leinad

light line ( i use 6# mono only ) , light rod ( l or ml ) , light reel ( adjust that drag ) because you do not want to bend the light hooks on those nedhead jigs

worms: curly tail,trick and floating- gives you access to heavy cover shakey heads, ewg hooks and weights crankbaits: shallow , medium and deep diving ( square bills ) gives you access to different water columns hollow body frogs ( including poppers and toads ) top water access and ability to fish pads slop etc.,. finesse rigs: ned heads , small jigs assortment of "ned" baits ( trd , ticklerz , small paddletail crayfish etc. ) when times get tough drop shot : hooks and baits ( roboworm ,some kind of baitfish )will get you deep. that should cover quite a few different scenarios

have 3 dobyn furys s 661,662 and 703 and i'll tell ya , for me the 661 is a blast to land 4-5 lb river smallies love the action and the way it plays those fish. i use all 3 for my finesse presentations and am quite happy with their sensitivity . my only comparison is to a 13 fishing muse 6'10" ml s and i will say that is a slightly nicer rod ( sensitivity )but $65 more.

in 2019 41,000,000 lic sold in US x .01% = 4100. given equal playing field, same boat, tackle, depth finders, same amount of practice prior to a tournament i think you can have at least 410 (.001%) that could compete( no such thing as dominate amongst pros). it's a numbers game , pros can go a whole day with few fish or catch many, same as "avg. joe". if i was a betting man ( and i am) by shear numbers i have to say yes (..001%).

imo the muse's(ml) action falls between the 661(light)and the 662 (ml) and its sensitivity is slightly better than the fury ( a better rod imo but 65$ more, but the dobyns are fine rods also ) . the lancer imo action and sensitivity is on par with the fury but the fury is a nicer all around than the lancer ( not a negative against the ark i like it , prefer the reel seat and grip on dobyns ) if money is a concern the ark lancer is a very nice rod for 20 less than the fury.

have 4 : dobyns fury 661 + 662 (662 has a quantum throttle (10) ) 13 fishing black muse 6'10" ml ark lancer 6'10" ml the other 3 have daiwa regal 1000s ( really like these inexpensive reels , imo has a great drag ) and 6# mono. takes care of my ned/finesse/ dropshot needs.

bottom line is that it's a 25% difference ; if you think thats basically the same ok. rof will be different using same bait and those weights.

have not given much time to river fishing but this week spent a total of about 3 hours on the housatonic in conn. , started off with a 3.5 inch tube for about an hour and nothing then switched to ned 1/15 with a zman ticklerz and nailed 12 smallies with a 3.5 and 4 lb ( my 2 biggest ever ) as the top 2 in that time span. just like to add that as a bank fisherman the bite can be tough but the ned rig usually gets me bit , i'm a big fan.

i'm calling b.s. on the california blame game. just a week ago i put in a big order with a rod included in the order and got that in 3 days while the rest of order will ship 6/28. put in an order today and will be delivered by 7/9; previous orders that i paid for shipping are here quickly ( you don't see a disclaimer in case of a high volume of orders that have the paid upgrade) so it is my opinion that if you pay for shipping they will get it out pronto and free shipping goes to back of the line , this seems to me this could be a way to get out of the free shipping feature which my guess is quite an expense fo tw. now in defense of tw they have the best selection of gear and i use them 95% of the time ; and am happy overall with their service.

saw a video with roland martin ( 3 best knots for braid ) and he says the clinch knot is no good for braid because the line is so smooth it does not hold, says to use a palomar knot instead. i use it and have never lost a bait with it.