PBBrandon

I find the St. Croix 7’2” MHM Legend Tournament to be the best overall cranking rod I’ve used. Covers everything except for mag cranks and deep divers. That moderate action slings em pretty far too. They also make it in the Mojo and Victory lines which fit your budget

I’m a fan of the St. Croix LTB hybrid glass rods. I have the 7’2” HM “Rip N Chatter” and love it. They have some other crankbait models too. Doesn’t feel any heavier than my regular graphite LTBs. I can’t stand the weight of true glass rods and I love the action of the hybrid glass ones

JDM Stradic is pretty much a slam dunk for me. 2500 size because I can’t stand the T-handle design for some reason. The older blackout Tatula reels were nice, not as big a fan of the MQ but they are nice too.

I’m gonna likely grab another Alphas SV to put on it with 15lb Invizx. You can tell your wife it was half off lol can’t pass a good deal up. P.S If whichever model you want is out of stock. Pure fishing has a lot of the Abu Pro Series rods on sale for half off and they are pretty much just technique specific Veritas TE rods with different handle designs

Grabbed that exact model the other day, came in the mail this afternoon and she’s a beaut. Ive had a few Abu rods and they are nice sticks, light and crispy. Just never had one that quite fit in a role in my rod lineup. The 6’10” MH should be a great dock jig skipping/spinnerbait rod whatcha throwing on it and how did it do?

I originally wanted the rod simply because it was a good deal. Anytime a rod is going for over half off it’s hard to pass up. Didn’t necessarily need it though the reels on the other hand I “needed” (what I really need is to stop buying tackle lol) I was short 2 casters and that was also a good deal. Still also need to get new bearings for my Chronarch Ci4 and gen 1 Tat SV, they aren’t all that smooth even after cleaning. The Tat 80s are gonna most likely end up on a Legend Tournament 7’2” MHM and 7’2” HM. One for cranks (12lb FC) and one for chatterbaits/spinnerbaits (15-17lb FC)

Ended up passing on the Veritas and ordered 2 Tat 80s from Sheltons for 105 a pop, thanks @Columbia Craw for the link and I can’t wait to get em

3/8-1/2oz, Xtasy 755c 1/4-3/8oz, Legend Tournament 7’3” HXF (middle class man’s CRR 873) 1/4-1/2 is a wide range for a rod, I’m more comfortable going down to 1/4 with the DRX755 than I am going 1/2 with the LTB. But both are great and they complement each other well

I don’t need any more rods, if anything I’m a bit short on reels. But darn I have the 6’10” MH Veritas in my cart and I’m trying to talk myself out of it. Looks like too good a deal to pass up

Looks like hydrilla. Crankbait kryptonite but good for throwing frogs or flipping soft plastics into the holes in the mats

As low as you can go without backlashing i typically run 3 on 3 off and adjust the dial depending on the lure im throwing. Wind and lure weight can affect that as well. Just gotta find where you are comfortable casting

That’s real neat, I tried something similar a couple of months ago. Having AI design a plan on where to paddle to on the kayak and what to throw at what time to see how effective it was. Problem was I did it in a spot I was familiar with, so after getting some success, I deviated away from what the AI was telling me to do. I did have a very successful day using it. Im curious to hear how it goes if you try again next weekend. Surely with all of the info out there that AI can use to compute a strategy on a given lake on a given day, it can be a really useful tool

Cherrywoods hold a special place in my heart. Not the toughest, not the most sensitive, but they are dirt cheap and I used to use them as my “lighter rods” alongside Ugly Stiks. Caught my PB striper on one. +1 on the tip top replacement guide kit. Easy to do and cheap. Don’t want a groove to be the reason your line gets cut and a big one gets off

Been itching to try one. Although I’m not sure what I’m scared more of, the trigon handle or my wife’s reaction when I have to tell her I spent over $600 on a rod might just stick with my Legend tourneys. The new legends look nice though

So I currently do a mix of bank and kayak fishing right now. However, I only really use my kayak when I have 4+ hours to fish (about once a month) due to the setup/tear down. I understand a Jon boat will have some setup/tear down as well, but I could leave it on the trailer parked in the garage so all I’d have to do is hook it up and drive out to the lake. Plus I’d have more room to stand and bring more tackle. Ive noticed I can get a fiberglass boat for about half the cost of an aluminum one, plus with the heat in Texas, it might be a better bet. So what’s the catch? Are there drawbacks with the fiberglass boats?

+1 for the Aird-X. I think it’s the best rod under $100 and I’d pick it over most rods under $150. I’ve had the 6’6” medium and it was a staple in my lineup for a while. I’d pair it with a 2500 size Daiwa Exceler and that’d be a nice combo

Hopefully it’s a Steez AGS just with SiC guides. Almost got an AGS a while back but never pulled the trigger. Definitely won’t now since they’ve pretty much priced themselves out of range for most anglers who aren’t high end tackle enthusiasts. Glad to see they are at least trying to bring that blank to a more reasonable price. Probably won’t be as light or well balanced but I’m sure it’s a killer rod

Sometimes I’ll leave them in the car without any issues. Only thing is with some, especially swimbaits, they can get warped if they are bent. Anything Elaztech cannot handle the heat whatsoever. Those are the only baits that I make sure to bring inside

I usually stay home holiday weekends but I couldn’t pass up this morning with the weather. Foggy morning, pop up showers the past few days, perfect temps. Got out around sunrise to texoma on the kayak (even more dangerous on a holiday weekend). Spook bite was great, caught a good sized wiper and a smallie, then had a largemouth spit the hook. Had a few more bites on a crankbait and another big one snap my line (swam under the boat before I could swing her around the front). as I was heading in around 11 all the boaters were showing up and launching from the ramp. I’m glad I went in when I did. Was the most action packed morning I’ve had all year, just couldn’t haul them all in. any day you come back from the lake covered in slime is a good day 👍

Haven’t used the full size ones but the Ned Cut-r ones are one of my go-to’s for Ned rigs

This

I haven’t used those 2 particular models, but you really can’t go wrong with a MHF rod for T-rigs. Looking at them I do think the 7’5” is more catered to bottom contact whereas the 7’3” is a multi-purpose rod. So the 7’5” might have a faster action. That’d be the one I’d go with if it’s solely for T-rigs

A couple of years ago I had some Carbonlite combos as well as Platinum and Patriot rods. For the money the Carbonlite combos are pretty good. The new ones however don’t have that dial on the rod butt to remember the line you had on it. That came in handy on the older ones. It’s on par with a Lews combo in the same price range

I have the 7’2” H BLX (US Black Label). it’s a high quality rod and a good one, just kind of a niche rod. Like @Bigbox99 said about the 7’4” being a short SB rod, the same can be said about the 7’2”. It really shines if you are a kayak angler or someone who doesn’t have room for a long butt rod but still wanna chuck swimbaits in the 1-3oz range

1/4+trailer= 3 power 3/8+trailer= 4 power 1/2+trailer= 5 power thats my thinking when picking a Dobyns rod for jigs