Running 10lb braid + 14lb fluoro or 12lb XXX leader.  The rod is a custom Vinny Lamiglas Infinity 873, that has an incredible X-Fast ML+ tip for imparting action and a true MH backbone...gotta just reel into the small trebles on cranks, lipless, topwaters with this combo, but casting distance, ease, control, and the ability to work smaller topwaters with this combo is excellent.

https://jdmfishing.com/not-a-pawn-raid-japans-the-bishop/

Just chiming in, since it's been a minute. Not much on social anymore. 

As alluded to by Rise in another thread, been tinkering with concepts that EG has been exploring with guide placements as shown in their ZZ concept and the butt guides on their raptor BFS rod.

My take on the ZZ is not as aggressive as EG's and minus 1 guide, but early use cases have been optimistic. Can see the bite before feel and there has been no impact on sensitivuty and castability (distance and management). Build is on a PBKT661ULM. Definitely on the faster side on the spectrum with a lot of butt power. Would make a great power Bae Eff Ess build if one is inclined on that prospect.

Caster with the more aggressive spiral butt section has been great. Minimal to no hang ups on the cast, line sorts out and corrects faster on the cast to lure landing. Tried with PE and up to 12# fluoro. No impacts on distance. 15#+ mono type lines would potentially be hindered unless one goes with a bigger sized eye (RV6 TiSiC in my use). XRay 736-1 SJ is the blank of choice. Not in the same league as a PB in my experience, use may vary. Toodles

I just popped a just shy of 17"/3.25 (15 lb Boga) pre-spawn female smallie on this Vanquish 4000XG in fairly fast moving current, paired to a Shimano Hard Rocker BB 8'3" MH 2piece. Straight 16lb SS112 to a snap and modified 3/8 oz Northstar triple blade spinnerbait. The reel didn't even break a sweat and that female was pulling hard, granted that 8'3" Hard Rocker just loads so deep and with such a strong backbone, she was just going to wear herself out.  Crazy that the last fish I caught in Colorado was on this rod, a 3+ smallie and the first 3+ smallie in TN was also on this same rod.

3 of my favourite rods below

Evergreen Kaleido Inspirare Grand Cobra GT 611XMH

DSTYLE Dehighro 66ML MAX Finesse

Abu Garcia Fantasista 64L MGS - this one has been with me since I lived in Hong Kong, I actually started bass fishing there hence the name.  We have a few lakes with largemouth bass.

Terry Oldham, renowned jig maker, legendary fisherman, and also a master of fishing oversized spinnerbaits for massive bass. Terry was also the first to bring braided line to the fishing market.

Absolutely worth the watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hDude68e5s

Daiwa BLX 74MH Limber, Steez A2 7.1 paired with an OG Steez 100 dimpled spool, 20lb Sufix Elite mono, modified Booyah Covert 1/2 oz double Colorado spinnerbait with Yamamoto Hula Grub collar and SK Menace Grub trailer.  This is my new PB smallie, going 20" and right at 5lbs on my 15lb Boga (I checked it a half dozen times for final weight).  This fish was mean, had a strong bite force and even tore up my left hand middle finger a bit thrashing while I had her lipped...I had to actually cradle her like a baby to get her back into the water (plenty of slime on my jacket, lol).

The only one that really pissed me off was UPS "warehouse holding fee" of $75 vig.

• Evergreen IRSC Super Raven casting rod with Megabass FX73SV reel

• Steez “The One” spinning rod with Exist 2500 reel

The Super Raven is as bougie as it gets for a fishing rod that can do it all - Cranks, top water, jerkbaits, jigs, chatterbaits, etc… It’s a great “jack of all trades, master of none” rod. It has the taper of a spinnerbait / swimjig rod much like the P5 Dark Sleeper (which I tried and didn’t love the rod overall but the taper is super versatile). No wonder Imae calls the Super Raven “a versatile rod for the 2020s”. It wouldn’t be my go-to jig rod, but I could enjoy it for pretty much everything else. I recently read that Imae fished a tournament and had 10 of the Super Ravens on deck… Really simplifies the rod options.

I had also forgotten how great the Daiwa T3 platform is… I could set it up easily with the Magforce 3D brake to cast a country mile whether it was a 1/4 oz jig, a 1/2 oz jerkbait or a 1 oz top water. The 60 different possible settings came in really handy and could easily cover any of the lures I was tossing with max distance and no backlash (ok, maybe a couple bird nests ;-). This is really the first time I tried all 3 of the major settings: “Long Cast”, “All-Around” and “Maxbrake”. Historically, I just left it on “All-Around”… Putting it on “Long Cast” made a huge difference, especially when aiming to maximize distance… I can’t think of another casting reel that can give me the distance I was getting for this wide of a range of lures without needing an experienced thumb…

The Steez “The One” was a great complement, being 7’6” M-ML. Could cast a jerkbait in the wind and sling spybaits, small swimbaits, ned rigs, etc… far into the distance.

Needless to say, my 7-yo daughter outfished me with her $50 6’6” pink spinning rod and reel combo, casting a grub about 10’ from the dock… But hey, is the enjoyment really about catching fish???

This will definitely be my one-two punch next time I’m fishing from shore. The silver lining of not having the boat is a less focus on finding spots / electronics / catching fish and more time focusing on gear setup / capabilities / experimentation / exploration. You gotta roll with what you got.

What are your go-to “junk fishing” combos, one casting and one spinning?