ErieCan

Check Amazon.ca for Fuego CT reels. I bought 2 from there at a sale price of $109 CAD. Not sure if they still have them at that price. A couple shops around Hamilton have the Curado K for $250 reg price. Hardly ever see them on sale unfortunately.

I have the 8.1 and 6.3. Get the 6.3. The 8.1 is pretty darn fast. Rated at 33.9" per crank. The 6.3 is 26.3" per crank. More well rounded.

I have the 8.1 and 6.3. The 8.1 sounds the same as yours. Neither are the quietest reels out there for sure. Haven't had them long but they both work great and cast a mile.

There's a large river here I used to fish a lot before I had a boat. The upper portions of the river are mostly rock and gravel. I've caught bass in 3' of water in current. When they're active, they'll move from hole to hole looking for food. One trick was to wade up stream of a deeper area and kick up the gravel. Wait a minute and cast a craw bait. On some days, when you stirred up the bottom, you could literally see smallmouth scurry through the shallow current from adjacent holes to feast on the craws you just kicked up.

I'm eyeing the Shimano Intenza 7' spinning rods. Their ML Xfast rod is rated 1/8-1/2oz, 6-12lb line which seems slightly heavier than other ML rods I was looking at (Like the Daiwa Rebellion). I plan to use for multi purpose. Drop shot, and tubes (maybe 5"senkos if I can get away with it) for bass. And grub/paddle tail jigs for walleye. I was wondering if this med/light would be ok for this based on its weight/line rating. Other brands and models it seems I'd have to go up to a medium power.

Never like the circle hooks either. I use an octopus hook for wacky rigs and even drop shot.

As mentioned, the Daiwa Fuego CT is a great reel in that price range. 6:3:1 ratio would be great for the purpose. It has the magforce-Z break system. Basically a Tatula without the T-wing. I have the 8:1:1 and like it so much I ordered the 6:3:1. I've only used it for pike so far (bass season is closed here) but It's easy to set up and I've yet to backlash it. Casting 3/8oz up to 3/4oz so far with 30lb braid. I keep the tension knob pretty loose to where the spool moves side to side ever so slightly and the break setting around 8. I own a Curado K 200 among other reels as well. The Fuego isn't as smooth and refined as the more expensive Curado, but it's definitely a work horse and more reel for the price point.

Is it a standard Tatula 100? If so, the inches per crank is 29.8" which is would be good all around.

I live on the Canadian side of Lake Erie. I prefer to fish smallies but 2-4 weeks after opener (our season opens the last Saturday of June) they move out of the bays and out to rock shoals of the open lake. It's tough to get to them comfortably on many days, especially if you don't have a good sized boat. Erie can blow up on you quick. Most people here tend to target the smallmouth early in the season. If they're around, you don't see many guys aren't in kayaks fishing largemouth. The bays hold Largemouth and can pretty much be fished any time and since they like the warm shallow slop (which there are 100s of acres of), they stay in the bays. The area is not known for a lot of big largemouth, but large numbers of 1-3lb bass will keep you busy with the odd 4lb+ mixed in.

Are you referring to this?

I have a Lexa 300WN. It casts nice. Not as smooth feeling as a Curado and 2oz heavier. I'm going to use mine for chucking and trolling musky baits so I imagine it'd work well for your purpose.

So I just got back from the tackle shop. I walked out with another Tatula rod. 7'6" MH-F "Casting" and a Curado K 201 7:4:1. I put the reel on every rod I tried out. I wanted to like the Mojo Bass I mentioned in my original post but I found it too heavy in weight now that I got to play with it a bit more. I tried a couple other rods around that price with Mod-fast tapers and didn't like the feel of any of them. When I went up to the St. Croix Tournament rod it was great, but more than I wanted to spend (same with the G-Loomis). I'm happy with what I got. I think it will be great for everything my other rods won't cover. For cranks I can use my medium/fast rod just fine.

Are you only open to the Tatula elite? U less you really want the high end guides on the more expensive version, the, the regular Tutala is a great rod. I held both in the store and didn't think the Elite warranted the extra few bucks. Never tried the Rebellion as they didn't have any there.

I was looking at the St. Croix Mojo Bass 7'6" MH/Mod-fast rod today and I like the feel of it. I currently have a Daiwa Tatula 7'6 'Flippin' H/F rod for pitching, flipping, and power shot in grass, slop, and pads. And a Fenwick HMG 7' M/F that I've been using for cranks and various multi-species applications. I'm thinking this rod would be good to fill the gap. Not sure about the Mod-fast taper though. I'm thinking it'd use it for chatterbaits, swimjigs, deeper cranks. I typically use braid and tie long leaders if I need some stretch. I also troll Wally diver type cranks in a river for walleye, and use diving cranks in a channel current for Brown Trout (2-15lb avg). So I thought maybe this rod could play double duty on that as well. What are your opinions on the rod and the action? Would you just go fast action instead?

Some areas are hard compacted sand as well. I use drop shots a lot on the bay, though for smallmouth. There's a huge area of gravel flats but that's smallie territory. Never tried drop shot near weeds but I'll have to give it a go.

I fish a very large, mostly clear water bay (of Lake Erie) in the summer/fall. I'm experienced with fishing smallmouth here. But this season, I want to target the largemouth more. Essentially, most of the largemouth areas are sandy, silty, marshy bottoms with all sorts of mixed vegetation. Lily pad areas, cat tails, tape grass, sago, coon tail, milfoil, etc. There are some large deeper weed beds (8-10'). I'll also be fishing the various marinas, rows of boat houses, and marsh channels. Not much as far as rock or other structure. Pretty much weeds everywhere, a lot of areas to cover, and a lot of bass (and pike to make your baits go bye bye. Musky numbers are increasing too). So, the fun question here is, what baits would you bring? I'm thinking some basics. - Senkos (wacky or texas rig) - swim jigs w/ trailers - chatter baits - frogs and toads - jerkbaits for the deeper beds - creature baits/craws for punching

I've read some back and fourth debate on this. I was pretty dead set on getting an 80lb 24v minn kota for my 16' Lund Rebel XL SS. However, I'm concerned about the weight and space up front if I run two batteries. The weight of the boat, motor, gas, me, and gear would be around 1600lbs give or take. I plan to use it to move around the slop for largemouth and to spot lock and jog over structure on lake Erie for smallmouth. For those with 16' boats like mine, did you go with 55lb 12v or are you good with the extra weight/space of the 24v system?

What action/speed would you suggest? I was looking at a Daiwa Tatula TTU741HFB Frog rod. Its 1/2oz-2oz. Seems like it might be a one trick pony though.

Hey all, I'm looking to fish for LM in cover this season (deeper weed beds, lillypads, grass, and reeds). I'm not new to bass, but I've fished mostly SM on flats and structure. I'll be fishing a large bay of Lake Erie. Clear water and miles of weed beds, marsh edges, pads, etc. This season, I'm investing in a couple rod/reel combos for the purpose. I've already bought a Quantum Smoke S3 PT and a Fenwick HMG 7' Med/fast rod (HMGs tend to be on the stiffer side and this rod feels closer to a MH). As well, I just bought a Daiwa Lexa 300 WN HS. I'm thinking the HMG rod/reel I'll spool with fluorocarbon for swim jigs and such for fishing the deeper weed bed areas? So I think the other rod should be something for flipping/punching the pads, reeds, and general slop. What kind of rod would suit an all-around frog/punching rig set up? I already have a crankbait combo and lots of various spinning combos. So I'm hoping with these two new combos, I will have all the bases covered.

Hello all! My name is Mark and I fish in various parts of southern Ontario, Canada (aka, the Canadian tropics). For the most part, I stick to Lake Erie and it's bays for LM/SM bass and pike.