Deephaven

I tie one on the night before, then go out to fish and realize my assumptions were wrong so I cut it off and tie on another and then fish. Trailers go on right before the first cast and come off after the last.

Not the answer you need for TW, but I can't say I understand paying for an ultra premium rod that isn't custom. Once you are at a price point like that the stock rods are still a compromise for what you need, but a custom won't be. Would love to understand why custom builts are not more prevalent in this situation. I only own a few rods that aren't custom built atm and guess which ones I have issues with?

Ha, I normally start with a rattletrap....but obviously for the outskirts of the reeds. Once that doesn't work I will switch to a frog, which SUCKS in the reeds and always gets hung up but I can't help myself. It will get fish though if you can find clean pockets to throw it. If I can't find those pockets or once they are fished up I will switch to a jig and fish the rest of the patch.

For budget a used Abu Garcia is probably right up your alley. That being said, no way I'd use a big round reel for jigs. Best thing you could do for that situation is retrain yourself to hold your rod differently and grab a low profile reel.

It is definitely more stout than an 843, but a wee bit less than the 844. Mostly in that the tip is more manageable. The actual rod power more than the tip though. Use it for big single hook applications, spinnerbaits, light frogs etc.

Awesome! Glad someone could get out and more importantly have success!

Just need to figure out how to make my little ones love it and I would go WAY more.

There may be some that are bright enough now, but it used to be awful.

The problem with the tablet is the screen brightness. With polarized glasses on and super bright light I find it hard to use.

I missed the Osakis comment. That is the one part of the state I've never fished. Keep meaning to.

Big changes in the past week. Went from brutal and slow to things blowing up everywhere. Not sure that what is now will be in 2 weeks and of course the North part of the state will be at a different point in the season than the South.

The lower the temp of the meat the better the smoke absorption. Try the sear post smoke

Definitely worth the 30 seconds it takes, lol

Thanks!

I should add one other comment on here regarding a ceramic grill. If you want to reverse sear your meat (which you SHOULD) they work awesome. Super easy to start up the grill and hold 225 for as long as you need for your meat to come to temp and then open the vents and finish it at a ripping high temp. There is hardly an animal that doesn't taste better this way.

I've been on it once. Going to fix that this fall. Used the Garrison launch last November and it was super shallow then, can't imagine it will work now. Where would you launch? Just realized my avatar is the Garrison launch, lol

You mean way better. Restaurants that charge the little amount you stated don't hardly ever try hard enough to make a real product. There are exceptions but VERY few and far between. Brisket isn't all that hard. Maintaining a constant temp for 15+ hours however can be. A digital controller for long smokes is well worth it if you are new. My BIL built a smoker out of an old milk tank from the farm. I spec'd a little PID, thermocouple and fan and for less than $40 that thing will hold perfect temp all day as long as there is fire in the box. Off the shelf ones are more, but if low and slow is your goal they are worth it. Can easily do it without, but I would include that in part of your shopping budget.

No worries, my problem is I want a 90 second cook on them. I can get the bottom that hot, but fundamentally need another pizza stone that is at the same temp as the bottom a couple of inches or so off the top. Hoping the ooni has enough control I can bake bread in it as well. If so, it is a no brainer. Give the paper towels a try. I think they work way better than the egg starter devices and I never run out then either.

The time is a misnomer. It is BY FAR the easiest grill to get going that burns fuel. It takes me less than 30 seconds more than my gas grill. Generally any non-insulated smoker has that problem. It is what made the Texas crutch necessary. I find that it isn't necessary to wrap ever on a ceramic smoker, but non-insulated ones when you do that you will get uneven cooking and dried meat. I've made some great meals in an offset but the effort is enormous as you have to constantly be fiddling. I set my Viking up and for the next 24 hours I do nothing if that is how long my brisket will take. Ah, even with an air gap and a double stone to get the finish on the top I burn the bottom. I had contemplated building a firebrick setup to put in the smoker...but think I will just buy an ooni. I want neapolitan pizza love at our house. The over runs on your smoker are how you load it and start it. For a low and slow smoke I use half of a sheet of paper towel soaked in olive oil. Put that in the middle of the smoker, light it, keep it all wide open for 10 minutes and then close it down with the place setter to the level I am expecting to cook at and wait. She climbs right up and sits there. I do my ribs at 225F on the little guy and it takes about 30 minutes to temp stabilize, burn off the akrid initial smoke, and be ready. The meat then goes on and you do nothing until it is ready. If you are constantly fiddling wtih the vents you are trying way too hard. Too small of a fire is better than too big of one. Curious why you don't want the same tool for both? Functionally I only overlap on the small one as my larger one I use nearly exclusively for smoking. Kamado grills are the best smokers you can buy if you are going for taste. The only possible knock is they are too efficient if you like your smoke gnarly.

Curious what your pizza setup is. I have a couple Kamados and IMO they are awful for pizza so I am about to buy a pizza oven, but if I can avoid it that'd be great. 1. What you've got (manufacturer, model, any special attachments). -Viking C4 (Large Primo ie, Big Green Egg fundamentally) - used for long smokes or large pieces of meat -Kamado Joe Jr. - Daily grilling and smoking up to 1.5 racks of ribs or a small butt -Firesense Yakitori grill - Satay, Koobideh/kabobs -Breeo 24" Firepit with grill and cooking ring - general grilling ---> contemplating an Ooni Pizza oven 2. How you primarily use it (smoking, grilling, pizza, tandoori, etc.). Smoking and grilling. 3. The good/the bad. I've owned a weber smoky mt, a barrel smoker, a Traeger, a Lynx 54" gas grill, and various others. The Kamado is a MUCH better smoker than all of them and it is an unbelievable grill. This past week we rented a cabin in WI and they only had a normal weber charcoal grill. I couldn't believe how much worse the food was. The heat retention and moisture retention from a ceramic grill is priceless. I've gotten rid of all my non-ceramic grills for smoking or grilling. 4. Whether you'd buy again/recommend. The Traeger was great if you really aren't into cooking. It is easy, has mediocre results, and does a lot of the work for you. That being said, once you dial in the ceramic grills they are nearly as easy. It takes me all of 3 minutes to set it up and managing the heat is super easy as well. The Kamado Joe Jr. - by far the must own in the group. It uses nearly no fuel compared to larger ones with all the benefits The Viking - no, wasn't worth the $3k for the unit instead of paying $700 for a BGE. I would also pair the small Jr with an XL if I did it over again The Lynx. This is the grand daddy of all gas grills. MSRP on it was just under $12k. It was BY FAR the biggest waste of money I've ever spent on cooking. It works better than any other gas grill I have tried, but you might as well be cooking on a grill pan inside the house. It was nice for large groups of people, but cooking on natural lump is far superior in every way The Smoky Mt was cheap, if you want a smoker to get started it works, but it is WAY harder to dial in than a ceramic. The barrel smoker....great if you want to do a lot of food, but we are a family of 4 and I'd rather have something cooked fresh than leftover. I can easily do a whole brisket on my egg and have never needed to do more than that. Controlling the barrel is way harder than the ceramic as well.

How about between 1/4, 7/32, 3/16? At some point you are at diminishing returns. If it isn't between 1/4 and 3/16 then the next step surely does it, no? IMO I would purchase ones with more variation first and then determine if you need more in between. And stupid fractions...why we can't just use grams ugh. The same above would be 7g, 6.2g, 5.3g -> would be so much easier to just think in 4,5,6,7,8 gram. In that case I'd start with 6, then add 8, then add 4 and so on.

6'8 MXF SC spinning blank made into a BC with 30lb braid here and have no problems with the hook set or landing. Rarely does the braid mess the trebles either. When it does it is always on the perfect cast to where I really don't want it fouled, but not often enough that I use a leader.

Need to hit the magic 10yr old mark. Once there the prices stabilize.

If you are throwing Musky lures you will not be throwing spinnerbaits on the same rod, no way, no how. 10" baits are all well over 2oz and any rod that can throw them SUCK at throwing bass baits.

Spicy kimchee.