Agreed Goby. If one fishes smallmouth it’s a staple.

I fish smallmouth and am all about spins. I’m not much of a bait casting aficionado but do use them for three things. I disliked the Antares after I purchased one so much that I got two more rather quickly soon after

Smallmouth here:

All of the Conquest spins and a few select NRX. IMX Pros for anything trebles/“moving”.

Easy

rando wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 10, 2021 5:05 pm

610 ml expride works great for small jerks, cranks or anything small with trebles.

The 78 weighs 3/8. Just my opinion but a bit much for that stick under load. More than likely what’s being experienced with his SYR putting a dance on the offering and the 610ml is even softer. Just my opinion sir.

IMX Pro 812s JBR works wonderfully for that.

Stella FJ + Power Pro

Easy

Save extra 100 and get 76mml steez. One spinning rod to do it all. If you are going down the rabbit hole, you might as well jump all the way. I don’t think one spin does everything just like no casting rod does. Those of us that throw a lot of spins have a lot of tools. Wish it were that easy but i...

The large Jackson JKrate if you can find one. It has the gear tracks on the lid and takes the ball screw mounts on the side. I’ve got 4 Ram mounts set up on it (could easily fit 5) and my rods aren’t vertical but trailing in line at downward angle with back of my Big Tuna. Rods ride on either side o...

Just have to rotate them to get off the hook. But yes. #101 for me from a smallmouth guy. Year round on one combo.

UJ has been reintroduced but found one just as good during their hiatus.

Good fishing.

All fine reels. For my fishing on bony eastern rivers, getting continually dunked and traveling dusty roads on UTV’s I didn’t have the confidence in the Exists over the long haul. It was the only time I went away from Shimano spins in over 20 years or more. I caught thousands of smallmouth on all va...

I have both the Conquest 842s and 842c. LOVE both of these. Use the spinning for weightless senkos, Ned rigs and will, but don’t like it, drop shot. The casting is used for jerkbaits, tubes, light Texas rigs and small crank baits. The 842s has slightly more power than an NRX 822 syr. Given the NRX ...

I would go off of what rod I would pairing the reel up with. Certate is quite a bit heavier. The Certate is a awesome reel but I would want to try the new Exsence myself. My Certates (2500) weigh in at just over 7oz. My 17 Exsences (C3000M Japanese versions) weigh exactly 7oz. Apparently, the new E...

The P5 Bait Finesse is absolutely slower in action and has a little less power than the Carbon Head Hein. The P5 Bait Finesse will handle those 1/8 oz jigs with a small trailer just fine. It's a very versatile rod in general and does a great job with a range of lighter treble baits and even some of...

The Daysprout Abu Cardinals do :D That is a very classic choice! That reel will outlive you. I just got a couple of C3s in for service, nobody has cracked them open in nearly 40 years to my knowledge. They still work fine, the owner just wanted them refreshed. Agreed sir. I know the originals very ...