BrianinMD

What helped me with the hookset was keeping the rod tip a little higher so I had the drop it, reel down, then set the hook which was enough of a delay.

Personally, I would go with the XF. For pitching in the heavy grass I want to quickest reaction from the rod I can get. The one caveat to that is make sure to give it a second on frog bites before setting the hook so you don't pull the bait away from them.

I am on the side of the 745, love mine paired with a Chronarch 200E7.

The 7'6" would be perfect, the shorter one would work also but my personal preference is to longer rods. I do use the same rod for both, a 7'6" HXF...

I agree it is easier to maneuver, my concern is stability on the highway.

Have not looked into the Colorado, used to have a Frontier though. The only thing that concerned me with the smaller size trucks are the short wheelbase, and how they handled crosswinds on the highway when towing.

I haven't done well there the last few times, does not seem like they are flowing warm water at all. Without it the place is a barren, I am sure the canal is frozen solid so no point in that. One caveat though, its barren of smallies when not flowing heated water but there usually is a pretty good bite for catfish no matter what.

I use a locking pin, to many thieves around. Don't want to make it so easy to the trailer

For that price range I would jump on a Falcon Buccoo, I got one and love it so much I got a second one. Both are 7ft MH with Curado 50E's, only difference is one is 12lb flouro the other is 20lb flouro. Have been great as plastic/jig and my go to spinnerbait/chatterbait rods.

Stretch in flouro depends a LOT on what kind you are using. Ones made for spinning gear will stretch alot more than others.

It floats very well

Not knowing what model it is hard to answer fully, but what I have found and what my checking account screams about is yes it is worth it to go a little higher end on rods/reels. That said only you know what you want achieve out fishing, or what your price range is.

JFranco, which truck you referring to for 60k?

There is no need for a diesel for a simple bass boat. 1500 sized trucks have towing capacities 3 to 4 times the weight of a boat. My 2013 F150 Ecoboost is a little over 11000lbs towing, the new 2015 is over 12k. The other manufactors are not much less than that. The only manufactor to have a diesel in a 1500 is Dodge and its a smaller unit for gas mileage. To get to the larger diesels requires a 2500 and 3500 which are extreme overkill. Save the money instead of paying the extra unless you need the larger truck for other reasons. More money for the boat, electronics, power poles, etc....

Delaware Valley Tackle, Mike does outstanding work and is a sponsor of this site. I have 3 reels (including a Chronarch CI+4) at his shop now and he is building a custom rod for me

F150 EcoBoost, 14 when towing, 18 around city and 24 on the highway not towing. All while having 420 ft-lbs of torque at 2400rpm, this is while stock.

We have a cabin at Lakeside

Thanks for the information, the more I research this lake the more I can't wait. The one thing I am still wondering is, what is a good map for it. Hoping to get one online before I go to review.

The biggest advantage of flouro is the density being higher sensitivity on slack line is greatly improved. For these techniques there is going to be slack line. Stretch in flouro depends a lot on which kind you use even with the same manufacture. I personally use Seaquar, Invizx on spinning, and Abrazx on BC. The Invizx works well on spinning because its easily manageable but does stretch. The Abrazx has far less stretch and is more resistant to abrasion.

The SX's are mag brake only which can be very finicky, needing adjustment as winds change or when baits are changed. Sure they work great if they are adjusted correctly but with cent. brakes its usually set it and forget it unless something extreme happens.

Are the other reels he is not having an issue with also mag brakes?

Which model of Dobyns you thinking about, Savvy, Champion, or Champion Extreme? That may change the answers, each line is a little different. Assuming Champion by the 682SF, so me personally I would go for the longer of the two especially if most of its us will more open water. Shorter rod if skipping docks comes into play.

Bass tourneys are about finding the fish and getting them to bite. Trolling around is both boring and takes away the input of the angler in the action of the bait. Might as well just allow live bait.

Doesn't make sense to back reel, the drags are there for a reason.

I have not modified the weights on any of these, honestly they are unpainted blanks I bought online. They have not actually been in water yet so do not know the angle they will set, yet. with the weather keeping me indoors starting painting baits like this and trying to learn photography. been splitting time between the two