TNBankFishing

Line choice is yours and personal preference will play a huge role. I use 15-20lb straight flouro on my 873 with a healthy backing of cheap mono. I prefer not using braid to leader on casting gear because I don’t feel it makes enough difference with the heavy line and power style of fishing I do. If you have more reels than rods, it’s a lot easier to slap a different reel on the rod to change its line characteristics than to deal with a hundred different leaders. Use 15lb mono on one reel for moving bait applications and straight braid for the bottom contact stuff. It’s what I did as I grew my rod collection.

The 873 fishes like a 3.5 power. It’s more than enough for thick veggies. I use mine from the bank and kayak all over the TVA system in Tennessee and it’s flawless. If you’re moving up to a punching plastic with over a once weight it’s not perfect fit but it can handle it in a pinch. The Daemos is a more of a moving bait rod, nowhere near the power to throw big bottom contacts in thick cover. I second not going MB as your first spend. They are great multipurpose rods but you’re asking for a primarily jig and worm stick with swim jig and chatter flexibility.

Ok, let’s buckle up. I fish a lot from the bank and own or have owned the Steez Extra Heavy special, 873, 844, Legend Elite 7’4” heavy. The one you want is the 873. The Heavy Cover Special starts being functional at 5/8ths weight plus trailer. It’s as sensitive as my NRX rods, but is too powerful for anything beyond punching, large jigs and big ole frogs. 894 is too fast for anything outside strictly bottom contact jigs or t rigs. 844 isn’t what I’d use for what you mention. It’s not as sensitive and kinda feels out of place to me. I use my 843 on every outing. Sold my 844 within a month. The 7’4” is what I’d consider the second best choice. From my experience with the legend elite model it has a hard time under half a once with casting. Otherwise it’s great. 873 will cover everything you want and balances well. I’ll let others chime in if they know more about the other models.

USPS doesn’t have a surcharge for a rod tube less than 7’6”. Use them often.

2nd the mule. I don’t use it every outing if I’m only hauling a single rod or two but it goes on every camping trip and when I’m on someone else’s boat. Keeps stuff organized and relatively safe when walking a trail or to the bank from the car.

Colored SLP Zillion when they drop, and a normal one if you don’t want to wait. Or anything with hyperdrive gearing would be good.

1/8-5/16 plus plastic trigs and very light trailers on 3/8th jigs. Tips light and overall the 893 I had was fun to fish but had too much overlap with other rods.

You loved your friend and eased his suffering. You did the right thing, and I hope you find peace and happiness in his memories.

Apply it thin, don’t glob it. Use a small craft brush or an old toothbrush to work it into the cork. Less is more. It will change the color of the cork slightly. It may have a mildly tacky feeling for your first outing but that subsided quickly.

I’ve used and abused my Zillions for the last 4 years. I bought a USDM reel as soon as they launched to test and I was extremely impressed. Until there is another leap forward in smoothness, castability, and reliability I won’t be swapping them out. I’m rough on gear because I bank fish a ton and wade rivers chasing smallmouth. At this point I have 3 USDM reels and 4 JDM ones with a HD for punching and frogging. Love the size and I have medium to small hands, palming isn’t an issue.

This is also my primary buzz/chatter rod. It’s that good. I also use it for the 40 spro rat and other 1-1.5oz wake/topwaters.

Do you own any NRX models? If not I highly recommend the 873 for all things Kayak. It’s not too long and is such a universal bottom contact rod from 3/8-5/8oz. With space limited we can’t always take 20 combos.

The blade is a target casting model designed around man made and natural structure. While I’m sure it’s wonderful for what it does the length limits open water distance. Your weights push the Daemos a bit with the large trailer. For those weights I previously used a St. Croix 7’4 heavy, but I’ve switched over to mainly 3/8th weights with spunk shad trailers and use my 873crr for swim jigs and spinnerbaits. I know it seems like an odd choice but I’ll try to explain. It was built initially to drag bottom contacts so it has a slower action than the JWR sticks. This action assist fishing with a bend on retrieve and keeps the sensitivity high. Don’t get me twisted, the rod is still fast just not “extra” fast. I also lean on the Keitech model 3 swim jig as my first choice when fishing from at or near the bank in cover. With a spunk shad trailer it mimics a baitfish in a straight retrieve but isn’t super unbalanced when hopping through cover. It’s highly snag resistant and lets me cover a lot of water if the bass are keyed on that particular profile. The toughest part of your question is combining what I normally use a moderate fast action vs a fast one. A lot of people fish a bladed jig on a different style rod than their swim jigs or spinnerbaits. If you gotta have one to fish them all you’ll sacrifice a bit in either direction. I choose to sacrifice towards chatterbaits because I don’t throw them as much as swim jigs or spinnerbaits. Take my advice with a grain of salt as well. I fish from the bank a lot, and otherwise use a kayak. If you’re in a boat 100% of the time you’re better off buying two sticks.

Reels top out at less than $200 IMO. JDM Zills or any of the new hyperdrive Tats. Buy used and save more. I’ve owned a Steez AII and Met and didn’t see enough reason to keep them. I personally feel that rods start to level off around the Legend Elite, GLX, Steez AGS (when they were $500) point. Do I think my NRX rods are more sensitive, sure. Hundreds of dollars more? No. I still think the Legend Elite/X lines used are the best combination of sensitivity, durability, and fishability you can buy. If I found a bundle like I did a couple years ago where they were ~$275 shipped I’d buy a boat load more.

What weight baits and what type of trailer?

Dang. Should have advertised discount on all things except rods and reels, but that’s ok. More dollars saved for the classic expo.

I registered with the website and attempted similar things but no discount added. Are we missing the secret code?

I think they might be pricing the way they do with future discounts in mind. Easter weekend 15% off used rods and reels makes sense. Normally with used gear you really only keep the prices up on GLoomis or possibly high end models in Daiwa/St. Croix/Shimano. Maybe they are trying to reset the used market in their area or through a normal retailer. I hope they do well too, they have time to iron out the wrinkles.

Tight lines brother. Chick can produce, just need to spend some time learning it.

I’m rough on gear, and always have been. Fishing from the bank and wading rivers over the years has desensitized me to the minor scratch or bump. I don’t recommend putting fishing gear through what I do but I want to be where the people aren’t to enjoy my hobby.

Sir I am not what you’d call a hillbilly but that there is a fine use for a spoilt hog.

Have two and they catch fish. Not sure if they are worth the extra over domestics on sale but if you can get them at a good price I’d go for it.

In St Croix their rods tend to be a half power heavier than other brands. Another member mentioned the Dobyins above and if you fished a medium side by side the St Croix would feel half way to a medium heavy. My river spinning rod is the elite line 7’ ML. Tackle Tour did a review on it years ago and put on a bench to measure deflection. It starts out soft then once their hooked has a strong backbone. Look up the review and see if their applications fit yours and find the same rod in a different line. Most Croix lines share power and action. I don’t know the size of fish you encounter normally but I’ve seen videos of people landing 2-3 foot gar on 6-8 lb test on light gear in our rivers. It’s about setting your drag correctly and allowing the gear to handle the heavy lifting. The action and power of your rod don’t determine the size of fish you can land.

They look amazing but there are almost none for sale used. This one seems built for a very specific sort of person and they don’t move many models. There is a dealer in east Knoxville who could probably order one new but that’s quite a bit more expensive than I had hoped for. After googling around I don’t see any other brands offering something similar. Are you aware of any @VolFan ?

I know you’re joking but that Easy 200 looks extremely tempting.