In my experience a popper will out fish a walk the dog bait 9 times out of 10. But when they're hot on a walking bait they are hot and the strikes are usually quite explosive!

Up here in north country where the lakes commonly have water clarity up to 20ft.+ and weeds grow out to 25ft+, it's an essential tool to have a 5:1 reel on a deep cranking setup to chase those active Bass. Sure you can "suffer" all day long and grind gears on a 6:1, but why?

I avoid every rod with an ACS reel seat like the plague! Had a Legend Elite that I just loved but I could not get over how uncomfortable the ACS reel seat was so I sold it.

They are two totally different rods, IMO. The extra fast is quite a bit stiffer than the fast. Both are nice rods. I have fished a season on the 6'8" MHF model and it works nicely for lighter bottom contact baits and I just ordered the 6'8" MHXF specifically for fishing 3/8-1/2 oz. jigs, creatures, ...

Okuma cannot hang in the reliability dept. They build some real decent, well thought out products that definitely cater to some specific demands within the market but their quality of parts and overall reliability has been a problem for me. I will say that their customer service has been remarkable ...

I can tell you from personal experience that where Shimano may be lacking on the freshwater side of things, they are definitely making up for it on the saltwater side. I was just south of the border tangling with Yellowfin Tuna up to 90lbs and the Saragosa 10k and new Stradic 8000FJ took a serious b...

Really? I don't feel like this is an argument, I think you are getting a bad read. I have never had a problem with the mods here, either personally or how they handle situations. In fact I have rarely seen them in action which says a lot about this community as a whole. I only brought up the mods t...

So you subscribe to the idea that it's okay for people to be disrespectful? Just because it's a public forum? And yes it can be controlled, that's what mods are for. Honestly, now you're being argumentative just to try to prove a point that is already apparent. If you're not satisfied with the way ...

It's a public forum and you can't control the level of respect from other members. Best not to get bent outta shape about it and concentrate more about the topics that interest you rather than what "noobs" have to say.

Sold off all of my spinning rigs except one Stradic/Avid combo I use for drop shots. I could see myself wanting another one with all of the quality, lightweight stuff coming out recently but I'm more apt to just get another baitcaster to round-out the arsenal.

Another disturbing trend. "Senior Anglers" sarcastic responses to so-called noobs postings. A "noob" on Tackletour is probably not a noob to angling. If Kevin Van Dam signed on here under an alais, ALOT of senior anglers would instantly try to discredit his comments or questions based on his senior...

The Zillion Rod that Hog is refering to is the TDZL661MHFB 6'6' MH F. It is very comparable to most rod in its class. I would rate this rod to be a true 3.25 power instead of the 3 power Daiwa gave it and what most MH rods should be. Now if you talk about the TDZL701MXB which is the Zillion 7'0" Me...

Easy choice. I'd go with the Zillion for sure. The zillion will be better balanced on a 7'1" Croix and with the extra line capacity and higher gear ratio, will be much better suited as a jig reel. Core 50's are for finesse, period. They feel great in the hand and excellent light bait casting abilit...

Easy choice. I'd go with the Zillion for sure. The zillion will be better balanced on a 7'1" Croix and with the extra line capacity and higher gear ratio, will be much better suited as a jig reel. Core 50's are for finesse, period. They feel great in the hand and excellent light bait casting ability...

I bought the Zillion Type R last year at the beginning of the season and used it as my primary jig reel all season long. I fish a fair amount throughout the year and everything has held up well. Reel still looks and functions like brand new. It's a tank compared to most of my other reels, but it's a...