Ditto on the above. Once you handle one, you will never think of drop shotting with it. It's a little different but I actually like to drop shot with a loomis bronzeback jerk bait rod. It loads up nicely and it is sensitive enough for me.

I have bought several rep rods and a couple of times, they were shipped from the factory to me! That tells me that is sometimes just a way to sell brand new rods at a lower price.

I like the Gary Yamamoto tip for leaders on braid. Have it long enough so that when you are about to land a fish, the knot is on the spool. His logic is that that is the moment when the knot will likely see the most stress. For me, that means about 14/15 feet.

There are so many ways but I would have to go with GPS/mapping. Opened up many parts of lakes that I would have never figured out how to fish.

I use the line ratings as a guidline to the type of fishing the rod is suitable for. So if I see a 10-17lb test range, I figue it is good for smaller texas rigs, jigs, senkos. My judgement is that all line ratings are for mono so the equivalent braid that you would use in the situation would be fine...

I have never back reeled before but want to try it after watching Jarret Edwards do it on his show. Question is, how do you set the drag? Do you clamp it down and back reel, have it about the same as if you weren't backreeling, or something else? Thanks.

1/0 gama wide gape finesse, 4" roboworm fat or yum houdini worm

CI4 -the weight difference matters to me and it is as smooth as any reel in its price range.

Thanks guys. This is really helpful as I make the jump to Lews. I am going to start with the BB1 for cranking to see how that modified anti reverse feels and the gold for my jig rod.

I have heard many good things about Lews reels but I can't get over how many different models they have. Can someone give me a primer on what the key differences are on the most popular models or which ones you prefer and why? Thanks.

Couldn't find anything on the website. Also, how would you compare the GL2 crankbait blanks with the regular crankbait series rods? Thanks.

I can't remember where I read this but I seem to recall that there was some study with captive bass which showed that the orginal rapala was the only bait tested that the bass didn't get conditioned to. Something tells me that the Senko may also be one of those baits.

It was from a trip they took to Papua New Guinea. Interesting read- they used 200lb braid and caught those fish out of timber.

I finally started to get it when I got more than a few strikes when I was doing something else like picking out a backlash, checking my phone, or checking out a nice looking woman on a dock :shock: . Realized that it happened too often to be a coincidence and made me really slow down and take much l...

I always wondered what people mean when they say that they never missed a fish on a rod due to sensitivity. How would you know you didn't miss it? That's why I just keep buying more expensive rods every year!