jdr99a

I’ve got the vanford 3000 and the tatula 2500. As much as I like the vanford, I’d pick the tatula every time. I like the drag better on the daiwa and it just feels better in hand. It isn’t apples to apples as it’s a 2500 vs 3000 but just my experience. im thrilled with both reels and have no plans to switch or upgrade either one.

I put an slx mgl on a 5 ft 6 medium (more like a ml)h2oxpress rod from academy. It’s been fun with small cranks and wacky rigs.

I think the suggestions about mono until you are comfortable with the baitcaster are spot on. I’d personally go with 15lb big game. Once you aren’t worried about backlashes as much, I think braid is the obvious choice for maximum versatility. Braid + leader can get you anywhere you need to go whether that is topwater or bottom contact. An added benefit in my book is that braid makes your combo more sensitive.

Can anyone tell me what this fish is? I was thinking warmouth or rock bass but neither seem to quite match the pics I found online. If it helps I live in southeast tx and this was caught in a pond, not a lake or river.

The ponds in my neighborhood are like that. We have a bunch of ‘residents only’ signs up so technically if you don’t live in the neighborhood you can’t fish there. I’ve never seen it enforced, but I’ve never cared because I am a resident. Be quiet, courteous, and clean and you shouldn’t have too many problems.

I like my lews tp1 black. It’s my favorite rod in its price point. I use mine as a swim jig/chatterbait rod and I love it. I can feel the ‘thump thump’ of the chatterbait blade on this rod better than others in its price point. If you told me I had to replace all my rods with tp1 blacks I wouldn’t be mad at you.

Not exactly sure how it happened, but my star drag has gotten stuck under the handle on my lews lfs. There doesn’t seem to be any excess play in the handle and everything else seems fine. The reel is about a year and a half old and has seen lots of use, but is well maintained. Anyone seen anything like this before? I’d like to fix it myself before sending it for service if possible.

I think the Yamamoto double tail grub comes in a larger size that might fit your needs.

The 734c in whatever price point you’re looking at. I’ve fished the 734c in multiple lines and they are great rods for jigs- in fact it’s a great jack of all trades rod if you’re looking for one.

The tp1 black is a fantastic rod. My favorite at the price point by far. I love the lfs. At its price point I prefer it over the slx. I think the best lews value is the tournament mp. At 150ish it’s a great reel.

I generally use a 6’8” m/xf st croix bassx and a tatula sv with straight 12lb invisx fluoro. When the summer heats up and the vegetation thickens up I’ll go to 15 lb line.

I’m nearly 100% a bank angler on my neighborhood ponds. I have a backpack with two rod holders so I’m always carrying 3 total rods. My bag has 1 3700 size Plano box with my treble hooked baits. I keep poppers, ploppers, shallow divers, lipless, frogs, and spooks. I keep the colors simple - shad, bluegill, dark, and chartreuse. I keep a thin 3600 tackle box with my terminal tackle, and a small box with a few wire baits. For my soft plastics I have a couple of zipper pouches with worms, trailers, swimbaits, Ned baits, etc. I also keep a spool of leader line, a scale, pliers, and a wacky tool. It all sounds like a lot but it’s a fairly comfortable bag with 3 combos and let’s me keep moving until I find fish.

I know it’s silly, but I would choose the custom pro simply for the fact that it has the built in baitkeeper. I absolutely love that feature. As long as the 1/2 oz is my critical to you that would be my choice.

It’s usually 12lb maxima ultragreen for me. I’ve been messing around with defier armillo and so far it’s been good.

I bought a platinum 6.8 casting reel a few months ago. It’s been fantastic so far. Ultra smooth retrieve and no issues whatsoever. Granted - it’s only been a few months and I probably only have about 40-50 fish on it. So far I’ve got zero complaints.

I have zero complaints about my maxima ultra green. I’ve got some sunline defier on the way just to see how I like it.

If you’re looking at new, I’m a big fan of the lews classic pro at that price point.

I’m a big fan of the ugly stick backpacks. Holds more tackle and gear than I need and, most importantly, has two rod holders on the sides. When I’m pond hopping (99%of my fishing) I am constantly on the move. With this bag I can have three combos at the ready at all times without the constant picking up, moving, putting down routine that gets old quick.

I put a dobyns champion rod (250ish) and a Shimano sellus (50ish) head to head one day when I was bored. Same line/reel/lure etc at the same spot and could certainly feel a substantial difference between the two. Instead of a generic ‘hard bottom’ feel with the sellus, I could feel the texture of the concrete with the champion. Does that translate into more fish? Maybe, maybe not. But it does give me confidence that I might be able to detect a bite a little bit faster - that makes it worth it to me.

For me the key is the hook. Give me a gammy 3/0 superline hook and a zoom super fluke and I can cast it as far as I need to. I’ve got a dedicated fluke setup - tatula sv103 on a bass x 6’8” mxf with 12lb invizx and I love it to pieces. I’m generally a bank angler so the shorter rod works well for me. If I were on a boat I may opt for a bit longer rod.

Thanks all. I’ve got a couple of 10xds and 6th sense 500(500dd?) crankbaits that get down to 20-25 ft and weigh around 1-2 ounces if that makes a difference.

Looks like I’m going to have an opportunity to get a couple of cracks at some deep cranking in this summer. It is not a technique I usually have the opportunity to fish and I’d rather not buy specialty gear for it if I’m only going to do it a handful of times. with that said, I’ve got a bunch of reels in the 6.8-8.5 range and rods from 7ft m/f cranking rods to 7-3 h/f worm rods and lots in between. what generic setup would be most useful if I don’t spring for a dedicated deep cranking setup. for reference - my normal squarebill/lipless combo is a dobyns fury 705c with a 6.8 speed reel.

I love my expride 6-10 ml. It’s my dedicated Ned rig rod and I couldn’t be happier.

I would caveat this. Don’t buy a handgun with a manual safety if you don’t intend on training with it extensively. Disengaging a safety as part of the drawstroke can be engrained easily. It must be practiced! I am not a fan of safeties on carry firearms, but I know several people who refuse to carry without one. I’d rather someone carry a firearm with a safety than not carry one at all.

I fish my weightless flukes on a medium/xf baitcaster and use gammy 3/0 superline hooks and rarely miss them. If I were going to spinning gear I’d use the same size hook but a light wire instead.