GetFishorDieTryin

You can get 24 Tat100 for about $110 on aliexpress, Thats the route I would go for sure

Its nice to have good reel, but the reality is with casting gear that the rod is just as important. If the blank doesnt load properly, you're not going to be satisfied with the performance of the outfit.

The difference between the SC inshore lines and FW lines are that the FW lines follow the new power ratings for SC. The inshore blank M F are rated 3/8-3/4, about the range of the FW MH. Rapala has a similar system with its baits. The Rapala SW designated baits can run heavier than the same size bait in a FW model. For example the standard 3.5" subwalk weighs 5/8, but the 3.5" SW subwalk weighs 3/4 and comes stock with single inlines instead of trebles. The weight of the bait would dictate the power of the rod. If you were going to throw 7/16 or 1/2 skitterwalks and mirrodines, then the 6'8 would be ideal. The problem with an XF is the sweet spot of the weight range is smaller than a F and once you overload the tip you lose that crisp action. The longer the blank and tip section the more suspectable the tip is to overload. Thats why the 7'3 has a lower top end than the 6'8. If I kept my 7'3 I would have used it for leadheads and bucktails up 1/2oz. With the 6'8 M XF being the twitch/JB model and the 7'3 M XF being power finesse, the 7'1 M F is like the do it all model. If you want to throw baits 5/8 to 3/4 and still have some backbone left over to punch the plug into the wind or set a hook at distance, then the MH would be the way to go IMO. As far as using the Victory in SW, it should be fine. You might be some corrosion at the guides feet if the aren't epoxied evenly, but it shouldn't hurt anything.

VMC makes their standard Neko and Redline Neko in a #6 and up. Gami also makes a little straight shank crappie hook. Its called Mr Crappie Sticker or something like that. If you actually want to T rig something on them you wil have to make your own keepers. Its not hard at all, I do it all the time.

Im surprised they went with a wire that thick. The weight and resistance must be key to the action and buoyancy, so going with a lighter wire hook of the same weight could change the center of gravity and resistance enough to change the action. The good news is that you have some margin of error before they sink with them being floating baits. At a glance they look an awful lot like reg wire kamakiris, but its really tough to tell at that angle. I know they arent Duo Nanos, but as far as matching the size and heavy wire you can get really close with them. Nanos have a thicker wire, so they have a little weight. As far as quality goes, they're excellent. The best part is you can get them in odd ball sizes, with 5s and 7s available. Duo uses a #6 on their 85sp which is slightly longer @3.3" than the 3" X Nan. I would bet the #7s would work pretty well. I would say try #7 Duo Nano and #8 Ichi Kamakiri. Even if one of them doesn't fit, theyre both stupid sharp and are common sizes. I use the #8 light wire Kamakiri as replacment on 110Jrs when I want them to have the stock slow float bouyancy and the #8 regular wire when I want it to suspend.

There arent many bodies of fresh water that dont have crawfish. Theres a stream a few hundred yards from my house that I've fished since I was in 3rd grade. I can count on one hand the number of times where I've seen craws in the water while fishing. If you go down there with a fine mesh net, scoop the bottom and empty the contents on the bank, most of the time you will get at least 1 flicking around.

You can keep softer plastics like Keitechs in boxes without too much distortion, especially if they are stors in your boat. If they are in backpack or bag that constantly moved, then they get can jumble up a bit and can get bent out of shape slightly. If you leave them out in the winter or a really cold fall night, the plastic can "set" in the position they are in and be difficult to straighten out. With SI Fats you can cut around the baits and have the baits in single shells. They still take up more room than they would if you removed them, but they are protected from kinking and it saves a lot more room compared to storing them in the whole package. Elaztech baits are vulnerable to kinking and can be almost impossible to straighten. Elaztech and other elastomer baits can warp plano boxes over time.

Think of a ned rig as small finesse shaky head. A wacky rig is just a way to rig a worm or stick bait to get a lot of action and a slow sink rate. A neko is similar to shakey head in the way you fish it, but it looks different on the fall. The neko also has the advantage in rocks and soft bottom. There is no jighead to snag in rocks or get loaded with grass or slime. The line is also more protected with a neko since it isnt constantly being dragged on the bottom. I prefer a shakey head over a neko, I guess I'm just old fashioned. A free rig is essentially an unpegged T rig with a ringed weight. That ring allows to weight to slide up and down the line with much less friction than a bullet weight, meaning it breaks free from the bait very quickly. That weight will fall almost straight down unlike a bullet weight which wants to pendulum back towards you. That allows the free rig to cover small target effectively. The bait also has more time to free fall as well.

Abu is a Pure Fishing company, which means parts should be easy to get and cheap. Shipping will cost more than the part. If youre not sure what year it is, just get a couple different ones, one will fit.

I did that when I was a kid and in the long run I actually spent more money buying budget rods than biting the bullet and getting exactly what I needed from the start. Once you dip your feet in, its hard to deny the advantages. When it comes to FW bass fishing the biggest advantage a higher end rod will give you is the lightweight/sensitivity and warranty. Other than that you can spend 120$ or 150$ and get a pretty nice rod. Jetty and surf fishing a high quality blank is really important. You can only carry 1 rod as well, so it has to be reliable. Sometimes you have flip a 15 lb fish onto the rocks or try to time the sets of waves and hope your korkers hold you. Those high quality blanks can flip a 15lb fish up on the jetty. Other than the strength of the blank, casting distance is important, especially on our flat sandy beaches. A 7' Century Weapon is rated .5-2oz and it can legitimately fish that entire range with good sensitivity and unreal distances. It can match a 10' surf rod casting in its lower ranges.

The EWG works, but on a small football jig like the Dobyns Extreme, I don't see a big trailer being all that useful. The standard jig on the left uses the Gami 604, one of the best heavy wire round bends out there. I much prefer the round bend. It doesn't have the gap of the EWG, but the angle of the point allows for easy hookups. The EWGs point angle isnt as exposed, which can be good in cover, but isnt as good for fish that just slap at the bait. If the fish swallows it then the EWG style is good and once there hooked, they don't come off.

In small ponds the fish don't really have the option of going deep. They will favor certain areas over others, but they are more than likely in casting distance. You want to put your time in where the fish are. Look for rocks, hard bottom, structure thats somewhat close to deeper parts of the pond. Always fish on the wind blown side/corner. I know it gets cold, but trust me, it will pay off. That wind blows all the warmer surface water to that particular part of the lake. That can trigger a feed in the afternoon when the water is at its warmest. That window may be only 15 minutes, but its there. As for the baits, go small and very light. A little 3" swimbait like an easy shiner or Hazedong shad and a 1/16oz head, fished as slow as possible will catch them for sure. Ned rigs are good choice too if you dont mind fishing the bottom. Same deal, the lightest head possible 1/20 or 1/16 and fish its as slow as you can. JBs are one of the only moving baits that will get a consistent bite in frigid water, so long as you find the right JB and use the right cadence. You can get away with cheaper JBs in warmer water, but when you have 10 or 15 seconds between twitches the bait needs to suspend or have a very very slow rise/fall. Its a good idea to get some suspend strips to adjust the bouyancy of the bait. Pointers are good, but my go to winter JBs are MB 110 Jr or a Duo Rozante 77sp. They arent cheap, but you get what you pay for. If you want something you can chuck and wind, the IMA SV70 suspending lipless is about impossible to beat. It really fishes a lot like a JB, except its a slow sink. For figuring out the mood of the fish a better bait does not exist IMO. If you have a clean bottom, small football jig with a twin tail are good to use on those cold sunny days. Picassos lil spotty, Keitechs football and Beast Coasts Sniper jig are all great option.

Usually OKcraw is a GP/Saphire blue w blue flk or GP/GP heavy blue fleck. Looks like Okechobee 420, without the blu flk on the dark watermelon.

Its definitely different. With spinning gear, especially light spinning gear, you are fighting the fish with the rod and just taking up the slack with the reel when you can. With casting gear the line is heavier and I rely on the drag much less. I can just lean on the fish with the rod to turn her and use the torque of the reel to winch her in.

Custom builds are going to be the best rods you can get, because you can get everything the way you want it, and the balance is spot on. The most impressive production rods I've ever handled is between Zenaq and Century.

Falcon just inst big around here. TD had some of the cheaper models and they were pretty meh IMO. I did get to handle one that felt decent, but it was like 220$ with typical fuji handle and fazlite guides. For me 13 is hit or miss, some of the rods I really like, while others are just ok. I bought a Muse Black years ago on a whim and was shocked at how much I liked it. I actually got better service with 13 than ANY other rod company. I had a rash on one of my OB3s, they sent me a brand new 1 and i got to keep the old one. I'm sure that's changed since Rapala became majority owner. They stopped making the 7'5 MagM blank which is awesome inshore blank. Im sure the CS isn't what it once was after the buyout. Im not even sure how they made a profit with that kind of model. SC used to be arguably the best with CS and they have fallen far in just a few years. They had at least a 50% increase in failure rate on 1 particular line and refused to give free replacements for what was a clear defect.

Stopped at DSG after a dr appt. They didnt have the 7'3 Oath Crankbait, but they had the 7' Crankbait. The Oath feels like it should cost 2x what the defy does. If they ever do get a 7'3 I might buy one to use for chatterbaits.

It should be fine

For spinning reels the biggest difference is the way the AR clutch is protected, and im sure casting reels are similar. Coreprotect just uses a hydrophobic coating to bead up water and keep it out, where X protect uses a hydrophobic coating and a labyrinth system that th water has to traverse before getting deeper into the reel. Essentially the X protect has much better protection from water entering underneath the rotor vs core protect.

The G soul x8 is an outstanding finesse braid. I think the USDM x braid is the same thing, or at least that's what I heard.

I like chunks for cold water and when I want a faster fall or a bait that wont wrap up in the cover. I really like double tails whenever I'm fishing the bottom. I use craws and creatures when I was more action or a slower fall.

It all depends on the company and Star is pretty consistent with a few other companies. Its probably like a M with a good bit of tip.

Yeah, the keitech is modeled after the Rockvibe. That rockvibe shape has been a big producer in Japan for decades, especially for some kind of mountain trout.

2 of my favorite 3-4" swimbaits have been or are in the process of being discontinued. The 3" Reins Rockvibe is a killer strolling bait. The body shape and tail configuration is unique and creates a different look in the water. GYCBs orginal Saltwater Swimbait had a pogy/shad style body and was the first bait to use the heavy stepped boot tail that the swimming senko uses. Yamamoto's high quality, dense, soft plastic combined with the heavy kick of the unique boot tail made it a SW go to for years. Available in 3.5" and 5" replicating anyhting from peanut bunker to hickory shad, the heavy weight plastic enabled you to cast farther than a wildeye or Mister Twister and super soft plastic stayed supple enough to give you great action in the winter surf. The 5" knock harder than Swammer, yet keeps it depth. I have but 11 5" bodies and 9 3.5" left in choice colors and man I would love to see them or someone bring the mold back, (HINT HINT Yamato guy)

I didn't mean to infer you personally didn't know what you were doing. Reading it back comes off as rude and it wasn't my intention to offend at all, I apologize. It's a very common misconception many anglers less familiar with those kinds of reels. When I worked on the island, nearly everyday during the summer someone would come into the shop and ask about VS because they looked great and were the most expensive egg beater we had. I would have to explain why the reel didn't have a bail, why it didn't free spin like most other reels, and why righty models were so rare. VanStaal distinguishes the reel by which hand you reel with, unlike other companies which adds to confusion when people would order them in the offseason. Essentially it just boils down to function over felt precision. VS was designed and built for use in the surf and the earlier models really reflect that. You either ran the reel as is or bought a conversion kit for the bail. As far as the rotor being that out of balance, a missing counterweight or pickup would be my best guess especially on a new reel. Some of the older models may have had interchangeable rotors like ZBs with different pickup layouts and options, but as far as I know they have they have been phased out for some time.