So I'm trying to come up with one rod that I can use for jerkbaits and Topwater lures. As a co angler I like to keep 4 to 5 rods max in the boat so I can focus more on fishing without having to worry to much about my equipment. I have searched through every post I can find and have come up with a 6"6 to 7"0 casting outfit with micro guides and a spiral wrap. Here's the catch I use braid (20 lb) and fish throughout Florida and fish some Super heavy cover. It seems like most of the forums I read recommend a medium action with a fast or extra fast tip. Price is not a big hangup nor am I tied to any blank manufacturers. My concerns are will the blank be able to horse big fish out of cover or due I have to sacrifice some action and go to a higher action blank? I also tend to pull the lure out of the fishs mouth is this something that can be combatted by an adjustment in technique or will a diff blank help with this. Also I was wondering if I could simply go to a mag bass rod of the same action for more power? Thier seems to be a lack of info on mag bass rods and what the term means in relation to a regular blank. I really appreciate the help! This forum has been a wealth of info and I look forward to posting more and getting to know you guys! Tight Lines!

Jonathan,

Give Bill or Lance a call at Swampland.... they will take care of ya. He has the cure for you pulling the bait out of the fishes mouth... and to answer your question, yes, a different style of blank can and will cure this.

Tom

Yep, give the Swampland boys a call. If anyone can answer your question, they can. I have fished topwaters a lot in saltwater and some in fresh water. Several years ago I went out with a guide to do some topwater fishing in the bays. I was lucky in that the guide found a large school of reds and we started throwing tops. I missed my first red and the guide stood by me and kept telling me to wait until I felt the fish, not to jerk during the blowup. Sometimes it is hard to do during the excitement of seeing the fish blowup on your bait but wait a second or two and you will feel the weight of the fish against your line and then set the hook.

The 20 lb braid is clouding this thought, as it just wouldn't be my choice for those 2 types of baits, especially in clear water. You say you fish heavy cover, but you can't hardly through a pointer style jerkbait in heavy cover, and I don't think of most top water as being heavy cover other than pitching it around timber, but I don't do that with heavy line and don't seem to have issues. I like to have some give to any rod I am using for a crank bait, jerk bait, or topwater that has treble hooks. For me when casting jerkbaits and topwater in general I like a little faster tip than for crankbaits and feel it helps with pin pointing the shorter casts. But I think you would be hard pressed to find a Mag Bass version that cast jerkbaits and topwaters like you want just so you can. I'd stick more with something like a ISB802.75-M ISB842 or for a lets just say a bit more RX8+S823 or RX8+C812.

I hope someone chimes in about the Castaway models because I'd like to hear the answer as well. I have often considered building myself an 803, 813 or 843, but the 843 would have been more of a Senko / plastic twitch / plastic swimbaits because you need to move the fish out of the grass, and the 843 just seems like it would be a good choice. So perhaps that is your compromise to go a bit heavier and use the Castaway 843 of Batson ISB843 or XSB843-TC versus attempting to use a MB843. I have the XMB843-TC and can't imagine fishing it as a jerkbait or topwater rod.

I have 3 topwater rods myself and it all depends on what type of lure you are fishing IMHO. I have an old rebuilt Allstar TWS which is a 6'6" Medium fast which is fine for Sammys and such but it really overpowers poppers such as the small Zell Pop and Pop-r's. For the poppers, I have an old green Shimano Crucial Medium which is labeled a Spinnerbait/Buzzbait rod but in my opinion is too light and slow for those. I would call it a Moderate action but it doesn't overpower the bait when popping.
I fish a popper more than anything and have learned to not set the hook and just start reeling when the fish strikes. Make sure the hooks are sharp. I lost very, very few fish this year.

Also, try replacing the trebles with wider gap single hooks.

Either the Seeker S-glass (at Bingham, Swampland) or a low modulus graphite rod will help keep you hooked up... the slower reaction/recovery, especially with the S-glass, is softer... what often happens with small hooks such as trebles is that a "harder" rod will help work a bigger hole in the fishes' mouth so that the hook will fall out.

A very low stretch mono may help with this issue also and be a good compromise... something like Stren Magnathin has only a little stretch/shock resistance, but does put a lot of stress on the knot... it does feel a little like braid... if you have any trouble with that one you could back down to Berkley XT or XL... these two lines are said to have just enough stretch to keep from popping the line on the hookset.

To contact me, visit
[www.snyderrods.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2011 08:59AM by Gary Snyder.

Mr. Kaufman, I will call Swampland for sure, that's harder to get away with at work. Also i will be honest Mudhole is near my house (yes i know i"m Lucky I wish the expo was near my house.) I dont want to waste too much of their time if i decide not to go with a batson or castaway blank although based on reviews both blanks look pretty promising.

Mr. Mendiola, Thank you for the advice, do you continue to reel slowly if they miss? Usually it seems like i get hit while the baits moving and they miss.

Mr. Lechner, Let me see if i can better clarify my use of braid. Usually 60% of the time my topwater is done above suspended hydrilla that is really thick. Or along the cover of stumps and cattaills. Huge bass usually pushing 3 plus lbs. will come up for a bite, and head right down for cover. So mono makes me nervous. I like braid because of the thin diameter for imparting action and also because it floats. I cannot say that i feel like ive had any bass scare due to line although i only use topwaters 20% of the time.

Mr. Armstrong, I looked into the TWS in the im10, but it made me nervous it lists it as a light action and i was wondering what kind of backbone it had?? Alot of guys like these rods but the only time i cover open water is when schools are hitting. Ive lost a lot of big fish on light tackle I.e. my opinion of light 10lb mono and a medium rod.

Mr. Backos, I usually cut the front hook off of the treble as i like to run top waters through lily pads, I will try going to a single hook and see what happens.

Mr. Snyder, Ive never messed around with fiberglass, i had one older rod that my grandfather had and it didnt seem very durable i was afraid i was gonna break it. Ive also heard fiberglas is less sensitive, although i guess sensitivity is kind of mute for top waters, although sometimes i let my jerkbaits slow fall and it is important for me to able to feel a bite then.

Thanks for the comments i am already learning alot! I'm excited too going to be ordering the Eco wrapper soon!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2011 11:14AM by Jonathan Travers.

I use braid 100% on topwaters. Even on gin clear lakes. It's never impacted the number of fish I catch nor have I lost fish. The vast majority of bass anglers I know use braid on topwater lures. Why? The line floats, it cuts grass like a knife, smaller profile for less surface disturbance, and it gives longer casts for schooling fish

Depends on what type of topwater. I didn't see you mention what you are using... a topwater over grass could be...
a horny toad...
a money hound...
a popR...
a buzzbait...
a gunfish...
a sammy...

or things yet to be discovered...

-----------------
AD

Yeh most of the guys fishing Florida, that I know use braid. I have a toad rig that I catch a bunch of fish off of. My purposes for this rod would
Be 40 % soft jerkbait and probably 20% spook or hard jerkbait and 20% buzz bait. The rest is me experimenting with poppers and various forms of other topwaters. Usually their not lightweight. I try to use medium bodied or larger topwaters. I know that maybe asking too much for one rod but I'm trying to find a happy medium as a co angler maximum amount of rods I'm taking is 5 and for the amount of time I fish topwaters I can't justify more than one rod for it. I'm gonna try some prop baits soon alot of guys have been recommending them to me lately.

Okay, based on the additional info you posted:

- I would stick with the braid you like... the braid is lower stretch than anything and will slice through the weeds better.

- Fiberglass is much tougher than graphite. However, it's less sensitive.

- Sensitivity for bass fishing is needed for two main reasons:

A) To insure you feel the hit quickly so you can set the hook quickly and avoid gut hooking and killing fish in a tournament (usually with semi-slack line techniques utilized with soft plastics)
B) Fun Fishing - it can be fun when a fish hit feels bigger than the fish really is!

I'm thinking either the seeker blank, or a low-modulus graphite medium-heavy to heavy popping blank or maybe even a frog blank (weeds) built light would be a good compromise between slower recovery and sensitivity.

I'm definitely sticking with braid. The popping blanks look pretty promising for the desired application. The Mhx line looks pretty good I need to start thinking outside the box when it comes to blanks I had never considered using a different application blank for what I was doing. The castaway and batson line look promising too. Any one have prefences on manufacturers I can't afford to buy 3 to experiment haha. Also anyone using popping blanks for bass fishing? I read a little bit seems like guys like these for cranking too! Why's the difference behind s- glass an e-glass? I could only find the e-glass in my mudhole catalog?

- All brands mentioned are top-notch and very comparable. But I really like the Castaway and the new Batson RX 6 - very light for low-modulus graphite. But I would just buy wherever you will get the bulk of your components from, maybe you can save a little on shipping.

Different types of blanks have been used as "crossovers" for many years... spinning blanks for casting rods, Mag Bass for Spinning, popping for bass, etc. - It does not matter what name they give the blank (it's just marketing), what the blank does for you is what's important. I build primarily popping blanks for bass fishing, a ML popping blank is my personal choice for finesse bass spinning w/ plastics going on 20 years now.

S-glass is higher modulus than E - I think the E is 6 million modulus, the S is 13 million. The E-glass may be too soft to work medium - large bass lures correctly. Might be okay for micro plugs. The seeker is the only production S-glass blank I know of?

In thinking about it more, optimally, you might want two rods... the seeker for treble-hook lures to keep the hooks in, and graphite for the soft baits. If you have to pick just one all around rod, a low or IM modulus graphite blank built light might be the best compromise... softer than high modulus graphite, but sensitive enough for plastics.

To contact me, visit
[www.snyderrods.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2011 12:48PM by Gary Snyder.