Brian11719

My favorite all purpose jig right now is the Matt Herren Flippin' Jig from Dirty Jigs (I personally like the 3/8oz size). Great colors, powder coated head so it won't chip as easy, good components, and pairs great with a 3.5" Adrenaline Craw or a Crush City Cleanup Craw.

Nice catch! I didn't get an elite but this got me looking and ended up getting a TATU100HL for $143

I personally stick to squarebills for the most part when I'm throwing them from the shore and generally speaking I like to go with a lure with a depth rating that's just a little deeper than the water I'm fishing. To answer your question about throwing a 6xd in 8ft of water it would hit the bottom more than what the lure manufacturer might consider to be normal and might get more wear and tear on it sooner. Not to say it wouldn't work and rocky shorelines can be great in general for crankbaits when they are on a crankbait bite. Either way you might try a few other options out and then see what works best and going with what actually catches fish (and not necessarily what others say you should use) is really what matters. Good news is there's a good amount of larger size (eg. 1oz) squarebill and mid diving crankbaits out there and as an example Deps make an Evoke 3.0 squarebill that's also 1oz...but there are plenty of others and you might also find one on sale that you really like. Either way my vote is consider the depth of the water and lure depth but still try different stuff out and then narrow it down based on what ends up working the best.

I'd go with a 2500 Vanford on the Levante and a 3000 (Stradic or Twin Power) on the U-Call since it seems like more of a standard medium or maybe even a medium heavy with the lure rating going up to 3/4oz. That's an interesting reel seat on the U-Call...haven't seen these rods before and a Twin Power seems like it would do nicely, but a 3000 Stradic can also do well and look pretty good on a black rod like that: (this is also previous gen Stradic and not the current gen)

Right now is probably as close to down time as I get down here. Still not completely downtime but the bite usually seems to die off significantly after 10am so just try to get out a little earlier and do what I can when they are biting. Aside from that I just like to update my spreadsheet or look into new lures or tackle or rods or watch videos or read articles and see if there's anything new out there that I might want to try at some point.

Depending on budget and what side I woke up out of bed on any give day it would probably either a St Croix PHXC74HF or a Shimano EXC72HB or a Dobyns DC 735C to pair up with that reel if it were me...

I currently own a few more, but have come to the conclusion that I really only need about 7 rods. That said I currently only take 4 or so when I go out on my kayak. Which ones I bring depends on what I think I might want to throw that day but there are always those days when a certain lure sounds good in your head and as soon as you get out on the water it's pretty obvious it isn't actually going to work (man plans, god laughs). Case in point I got a nice one on a walking bait last week so this week I tied one on and got out early and was all excited to throw it and when I got there the water was way too choppy for a walking bait. That said I like to have at least one rod that I can use for bottom contact and one for moving baits. Everything else is up in the air and for me it's more about having a rod that you can throw two or three baits with (at least) in case that one you thought you were going to use that day turns out to be a non-starter.

This looks a lot like the Dobyns 736cb glass spec wise (hybrid blank, fast action). Based on that I'd say bladed jigs and 1oz crankbaits like a 6xd.

Definitely a casting jig / worm rod for me although I'm not sure which specific model I'd go with.

I'm not a fan of the change to the Mojo line but I have to admit I did hold a Physyx a while back and really liked that one. I don't like foregrips so the change on the Mojos was a deal breaker for me on the spinning rods which was a bit of a let down since I really liked the previous gen...and their blanks and customer service. Also didn't love that grip on the casting models but it also didn't mother as much as it seems to have with some other people. These ones seem a bit pricey for me but they do look nice. Can't really comment on the handle since I haven't even held one, but I will say I like the Physyx line for casting rods so I don't personally hate the idea of the Trigon grips, although I do wish they would have just left the Mojos the way they were and made a different line for that rather than changing an existing line.

That Victory you mentioned should work fine for 1/2oz lures. I'd personally probably go down to a 3/8oz but you could still get a way with a 1/2oz. Would probably be very good for smaller ones like a mini max. Generally speaking this is a tough one to answer is there isn't really a specific answer that is going to be best for everyone. For example if you like to use braid with a bladed jig then you might want a more moderate rod. I personally really like the 736cb glass with a tatula 100 and 14lb fluoro...

Funny we have very similar setups. I also use a 3/16oz secret lures jig head w/ their tube. Weighed it a while back and came out to .41oz. I also have a SC 610MLXF rod dedicated to drop shotting but I'm also in a kayak and if it breaks off or anything I pretty can't be bothered to retie it until I get home. I started using a tube as a backup if / when that happens and in my experience it's worked out great and the action on that model lends itself well to a weedless tube. TLDR: yes.

I'll add another vote for the SV-3...but also add the Damiki TOT if you are looking for a larger profile paired up with a CrushCity Freeloader.

I've tried several of the ones you listed. I prefer 12lb sunline fc leader. You might want a different lb test depending on where you are at but in terms of overall value it's been the best for me by far.

I'm beginning to think this might actually be the best approach...although I suspect it could occasionally backfire drastically.

Do you do most of your fishing from a boat or kayak on open water or from the bank? Asking because my answer would be different based on your answer but if you are primarily throwing from the bank I'd consider adding these: Jigs drop shot senko Punching soft plastic toads bladed jigs and if you can get out on open water at least some of the time I'd consider adding these in addition to the list above: swimbait A-Rig deep cranking shaky head lipless crankbaits jerkbaits For the a-rig I prefer to size down to a mini 3 blade 3 wire. You can use core 1/16oz core tackle tush hooks with that one and the total weight will be under 1.5oz which means you can throw it on a standard 7'4" heavy fast casting setup rated up to 1.5oz lures. You could also go with a 6" bass mafia daingerous with a 7/0 trokar swimblade for the swimbait and the weight will be just about the same. For the senko although most people seem to wacky rig it if you are around a lot of grass I prefer to go with a 3/0 screwlock swimbait hook (weightless) and texas rig it. The action is almost as good and it also helps them last a little longer and get through cover better than an exposed hook.

People that behave this way (being hypercritical of others) usually do so as a way to feel better about their own insecurity / self esteem issues. IMHO best way to deal with it is to let them know you don't approve of their behavior...but I also try to avoid being hypercritical of them and be open to the possibility that they might eventually try to improve. For example if someone was normally happy and didn't do this sort of thing but then they lost their job and got divorced that could potentially cause this type of thing to happen and in a situation like that the best case scenario would be that you rebuke them a bit (but don't be overly harsh about it) and then they eventually reflect on it and realize they want to improve. Nobody's perfect and that can and does happen with a lot of people. So letting them know you don't approve of their behavior would be a good way to handle it, but permanently judging them or calling them a worthless idiot might also be a bit hypercritical on your part and could just make the situation worse. On the other hand I also said 'might' in that last bit and the reason for that is sadly there are some people out there that are so far gone that they will never be open to the idea that there might be any sort of room for improvement with themselves and will just continue to go through life trying to put other people down to make themselves feel better and those are the ones that you probably want to just eventually ignore and / or avoid all together. Aside from that if you are fishing with a license and not breaking any laws or rules then you aren't doing anything wrong and them trying to give you an unsolicited lecture in ethics is a classic example of what I would consider to be hypercritical behavior.

Pretty much my favorite technique. Ok it's not and I like frogs, magdrafts and walking baits BUT there are some days when I want to like actually catch fish and none of those seem to work...so here goes the current drop shot setup...everything from the rod down to how to retrieve it: Rod St Croix Legend Xtreme 610mlxf Reel 2500 vanford fa Line 15-20lb sufix 832 braid...tried the high viz stuff and honestly not much of a difference for me...suppose this is where an expensive rod that is sensitive comes in Leader Sunline FC leader...have tried a bunch and I like this one OH NO A LEADER What About the Leader Knot?? improved alberto straight from a thread in this forum Knot For the Hook Palomar (although I prefer a uni for most everything else) Hook 2/0 Gamakatsu G-Finesse Hybrid Worm Hook...maybe a cover shot from owner but I like this one better just trust me Plastics 6" roboworm (no fat ones just the regular roboworm in margarita mutilator, tequila sunrise or oxblood red flake) Yamamoto Sensei (og junebug or redbug) 4" NetBait BaitFuel Twitch (pick a color) ^ the netbait is for when they don't want a worm but usually a worm works. Weight 1/4 or 3/8oz depending on the depth and either a cylinder or a tear drop...if I'm around grass (which I almost always am) it's going to be a cylinder. Retrieve Literally the smallest hops you can do instead of dragging for me since the bottom usually sucks around here and reel it back as slow as you can while keeping tension on the line. If you look at your lures underwater and actually understand how they look when you retrieve them a certain way and prefer a different way fine but this is what has worked best for me. One note on the line / leader...I'm in central Texas...there's usually a bunch of crap in the water and the fish can get pretty big so I go with larger line out of necessity...having said that the only thing I'd do differently out of everything I just said would be the line diameter if I could and basically the idea is you want as small as you can get away with without breaking off (and it takes some trial and error to figure this out nobody can really tell you unless you fish the same gear and tackle at the same spot then maybe that might actually line up).

3/0 owner twistlock cps with a 3.5" osp dolive stick on it in the color that looks the most like that shad you mentioned...if that doesn't work a little dipper can go on that same hook. If they won't bite either of those and a drop shot isn't working it would probably be more efficient to just switch fishing spots for a week or two. But if you insist on staying eurotackle make a small nage swimbait that you could throw along with a karashi and see if they will hit one of those...

I like lures that I can cast a LONG way in this scenario.... @HawkeyeSmallie already mentioned a squarebill in my case and that would probably be my top pick. While I don't normally like expensive crankbaits the evergreen sh-3 is one of my favorites for the casting distance specifically...I also like a fluke on a swimbait hook with a little weight (eg. 1/16oz) on it in this scenario...bonus with that is you can swap over to a paddle tail on the same hook if you want to cover water a little quicker. The other lure I would recommend would be something like a zoom ultravibe speed worm texas rigged with a bullet weight on the head with a stopper. Especially if the water is dirtier I've found junebug red can turn out to be your friend. One last one I'll mention is topwater and specifically a walking bait as long as the water isn't too choppy.

Fun thread topic didn't see it originally so kind of glad it got reposted...I'm going to say my Shimano Ultegra 3000. I say this because it's not the most expensive reel I've got and yes it's a spinning reel...but I've got that paired to a medium heavy Sierra and that's the one combo I've got on the wall that I could probably throw just about any lure I use with (although some would probably be a bit of a pain).

I'm guessing you mean the older KVD and not the newer one? Asking because they did release a new KVD reel this year but I doubt that's been discounted anywhere yet. Assuming it is the old model 3 differences I can think of off the top of my head: 1. the paint job 2. the handles 3. the available gear ratios Brakes are both the msb which are actually pretty good. Line cap should be about the same. The kvd retailed for a higher price so most people would probably tell you that's the better deal if they are the same price now. I still have one of those and it's ok but if it were me I'd actually probably opt for the tournament mp because they have that in a 6.8:1 which is my favorite gear ratio from Lew's while the kvd is only available in 6.2:1 or 7.5. Both pretty decent reels...but keep in mind the reason they are on sale is they both are several years old at this point at the kvd already has a newer version out with a different breaking system. On a side note a google shopping search shows a site called Tackleshack has the KVD for $104 fyi and seeing a couple of lower prices for the other one as well.

^ one again impressed at the actual quality of the information you can get here if you look close enough...for $15 I'm in one this one...especially since the author is from this neck of the woods and seems to agree that evidence / data based decisions usually yield better than average results. ^ one again impressed at the actual quality of the information you can get here if you look close enough...for $15 I'm in one this one...especially since the author is from this neck of the woods and seems to agree that evidence / data based decisions usually yield better than average results. ^ one again impressed at the actual quality of the information you can get here if you look close enough...for $15 I'm in one this one...especially since the author is from this neck of the woods and seems to agree that evidence / data based decisions usually yield better than average results.

Another way to look at it might be to ask when to throw a standard crankbait vs a lipless. For example if I'm on a rocky bank w/ no boat or kayak then probably a squarebill. If I'm in a kayak pond that I know gets down to 10 feet and I think they are on bottom then probably a mid diver that goes down to 10-12 feet. On the other hand if I am in a huge body of water or have no idea where they are going to be in the water column that's where the beauty of the lipless is for me. If it turns out they are on the bottom you can bounce it. If they are at 5 feet you can fish it at that depth. Also if there's grass around it can be a better choice. You can also switch over to a standard crankbait once you figure out where they are but for example if the water depth is 40 feet unless you have one of those huge lures with a gigantic bill that drills into the center of the earth (and a rod that can actually handle it) then a lipless is actually still a better bait since you can still bounce it along the bottom. To sum it up the lipless is unique due to it's versatility so in my opinion it's better to start with that and then ask when it makes sense to go with a standard one and for me that's usually when you think you figured out where they are and want to try and target them at that depth.

It seems like you've done some research already and picked out a few good ones. If it was just a standard jig / worm rod w/ 3/8oz jigs I'd probably go with a 4 power but that 1oz carolina rig might be a bit much on that one and the 5 power seems like it would be a better fit if that's going to be the primary purpose for it. Sensitivity seems like it would matter in this one so I'd probably opt for either the champion or the xtasy rod. Gary Dobyns actually has done several livestreams on Hellabass's youtube channel where he goes into specifics on a bunch of their rods and I found myself watching them recently. The latest one actually goes over carolina rig rods specifically right around the 14min mark...