EzyEric

Was using 10lb but went up to 15 in my newest spool as I was hoping it would help with random knots I get. The 10lb is just so flimsy. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Just to be clear here we are talking about the regular Tatula rod, right? Not the Tatula Elite (the black one not the silve one)

I tried for the first time this year finally. Been behind on ordering one. I would recommend ordering one with toad already on it as they are specifically tuned for it. I tried putting various trails on my own myself and none of them swam right. First trip a Pike took one of my toad tails but I still caught a small fish shortly after that. And this Sunday I had three misses with Horny Toad on which what ironic given I just watched that G-Man video the night before. Does cast extremely well though. I might have to try that style of trailer see if I get fewer misses. If not I will have to go back to standard buzzbait. I think the idea with the toad is it gives the fish more of a clear target and so you would not even need a trailer hook since short strikes should be reduced. I rarely ever see pros fish skirted buzzbaits anymore and its almost always a black one.

Why use Abrazx vs the other Seagar types? Really confuses the choices for flurocarbon (for me personally) when a brand has so many variations. For reference I use and love Invisx on my spinning reels and also have used Red Label on various baitcasting setups.

Does the 90 still have a smaller prop? I know one of the complaints (or features) about it is that it plops less loud. Nice in some scenarios maybe.

Make sure it's the right direction. There are some videos out there showing that. Also do not overspool. What size reel is it? Also one of the main reasons I went all braid to flouro leader on spinning.

Hmm this thread has me interested as well. I tried switching some applications to more mono recently but I had Pike take my lure without barely even feeling the rod bend. Its like they went through it like butter. Meanwhile I catch (not intentionally) tons of pike on 8-10# flouro with the lure deep sometime. I certainly do have fluoro break on random hooksets sometimes though and it seems mono deals with the zebra muscles a bit better but I really dont want to lose more expensive lure to Pike. How is this copolymer with Pike?

I use InvisX for spinning leaders and I am extremely impressed with it. Worth it for that application at least. Ive not switched from Red Label on many of my casting rods yet so I cant say how much better it is there.

I will give a detailed review for you, but side story first: So Sportsman Outfitters had a good deal on these earlier this year ($110 I think it was) so I just picked one up on a whim as I really like the way Wheeler fishes and what he looks for in a rod (more parabolic). I have tons of respect for Wheeler but I dislike Duckett and therefor his products as a default. It's a very biased opinion, I can easily admit. The only negative I saw with his rods were exactly what was mentioned above where the early versions of the rods were breaking on the Pros a lot on MLF shows. From what I heard they had a quality issue and figured that out by the next versions of the rods. Also seeing him practically give away his rods at the last few classic expos also did not leave good feeling with me. In hindsight I almost think he did that to have his name flying all around THE BassMaster event which is now in competition with. But given the fact I respect Wheeler (and have also grown to line him actually) , and I wanted another all around rod I picked one up on a Whim one morning. I have the 7'0" Medium Heavy Casting rod. When I first got it in my hands I thought it was a little stiffer than I was hoping/expecting and I also seemed less sensitive than other rods I had. I was very impressed with how light it felt though. After using it for the past few months I have really grown to like it quite a bit. I can get more of my hand on the actual rod due to the truely split grip. This may not work well for you if you have large hands though. I think the tip ended up being soft enough and the rod sensitive enough for throwing the types of lures I have been (topwater and moving baits other than crankbaits). I have been running braid to flouro leader and my connection knot has caught on the top guide more often than I am used to. This is probably due to the micro (or nearly micro) guides. It has worked great for top water lures and a chatterbait. I have become very accurate at doing roll casts with it. I have rod flipped up to 4lbers with it and it took that very well even though I usually regret doing that every time. To summarize: I think you can probably find a more sensitive rod at the price point (Dobyns Sierra being my first thought) Its very light and feels nice in the hand The action (at least on the rod on got) really lends to casting accuracy and distance I would probably only buy it again if it was on sale If you are getting it on sale I think you should probably go for it. I would really like another opinion on this forum :). Hope this helps, please ask me for more details if needed. (P.S. I agree it looks very nice, wish more of it was blue than white though). EDIT: Also I think those reviews on TW about the sensitivity are fake. There are multiple and they look similar.

I know the pros really like that orange kicker blade in the spring in muddy water. Especially in the mid south it seems. I just picked up my first one this week so don't have any personal experience.

I use these for the color. The fact that it has scent is an added bonus. If you didn't want the tail to be chartuse (which ended up green) I would get the black or blue version of that marker. Or just use something for scent without color.

I use this same rod for ned rigs. Works very well with the exception of casting distance for very light ned rigs. Now I get why some people use such long rods. It also makes a great dropshot rod though.

I did underwater comparison videos (in a bathtub) between various wacky rigged stick baits and these had the least amount of action and they sank like a rock. Obviously they still catch fish though. I have found MaxScent baits to be more durable as well. If you want a faster fall without a weight these may be a good option. I also wonder how much that extreme scent helps. Though I have not fished The General yet (I also picked them up at a discount) I have been killing it on a MaxScent Creature Hog this year. Specifically Black and Blue in both clear and dirty water.

@A-Jay I am curious on your thoughts. I think I've seen you say you mainly switch to drop shot in the summer for our Up North Smallies but I assume that is not without having tried the jerkbait for many many summer trips without success?

Okay I've only ever Texas Rigged them and never for smallmouth. Never heard of swimming/jigging them. That is interesting. They are kind of like a variation of a swimbait or grub I guess though.

Curios how you rig and fish these for smallmouth?

I've been hearing nothing but good things so I picked up over winter too. I have the 1/2oz in Haze and I have noticed it does not stay down deep as well as I expected so I just ordered a 1oz version (Haze was out so I got the Donko color) I did catch a few fish last time I fished it though and both came on the fall instead of the slow retrieve. So i fished it more like a jig/worm the rest of the day. I really want to swim it along the deep weed lines in our clear natural lakes though so I am hoping the 1oz version allows me to do that better.

Their Fathers Day Sale banner has this at the bottom. I think maybe they realized it would be too much money knocked off for high priced items. Darn I was really hoping to get a Diawa Tatula LT 20% off or more for Fathers Day since I got screwed on the Stradic CI4+ Bass Pro deal.

Where are you guys seeing these Sales on Joes Sporting Goods? I cant seem to find them.

Yeah my order from BPS of CI4+ was also cancelled. ticked off as I could maybe have done pick up from store if I knew it wasn't going to work out.