Ogandrews

I absolutely loved the Sierra 733 I owned. Super versatile rod, more of a moderate fast than a true fast and a little lighter than a MH, great for lighter wire worm hooks. Reel wise if you are looking at spending the money on a slx dc/mgl, I would recommend just getting a curado K. The K is such a dependable and well made reel, really hard to beat for the price. I have owned Sox’s and every one of them started to feel geary after a season of hard use, while my curados still felt great.

The couple times I’ve used a Diawa reel with a t wing it just felt like there was a lot more catch with the knot going through the T than there would have been with my Shimano reels. I could be overthinking it and it could not be an issue, but friends of mine have had the same experience as I have. I haven’t been having issues with it. If I am setting up a rod specifically to use dee cranks though I’d rather have a lower ratio as it will make it more comfortable for longer periods of time and give me the ability to throw the big ones if I want. I think I will end up going with the Diawa because I have been wanting to try one for awhile. One thing I have done before is use one of my tranx 300’s 5.8.1 from my musky/pike setups. It makes even big cranks feel like butter but it is overkill size wise a bit and I’d rather get something a little cheaper than have to spend $280. Other idea I’ve had is a Calcutta D 200, I own a 400 size and love it and the 200 has the right ratio but less comfortable than a low profile reel. I do have multiple tranx and they are my favorite reels around so I might just stick with that but I’m leaning more towards the Tatula 150.

I’m looking to get a dedicated deep crank setup. I have been using my all around crank rod which has a 6.3,1 curado on it right now and although it works it would be nice to have something in a lower ratio. I am a die hard Shimano fan but they don’t have anything in the 5’s for bass reels. I have been looking at both the 5.1.1 lews bb1 as well as the Diawa Tatula 150 5.1. Haven’t used either of these reels before so I’m not sure what would be better. I know Diawa makes quality stuff but I like fishing braid to leader and the t wing system makes me only able to use leaders that won’t go into the reel, so that’s one positive of the lews. I’m up for any other recommendations as well, mostly going to be used for dt 14-20, 6xd’s stuff like that.

They share the same blank man I have talked to a st croix rep about it and he confirmed it with me. There is a reason that an avid and mojo share the same graphite, and the same lengths, tapers, and powers in their models. The avid has better guides and a better warranty but that’s about it for the differences, blank is just colored differently. If you want to get a rod with that feel and save money, get the mojo. If your dead set on spending the same as an avid, get a g loomis e6x it is a significantly better rod. If you want to spend 20-40 more than get either an expride, legend tournament or dobyns champion all of which are way better than the avid for not much more. I have or still own all of the rods I’m talking about as well so I do know how they feel in the hand.

Looks like some quality fish, pretty sure I know what river your on. If you know where one or two of the biggest deepest holes in the system are you should really try fishing it in later October and November. Fish stack up in their wintering areas super thick and are at the fattest of the year, my favorite time to catch them. You have to find the right hole though as it seems like you can fish 10 spots and that 1 hole will have 99% of the fish

You can get all of the same actions in a mojo that you can with either avid and some others as well. Go with the LT

Shimano expride and st croix legend tournament is going to be your best bet. I would recommend against the avid, it has the same blank and most of the same parts as the mojo bass which is significantly cheaper. The legend tournament has a much higher end blank and better parts, awesome rods. The exprides don’t need much explanation, incredible rods. Both of these rods can be hard to get, another awesome option in that price range is the g loomis e6x. Most people overlook it but I own multiple and they are awesome rods. You get that crisp light sensitive feeling of a loomis at a really easy price point. Don’t buy a favorite rod, those are some of the most overhyped rods and reels on the market.

This is what I use different rod lengths for, everyone is different though 6’10- jerkbaits, topwaters I give action like poppers and walking baits 7’1- tight quarters do everything MH 7’2- squarebill and lipless rod, often casting in smaller areas 7’3”- frog rod 7’5 and 7’6”- majority of my rods, jigs, worms, flipping, finesse baitcaster for bottom contact, 3.8-5.8” swimbaits, chatterbaits spinnerbaits swim jigs ect 7’8”- bigger Crankbait rod 7’11- heavy flipping stick 8’- do all swimbait/finesse musky bait rod 9-9’6”- normal and big bait musky rod could go a lot more in depth but I really prefer a longer rod than most, even though I’m only 5’10 so not tall.

Well I told myself I needed a couple lipless crankbaits and placed an order Sunday night, just got it today. Also ordered a st croix bass x 7’2” mh moderate straight from st croix, been curious about that rod for awhile and I needed a squarebill/lipless rod. That rod will get the extra curado Dc I have sitting in my garage. Might need to go to bait monkey anonymous, bait monkey took over hardcore after I put those first couple red eye shads in my cart. 0.00

I’m from the opposite of the south but I use braid to a leader for everything except frogging and punching. Majority of the time I’m using mono as the leader but I’ll switch to stretchy floro like sun line fc100 when there’s a lot of pike around. I greatly prefer braid to leader, especially for bottom contact stuff where sensitivity is so important. I could go on for hours about why braid to a leader is better than straight floro/mono for me but to keep it simple I like it because of better sensitivity, better casting distance/less backlashes, better hooksets, ability to switch out leader material/diameter on the fly, better control of the fish, ect...

Retightening the line is a good recommendation. I will say that I very very rarely will ever have I ever have line dig in once I switched all of my reels over to powerpro maxcuatro.

I haven’t looked into it so I could be wrong but to me it looks like just another rebranded overpriced doyo reel. I’d say stick with Shimano/Daiwa because I like companies that actually make their own reels and have something different than the competition.

I’d say try to find a curado DC on sale but if not I’d go with the slx, I’ve gotten burned too many times buying used reels I’m not a fan anymore.

I second this. Split shot with the ears on the back will twist your line way more often and are much more likely to get snagged in my experience.

Not sure why people are having issues. I placed an order at 12:30 last night and I got a notice today at 3:30 that it had shipped, so only 15 hours later. Granted it was an almost $500 order and I paid for the next day shipping like I always do, not sure if they give priority to shipments over a certain amount. Never had an issue with them not shipping out quickly.

Naked Barbie and wonder bread reef runner

Crank- kvd 1.5 in sugar daddy, rapala dt 6 and 10 in yellow perch, some sort of straight retrieve lipless like a cotton cordel spot, some sort of bottom contact lipless like a rapala rippin rap or a jackal tn60 jerkbait- rapala shadow rap, with as many pike as there are in my fisheries I can’t financially throw anything nicer topwater- river2sea bullywa2 size 65 frog in little Allen color, river2sea rover or bubble walker soft plastic- 4.8 keitech fat impact in sun gill, 5” senko GP, 4” chigger craw GP, strike king fat baby finesse worm so much for keeping it simple I guess

If your going to be targeting flatheads than it is really hard to beat live bait. My favorite is live bullheads, super tough and one of the main forage of a flathead. Live suckers are really good too, not sure how available they are in your area. Don’t be afraid to use really big bait, there’s not much you can put on a hook that is too big for a flathead.

Spinnerbaits do work for pike but are very overused. Try some swimbaits in the 4-6” range and you’ll most likely have a better average size. Open water suspended pike are pretty hard to cast for but again casting swimbaits on a heavy head down 20 ft or so, as well as vertically jigging stuff like bondy baits and 8-10” tubes would be a good bet around schools of bait. If you want to cast for them, focus on offshore reefs, main lake points, and deep weed edges you will have a way better chance.

Really slow day, fished from 5am until noon and had one bite. Burning and pausing a trap in 8 fow got this pike to bite. Never really target pike when the water is hot but in always happy when one decides to bite. This is a really little guy for this body Of water but even one this size still has a great build for a pike during the summer, most places you fish the pike will look like a toothpick this time of year. sorry in advance for assaulting your eyes with my nipple

Pike are going to mostly be in deeper structure this time of year. Some small ones will stay in shallow weeds the whole year but anything decent size heads for deeper water once the water gets in the upper 60’s. Pike prefer much cooler water than bass do, so everything you should be looking for should be 15-20 fow and deeper. I’ve never fished Champlain but I know it is a clear lake so if there are weeds growing into that 15+ foot range try fishing the deepest edge you can find, especially if it is near deep water. The biggest pike in the lake are most likely going to be suspended around the thermocline over deep basin chasing schools of Cisco’s or whitefish if they are in the lake. Most big lakes like that will have some sort of pelagic baitfish that will he in deep water, doesn’t have to be the ones I talked about. These fish are generally the hardest to pattern due to the areas they are in being very expensive but they are almost always big. I have had success trolling musky cranks like super Shad raps and grandmas at 3-5mph. walleye are going to be most likely in one of three patterns this time of year. Deep weeds, rock structure, and suspended in deep water adjacent to structure. Watch a couple Tom boley videos.

The mojo and avid have the same blank, avid X has different guides I think the normal avid has the same guides as the mojo. They both have the scIII blank where as the premier has the scII blank that it shares with the bass x triumph eyecon ect. Imo the premier is just an overpriced triumph with a different color label. The avids are solid rods but I’d still rather have a legend tournament, or a mojo bass with the price difference put into a better reel.

I’m the exact same way when I’m fishing out of my yak, especially when I’m pike fishing. I remember 2 years ago I forgot my net, caught a 38” northern that flipped out of my hand and into the bottom of the yak. It had its mouth open when it was thrashing around and I got about a 5” super deep gash from his teeth on my leg that needed stitches. I will never understand why when you get bit by a pike the cut bleeds for like an hour straight, seems like they have something in their mouths that keeps your blood from clotting.

I have owned pretty much every bass and musky rod st croix makes besides the legend x and the new extreme. The mojo bass and avid share the same blank and have other features that are the exact same as well. The scIII blanks, which both have, are amazingly light and sensitive for the price and are a huge step up from scII that the bass x, triumphs, premiers and eyecons have. If I was in your shoes I would either save some money and get a mojo bass version of that same rod, or spend a little extra and get the legend tournament which has a lot better features than the avid does. The mojo bass is an incredible rod for the price, best mid $100 rod on the market.

Was the net really necessary for a gill?