Jeff, That's a great temp for jerkbaits. Don't be afraid to vary the action you impart to the jerkbaits. In that water temp, I would start out with subtle "jerks" followed by long pauses... and be ready for the slightest "ting" on the pauses. :D Again, as for the line, if you have a couple of rod/re...

Jeff, I'm a jerkbait fanatic, and fish braid almost exclusively, and it works great for me. Having said that, you are going to find that some guys prefer mono. A lot of guys prefer fluoro, and there will be some others like me who prefer braid for reaction baits. I'm sure that each one has it's pros...

LOL... keep these posts coming guys. When there are enough pages, I plan on showing it to my wife. Then, when I buy a new rod and reel to up my total to somewhere around $3,000, I'll have this thread to fall back on, and say "see, I spend way less than a lot of these nuts".

well the recon is def the front runner, I'm going to wait until BPS has the Villain in stock and take the 2 hr jaunt and get a feel for that before i buy anything, ill check out the Fenwicks too, not a fan of the previous offerings from them they all seem too whippy for me, with the exception of th...

I agree. If it's my fault, and I break a $180 to $340 rod, and it only costs me $75 to replace it... so be it. If it's not my fault, and it costs $30 to replace it... still a pretty good deal. I'm sure St. Croix could change their policy and make it cheaper, but they would have to re-coup it somewhe...

Pretty much only braid on my stuff nowadays. Occasionally, I use a fluoro leader... but not often.

I've been neglecting my spinning gear for years. But I think this upcoming season, my spinning arsenal is due for an upgrade. I was thinking Stradic as well. So if I'm getting this right, the FJ Stradic is smoother than the CI4? How much smoother? Noticeably smoother or minimal? I would take the we...

Nice! Very Nice!

It more like where do you spend the money for the best return on investment. Every build has a budget, whether it is just $200, $500 or even $1000 for a RedlineRobert horny toad rod. :lol: For $75 (just for discussion), the question is not "can I get better guides?". It is, "where is this best used...

This turned out to be an excellent thread, and there are obviously a LOT more folks who know more about this subject than me. However, here's my take on it... As for the weight... I read post after post after post where people want the most sensitive rod for their money. From everything I've been to...

Personally, I believe any high end blank deserves TiSic's. A lot of money for more sensitivity... but worth it in my opinion.

I tried the 15# Samurai and was disappointed, especially given the price. I felt that it's knot strength and the abrasion resistance was not that good. At least when used for river fishing where it takes a lot of abuse. However, it was very "smooth" line, and that may be part of the reason why I had...

Maybe one day I'll try a custom rod.... Steve, If I were you, I would strongly consider it. Like you, I thought I would never buy a high end rod sight un-seen. I've looked through rods at a local high end sporting good store, Cabela's store, and the Bass Pro Shop store. I was able to find cosmetic ...

When I'm fishing the main stem in July and the water is low, I use the floating Rattlin Rogue in clown, tiger minnow, or silver shiner which is black and white despite its name. I use to use the flash minnow but on the main stem they seem to just stop and stare at the suspending baits in the warmer...

I would agree. Sluggish would not be the term... just a little bit to slow under certain conditions. One of the times I don't like the slow retrieve is when I'm trying to get the line in quickly to make a cast to a fish that just rose, or I simply want to get it in a different spot quickly. My buddy...