Brian11719

If it were me and I could waive a magic wand and start over it would be a curado 200m. That's a bit more pricey than what you are looking to spend but it might be worth checking to see if you can find a last gen curado 200 or tatula 150 on sale. The 13 fishing concept a2 also has a bit more room and looks pretty good but I haven't actually used a 13 fishing reel before...that one also doesn't have external brakes but if you are just going to be using the same lure most of the time that shouldn't be much of an issue and I think those are still on sale at some places right now. Aside from that if your budget is pretty firm around $100 it's going to be hard to argue with the speed spool...always a solid choice at that price point.

One thing I would say is up until a few weeks ago I felt the same way and that a 7'4 heavy didn't need to be expensive and advocated for a less expensive frog rod with the idea being sensitivity doesn't matter anyway. Recently I've found that I like that rod for throwing other lures on it as well and ended up picking up a 7'4 Victory. Long story short if it were me I'd suggest you at least consider what your 'regular' casting rod would be. Have also been throwing a frog on an 8:3 lews speed spool lfs for a couple of years now. It does ok with 50lb braid in it but if I had to do it over again I might consider something with a little more room in the spool...but as long as the frogs you are using are at least 1/2oz or so it should do a decent job. Overall I think either the Fury or the Tatula would be fine for a frog rod. If it were me I might actually lean a bit towards the Tatula even though the warranty isn't as good. Reel wise in my experience the speed spool lfs will do ok but if you are going to be throwing a frog a lot or using the reel for other stuff it might not hurt to consider something with a little more room for the heavier braid. Just some feedback for you from someone that had been throwing a very similar setup until just recently FWIW...

I'd wait. Doesn't seem like either option is really what you are looking for and unless those credits expire no reason to rush. Definitely wouldn't pick up a left handed reel if I used right handed casting reels. Also wouldn't settle just for the sake of buying something and indulging in some retail therapy...maybe go buy something cheap out of the clearance bin at academy instead and wait this one out until omnia has something you are really excited about and don't even need to question buying...that time will come sooner or later and in terms of getting good deals on gear I'm beginning to feel like not being in a hurry is one of the best things you can do.

Still a good catch...I'd consider that Sierra 766 flip for the price...if I already didn't have one Their used selection was also good for a while but that also seem to have been picked through pretty thoroughly at this point.

Behold my selection of Dobyns Kaden casting rods...lay thine eyes on it...and see that it is barren!

Generally I'd say you shouldn't have to and I wouldn't unless it was making noise and sounded like it might need oil. Otherwise wait until you would typically service your reel. Congrats on the purchase btw. One of the channels I like on youtube specifically for Daiwa reel info is Debo's channel. In this part of this video he goes over setting the spool tension and brakes on Daiwa reels w/ zero adjust here: and this might be worth looking at if you haven't used a Daiwa before. Hope you enjoy it.

Thought I added a reply here but apparently it didn't get posted...anyway Shimano makes an SLX swimbait rod that's 7'3. Based on what you've described it might be looking into that or the last gen tatula swimbait rod. Also a 6" magdraft w/ a beast hook in it is going to come out to just about 1.5oz...I'd argue that's too much for a rod rated up to 1oz but there are a few swimbaits you can throw on a rod like that. I like the 4.5" shadtron (shallow sink) and the eurotackle nage personally. Good luck.

Also use Sufix 832. Have thought about trying something else but have a hard time justifying that since I've had such good luck with it. I actually cut off less than a foot when I tie a new leader on and one spool can last a very long time depending on how often I use the setup it's on.

Hey @NorthernBasser I can't begin to imagine what you are going through but I suppose if it were me I'd plan for the worst but also hope for the best and there have been instances where others got a terminal diagnosis only to turn it around and beat it. Not saying I'd plan for that outcome, but there are a lot of things about life that we don't understand and sometimes doctors can be wrong. I've only been on this site for a couple years but I always enjoyed your posts and just wanted to remind you (again) that you have a lot of people pulling for you. In terms of the prices they look fine. I've sold a few things on FB marketplace as I've climbed up the fishing gear ladder and as others have said 50% off list seems to be about the sweet spot in most instances, so generally speaking I'd say maybe start a bit above there to give yourself some negotiating room which it seems like you have done. I also noticed older stuff tends to be a little harder to sell and some brands do better than others. But more importantly please keep in mind you can still fish if you want to, and even if you don't you can always still post stuff or reply to posts here...even if it's just to say hello...or show someone with less experience how to save some money get a much better deal on something they were thinking about buying . -b

I'd start with 15lb braid to a 10lb leader...especially with a medium heavy rod. Sometimes I'll go down a bit for there on my lighter rods but that's a good starting point (especially if you are going to be fishing around any sort of cover). The braid / fluoro combo @AlabamaSpothunter mentioned is a good one and funny thing about that I was just looking at their SX1 braid on TW and noticed Brett Ehrler suggests the same setup. I personally like Sufix 832 for braid and you might look into that one as well.

Glad to see I'm not the only one with a spreadsheet Models Poison Adrena PAD267MLA Legend Xtreme XFS610MLXF Poison Adrena PAD2611MHA Sierra SA704SF Victory VTC73MHF Victory VTC74HF Kaden KD6104CB Kaden KD735CB Sierra 766FLIP

btw if anyone is wondering what i meant by punching nasty stuff like Roland Martin on Okeechobee: 'that big old bass broke my dang gum rod' ^ I'd argue this guy is one of the best of all time and this video inspired me to throw my lures into crap I used to be afraid to throw them into (although I still have yet to snap a rod like he did).

yeah pretty sure he made a decision by now...

Not sure if you pulled the trigger yet but this question stood out to me as I found myself in a similar spot a while back. Long story short I'd personally argue you need both but it depends on what you want to do. In my case here's what I'd do w/ these 2: 7'4 H -> frogs, flipping and pitching into all but the nastiest lake okeechobee roland martin type stuff...heavier spinnerbaits and heavier jigs...maybe like a 6" magdraft or a mini a-rig but that would be about it 7’3 XH -> if you want to get into swimbaits more this would be the starting point as you could start looking at stuff like a 6" shadtron, bigger a-rigs or a 5" bacca burrito...probably also better for an actual 'punching rod' where you are pulling them out of really nasty stuff. If I didn't own either I'd start w/ the 7'4 H...that would get you most of the way there and you could still throw smaller swimbaits on it and decide if you want to branch out.

Yeah that's what they reminded me of as well. I'm betting the crankbait and frog rod might do ok since you don't need a ton of sensitivity for that type of thing anyway and you would get what seems to look like a decent option for $80 and potentially less if DSG ever puts them on sale / clearance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I84h_I3GMWU TLDR Spinning Models 6103SF 704SF Casting Models 705CB 735C 702C 703C $79.99ea / DSG exclusive Not on either company website yet and no mention of the type of blank, components or warranty in the video but they do have a cork handle which you typically had to go up to the Fury line for. I'm probably not going to be getting any of these as I typically go for something a little more expensive but thought it was cool to offer this many options in a rod series at this price point and it seems like they might be a pretty good value (again don't have enough info to confirm that yet) so figured I'd share...

Funny I found myself in a similar boat today (I fish a lot around grass and have been noticing more line breaks recently) and looking at leader alternatives. I did see a lot of people have suggested Seaguar Gold on this site and I realize you probably get you pay for (at least to some extent) when it comes to this stuff...but that said getting 1.5yards of leader per dollar I spend seems a bit pricey to me. FWIW I had been using InvizX 10lb and while it's a decent line and seems to hold up ok in open water I'm realizing it's just not enough for a couple of the spots I fish the most. Seaguar blue label seems a little less expensive but even that is still about 2.5 yards per dollar which still seems high to me. Other alternatives I'm looking into are Daiwa J-Fluoro (based on some comments I found in a post from a couple of years ago), Spro Gouken and Strike King Tour Grade. The last 2 aren't leader lines but the price on them is much better (6-8 yards of line per dollar) and I am considering those based on a video I remembered that Tyler Berger posted in his channel a while back here. I actually thought this was a pretty cool video in terms of the tests he came up with and the thoroughness of them. That said I don't have any experience with using either Strike King Tour Grade or Spro Gouken as a leader (yet) but this video did get me to try 15lb YGK G-Soul (as well as a couple of other lines) and I ended up really liking that one as a main line on my casting setups. Also considered that one for a leader candidate but the Strike King, Spro and Daiwa lines look like they might be a bit better in terms of abrasion resistance and line strength in general which is what I'm after at the moment. Think I might end up trying Strike King to start out with...might try to remember this post and come back to it when I've had some time with it but that could be a while...

None. Can't say I prefer a bait with eyes that just immediately fall out when I look at them after taking it out of the package and before I even throw it into a pond...

4/0 ewg (whatever your favorite brand it) 3/16 or 1/8 bullet weight w/ a stopper Zoom mag 2 15lb braid w/ a 10lb fluoro leader Tough call between the mag 2 or the ultravibe speed worm since I go back and forth between the 2...but I like them both for the versatility since you can swim them or bounce them off the bottom depending on what they seem to want that day.

Academy sent out a 65% off clearance email earlier today. Stopped by my local store and ended up getting a few Thunder Crickets for $7.67 ea. Also found a Strike King Tour Grade Spinnerbait for $4.17 and a couple of packs of blue craw rage bugs for $4.17 ea. Ton of other stuff in the clearance bin as well including some 6th sense, Yamamoto and Big Bite Baits items. I feel like they were running a slightly better deal last year but still a pretty good haul for some stuff I already use anyway.

'Need' is a subjective term. I like to weigh all my lures (fully rigged) and to give you an idea my 'a-rig' setup is a 3 blade 3 wire rig w/ 3 1/8oz jig heads and 4" easy shiners on it. The total weight comes out to just about 1.5oz. Given that, I ended up picking up a Dobyns Sierra 766 FLIP. The action on it is pretty good and it's got a full cork handle and rated up to 2oz which is about as much as I'll throw on it. If I wanted to spend more I would have probably gone with something like a 7'6 Expride or even an IMX Swimbait rod, but got the idea of using a flipping rod from Roland Martin's youtube channel and it's been working out pretty good for me as a punching / light swimbait rod. Having said that I guess my point is I'd weigh the lures you want to throw then aim for something with a max weight that's a little higher than that. So for example if you were to get the tatula TTU741HFB that one is rated up to 2oz. So if you want a shorter rod but still want to throw stuff like that a-rig I mentioned or a 6" bass mafia daingerous loaded both of those come in right around 1.5oz and would probably do well on a rod like that. On the other hand I'm not sure something like the one you mentioned with a 5/8oz rating would do very well and using those lures with that rod would probably get old pretty quickly...

I actually prefer a weighted hook with some flukes. For example a zoom super fluke is a little lighter than some of the others I throw, so for that one my preference is a 4/0 1/16oz gamakatsu weighted spring lock hook. On the other hand if I'm throwing something like a yamamoto d shad or a strike king caffeine shad I prefer a weightless hook as both of those are already heavier lures and already have a bit more of a wobbling sink action. So to answer your question yes a weighted fluke works but like everything else it comes down to personal preference and what the bass are in the mood for that day, and as you add weight the action changes a bit and it takes on more of a tube like action. Flukes can work year round but with the weather as cold as it's been lately if it's not working then it might be worth going with something you can fish very slowly on the bottom (eg. a ned rig or drop shot).

In terms of shakey head type worms that consistently stand up off the bottom when they are still X Zone is the closest I've found in terms of stuff that isn't elaztech...for a ned style bait I'd go w/ their ned zone or ned neko zone.

Not quite sure what you mean by not overly expensive but the closest that I was able to find and would actually consider for drop shotting would be the phoenix feather 2 piece or the dobyns kaden travel rod. Neither of these is exactly those specs but either of them would probably work pretty good for drop shotting.

Same thing w/ St Croix apparently...didn't see it discounted in the cart but saw your comment so put in my credit card info and it showed up on the order summary and email confirmation...picked up a new Victory full contact...was taking a serious look at that Expride 7' heavy since that seems to be double discounted at this point, but I usually sit in a kayak or throw frogs from the bank so that extra length is going to make a difference. Plus I already have their Marshall rod and like it (and their customer service) enough to go w/ this one...but that 7' Expride for $150 and change is not a bad deal at all...