TNBankFishing

FX2 is fantastic. Nothing better for thick veggies.

I use them but I don’t feel like they are critical as tungsten flipping weights. If I’m pitching a jig into vegetation or brush piles I don’t believe the material give me more useful information. It’s when a football jig is connected to the bottom the material shines for me. I really like using tungsten flipping or worm weights because they are smaller and fit the baits profile better. I’ve switched my river jigs almost exclusively to finesse footballs because of this. If you shop JDM sites the Deps and OSP jigs are $4-5 bucks which I can stomach. Plus the small profile gets snagged less.

Keitech model 3 swim jig trailer. Completely different action from a paddle tail and I find I can go super weedless and pitch it into some wood and get solid bites a more compact pitching jig won’t entice.

I am a true believer in tungsten football jigs. Dragging something with the harder material gives me better feedback.

Loomis at ALF going 20-25% off. Act fast guys.

Sign up for their mailing list. The link they send goes through it.

The new Tat with the hyperdrive hardware is the easy choice. I’ve owned some Lews reels and they were always solid but after having some zillions and spending time with an alphas for the money Daiwa is king. The SLX can’t compete and the fact the two I’ve owned both went geary within a year means I’d stay away. My Bantams, and Met are going strong after years but the SLX isn’t moving the needle for me.

Last night when I checked (been eyeing an MBR rod as I’ve not had one) they showed up 25% off on the page. No email, no banner. Added to cart and applied the elite code and the total before tax was 387. I didn’t wait long, pulled the trigger and went back to check a couple other brands. Went through Dobyns, St. Croix, Falcon, MB, and the only three with the static 25% on both rods and reels was Daiwa, Shimano, and Loomis. Why they did it on a random Wednesday night I have no idea. Was it a mistake? I’m going to give them a ring after work since the 843 was on back order so I’d like to get an estimate on the wait.

Ummm…. https://www.americanlegacyfishing.com/g-loomis-nrx-jig-worm-casting-rods.html Those are rarely 25% off. And as an elite member you get an additional 20% with your code. Quick looking it applies to at least Daiwa/Shimano/Loomis. Happy hunting for as long as it lasts.

All around rod? Megabass Levante Shakeyhead. Tapers right for so much, has enough juice for heavier baits like a 5 inch senko and the Levante taper is much more forgiving for moving baits. Second option would be a Victory 7’3mxf

I’d have a really hard time not seeing if I could bomb a lipless on it. Big topwaters, small wake baits. My heads spinning on that one. The Xtremes fish true to true+ on their ratings.

The extra fast tapers in the St. Scroix world are fantastic. One thing to keep in mind is there was a change to the guide train on the elite and x models last year. To me it’s disappointing but I understand. If you can source 2020-2022 model year rods I’d go that route. If you snap it you won’t receive torzites on the replacement but you’ll be able to enjoy the stick as it was intended.

Evergreen 7’2” MH Showerblows MB Destroyer Otomat Steez AGS Heavy Cover Special

Prepare yourself. They are fantastic. What are the plans for that stick?

It’s never the price you pay but the memories you make. I’ve had just as much fun catching fish with an ugly stick combo from Walmart and my $1,000 setups from the bank. I am blessed to be able to afford the enthusiast gear I can but I never forget where I came from. If you ever want to just talk gear, even finding those budget options is a blast for me. I geek out on gear regularly.

I won’t buy a reel over 100 size. For 99% of anglers you’re going to “use” the first 30yds of line nearly all the time. Any extra line is just sitting there wasted on the spool if you don’t use backing. I prefer the smaller reels for their lighter frames and generally easier time palming. I’d happily frog on my aldebarran if I wasn’t worried I’d blow the gears out of it.

I would make that trade in a heartbeat. I have that exact model and love it for everything 5/16 to 1/2 reaction, trigs, swim jigs, the list goes on. Great stick.

I want to preface this by saying this is like, my opinion man. I feel the best value in the game for high end gear that is NOT technique specific are the Legend Elite/X/Xtreme lines from St. Croix. My normal tourney day setup is NRX+ 852s, Legend Elite MLF spinning, Legend Elite 7’M casting, Legend Xtreme 7’1MHXF, NRX+ 873, Legend Elite 7’4”, Steez AGS XH. If I’m putting those legend sticks up against NRX and Steez competition I believe they perform and do so very well. They aren’t going to be the “best” at anything but d**n they do everything in their weight range so well. I fish from a kayak so while I have a couple sticks which do 1 thing only I value versatility. For your direct question of trading for a blade. I’d pass. The p5s are great but you’re already losing $150 in the trade as well as any warranty support. Plus the blade is significantly less versatile compared to the Xtreme. If you need a chatterbait rod in the victory like checkout the rip n chatter.

Which model p5?

7’M Legend Elite 7’1MHXF Legend Xtreme NRX+ 873 7’4” Steez AGS Heavy Cover Special NRX+ 852s Only swap is 852 for a Legend Elite MLF spin if I’m going to drop shot vs shakyhead.

Follow up question, where do y’all go for local gear? Is it just the outdoor world or bps? I’d like to spend money on a local shop instead of online when possible. I’ve only found some saltwater shops on the bay and one in Baltimore.

Copperstate tackle also doing 20% off GC.

Whipsnake every day and twice on Sunday. I’ve never had a MB rod blow up but if they did it’s free replacement for a year and reduced replacement after that. Shimano has the most garbage warranty for rods, and I’ve never had a good experience with their return/replacement process. I own two Vanfords and it’s worth the money in my mind. I’ve fished higher end spinning reels but I feel like the Vanfords are really nice bang for the buck. The reason I say whipsnake is because MB is known for their rod actions, and they build/design their rods around specific baits. I’ve owned numerous MB rods over the years and for the money they can’t be beat on action and ability to present their designed bait accurately. The shakeyhead is more of a JWR taper, if your primary focus is drop shot and maybe some small paddle tails then whipsnake will be perfect.

The Hook Up has 20% off GCs. Decent deal to grab some items which have MAP pricing.

Id definitely be interested in co-angling with folks on tourney day. Been a while since I fished from a boat vs. kayak but anything beats being stuck on the shore. Submitted a request to access the forum. Thanks for pointing this out Logan.