softwateronly

I like my champions quite a bit more than my furys. TW's sale at $188 is a good deal in my opinion. The 734 is a real pleasure for moving baits, the soft tip keeps the fish pinned, feels closer to a medium than a heavy. Not my favorite for bottom contact, but definitely serviceable. scott

I prefer an 8:1 for frog fishing. Allows me to stay in rhythm better on the walk and helps turn their heads out of the slop as fast as possible. scott

I have og power pro in 40lb and 65lb on my two, and they're doing great. The connection knot can be a problem though. I just use a shorter leader. scott

If you look for used rods, the price difference definitely shrinks and that made the decision easier for me so I could avoid the recoil guides, my personal preference. scott

I was fortunate enough to grab a pristine used Conquest 904 & new Xtasy 755 for 65% off retail, and paired both with JDM 20 Met's. One new and one moved over from an expride. The expride has a Curado 71MGL coming from TW as a replacement, plus a reload on jigs, swim jigs, swimbaits, trailers, and a-rigs. Wallet is also very unhappy... I had that poison 6'10M casting in my TW cart all the way till I pulled the trigger, maybe next year. I was thinking it would throw the vision 110, heavy neds, light wire finesse jigs, small keitechs, and blade baits. The 6'11M+ is a really fun rod. scott

Welcome to BR!! I just got my first GLoomis rod, a used Conquest 904c, to be my jig rod. So I don't have any real world experience, but it looks like your post got buried. From what I've read here or heard from others in general, I would think the 2 power would be a little light for a 3/8oz spinnerbait. Personally, I'd look at the GCX 843MBR if you want to stay in that rod line up. My very limited experience with the MBR's is very positive, the 4 feels really light and responsive in the tip and moves into power very smoothly. It should be a very versatile rod, but it does line up as slightly redundant with the rest of what you're throwing. scott

I picked up 2 more picasso invizi wires in 1/2oz double willow as well. I did real good with it last summer as a night time slow roller with a dwalker/swammer on the hook, so much thump. It's definitely a spinnerbait that worked much better for me slow vs fast. Last fish I caught on it was a 40"+ northern, the wire didn't survive the landing. I threw an upton's 9" reaper T rigged with decent success during big worm season. I wanna branch out more with Iovino's 6" and mojo rigs and experiment with rage rigging the 9" I also picked up Gambler and Nichols (5/16, 3/8, 7/16) weedless power neds and think both the 6" reaper, damiki stinger, and a 5" jerky j can prove effective in deeper short weed beds when my jigs bury themselves a bit too much and I think they're keyed in on baitfish. scott

It is also a great frog rod and I'm sure it'll be good for mega-crawlers, the nearest I've thrown is a WP190. I junk fish most all the time, the TB is like a security blanket. I feel like everything in between finesse and big glides are on the table. Honestly, the big glides can be fished just fine on it, except my casting distance suffers with the short rod lob cast. Same with heavy A-rigs. Such a great and unique action rod, I think you'll love it. I've landed more than a few 4lb+ bass on it and a couple 40"+ Northerns and the way it stays loaded yet full of power means they stay hooked up. I don't think I'd ever get rid of it. scott

That MB TB is a crazy rod. It's fished everything I've thrown at it and it's been anywhere from good to great. Boot tail swimbaits 5-7" both weedless and open hook anywhere from 3/8 - 1oz (lead only), 1/2-1oz spinnerbaits slow rolled, 6" bull shad // S Waver, and punching jigs used horizontally to pop/rip through deep weedbeds in the summer are currently my favorite uses. Balances really well with a Bantam, so Met DC should be a great combo. Only negatives are the strange small trigger that makes me palm differently and there's no 7'6" version to also buy. scott

Agreed. My favorite rod for frogs; weedless, slow moving 6-7" swimbaits; 3/4oz jigs in heavy cover; & 3/4oz swim jigs in heavy cover. This rod can do so much more than I originally thought, I find it super versatile for XH because the tip has some give, strong backbone, and the overall sensitivity, weight, and balance are superb w/ a 7oz reel. I think you'll be happy. scott

I'm a big fan of the Bantam and Metanium. I like that the Bantam is heavier, it's my favorite reel for longer "heavier" rods to keep balance near perfect. Both reels are rock solid and seem to help rod sensitivity to me. I think the Met casts a little further. JDM sites have allowed me to practically double the amount of these reels that I can afford. scott

I currently use the same as Northernbasser. These also look promising for what you want... https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_211_Round_Jig_Head_5pk/descpage-GRTW.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Round_Head_with_Lockdown_Keeper_5pk/descpage-ORHL.html scott

I fish Long lake, about 15 miles West of Klinger, and Fish Lake, about 2-3 miles SW of Klinger, both of these little lakes have some big bass. I still need to get my butt on Klinger. scott

You're definitely right about the exprides. I have 3 of them and 5 higher priced rods and in hindsight probably should have gotten more exprides rather than some of those others. The 7'6" MH is just perfect for me. scott

X3 scott

I also got my 172BLXH+ on the Sierra deal, and I like it for heavy jigs (5/8-3/4oz) in thick weeds. But for the same exact techniques, I slightly prefer my Expride 7'3XH. I think this particular BLX model might be the weakest of their offerings and don't recommend it at msrp. scott

I think what size line you want to use has consequences with tws. I don't like my Tat 200 with an FG knot with 65lb PowerPro to 20lb maxima. If I was using 40lb PP to maxima 15lb with an fg, there's enough room in the tws to fish comfortably in my opinion. scott Using braid to leader like I prefer, puts me more in the shimano camp for reels, unfortunately.

I remember that, G loomis isn't an exception? and 20% (non 2020) is what I remember also. Thanks much scott

Anyone remember if G loomis makes it on any of the major sites Black Friday sales? ALF and TW are currently in stock for what I'm looking for and most interested in their history. Thanks, scott

It did. Almost sounded like a .22. TW took care of me in a week or so, fished the rest of the year with the new one and no problems so far. scott ps - just saw these responses for some reason. I wish it was May...

Being in a large city, this was an anomaly for sure but impossible to deny......I also think he came down from your neck of the woods gimruis..... scott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuB0Koi0OvU

X2 I use the EX 7'6MH for 1/2oz and under jigs and absolutely love it. I had a shimano warranty replacement run through TW this spring and it was just 5 days total from shipping to receiving from chicago. That kind of turnaround was as good as I could have hoped for. Maybe I got lucky. scott

agreed....but if you ever go below 7'2" the PA 6'11m+ is magical. problem is you have to buy another 20 met. scott

the tough part is deciding between the 6'11m+ and the 7'3mh.... scott

I only have diawa and shimano, but don't have experience with the slx. I feel like you can't go wrong with either of their options in your price range. Maybe start with one from either brand and use time on the water to determine your second purchase. Personally, my crankbait reel is a jdm bantam 18 in 7.1:1 and my frog reel is a tat 200 in 7.3:1 and I'm very happy with both. scott