Happy birthday @Chris244! Hope you’re able to use that nice setup today!

Finally decided to pick up a Bantam MGL HG, after hearing how smooth this reel was. Everyone was correct. This is probably one of the smoothest reels I have turned the handle on. It seems as smooth as my Conquest reels.

Decided to take a family photo with some old Bantams from yesteryear. 

"Bantam meet your grandparents"

 

Found a deal on an gen1 XX EMTF that was too good to pass up.  People raved about the rod and now I see what all the fuss was about.  I got it for spinner/chatterbaits but it's very much up to being a bottom contact rod.  The reel is a Ringa SSS with some mods that I picked up a few years ago, I love the reel and have been looking for a rod for it to live on.  

That’s a good looking setup. 

Very nice! That's a looooong handle

Hah, the pic makes it longer.  It’s only maybe 1/2-3/4” longer then a lot of my 7’-7’3” rods but the solid cork really makes it stand out. 

left rod locker far as my baitcasters go. Missing my ned, drop shot, & shaky head spinning outfits in this pic, but this covers most of it

 

Xtasy 723c

Xtasy 755c

Extreme HP 702c

Champion XP Glass 705 CB

Champion XP 704sf

Fury 703c

Show us the whole combos.

On 12/20/2019 at 5:03 AM, Chris244 said:

Birthday present 

dobyns fury 734c

daiwa tatula ct 

I've got the exact same setup, haven't used it yet but cant wait to!

I feel so bad for you folks that put your reels away for the winter. 

 

~I'd move~

My new Loomis “classic casting” CR722 imx-pro just came in. Paired with my Curado DC 150HG.  First imx pro I have seen in person and it is real nice.  Got it for SMB in the kayak and poppers, Jerks in the boat.  

 

18 hours ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

I feel so bad for you folks that put your reels away for the winter. 

 

~I'd move~

I can absolutely understand that, in every way but one . . . . . 

 

It'd be hard to make a conscious decision to move away from these.

The addiction is real

A-Jay

1 hour ago, Jaybert said:

My new Loomis “classic casting” CR722 imx-pro just came in. Paired with my Curado DC 150HG.  First imx pro I have seen in person and it is real nice.  Got it for SMB in the kayak and poppers, Jerks in the boat.  

 

Nice! I love my old IMX CR723. It's great for tight spaces.

I got sick of rods sliding down the wall and falling over so I had to get them mounted when I had them in house.  I've never liked the vertical racks and in my case, my ceiling is too low for my 7-6+ rods.  This rack is pretty crude and I'll probably make a nicer version one day, but for now it works beautifully.  I'm kicking myself for not thinking of horizontal wall racks sooner.  Even when everything is out of the boat, I can rig and work on stuff much easier now.  

 

I generally fish through the winter, though definitely less often so I pull the gear out of the boat usually...So this is my off-season storage.  

Nice job, and collection. 

Had to add a deep spooled Tatula in a lower ratio for deep cranking.  The 200 was the ticket. The new rod should be here next week. 

I have been on a quest to find an extremely short rod to use for frogs and other topwater/medium cover presentations. After trying a cheap snakehead rod last year as a proof of concept, I decided to stop pussyfooting around and track down the rod I was looking at the entire time.

 

It’s a Daiwa Black Label LG 631MHFB-FR.  It feels like a sawed-off Loomis 844c and so far I’m really digging it.  It cast and skips frogs extremely easily and it makes tip-down twitching a breeze. 
 

The reel is a new Tat SV and I am very impressed with it so far as well. I need to stick it on a more reasonable rod to really test it out but so far the distance and control both seem great and the reel is extremely palmable and comfy. 
 

Cannot wait for spring to get here!

 

Both rod and reel look great!

y'all already throwing frogs and I haven't even been able to fish yet this year...

I was throwing a frog in like 35f water. Couldn’t wait to play with it. 

Shockingly, I didn’t get any hits. 

yeah, noticed you were in Maryland, im in pa, not too much north of you so I figured. My parents make fun of me when I get a new rod and go cast in the snow to practice and "play"

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/icebreaker-bass-breaks-through-the-ice-to-hit-topwater-lure/

 

ya never know

Updated Dobyns collection. Kaden 744 and Champion 704 Glass came yesterday.

 

4 hours ago, kayaking_kev said:

Updated Dobyns collection. Kaden 744 and Champion 704 Glass came yesterday.

 

That’s a nice collection you got there. 

On 2/2/2020 at 8:35 PM, fishwizzard said:

I was throwing a frog in like 35f water. Couldn’t wait to play with it. 

Shockingly, I didn’t get any hits. 

I've seen a Hula Popper get dragged under the edge of the ice in such conditions. Anything is possible.