Brian11719

Haven't tried it but seems like it would. My rule of thumb is they put 'shad' in the name so I use it when I'm imitating...a shad. Normally that's been shad colored chatterbaits and spinnerbaits and I never thought of using them on an a-rig but seems like the smaller size options would work. I'm still trying to figure out if an a-rig would work with forward facing sonar since everyone on youtube says I can only throw specialized minnow baits with it and only ones with no paddle tail and if I do anything else the fish will never bite anything I throw at them again. ^ Just kidding I don't own forward facing sonar but after this week it seems like I might be getting close to the 'never bite anything I throw at them again' accomplishment...

John Crews goes over some quick maintenance that you can do and the oil he uses in this video: if it were me I'd probably start w/ this and see how it goes...

Haven't tried out yo-zuri braid personally but sounds like it might be ok from the posts above me...I switched from powerpro to sufix832 a while ago and haven't looked back since...they also make a high viz yellow and high viz lime green which was nice of them since it helps me remember which one is 10lb and which one is 15lb test...also use their 50lb for frogs / flipping and 30lb for topwater and have been happy with it and suspect you might be fine, but if you end up not liking it sufix is what I've been using and would recommend.

^ I looked at these and the next step down after ALF mentioned them in a couple of their youtube videos but didn't like the language in their warranty...specifically: ^ too vague for me. If you are going to offer a warranty look at what cashion, loomis, dobyns and st. croix are doing. Otherwise I'd say don't even bother with a warranty and just make a good rod that's a good value. I know this is why I wrote them off previously and suspect that might be why others didn't dive in either because the rods themselves look really good...at that price if I didn't already buy more than I'm gonna need for a while I might take them up on a couple of the spinning models, but I think I'm good on rods for a bit anyway...

Here's a few that are currently tied on: Top one is the hog farmer mini 3 wire 3 blade rig w/ some 3.2" 6th sense divines on it. Under that a 6th sense cloud 9 c10 in lavander citrus (my kayak park is about 9-10' deep and the water is usually dirty and this thing did well). Below that a lucky craft pointer minnow 100 in chartreuse shad. Under that we have a strike king double willow with a spunk shad on it. Additional ones that aren't in the picture: Drop Shot (tried a ton of lures this past year and made a post about several of them...main ones I've been using lately have been the roboworm straight tail or a yamamoto sensei). Underspin (skinny dipper with a 5/0 flashy swimmer). Mag 2 (or sometimes an ultravibe) on a texas rig. Bladed jigs (been going with the EVO lately but still like the thunder cricket and have also been throwing the mini max more lately). Shakey Head (3/16 owner ultrahead w/ an xzone deception worm or zman smh worm)

I actually use about the same pound test line on most of my casting setups so would say get the same for those if you've found one you like unless you have one that you really like or use a bit more than the others...then maybe go a step up for that one. On the other hand if I'm throwing a frog or a swimbait the reel would be different since I'd want a different speed / spool size on it...not necessarily the high end one for those either but still different...so I guess my answer would be same for the most part but with exceptions when it make sense.

^ took me a while to come to this point myself. I think when you see 'grass jigs' what they don't tell you is they are for certain types of grass and in my experience at the places I usually go to basically nothing other than a bladed jig works. The rest get too much gunk on them almost immediately regardless of how 'weedless' they are. On the other hand if you are just going through hydrilla or something they would probably work great. I actually wish I could throw them more but mostly reserve them for when I'm out in the middle of the big lake and there isn't a bunch of snot grass around. For the local pond and kayak park lake pretty much the only jig I'd go with would be a bladed jig and it doesn't necessarily go through the grass but there are times of the year when you can throw it next to the grass (and occasionally have to rip it through) and it does really well.

Just out of curiosity which reel does this happen with? I ask because I've owned reels in the Ultegra, Stradic and Vanford line and have never had this happen but I'd be interested to see if I can make this happen on any of mine. The only other spinning reel I have left that isn't a Shimano is a Lews Hypermag and I actually really like that one too...it's a bit different but the drag is nice and clicky on that one...but if I had to do it all over again knowing what I know now I'd probably just go straight Shimano for my spinning setups so am curious to know what one you've got and if I would be able to reproduce the behavior...on the other hand I'd probably go all daiwa and dobyns kaden for my casting setups at this point but suppose that's a different conversation for a different thread.

Kaden 6104cb. On sale right now at Tackle Warehouse and a great value for the price...I've been very happy with mine and mostly throw jerkbaits, smaller lipless crankbaits and an occasional mini max on it...can also swap out the reel for 30-40lb braid and throw a popper on it too when it's warmer...the action on it is great...mod fast so a little more bend but the kaden series in general is a little faster than some of the others in the lineup and I really like it for these lures.

I'm actually not limited to 3 here but I like the Hog Farmer Baits Mini Rig 3 Wire 3 Blade anyway since I'm in a kayak and use a 7'6 flipping stick (Dobyn's Sierra) that's rated up to 2oz. Have done well with this setup and usually pair it w/keitechs or 6th sense divines...might be worth looking into next time if you are limited to 3 where you're at...

I have a BPS near me and got the card to get access to the club member specials where you get 10% off or so every once in a while. I don't usually end up getting big ticket items there (eg. a new rod or reel) but it's nice to be able to check some of them out. They also tend to have good prices on certain items (look up 20lb sufix advance fluorocarbon on TW and BPS right now) and I also like their XPS tackle (bullet weights, drop shot weights, etc.). Basically I like going there if I need a few things or more of a selection (roboworms, caffeine shads, etc.) but not $50 worth of stuff to get the free shipping at TW and it's a good option to have in those cases. Also like the fish tank w/ the 10lb bass and alligator gar in it...I also like looking at colors at the local shop vs online (since the colors can look a little different online IMO) case in point I never would have tried out a tequila sunrise roboworm since it's low on the popularity list at TW but after seeing it locally I knew it would be good and now it's one of my favorite lures to throw.

Was looking into a few new techniques to try with a new Adrena spinning rod I picked up and one of the ones I landed on was a fluke style bait with a small 1/8oz cylinder weight pegged about 20" up from the hook. The weight was not a standard circle split shot weight and I used a 'carolina keeper' from bass pro shops so I'll probably call this one the 'mini carolina rig'. Whatever it was, it was very effective. A couple of things that I think helped: At first I didn't have anything between the weight and the hook so what ended up happening was the weight would just slide down the line to the hook like a standard bullet weight would and stay there...that didn't give me the action I wanted so I put a small bobber stopper under the weight to keep it in place. Next time I'll probably put the carolina keeper under the weight instead (so between the weight and the hook and just use the bobber stopper on top to keep it from going too far up the line. Glenn actually mentioned the carolina rig in his video from a few days ago here (thanks man). I didn't bother with a tungsten weight because I'm going to be throwing this mostly around grass (and I spent more than I probably should have on rods a week or two ago) but one of the other things he suggests is to use 'floating baits'. In my case I bought some strike king baby z too jerkbaits in green pumpkin since there are a bunch of bluegill around this pond. Definitely a different sort of feel on the bite when you get one on this thing...kind of like it just gets stuck really hard in grass and you don't feel them hit the lure as much so I was setting the hook pretty hard when I thought I might have had something...in fact my second catch was a total dink and poor guy went airborne on me when I set the hook on him 🤣 Anyway it was really cold today and I only had an hour or so before work by the time it wasn't freezing outside and I made it to the pond. Considering that and the fact that we just had a cold front come through and there wasn't a cloud in the sky I'd say this thing was awesome and I think it will do really well around grassy ponds this time of year. Used a 1/0 ewg hook so just that hook, the leader, the carolina keeper, one small cylinder weight and the bobber stopper for this setup (plus whatever lure you want to use). I also tried an alive shad since I use those on a drop shot but I think I like the action on elaztec baits for this setup and will stick to those. I also was lazy and just used a flourocarbon leader but the elaztec bait seemed to float well anyway and it had a really cool action where it almost looked like you would expect a weightless fluke to look right below the surface but in this case it would hover about a food above the bottom instead which seems perfect for times when they are further down in the water column... What about you? Have you ever thrown a rig like this? If so what kind of plastic did you use and how did it do??

@Rockhopperlooks like you would need to backorder it but that crankbait rod is on sale at ALF right now....lately their secret sale has been kind of random so that's why I said keep an eye on their site over the next week:

bookmark the one you want on American Legacy Fishing then check back once or twice a day over the next week or so...might see it discounted and I think one of the swimbait models I had my eye on was last time I looked...they are also doing a 12 days of xmas thing that you can see by going to the shorts section on their youtube account....looks like today is BOGO on veritas rods so small chance it could show up there at some point as well. No Loomis stuff on sale at Tackle Warehouse w/ their current sale, but they've got a pretty good deal going on Dobyns stuff...if the imx you are after happens to be a spinning model it looks like bait wrx has a couple discounted at the moment...

I would say maybe see if your friend will let you try it out. I didn't plan on getting one but found a really good deal on one a while back and this style of rod has grown on me since then. These days I mostly use it for flukes but I've also used it for a bubba shot and sometimes for medium size swimbaits (although I usually throw those on my MH F casting setup). It should also be fine for wacky / neko rigs and I personally like it when I'm throwing a fluke or a wacky rig around docks since you don't have to worry about backlashes.

IMO frogging is not something you need a top end rod for. I personally use a lew's tp1 black that I got on sale last year that I like but if I were to get one right now the Dobyns Fury 735c would probably be my choice and you can probably just wait for the next time ALF has them discounted and pick one of those up for around $100 and get a lifetime warranty with it...I also own a couple of Kadens and really like that series and imagine the similar model in that line would do nicely.

I use them a lot in mine and never stand. Just make sure you reel it down a bit so it's at the depth it's supposed to be at before you start twitching it and aside from that I haven't had any issues. I personally use a kaden 6104cb with a lews kvd reel and like to use lucky craft pointer 100s and have had good luck w/ this setup. One thing that's nice about a pedal kayak is you can go backwards and then get more out of each cast than you would if you just threw it and stayed in the same spot...realize everyone says the megabass vision is the best out there but I really like the lucky craft pointers...

Both excellent choices and I can't say that one is necessarily better than the other but each one of them has their strengths: Zodias Great rod blank...I'd give it an A on this model. Better handle and in my opinion this makes it a little more sensitive than the victory. The victory is a standard cork handle and not bad at all but this one is a step up in my opinion. Victory Exceptional rod blank...St. Croix is definitely a little different when it comes to their blanks and I like them a lot for certain applications...this is one of them and so I'd say the rod blank itself is slightly better here (would give it an A+) but that is completely a personal preference thing and I can't say anything bad about the Zodias rod blank. One of the best customer support offerings you are going to get (in my opinion) and a better warranty than the Zodias (although Shimano did improve their warranty recently). If you get the Victory you are supporting a small, American owned business, which I like to try to do when I can. I personally use this rod for underspins, spinnerbaits, jigs and big worms most of the time and sensitivity is not as important for me when I'm throwing one of these as it would be for something like an alive shad on a drop shot. Currently own the Marshall, have it paired with a Lew's Tournament Pro and don't see myself moving away from this setup any time soon. Final verdict for me on this one is too close to call and it would probably come down to which one I could snag on a good sale. I happened to get the Victory when ALF had their St. Croix blowout sale a while back and I'm completely happy with it...but I'd also probably be about as happy with the Zodias...especially if I got a good deal on it. One last note on the warranty...if anything were to happen to the rod it looks like Shimano would replace it once for 50% off vs. if you buy the St. Croix you are covered for 15 years and they also give you some great upgrade options if / when anything does happen.

Always...but that's also based on the type of spinnerbait I prefer and as mentioned above me some of the spinnerbaits out there don't have as much of a need for one as others.

BTW I just grabbed one of those poison adrena's from DSG for $139. Website said they were out but it was wrong and they had one when I went to the store. Believe the sale ends today so if you have one nearby and are interested in the old poison adrena spinning models it might be worth checking as they are %50 off currently O.O

That old 72 m m mojo glass spinning rod is actually an ok rod if you like glass rods. That's actually the one that taught me I don't like glass rods but fwiw it's a good rod and I was able to sell it quickly on fb marketplace...also this year was a decent reminder to check my local Dick's Sporting Goods more often...their prices are a little higher than average sometimes so I don't always love them (plus they shipped me a rod in a horrible box once) but also seems like we all failed to catch this one while it lasted: ...I also snagged previous gen mojo for like $50 last year around this time...so if anything if they carry a rod line that you like locally and a new gen comes out you might want to visit their store a little more often...

...bit ironic that the only thread (I've seen) on this site that has more posts than this one is the Latest Tackle Purchase Thread (Bait Monkey Victim Support Group). I wish I could fish crankbaits more but there's a lot of grass around me so I can only throw them once in a while...back on topic if anyone is looking for a cheap frog rod I've used that tp1x and it looks like it's still under $40 for that thing on DSG's website. If they have that 7'3" h f model local near you it will work for frogging and a good deal at that price...that and the LFS for the price it was going at was nuts but I imagine the LFS reels are all on ebay or amazon for double the price by now...

+1 for the 735CB. Have tried a really moderate action and a fast action and my personal preference is something with a little more bend but also stiff enough to get a larger single hook through...I get moderate action for treble hooks but I personally think mod fast is better for vibrating jigs and after trying out a few different options I landed on the 735CB and have been happy with it. Also great for a one knocker spook and a 5/8-3/4oz lipless IMHO.

The st. croix 6'10" MLXF spinning rods are what I've been using for drop shots. I started with the last gen mojo then a victory and eventually picked up a used legend xtreme that I really like, but the action on all of them is similar and I personally prefer it over anything else I've tried specifically for a drop shot, which is one of the things I throw the most. I've also tried a few from dobyns and the sierra 692sf comes close...a little different but still might be a good option depending on your hand position. These ones also come with a good warranty on them. If warranty wasn't an issue a shimano zodias or poison adrena are the other ones that I would probably consider...and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't turn away that new 610 poison adrena w/ a new vanford if someone were to offer me one.

I haven't had much luck with one on a texas rig and if I'm going to throw a worm with a bullet weight I'd usually opt for a mag2 or ultravibe instead of a stick worm as I've had a lot of luck with those. On the other hand a wacky rig is one of my go to lures and as long as you have a good worm with the right amount of salt / weight (ie. a senko, berkley general, 6th sense clout, BPS stik-o, or a strike king ocho) you should get a good 'shimmy' out of it. There are a lot of others out there but from what I've seen many of them don't work as well for a wacky rig as these do. I do think a 4" dinger works ok for a ned rig type of setup, but that's because I don't care about the shimmy when I'm hopping a tiny stick across the bottom of a pond and so paying more for it doesn't make sense to me. According to the package Gary Yamamoto actually designed the owner twistlock ewg hook specifically for a senko, and if I was going to throw one on a texas rig I'd probably start there, but still probably wouldn't add any weight to the setup and honestly at this point I don't see myself doing much else with a stick bait other than throwing it on a wacky rig.