Spectrum

the 955 or 956 should be the ticket. The Dobyns 795 isn't too bad but I hated throwing the 8" wood punker with that rod. I haven't used the 796. The 807 in my opinion is the best of the Dobyns for that bait. the 795ML and the 807 are both like, 13" rear grips. I don't know how that's a problem for fishing the punker. It's a big bait with a lot of drag in the water. Little twitches of the rod tip like you're fishing a spook or a walking a frog, aren't going to get it done. It's the only bait I choose to throw on braid because it makes life so much easier.

injected or wood?

Nope. They are Phenix blanks. The production LDCs are more of a moderate action than the UMBX Classic blanks. The blanks themselves weigh a little more, but the builds are still probably lighter than the UMBX rods. The LDC Heavy to me is perfect for small baits. I've used it as a frog rod, a punch rod, and throw 68s, small rising sons, 6-7" ospreys, shad, bluegill sized baits, 9" Slammer, wake jr, baby wake, etc. I would say in terms of power, it falls somewhere between the 711MH and the 790H UMBX classic. Haven't measured the blanks, but that's how it felt to me. Send him an email. He'll answer your questions, and make it easy for you to figure out what you "need."

Matt I don't think anyone is questioning the legitimacy of the results. We will however take every chance we get, to give Wayne ish.

The handle isn't 4-5" shorter. It has a much shorter fore grip and TW measures their rods in the dumbest way possible. The actual grip length might be 1" shorter.

High Modulus PolyEthylene. HMWPE, UHMPE, etc. Sounds to me like it's just one strand of dyneema fiber rather than a braid of bundles of really thin fiber. Always wondered why this hadn't been done before. I assumed it wasn't possible yet.

First off, if I were about to drop $30k on a boat, it's going to be the boat of my choosing. I wouldn't let anyone tell me what to get, or what I'm supposed to like. I used to work on boats for a living. Of the now major brands of bass boats, the only two I haven't worked on are Legend and Phoenix. Both because they are fairly new brands. I've picked a Legend apart, just never had one in for work. By far the best built bass boat I've ever worked on was a BassCat. 99% of the time while doing repair work, you're thinking "how stupid are these guys for doing (this) that way?!" BassCat is the only brand that every time I had one in to fix something, I was more and more impressed. There are things I dislike about most boats I've ever fished in. In the end it all comes back to build quality for me, probably because I've seen all the stupid ish manufacturers do, and all the crazy ish that can go wrong on the water. I wouldn't say that there is any brand to stay away from. They all have their weak spots, and most of the issues are avoidable if the owner thinks as much about maintenance for the hull as everyone already worries about for their motor. Shop was 2 miles from Lake Erie. I've seen a lot of broken ish.

Nice fish Terry. Thought I just stuck a winner tonight. Long as hell. Big ass head. Built like a tube sock. 7-15. Definitely looks like she caught something from Yates. Heard he may have contracted that from a squirrel.

Do you know how big a musky is?

Mcdonalds has some nutritional value though.

My buddy once put a speed clip on a frog. Once.

I use a Beckman Pen Fin Saver 30x39. That's width of the hoop by depth of the bag. The Pen nets have a flat bottom. The Fin Savers have smaller mesh around the sides to help keep from splitting fins when fish thrash in the net. The bottom of the net still has large mesh to help cut the drag down when pulling through the water. It's a treated net bag, virtually tangle free. My opinion, but they make the best net out there. They're actually closing out their nets everywhere right now, so you can get a hell of a price if you can find what you're looking for. Rumor is, they're trying cut costs and move more units which my gut tells me means, moving production overseas. Pic is from a GoPro. It looks much more ridiculously huge than it really is. But it is a bigger net than most use.

All I meant by "less optimistic" was that I've seen it reported the likelihood of an El Nino occurring, go from 50% to 80% to 60%.

Kids, do not watch the Santa Clause on drugs.

Had to

The Ohio State University.

I don't mean to rain on your parade (see what I did there) and I certainly hope both California and Texas get the rain we need. But I've been paying attention to the same projections and data for a long time, and as time passes the projections have become less and less optimistic. It's good to have hope, just don't take extra long showers now that you've seen that

I don't give a ish what any of you fish. Everyone has reasons why they do or don't fish different baits. People are probably going to talk about those reasons too. "So if you don't like it, don't reply."

It's been so long since I'd tried CX, and it was before swimbaits, I couldn't really give you an answer other than that I thought CX was garbage at the time. PF I don't think is garbage. I mostly hate mono and copoly. PF is the one I've hated the least over the years, to the point where I've stopped looking for something different.

CXX is one of the worst as far as manageability. Plenty of guys love it. I don't hate it too much. It is stupid strong. That's the big selling point to CXX, in my opinion. You can try 20lb PF. It's a lot thinner than CXX. I have a love/hate deal with both PF and CXX, but continue to use them both. If you want to fish 16lb fluoro I won't stop you. I don't fish anything that light. The Japanese are fishing some super clear water too. I notice they use a lot of 200 sized reels, and lighter rods than the majority of Americans, even those fishing extremely clear water. I don't have an answer as to why exactly. Whatever I say is just going to be speculation. If you fish really clear water, and I mean actually clear (not what my friends in Texas here describe as gin clear), then maybe there's a reason to downsize your line. Only other reason in my mind is if a bait swims a lot better on thinner line or fluoro. But 20lb Sniper is thin enough for me for 68s, etc.

I don't respool fluoro until it's low on the spool to the point where I feel like it's choking of my casting distance, or the knot at the backing is chewing up my thumb. I'll put up with a little more memory with fluoro than I will with mono or copoly. It's all a factor of how often you fish. I've changed line once a month, once every 3 months, once every 6 months. I fish a lot of fluoro. 20lb sniper mostly. I throw all soft baits on fluoro. Rarely throw hard baits on fluoro though, partially because I don't have to and partially because I know I'm less diligent about respooling. To be honest, I don't really buy into the "low stretch, invisible in water" claims. The only reason I love fluoro is for the sensitivity. There's nothing better. I have used the Toray 25 and 30lb Super Hard Strong, and have used their Super Hard Upgrade a lot. The Super Hard Upgrade is my favorite fluoro by far for bottom contact baits. The Super Hard Strong is nice, grabbed it because it comes in higher lb test. Sniper is just easy to get, and more manageable than the harder, lower stretch fluoros which for me is perfect. I've also used 20 and 25lb abrasx and invisx. They're OK. Never been a big fan of their line anyway, but in a pinch when you don't have time to place an order, they'll do IMO.

Indians fan and pretty big baseball nerd in general

Didn't specify species, so I threw the last two in for a bit of a laugh.

XXH - Fast - 8 foot - 1 piece - 35-65lb line - 4-14oz baits Source: www.google.com