softwateronly

I prefer to fish 6-7” beasthook baits on an XH because the 7’7H was sometimes not getting good hook penetration. The first third is soft, you really need to reel sweep set in most circumstances. I don’t pitch flip often but when I did I had no trouble getting good hook sets in the 10-15’ range. scott

I use it for Arigs, deep cranking, 6” swim baits on a jig head, hair jigs, flutter spoons, swim jigs, small glides, and pitching. The mod/fast action is great but it comes with slightly less sensitivity than a 7’6MH, so I don’t love dragging jigs on it. All my exprides are the A series. scott

wondering as well, the solid tip with a feather(ish) backbone might be a winner. Also, a 7’4 version for boat fishing seems like a nice touch. scott

https://phenixrods.com/product/classic-bfs-casting-rods/ scott

A big fan of straight black coffee, and went full bougie. High quality, whole bean, light roast and making a two cup, pour over, twice a day. The taste and caffeine level have all but ruined me from buying a coffee from all chains and most shops, cold brew being the sometime exception. scott

This might not be something you want to put time into, but a well tied fg knot is my favorite braid to mono/floro connection knot. I don’t know what your specific situation is, but really thin braid can dig in and cut the harder coatings of some lines. Though I haven’t heard of that happening with a uni to uni connection. scott

That’s the truth for me. Fall is brutal until the water gets cold. Mid October till late November is magical. Last one off the lake and first one on is my yearly goal. scott

Im with you, they’re great rods. Better than my conquest in almost all things. The power pitch is the one that really loves a heavier reel, once I threw a bantam on there it became my favorite jig rod. Anything lighter just limited all the perceived benefits of a high price rod. I feel like a 1/2” forward placement of the reel seat would open it up to many more reels for me. scott

Yes. Should have wrote earlier that I also threw a 3/4oz blade bait. Tip is soft but certainly enough rod there to handle 3/4oz. I have mine paired up to a jdm zillion G which I think comes in around 6.4oz. Balances on the front of the lock nut. I’m really looking forward to pushing it around when I finally get time on the water; finesse jigs, neds, mojo rigs, t-rigs, blades, square bills, jerks, tail spinners, spybaits. It feels really versatile to me. scott

Most of the time on my clear water lake the swim jig // paddle tail out produces the chatterbait. But I almost always try both because there are days, and I don’t know why, when the production flip flops, and when it does, the fish are usually above average in size. Erratic medium slow retrieve along the weed tops or bottom is usually the ticket. I also have more confidence in the black blade over silver or gold. scott

The sensor is my 2nd steez rod and neither it nor the power pitch have great balance. Both took some reel swapping to find a comfortable match. But once comfortable, I find them to be extremely sensitive and versatile rods, and some of my favorites. They seem like an ever so slight miss on high end production rods for the price to me because of this. scott

I picked up a used one in December and unfortunately haven’t been able to fish it much yet. Took it to an unfrozen river and dragged a 1/4oz ned/jackal ishad around, cast well and felt everything. Later fished a 1/2oz blade bait and felt my one and only bait as it was vacuumed off the bottom. Tip was very soft then transitioned into some solid backbone and the fish stayed pinned. The tackletour review was why I grabbed this rod and so far I feel like the review is very accurate. scott

The number is 3.14159265358979 lbs. or not, sorry you lost a good one to faulty equipment. The bright side is that operator error wasn't the culprit because that sting lasts like no other. scott

Most all is 20, 30 or 50lb power pro super slick. Found 2 big spools (1k yards?) on sale on Amazon a couple years back. I have some 65lb maxcuatro on my frogging setup. scott

I agree with @Bankc I use 8 carrier in 30lb w/ 10lb floro leader. It’s a great system for getting good depth on the retrieve and nice stop/starts when not grinding bottom. scott