bigspirit

Ive heard great things, I just want to make sure the action is going to be good for what I’m going to use this rod for. I’ve never got to hold a tatula in person

Great, thanks for the input! I’ll check out the victory, the 2 places I looked I believe they were out of stock but I’ll check again. I looked at a MH as well, I’ve seen a 7’ M in store that I’ve been able to hold and just felt a MH might be a bit much for small treble hooks

About the pull the trigger and order a spinning rod for jerkbaits and topwater. Was looking at the 6’9” zodias originally but now considering the 6’10” tatula. Any input on which is better? Or neither and get something else?

Wow, had no idea I would get this many opinions! I really appreciate every reply too. Unfortunately, I will not be doing this for smallmouth. My profile picture is a brown bass but I just relocated and have shifted my focus to spotted bass, largemouth, and stripers for now. So far in my limited experience, the spots have appeared similar in aggression to smallmouth. I spent some time throwing the A rig last weekend and did well, it’s just a workout to throw for any extended amount of time so was hoping a spinnerbait burned through the water would draw some of those bites without wearing out my wrist.

What are y’all’s favorite spinnerbaits to burn? Looking to try a new (for me) technique and wondering what I should get. I’ve got a couple 1/2oz but they seem to blow out the water when “burned”. From what I’ve seen though, 3/4oz may be too heavy? Wondering if a half ounce Nichols would be good? I’ve weighed one that I had and it was 0.81oz. I can’t find it though so can’t confirm or try burning that one specifically. Thanks for any input.

Totally agree, I hate that about my zodias. I don’t think I’ve ever even used it because of the bad location

Didn’t buy one but got to hold one today in the local shop. Only had the 7’5” heavy but it felt good. Definitely a light weight rod for what it was, looked and felt similar to the zodias other than the handle

A rig turned the day around for me on Saturday

I would go Nasci or Ultegra

Alright so 6’9” is what I’ve settled on. Here’s a follow up question. Would I be better off with the Medium (3/16-1/2oz) or the Medium Heavy (1/4-3/4oz)? I mainly throw 110s and 110+1s, along with some KVD 300 deep in terms of jerkbaits, topwaters I like spooks mostly which are 1/2oz.

I’ve certainly thought about it. Might be worth a shot. Just hard to put down the shad patterns that work to try something wildly different

Bought when I lived up north and didn’t have shad around. Perch and blue gill were the main forage

Lol, I have a +1 in GP Pro Perch. It is an absolutely beautiful lure. I won’t be using it now that I moved to Georgia….need to find a way to frame it to admire

Magdraft maybe?

That’s for sure! I’ve got a stradic ci4+ I’ll put on it when I pick one up

This is great info, thanks for posting. I think I’ll more than likely go with the 6’9” as I’ll mostly use for jerkbaits, topwaters, and flukes. That’s great to hear how you think it compares to the expride too!

From YouTube videos it appears they may be the older zodias rods, essentially? Was looking at the 6’10” models and to get the 1/4-3/4oz lure rating you have to go up to the MH whereas the Zodias and Exprides are only a M for the same lure rating. Anybody got their hands on one yet? Was looking at the zodias originally as I’ve been impressed with the other one I have but their 610 Medium is a moderate fast action and I’m looking for a Fast. Wondering how the new curados would compare.

The YouTube guys showed a trick where you use the little centering pins, screw it all the way in so even the loop is in the plastic, then hook through the plastic and centering pin

Thanks for the input guys. Yeah, the distance might be negligible. I know for a fact the 6’9” would be easier to work while standing in the kayak as my feet are basically level with the water.

Looking to add one of these to my collection. Really liking the 7’5” H casting rod I got, it’s the only zodias I own. Was wanting a shorter spinning rod combo for top waters, jerkbaits, flukes, and finesse jigs. Would there be a NOTICABLE disadvantage going with the 6’9” when it comes to casting distance? I fish out of a kayak a lot so I think the shorter rod would be better for working lures but on the other hand the longer casting distance means less paddling…. also, for this purpose is going to the expride worth the extra $80?

I’ve recently done the same thing. Got tired of taking WAY more than I needed, especially since most of my fishing now is out of a kayak. Space comes at a premium. I took one box, and I have the following in it: 3 spooks, 1 shower blows, 1 chug bug, 5 or 6 jerkbaits, 3 or 4 lipless, 2 blade baits, 2 square bills, and 2 spinnerbaits, a chatterbait, 4 jigs, and one 6” mag draft. Plus a box of terminal tackle and a handful of bags of soft plastics. Way less than what I carried before. Plus, part of my motivation to do this was to force myself to use these baits more. I’ve fished for bass my whole life, but just started bass fishing the last 2 years lol. Most of my fishing (95%+) had been saltwater until careers have moved me further away. So, I have not caught many fish on jerkbaits and lipless so I take a couple more of each to make it easier to choose one to throw.

Thanks A-Jay, now if only I could ever figure out how to catch the nice ones in a lake lol! Thank you! And I absolutely agree, to be honest I wasn’t originally going to post but I’ve always enjoyed when someone took the time to type up about a day on the water so the reader can live it with them. Makes for good reading material on a rainy day - or just whenever! Ha, if you’re in Tennessee I think these might be just a bit north of you. 100%. There’s nothing like a river smallmouth, I started smallmouth fishing in Virginia a handful of years ago and they’ve been my favorite freshwater fish since the first day I went out for them!

Figured since I’ve asked so many questions and this forum has helped me out so much I should offer up at least a little afternoon reading material. This report and pictures are from a trip from over a few weeks ago so writing it down will help me relive it and remember all the small details. Backgrounds may be blurred for the protection of the fishery. Last winter, I was having a conversation with a lady at work and fishing became a subject we covered. She starts telling me about where she had grown up and how it had a river where her dad and brother used to fish for smallmouth and would catch “big ones”. Obviously, “big” is just a matter of opinion for a lot of people. Being as that it was only a few hours away, I figured it was at least worth a trip to find out for myself. The day started out at 3:45am to have enough time to drive and get there by mid morning. It was a beautiful drive going through part of the state I had never been to. Upon arrival, it was hotter than I expected at that time in the morning. The kayak was splashed, gear loaded up, and car parked. Fishing started out a little slow for the first 15-20 minutes but found my first fish of the day hanging behind a big rock. Stunning fish. Right at 18” and matched my previous PB that had taken me years to catch when I lived in the south. It was beautiful water and these fish were often floating and I was happy to give them their next meal. It was incredible how they were not spooked at all. A few were hooked within 7-8’ of my kayak. After a couple hours of working my way up river and catching more than I expected, I got to a downed tree on the bank. So far, every piece of tree or bush that was submerged had held fish. So when I made my cast, I was ready for the bite. As soon as this fish hit, I knew it was a large one. As some of you may know, kayak fishing can be awesome and there are many aspects to love about it. However, this fish literally started pulling me under the branches of another another overhanging tree which was a problem as my other rod was sticking straight up from my crate. Also, tangled up in tree limbs is not my favorite way to fight a fish. While all of this is happening, the fish had fought its way under the submerged tree. Great. I knew I didn’t have many options as I was using 10lb braid to 10lb mono leader. So, I opened the bail, paddled backwards to the shallow side of the creek, dropped my anchor in some thick grass, and tied off in hopes of holding me IF this fight continued. I flipped the bail and started reeling in slack. As the line came tight, I could feel I was still hooked up. Unbelievably, this fish came right out of the tree and into open water! At this point I could really see how big it was and knew it would top my previous PB so naturally, my brain goes to envisioning getting it out of that mess and getting it boat side and watching a fray give out or the hook come out. None of that happened though and I brought my new PB smallmouth to hand. Measured at just a hair under 20 1/2”. The size of its tail just blew my mind. Incredibly beautiful fish. I slid the fish back into the water and just watched as it swam up river and back to the tree it had came from. At that point, I could have gone home EXTREMELY happy. But I didn’t and from that moment forward everything else was just a bonus. The next quarter of a mile was rather sparse but eventually found my way to a hole with fast moving water. This was another experience I’d never had the privilege of before. In this hole, there had to be over 20 quality smallmouth that were fired up and fighting over whatever I throw in there. Such as a junebug senko, paddle tail, GOAT, and even a top water. I didn’t take as many pictures as I maybe should have but I was busy trying to live in the moment and enjoy it while it lasted. Here’s a few pictures from this experience though…(making another post) Look closely in this one by the reel handle At this point in the afternoon it was getting time for me to head back as I had a good drive ahead of me. Of course I fished on my way downstream though picking up a few more fish. It was a trip I’ll remember for a very long time. I recently relocated back to the south so unfortunately won’t be fishing this spot for a while. I hope one day I’ll make a trip and rent a kayak for a few days. What an incredible fishery…

What websites are y’all ordering these off of? I know of Asian portal but don’t remember seeing Metaniums on there. Feel free to PM me if need be?

Reel one just below the surface. They definitely displace water