Big Hands

I thought I would encounter more that employed a mechanical welding solution rather than the chemical welding alternative. But it looks like many are using Mend-It (or other chemicals) and have their own special ways of making it work for them. What has surprised me most is that no one that uses an actual cautery pen has responded. Yet? I appreciate all of the responses.

I have tried Mend-It, and it's not a bad solution. . . . if. . . . . you can apply it to the damaged area of the bait. But holding a split apart and being able to brush the solution into the wound is not easy with only two hands. It's pretty easy to get the tip of a cautery pen into the affected area, but $30 (for one high temp pen) up to $50 for a "kit" (with extra tips and a plastic storage box) is not chump change. Just curious how many here are rehabbing or repairing their plastics, and how you do it? Once upon a time, I owned a Cobra Proweld cautery tool, and I am considering getting another one. I pulled these out of the boat the other day, cleaned them up, and had a Mend-It repair session. I was able to try some of the repaired baits, and they seemed OK, and caught fish.

I think it might be a good idea to consider investing in a 'system' rather than thinking that you're going to get by with a single bag. I don't feel like I need to have every lure, weight, hook, etc. with me on all fishing excursions, and that is why I have adopted a modular solution. I have three different pieces that all hold a number of 3700 size boxes. One is a soft side tackle bag that I take with me in my 14' aluminum boat that holds five 3700 boxes and has three additional pockets to hold additional items. Next is a soft sided tackle backpack for when I ride my bike, or walk into an area to fish. It holds four 3700 boxes and has additional storage pouches and can have two rods strapped to the outside of it as well. Third is a storage bag made to hold eight 3700 boxes that I don't take anywhere. It stays home to hold whatever boxes I don't take with me. By doing this, I don't have to take everything with me, nor do I want to. I can take a pretty good assortment of what I'll need for a day of fishing, but not have to carry ten tons of stuff that I don't need . It seems to be a good working system for me so far. If I get to where I need to store more 3700 size boxes, then I could get more of the storage bags.

Daiwa does offer a Tatula TTU702MXS 2 piece ML fast action spinning rod.

Not sure I would spend $200 on a 2 piece spinning rod. JMHO. Bur if I wanted a nice rod that broke down, I would at least check out the Daiwa Ardito ARDT703MFS-TR

Walmart Girl? Are you saying she had shoulders like a linebacker. . . . and cankles?

I still have a tackle box that I made back in the 80's for fishing on half day boats back when I lived in Redondo Beach. I would always be looking for a place to sit while heading to the fishing grounds, so I made my own that would always be available to only me. When I showed it to a fishing buddy, he said, "Oh, that's a 'glug box!" I asked what a glug box was and he said it's called a glug box because when you throw it over the side of the boat, it goes "glug, glug, glug". I have called it that ever since then.

If that is where your budget is, with the Sellus being a medium fast action rod at that price, I don't think you'll have too much complain about. I get why jerkbait rods are usually on the short side since you want to keep the tip low so much of the time. I don't think you'll find any similarly priced rods that have an XF action, which IMHO is a good quality to have in a jerkbait rod because you don't have to back off so far on the jerk to make the bait stop DEAD in the water when you pause. You'd have to move up to the SLX CX610M to get something like that, and that's double the price at $99 MSRP rather than $49. If you really want a dedicated jerkbait rod and want to fish it regularly, I'd be tempted to save a bit more to get the SLX. If you want to use it for other things too and jerkbaits aren't your top priority, then the Sellus can get you in the game.

Is yer boat the Boomer Schooner? I beg to differ.

I got nothin' Slow-n-easy-P?

It's a long and complicated tale, but here goes: T'was a dark and dreary night, and all the little goblins were sitting around the campfire. . . .

I don't think the rod gets better or worse with a reel, but a more appropriate reel can better maximize the potential of a rod, as can the line as well. The rod doesn't change, only the way it's used can change.

I think you could find a Daiwa Tatula 100 within your budget if you shop well. I have both a Black Max 3 and a Tatula 100, and the difference in casting distance and all around feel is more than noticeable. I also have a couple of Pro Max 3 reels, which are a step up from the Black Max 3, and I would trade both Pro Max 3 reels for a single Tatula 100 if that says anything about how much I appreciate the Tatula 100. I recently saw the Tatula 100 on sale for $99.

And it's matchy-matchy! ? ====================== I'd be a lying sack of manure if I said I never take aesthetics into consideration with rod, reels, and line. There have been rods or reels I have turned away from purely due to aesthetics. And I'd do it again! LOL I had a friend that had complete sets of rods in different colors to match his impressive collection of ABU round reels. Rods, reels, and line all matched for each set. If he wanted to fish a certain color of line, that would determine which set he used and he didn't mix-n-match colors for a given day of fishing.

You may have just triggered the 'geezer alert' feature.

LOL. They're mean too. And they have a small mouth. ======================= Maybe we've been 'largemouth'd' to death and there's not much fertile ground left to pound compared to smallies.

Not in and of itself I guess, but it doesn't distract from other sensations, casts a country mile and is easier to hold the rod and turn the handle from underneath with one hand. I have also found the Tatula 100 for $99, which is a great reel for that price. But after using both, I would pony up the extra $29 if I had it for the SV TW model.

I just got a Tatula SV TW for $129 no tax and free shipping. Tried it last night, and it is super smooooooooth, even compared to my Tatula 100 and SLX MGL 70.

It would be nice to have great combos for every application. But if I have a budget to mind (and I do indeed), I would rather invest more in a setup I'll be using more than one I won't be using as much. Another variable might be that you don't need anything fancy to achieve your objectives for a given rod/reel but you would like to have a dedicated rig for doing primarily that. An example of that might be vertical jigging a 1/4 to 1/2 oz slab/spoon where you might want to usually have one rigged on the deck of your boat, but don't see the need to have a rod/reel that costs a lot of money to do it reasonably well. A $100 to $120 combo could do a fine job under those circumstances. But, if the variables change, then so could the budget demands. It's situationally dependent, so the more variables you can nail down, the easier it will be to figure out the appropriate budget needed to feasibly achieve your goals.

Based on the jaw line, I'd agree. The spots usually have a more distinct 'line' too. That's the first thing I think of when I see that much contrast.

"And I'll argue this with anybody" Next video (referring to the backlash he received on the backreeling video): "I'm just telling you what works for me" Clearly an expert on backreeling, LOL. He also stated that he is a 'teacher'. He even made a video ranting about people wanting to be entertained rather than educated recently. I don't know how long he has been trying to 'educate' folks about fishing. I have recently been trying to give his videos a chance. He seems like a nice enough guy, and I assume his heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, he currently does not have the luxury of having a live audience where you can get instant feedback on what is working and what isn't. Having good information is only part of the equation. Teaching is about the transfer of knowledge and/or skills. Being a sage on a stage does not make one a great, or even a good educator.

First of all, thank you for your service and your sacrifice. It is greatly appreciated. I think developing a healthy sustainable perspective about what fishing means to you is possibly the most important thing you could glean from the many thoughtful replies you have received here. The rest of this stuff could just become minor details in comparison, or not (but I genuinely hope it does). Progress over perfection.

I was fishing at a little armpit of a suburban reservoir called the Santa Ana River Lakes (it's actually three small lakes). Between two of the lakes, there are a few giant pipes that let water flow between the two bodies of water with a concrete bridge above pipes with a handrail that parallels the shoreline. Anglers attach rod holders to the handrail. There were several rod holders attached to the rail that day and anglers set up chairs nearby and chew the fat with each other as they wait for the stocked trout to inhale their gobs of Powerbait. The anglers were so engrossed in conversation that they failed notice that one of the rods shot out of the rod holder and went into the water with a pretty good splash. So I hollered over at the group and said, "Hey, a fish just took off with someone's rod." One of the men looked over at the rod holders and back at me and said, "Hey, where's my rod?" I said, "I just told you that a fish just took off with it." He looks kinda confused, and eventually goes back to shooting the bull with the others. Half an hour later, the rod at one end of the handrail goes full-bendo, and then the rod next to it doubles over, and then the next one, and so on until all five rods are bent completely over. The anglers scurry over and they all fight the fish together for a bit. One suggests that the deepest hook should get the fish and they all agree that that is how an owner of the fish can be fairly determined. They finally all work together and land a studly five pound rainbow trout, but when they are looking to see who has the deepest hook, they end up counting six lines exiting the mouth of the healthy trout. Sure they soon find that the line leads back out into the water. They eventually pull the line in and discover the rod and reel is the one that disappeared a little while earlier. They all then agreed that the guy that had his rod temporarily hijacked should keep the fish, and went back to swilling suds. Good times.

Rod: Shimano SLXCX610M - It's 6'10" medium with an extra fast action, and excellent for jerkbaits @ $99 MSRP Reel: Daiwa Tatula SV TW (TASV 103XS) 8.1/1 gear ratio. Available at another site for $129, no tax unless you're in KY (I think), and free shipping.