Thinning The "Herd?"

[NathanDLTH]

Sounds like you have a great start on this journey of discovery sir! I'll keep a close eye on this effort as I'm curious how it will compare to using a technique or even lure specific rod and reel approach like I do and see where there may be opportunities to be more efficient in my own fishing efforts!

Today was a prime example: took three rods to fish Minnetonka.
P5 Super Destroyer-did everything I asked it to from fishing a spinnerbait to a swim jig and a bit of bottom baits. Functionally excellent rod for the length, power, and action. Lost a big one today, learned a lot about boat flipping big fish lol!

Steez BC II this is my “jig” rod so I had a Dark Sleeper on today, cold front came through.

Steez Utility Player Spin-this was my finesse rod for today and wow was I impressed! Load up well with fish and extremely comfortable in the hands. Didn’t throw much else on this today, windy so figured bottom baits would probably be a good choice.

I am so far impressed with the selection of rods chosen to be in the arsenal. It’s still gonna take some time before I’m completely confident with them and how each rod will perform. My standard for performance is: bite detection, controlling fish, cast ability, comfort in hands on long days, and rod loading n unloading.

[City17Banner]

Today was a prime example: took three rods to fish Minnetonka.
P5 Super Destroyer-did everything I asked it to from fishing a spinnerbait to a swim jig and a bit of bottom baits. Functionally excellent rod for the length, power, and action. Lost a big one today, learned a lot about boat flipping big fish lol!

Steez BC II this is my “jig” rod so I had a Dark Sleeper on today, cold front came through.

Steez Utility Player Spin-this was my finesse rod for today and wow was I impressed! Load up well with fish and extremely comfortable in the hands. Didn’t throw much else on this today, windy so figured bottom baits would probably be a good choice.

I am so far impressed with the selection of rods chosen to be in the arsenal. It’s still gonna take some time before I’m completely confident with them and how each rod will perform. My standard for performance is: bite detection, controlling fish, cast ability, comfort in hands on long days, and rod loading n unloading.

It's good to hear that you are enjoying your new rods and they are working out for you. Yes, I agree the BC2 is a great jig rod and functionally is the easiest high-end JDM jig rod to acquire and own and comes complete with a warranty supported by Daiwa.

As for boat flipping, I personally don't practice that fish handling approach as I feel it contributes to eventual rod damage and failure, I'd recommend finding a comfortable one-handed landing net if you fish by yourself a great deal.

I think your success criteria that you have settled on is a good measure for how much you will enjoy the use of the new rod selection you have chosen and over time, I'm sure you will find the pros and cons of moving towards a more versatile fishing tackle methodology. Please keep us posted about your findings over the course of the fishing season as it's always interesting to hear how other people are doing with their fishing!

Please have a great day!

[NathanDLTH]

It's good to hear that you are enjoying your new rods and they are working out for you. Yes, I agree the BC2 is a great jig rod and functionally is the easiest high-end JDM jig rod to acquire and own and comes complete with a warranty supported by Daiwa.

As for boat flipping, I personally don't practice that fish handling approach as I feel it contributes to eventual rod damage and failure, I'd recommend finding a comfortable one-handed landing net if you fish by yourself a great deal.

I think your success criteria that you have settled on is a good measure for how much you will enjoy the use of the new rod selection you have chosen and over time, I'm sure you will find the pros and cons of moving towards a more versatile fishing tackle methodology. Please keep us posted about your findings over the course of the fishing season as it's always interesting to hear how other people are doing with their fishing!

Please have a great day!

Probably one of the last times I boat flip a fish honestly, it was the biggest bass I've seen in a while. Ate my swim jig in 3-4ft of water and swam right at me, boat side she came up then dove on me...

Thank you, this has all been an effort in becoming a better angler.

As for the BC2, I am still getting time with this rod. The overall impression is it will toss just about everything I fish for jigs 3/8 to 3/4 which is rare for me.

[NathanDLTH]

Fished a Wednesday Night Bass league this week, major player was the Orochi EMTF.

This rod is the little brother to the Javelin(I'd buy one if I could find one), I sold my Levante EMTF this spring to fund this project of narrowing down my Herd of fishing rods. Back to the EMTF, great rod for moving baits, really like this rod for spinnerbaits but it seems a little overpowered by a 1/2 spinner with a trailer however she handled it like a champ! Right now my Zillion SV 6:3:1 sits on this rod with 17lb Sunline Assassain and handles all my moving baits more specifically spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and some swim jigs. I know people think this rod is a tad soft for driving a single hook into a bass, but for me it works because of it's length and a sweeping hookset. If I wanted a shorter and stouter version I'd jump on the P5 Madbull for 1/2oz and up. Aside from single hook moving baits, this rod does toss cranks nicely, I'm really impressed with this rod for anything reaction.

If you're hesitant about purchasing the EMTF in either version Orochi XX or Levante don't. Just grab it, this is an excellent rod for sure. I'd like to try this rod with a light football jig or even a finesee jig with braid to a leader. Also running braid to a leader would add in power if you're tossing single hook moving baits in and around grass (not heavy grass). This is not a jig rod, but a moving bait rod primarily that some have found to be an great option for texas rigs and finesse football jigs.


When the season ends ie going into winter December or January here in Minnesota, I plan on doing a review of the how the system worked. Where it fell short and what were the positives of running with less rods. So far I am enjoying it, but I think there will be changes in the coming season (2023). Thanks for reading.

[Mcjenson]

Fished a Wednesday Night Bass league this week, major player was the Orochi EMTF.

This rod is the little brother to the Javelin(I'd buy one if I could find one), I sold my Levante EMTF this spring to fund this project of narrowing down my Herd of fishing rods. Back to the EMTF, great rod for moving baits, really like this rod for spinnerbaits but it seems a little overpowered by a 1/2 spinner with a trailer however she handled it like a champ! Right now my Zillion SV 6:3:1 sits on this rod with 17lb Sunline Assassain and handles all my moving baits more specifically spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and some swim jigs. I know people think this rod is a tad soft for driving a single hook into a bass, but for me it works because of it's length and a sweeping hookset. If I wanted a shorter and stouter version I'd jump on the P5 Madbull for 1/2oz and up. Aside from single hook moving baits, this rod does toss cranks nicely, I'm really impressed with this rod for anything reaction.

If you're hesitant about purchasing the EMTF in either version Orochi XX or Levante don't. Just grab it, this is an excellent rod for sure. I'd like to try this rod with a light football jig or even a finesee jig with braid to a leader. Also running braid to a leader would add in power if you're tossing single hook moving baits in and around grass (not heavy grass). This is not a jig rod, but a moving bait rod primarily that some have found to be an great option for texas rigs and finesse football jigs.


When the season ends ie going into winter December or January here in Minnesota, I plan on doing a review of the how the system worked. Where it fell short and what were the positives of running with less rods. So far I am enjoying it, but I think there will be changes in the coming season (2023). Thanks for reading.

I was going to ask if you tournament fish, and if that's going to be a factor in thinning the herd greatly. While I do appreciate high end, versatile rods, I also see the value of not needing to retie much during a tournament just for saving time. Typically when I practice I try to narrow down what techniques I'm going to focus on, and then rig a bunch of rods up. I have an upcoming tournament coming up and will have 4 dropshot rods ready to go, a couple swinghead rods etc. When I'm fun fishing I don't mind retying and using the same rod, but I just hate having to tie up a new dropshot leader and setup in the middle of a tournament, and being able to just throw a badly backlashed reel when you skip into a dock post in the rod locker to deal with later.

[NathanDLTH]

I was going to ask if you tournament fish, and if that's going to be a factor in thinning the herd greatly. While I do appreciate high end, versatile rods, I also see the value of not needing to retie much during a tournament just for saving time. Typically when I practice I try to narrow down what techniques I'm going to focus on, and then rig a bunch of rods up. I have an upcoming tournament coming up and will have 4 dropshot rods ready to go, a couple swinghead rods etc. When I'm fun fishing I don't mind retying and using the same rod, but I just hate having to tie up a new dropshot leader and setup in the middle of a tournament, and being able to just throw a badly backlashed reel when you skip into a dock post in the rod locker to deal with later.

Mostly fishing as a co-angler so I feel a versatile line up is a benifit for me. That was part of the decision making process for me with going in this direction. Honestly I've kind of identified a couple rods I would add or replace going into next season because of how limiting this is, mind you I am fishing with 8 rods, 2 spinning and 6 casting. I've spent a large part of my time fishing these rods and trying to understand their capabilities, pushing to their limits. One thing I might be doing is adding an extra spool for some of my reels just to help cover my basis. None of this is ideal, we as fisherman want as many rods as we can handle because like you said retiing sucks.

[Mcjenson]

Mostly fishing as a co-angler so I feel a versatile line up is a benifit for me. That was part of the decision making process for me with going in this direction. Honestly I've kind of identified a couple rods I would add or replace going into next season because of how limiting this is, mind you I am fishing with 8 rods, 2 spinning and 6 casting. I've spent a large part of my time fishing these rods and trying to understand their capabilities, pushing to their limits. One thing I might be doing is adding an extra spool for some of my reels just to help cover my basis. None of this is ideal, we as fisherman want as many rods as we can handle because like you said retiing sucks.

Totally makes sense, fishing primarily as a co angler I would do the same as you are. As a boater, I just see the value in having a bunch of duplicate rods for tournament day. While I have some high end rods, and eventually maybe the whole rod locker will be filled with them, I'm at the point now where I'd rather have my 1 dobyns xtasy and 3 dobyns champions rigged up for dropshot than just the one xtasy. While I love fishing with that xtasy, I'm likely not going to tie a new leader and dropshot rig in the middle of the tournament.

[NathanDLTH]

Totally makes sense, fishing primarily as a co angler I would do the same as you are. As a boater, I just see the value in having a bunch of duplicate rods for tournament day. While I have some high end rods, and eventually maybe the whole rod locker will be filled with them, I'm at the point now where I'd rather have my 1 dobyns xtasy and 3 dobyns champions rigged up for dropshot than just the one xtasy. While I love fishing with that xtasy, I'm likely not going to tie a new leader and dropshot rig in the middle of the tournament.

I've gotten pretty good tying knots under pressure. A few summers ago my friend right before the start of our Wednesday Night League asked me to tie a FG knot, kid you not it was done in less then 3minutes. Now it's the Alberto knot, a lot less moving pieces and it's done. It all makes sense for me, co-angler less rods, but versatile rods. If I owned a boat totally different story. I hope people can take away some information from this, then use to build their arsenal. I have to admit as much as it's challenging I do like the challenge in limiting myself to 8 rods.

[Mcjenson]

I've gotten pretty good tying knots under pressure. A few summers ago my friend right before the start of our Wednesday Night League asked me to tie a FG knot, kid you not it was done in less then 3minutes. Now it's the Alberto knot, a lot less moving pieces and it's done. It all makes sense for me, co-angler less rods, but versatile rods. If I owned a boat totally different story. I hope people can take away some information from this, then use to build their arsenal. I have to admit as much as it's challenging I do like the challenge in limiting myself to 8 rods.

I'm an alberto guy as well. I've screwed around with the FG a little bit, just don't trust myself under pressure to tie it correctly and fast.

I will say, I think you might be onto something narrowing your rods down. I'd imagine a guy who spent years with the same rods would really have them dialed in, from casting to what type of lures work with them. I have the typical smorgasbord of all different brands / lengths / actions. I just enjoy buying them and trying them out too much to stick to one line of rods.

[BoatBuggy]

One thing I might be doing is adding an extra spool for some of my reels just to help cover my basis.

I'm a Daiwa honk and I have 4 spare 1016 SV spools that I keep in the boat in addition to several extra reels. Blow a reel up, pop in a new spool. Want a lighter or heavier line, pop in a new spool. Want to use the Tequila Baccarat for an a-rig instead of a frog, pop on a different reel. Spool of FC getting low, pop in a new spool and use what's left on the mostly empty one for leader material.

[NathanDLTH]

I'm a Daiwa honk and I have 4 spare 1016 SV spools that I keep in the boat in addition to several extra reels. Blow a reel up, pop in a new spool. Want a lighter or heavier line, pop in a new spool. Want to use the Tequila Baccarat for an a-rig instead of a frog, pop on a different reel. Spool of FC getting low, pop in a new spool and use what's left on the mostly empty one for leader material.

I’ll probably add a few spools for a handful of reel or adding different combos again. FC is my favorite line, however if I’m in a pinch Seagur has the Basix line and it’s awesome in 12 n 15lb. But sunline is my go to, I wanna try Shooter in 18-20lb.

[NathanDLTH]

Another Wednseday Nighter in the books. Took 5 rods out and only really fished 1 all evening.

We had a cold front come through today after yesterday hitting 96 or so, now you can imagine how the fish reacted to that. Our boat draw was 11 out of 12, the lake is small but still plenty of area to fish.
The rods I thought might be players tonight were:

1) Orochi XX Whipsnake for drop shots 6'11 ML/F
2) Powell Inferno-topwater 7' M/Mod
3) Steez Universal Light popper 6'9 M/F
4) Steez Utility Player 7'3 MH/F swim jig
5) P5 TB frogs- 7' H-XH/R

Being that we launched towards the end of the back, we hit a shallow stretch my partner and I after trying a flat into a transition which produced nothing. It's worth noting there was a lot of dead panfish in the lake.
As we started the shallow stretch, I grabbed the Utility Player and just start bombing casts with a 3/8oz Dirty Jigs Swim jig, the reel was a Tatula SV LTD w/ 16lb sniper. For the most part I never really felt undergunned with the area we were fishing, however there was 1 fish I lost. It easily could a been a pike, but the fish just dug deep in the grass and came unpinned. That frustrated me. But for the most part the Utility Player really handled the swim jig duties very well, next time I might just opt for braid over flouro for that situation or if I'm using flouro a heavy rod would be my choice. I did put some time in drop shotting with the whipsnake but just couldn't get the to bite. Overall though I am very impressed with the Steez Utility Player because my intial impression was this rod is too stiff for reach baits as a MH, but tonight proved me wrong. I must say I'm glad it did.

As I'm fishing through the season with these rods, I am noticing holes in my aresenal. A longer spinning rod M or ML in a 7'2-7'6 range would be nice for working baits in deeper water, a true Heavy/Fast for close quarters with jigs n flouro, a heavier reaction bait rod. There are a few rods admittedly I am looking adding now that I have a better grasp at how I am fishing, where my holes are and how I need to incroporate them into the rotation for the future. Overall this is one of the best fishing decisions I've made. I think at some point I'll probably do a video on this and kinda talk through everything. My decison that lead up to this change in my fishing, what I am looking to take a way from this experience, and how I've grown as an angler through all this.

I really hope this helps.

[Cbump]

It's been a constant battle for me since I've gotten more into bass fishing and I am finding less is more actually because I use the same 5 or 6 rods all season. Basically, I want to spend more time fishing then tying on baits that don't get used and less time spooling reels.

if you’re on bassresource I just made a pretty similar post because I feel the exact same way b

[NathanDLTH]

if you’re on bassresource I just made a pretty similar post because I feel the exact same way b

Send me a link through a PM or post it here, I'd love to read up on it.

[Cbump]

Send me a link through a PM or post it here, I'd love to read up on it.

Here you go. I can’t continue the conversation there at the moment because It says I’ve reached my maximum allowed posts per day. Wth?
Btw, my thread is dobyns specific but my problem is similar to yours. Tons of rods that never get used but I always end up spending a lot of time stressing over what baits to use and then tying something on them that I never throw.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fi...to-all-dobyns/

[NathanDLTH]

Here you go. I can’t continue the conversation there at the moment because It says I’ve reached my maximum allowed posts per day. Wth?
Btw, my thread is dobyns specific but my problem is similar to yours. Tons of rods that never get used but I always end up spending a lot of time stressing over what baits to use and then tying something on them that I never throw.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fi...to-all-dobyns/

You're off to a great start. Just keep working on narrowing down your baits and what you like to throw. Build your arsenal around them. Pick one or two techniques you want to grow in, then buy gear for them slowly. Sure I could fish a frog and swim jig all year in Minnesota but I'd miss out on bites or oppurtunites to connect with fish. Just food for thought.

[Mcjenson]

You're off to a great start. Just keep working on narrowing down your baits and what you like to throw. Build your arsenal around them. Pick one or two techniques you want to grow in, then buy gear for them slowly. Sure I could fish a frog and swim jig all year in Minnesota but I'd miss out on bites or oppurtunites to connect with fish. Just food for thought.

It's such a tough balance between staying versatile vs fishing your strengths and not having a bunch of clutter. For example I do not really fish crankbaits. For years I kept 4 full plano boxes, and two specific crankbait rods in the boat, only to pull them out once or twice a year when I felt like fishing them and maybe catching a fish or two on them. Am I missing out at times on a good crankbait bite? Probably, but honestly around western Washington I rarely hear about tournaments being won on crankbait bites, and I just don't have much confidence in the technique. So I just consolidated all of my crankbaits from deep to lipless into one deep plano, and figure I can just throw them on my jerkbait rods if I really feel like I need to. Nice to free up space and "mind clutter".

[NathanDLTH]

It's such a tough balance between staying versatile vs fishing your strengths and not having a bunch of clutter. For example I do not really fish crankbaits. For years I kept 4 full plano boxes, and two specific crankbait rods in the boat, only to pull them out once or twice a year when I felt like fishing them and maybe catching a fish or two on them. Am I missing out at times on a good crankbait bite? Probably, but honestly around western Washington I rarely hear about tournaments being won on crankbait bites, and I just don't have much confidence in the technique. So I just consolidated all of my crankbaits from deep to lipless into one deep plano, and figure I can just throw them on my jerkbait rods if I really feel like I need to. Nice to free up space and "mind clutter".

Oddly enough, I love cranking shallow cranks and squarebills but rarely get to do it now and with one Plano box full of cranks I don’t want more or rods that crank specifically. What might fit me is a longer MH or H 7-4 to 7’6 for jigs, drop shots if I’m casting a 7’2 might be nice to help for hook up, and slow rolling spinnerbaits/chatterbaits next to docks. Jigs and drop shots along with Ned’s win more of our tournaments in Minnesota so why not invent in gear to aid in the process. Just some thoughts that have been rolling around since Wednesday this week.

[Mcjenson]

Oddly enough, I love cranking shallow cranks and squarebills but rarely get to do it now and with one Plano box full of cranks I don’t want more or rods that crank specifically. What might fit me is a longer MH or H 7-4 to 7’6 for jigs, drop shots if I’m casting a 7’2 might be nice to help for hook up, and slow rolling spinnerbaits/chatterbaits next to docks. Jigs and drop shots along with Ned’s win more of our tournaments in Minnesota so why not invent in gear to aid in the process. Just some thoughts that have been rolling around since Wednesday this week.

I like a 7'2" rod for dropshotting. Just like the extra length when fighting fish and casting ability. Not to long to fish vertical when needed either.

[NathanDLTH]

I like a 7'2" rod for dropshotting. Just like the extra length when fighting fish and casting ability. Not to long to fish vertical when needed either.

Yes, I’m really kicking myself for selling my Windbuster to fund the Steez 7’1 Medium I now own. While the Steez is amazingly light in hand, crisp action, and well balanced the Windbuster met my needs for a lesser price. It’s a learning process.