GetFishorDieTryin

Yeah, some of the GL2s arent very good. I have a 7' M ModF 3/8-1 1/4. The rod is built very well, light and very balanced, but its so soft its almost useless. The weight rating is so off, I wouldnt put more than 3/4 on it because it becomes an absolute noodle. According to Loomis it was designed as poping cork rod for wade fishing, which kind of makes sense, but its still light IMO for that. The only use Ive found for it is fishing around jetty for weakfish, as the soft tip reduces snags, but it reduces sensitivity. I traded a spool of PP for it lol. The MH version is actually very nice. Its got enough backbone and tip stiffness to be sensitive, very nice rod.

Small 1/4 lipless in the fall and 1/2 or 5/8 in the early prespawn. Most of my fish are caught yo yoing them, ripping from grass or burning and stopping.

For straight shank on skinny worms its hard to beat an Owner Cover Shot. That Oshaughnessy bend is perfect for thinner baits like roboworms. The mono loop is great too, it doesnt beat bait up as bad as a wire or tin keeper. When I tie my own keepers that's generally the style I use.

Spinnerbaits are a rabbit hole. The JB and Jig get credit for being intricate, but the spinnerbait is up there with them IMO. The size, blade color/ size/shape, head shape, color, trailer, skirt, wire composition/thickness and shape all play a big role in the action of the bait. I feel like I could spend a decade and a fortune fishing just spinnerbait and wind up with more questions than answers and less money, as even the most durable aren't long for this world in comparison to other baits. That being said I recently found one I really like. The Molix Muscle Ant with willow blades has been good to me. They fish like a colorado blade as far as sink rate and vibration goes, but the profile and flash remains subtle.

In the winter the bait that catches the most fish for me is a small swimbait, 3" rockvibe or easy shiner with a very light jighead 1/16 or 1/8 at most. In the past couple years Ive been doing really well with a suspending rattle trap. They really excel as a searchbait and can be fished like a crankbait or JB. Even when they dont work they still give you a good idea of what mood the fish are in. A JB would have to be #3 for me. They are one of the few moving baits that will catch when little else will. Once the water start to warm, which is usually mid Feb here. I wont be caught dead without a dozen chatterbaits. As soon as those fish start to think about transitioning and pushing shallow, a chatterbait fished slow on the bottom like a jig is absolutely deadly for numbers or quality fish and nothing else comes close for me. Once that bite is established its fairly consistent until the fish bed. You just have to adjust the retrieve and profile as the water warms. 2nd late winter/early spring bait would be a trap. 3rd bait for late winter/ early spring would be a shakey head. Once the fish bed and the grass really grows in, I find a mojo rig very useful, particularly with a floating bait. Free and T rigs become a go to at this time as well. A swimjig or jig in general works really well as the fish bein to guard fry. Using a swim jig to cover water and free rig to target particular areas has been a great 1-2 punch for me. As far as baits that work all the time, its difficult to beat a ned rig. I do outfish a ned rig with finesse swimbaits as far as numbers go, but there is a certain time in the late winter/early spring where the fish around here key in on bottom contact and that to me is the best time of year for them, but its a great time of year for many baits as well.

The older Loomis rods were very nice. Not saying the current models arent nice, but yo uhave to spend some good $ today to really get that high quality Loomis feel. One of the biggest regrets in my fishing career was not buying another Greenwater after breaking mine. They had been discontinued so Loomis wanted to give me another rod, but the action of that GW GLX MagM was like a unicorn

I havent gotten to hold either one in hand, but I hear theyre small reels. Both are designed to tolerate SW as that's the best you can hope for, even my VS's aren't SW safe, they will develop issues after enough hard use without proper care, its just a matter of time. Personally I would go with the TX. There isnt much of a weight difference and you get a brass main gear which I really prefer over AL for a couple reasons. The Concept C is a nice reel, but I've heard the white finish can really take a beating over time and show stains. Check out Amazon and Ebay, you can usually get either of them at a steep discount.

Im glad they worked out for you. As far as I can tell, the suspend is about the same as the stock hooks, possibly as little faster rise, but I haven't really compared them side by side on the same day with the same bait.

Try a RI Flirt. They look amazing on a DS. I really like a Bubbling shaker for DS and SH as well. The bubbling shaker is neutrally bouyant, looks great on a DS and will standup well on the right Shakey head. The problem with Reins baits is they have gotten very expensive and theyre pretty fragile.

Try x9. It's not as thin as they claim, but it's a very good handling and long casting line. It casts better than 832, but doesn't hold up as long. You still get a few years out of x9 if you flip the spool after the first 30 yards starts to get ropey.

Not many times downsizing a JB wont work. Some of the best fall days ive ever had were days that started tough and going from a vision 110 to a Duo 85. The baits fish very similar, I guess it was just the size.

It depends on what you want to throw and the weight. It's kind of hard to get 1 rod to rule them all for inshore too so it's a compromise, especially if you want to use it as a FW outfit as well. Tough to beat a stout 7'3 M 1/4-3/4 to do everything. It will handle schoolies, fluke and even bigger bass or decent blues from the sand or sod banks so long as you have room. If you throw a lot of SPs, mag darters, pencils and twitching mullets. than you need to go to at least a good 7'6 MH 1/2-1.5oz, even if you are throwing 7/8 you need that lower end to punch into the wind. A 7'6 MH will cost you if you use precision with lighter bucktails, soft plastics. The one rod that comes to mind to start with would be a Daiwa SOL AGS MH. They fish up to ounce if you need them too, but they can handle small baits, like a 4' gulp mullet or jerkshad on a 1/4 head very very well. The M is 3/8-3/4 and fishes the entire range very well, with a little more crips action than compared to the MH. For a reel a 7.5-9oz 3k/4k would be perfect. If you like Shimano go with a Stradic FM or Spheros SW. If you prefer Daiwa, I suggest checking out a Saltist Back Back. The Back bay is equal to, and even surpasses stradic in some regards. It uses the classic Daiwa AL main instead of some BS zinc. Extremely smooth, great drag, great line lay. Its essential a BG with more BB, AL main and Magseal. I do suggest using reel butter or heavy grease inside the AR/switch. While its not a reliable defense to sand or salt, it does keep it out fairly well.

I wouldn't worry about mastery. Many people throw jigs, but hardly any truly master them as the slightest change to skirt, head or trailer drastically changes the bait. I would just focus on becoming proficient at a few versatile techniques. Better to be Jack of all trades instead of master of one kind of thing. it's awful hard to go wrong with T rigs or jigs as they are incredibly versatile. I think enjoying the technique is important as well. It's much easier to put time into something you love than something you don't. While it's good to have fall backs and favorites, make sure to try new things out of your comfort zone. I believe it's beneficial to force yourself to catch fish with a new bait before you allow yourself to use anything else that particular day.

Never used the mag game hog, but the standard sizes are great. I much prefer over a brushhog jr, the size is perfect and I think the plastic higher quality.

A swim jig will do really well if you want to cover water. You can slow down and pitch with it as well if you want to, so long as it's the right jig I use them in combination with T or free rigs. After probing around with the swim jig, I pick the cover apart, more so lately with a free rig over a T rig. The free rig gives me a little more time than an unplugged bullet weight as it breaks away immediately and allows the bait to work slowly. You change the action by using a different weight. A heavier weight actually gives you faster separation and slower fall rate for the bait. It also resists moving as you work the bait vs a lighter weight, so you can really work a specific limb or piling efficiently.

A buddy of mine works at TD and he's had more than few people come back with some issues on FM. 2 are guides, 1 I personally know 1 very well and hes not prone to unreasonable abuse. He runs a those smaller reels 3 and 4k stradics to make topwater and soft plastic striper fishing more fun, also uses them for fluke, but the reels that had shafts bend happened almost immediately. It wasn't all the reels, 2 out of 6 FMs that replaced older FKs. It doesn't seem to effect all of the reels, but it's enough to make note.

Either a 7" bubbing shaker or GB AT wiggler. Used to be a big fan of GB, but them cutting the amount of AT wigglers by 30% and raising the price per bag doesn't sit well with me.

GB Airtail-Trophy Hunter and Blk Blu Flk

Ive never had issues with elaztech eating silicone or rubber bands. I use these, A3 Anglers Crazy tail shad in 4.3/4" for chatterbaits and the smaller ones for spinnerbaits. Theyre like a spunkshad but they have slimmer profile and are made of non salted elaztech material. A chatterbait wiht one of these on them doesnt have as much a tendency to rise vs using a spunk shad. I just got a pack of these, but havent used them yet. Net Bait Flat sided shad. They might not hold up as good as a spunk shad, but its hard to tell until ive actually had some time with them. The other bait owuld be Jackalls iShad, but I think they may be discontinued which sucks, I love those things.

Its great to have a feather weight rod, but as long as the outfit isnt to heavy and is balanced I dont mind to much. I fish a few places where I have to flip some decent sized fish onto a jetty and some of those really light sensitive rods I have are more prone to breaking vs lower T blanks.

All of the tatulas are good, but its worth going with Tatula(Bass) over the XT IMO. If you want a faster taper then the elite may be worth it. Honestly, if youre going to be throwing a lot of 5" senkos going to a MH might be worth considering. The 7'1 MH Elite is closer to a stout M than a traditional MH, with the tip of a M, but the backbone of a MH. That backbone will really help set a hook at distance and punch through plastic, which is important if you plan on T rigging them.

Probably the M. The Avid Inshore MHs are fairly stout and get a little weighty. A 3k will work with the 7', but it needs to be a little weighty to balance. Once you go to the 7'6 a 4k is better.

It sounds like you want a do it all blank. I would start with a 7' (ish) M F. You could throw anything from neds to senkos. There are a lot of good rods on the market at the price point you're working with. Tatula is the first one to come to mind. The actions/powers are great and they're fairly light. A daiwa rep told me that there is virtually no difference between the Tatula and Tatula elite blank wise. Daiwa knowing that doesnt making comparing them comparing them easy, as they dont offer the same rod in both lines. The length, action and even weight range is different. What you do get with the Elite is marginally upgraded guides rings, from fazlite to alconite. Honestly I prefer the K frame guides on Tatula and functionaly there is no difference between fazlite and alconite. You do get an additional guide on some Elite models which disperses load a little better. What it comes down to is finding the model that fits what you need and depending which line has it is the line you go with. I would suggest the Tatula 7' M F for a do it all rod. Its rated to 3/4, but that's wishful thinking on Daiwas part IMO, I wouldn't fish much over 1/2. The Megabass Levante is another great do it all rod. Its 200$, but in terms of refinement and quality its well worth it. For a reel, I would go for a Daiwa Exceler or Shimano Miravel, depending on the budget, both in 3k. If you wait until Labor Day sale, you can get a really good discount and stay within or very close to your budget.

Loomis makes some nice rods, but IMO you don't get a whole lot for the price of the GCX, other than its made in the US. Tatula XT and or Ark Lancer would be worth a hard look.

I like the 7mm Gene Larew rattles. They're single, loud rattle and the glass holds up well. If its strictly for tubes you might want to look for flanged rattles. Not as many people make them now, but you can still find them.