the STX but I do own a Premier. I have had no issues with it so far. Very smooth, good drag & very light. I have this matched up with a G. Loomis 843 crankbait rod. I have thrown mostly lipless cranks & topwater with it so far. I see quite a few posts on the STX with guys that really like it....some like it better than the Premier. I may have to check out the STX when I get the "new reel itch" again. ;D

Both great boats. A few guys in my club have Z series Rangers and they are very nice. As by my screen name you can see I am partial to the Triton. You can't go wrong with either one. I would suggest your dad taking both for a ride if he can and decide what he likes better. He is the one shelling out the $$$$ so better to make his own choice.

Great rod. I use mine for Senkos, tubes, grubs, small texas rigged worms, flukes, very versatile rod. Also love the 843 IMX

I'm sure you will get varied responses. I thought it was junk when it first came out. Then I tried the Transition which I didn't think was too bad but I just don't trust it. I think I may have had a few bad spools when it first came out and find it hard to buy it now. I like P-Line Fluorocarbon better. I bought the new Berkley professional grade fluoro and tried it over the weekend. I seemed to hold up much better than the Vanish. I was fishing rocky areas with hair jigs (8# test) and got snagged several times and the line was pretty hard to break. Personally I would stay away from the Vanish. Just my opinion.

I have been throwing my lipless cranks on a 6.2:1 Curado. I have now purchased a 6.4:1 Revo Premier that I will be throwing my lipless cranks on this year.....it shoudn't be much different. I do own 2 7:1 reels but have not thrown lipless cranks with them.

For the depth you are saying you will be fishing (0-10'). I would recommend a 7' med action. My personal favorite is a G. Loomis 843 crankbait rod. I also have a 6'6" CBR 783 but I like the 7' better.

I'm a big fan of the P-Line Fluoro but just purchased some of the Trilene Pro Grade to try this year. Haven't used it yet but it went on the spool nice and doesn't seem to have much memory. Now I just need to test it on the water.

I change my line at the beginning of every year. The only way I change during the year is if it gets too low on the spool. I like to keep it pretty well filled. The other reason would be if the line had a lot of memory and I had to strip a bunch off---leading to the low line scenario as mentioned above.

I like a longer rod for buzzbait fishing. Right now I am using a St. Croix Avid 7' med action with 15# P-Line XXX-Strong line for 3/8 oz buzzbaits. I like throwing my poppers & 1/4 oz buzzbaits on a 7' G. Loomis med action Crankbait rod. Other uses for the St. Croix rod for Texas rigging 5" senkos, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, small jigs. I also throw lipless cranks & shallow-med diving cranks on the Loomis rod. Not sure what your price range is but the Avid is in the $150-160 range and the Loomis is about $225.00.

I don't think you would damage it as long as you don't over-stress the rod...keep your drag light. I'm not sure what you are using for bait but you must have a tough time setting the hook on a bass with an ultra-light rod.

I usually have pretty good luck with hair jigs right after ice out. They key is to fish them slow.

6 lbs 13 oz. back in 1990. I was fishing for Calico with my neighbor during March (yes the ice was off early) and there was nothing doing with the Calico so I switched to a small jig & pig. I had 6 lb test and a light action rod. I also caught a 6 lb 11 oz on my first outing this year on a lipless crankbait, only fish caught that day and the bar was set high for the year.

my buddy had a topwater hanging over the back of my boat and caught a 2+ pound smallie in about 20' of water.....must have been suspended and almost ripped the rod out of the boat.........just recently in Canada I had a strike on a topwater and thought I missed the fish---I popped it again and had another strike...to my surprise when I got the fish in I had about a 6" bass on the front hook and about a 13" on the back hook.

I was in the same boat as you. I never thought I would own a crankbait specific rod either. Now I own 2 Loomis crankbait rods and love them. You can't beat a rod designed just to fish cranks. It feels much better for this application. They also double nicely as a topwater & jerkbait rod. These rods run about $180-$200. I know that is more than you want to spend but you won't be sorry if you get one. I think I just may have to pick up antother one ; )

I agree with the 6'6" m action rod. On spinning set ups I usually throw 8-10# mono or 10# flouro if you want a little more depth. As far as the retrieve, you need to experiment and let the fish tell you what type of retrieve they are preferring. In really cold water you may need to let the bait sit for 15-45 seconds or longer. Other times a jerk, jerk pause may work. Best to keep varying the retrieve and take note when you catch a fish what type of retrieve you were doing at the time. Hope this helps.

I would also recommend the Seige as well. Use the 10# for cranks and 12# for jigs/6" worms. Very good line. Haven't tried the braid yet but it's coming some day.

Hello Basscat. I usually like to throw hard jerkbaits on medium action 6'6" spinning rods with 8 lb test or medium action 6'6" or 7' Loomis crankbait rods with 10# test. As for soft jerkbaits like a fluke, I like a little heavier rod like a medium heavy spinning rod with 8-10# test or a medium heavy baitcaster with 12# test. I always like a heavier rod with a single hook application. Just my personal preference. Thanks, Scott

Vic, as the others have stated, you would use spinning gear for lighter lures & lighter line. Say 6-10 lb. test. Baitcasters give you more power & control over fish that you may want to mover out of heavy cover. You can throw heavier lines on casting equipment vs spinning equipment. I usually thow 6-10 on my spinning rods and 10-17 on my baitcasters. Baitcasters in general usually have smoother drags than spinning reels. It's all personal preference. I didn't start fishing baitcasters until I really started getting into tournament fishing about 5-6 years ago. I'm glad I have learned to used both methods as there are definately some advantages to both.

Just got a Mossyback 853 (7'1" mh baitcaster) for X-mas. Just wondering what others may be using this for besides jigs/worms. Thanks, Scott

I don't usually throw buzzbaits much in that cold of water but as for your color question--one of my favorite buzzbaits is a black & red skirt with a red blade Leverage.