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Maico1 had a nice post about his opinion on DC reels. He owns quite a few and has fished them quite a bit so I would take his opinion as a trustworthy one. I am not sure he has used the Exscence DC but he knows his way around the DC braking systems. The only DC reel I own is the Exscence DC. In fact I now own two of these. Here is why I like the DC system: 1. All external brake adjustments without having to take a side plate off 2. Various modes that allow the user to cast a variety of baits in a variety of conditions 3. The addictive DC whine 4. Most of all I find the break system to be the equivalent of what the term "smart" means to cars, phones, TVs etc. How many casting reels can you cast a respectable distance on without applying your thumb at the end of the cast when your bait hits the water or feathering the spool during the cast? How many reels have modes for different types of line? I think it allows for the most customization for the user to dial in what they are using while the reel does some of the work/thinking. Why the Exscence DC. 1. X Ship gearing for a incredibly smooth yet powerful retrieve 2. Blazing fast gear ratio 3. Same platform as the Core 100 or Chronarch 100D which were widely popular reels/frames 4. Easy to palm 5. Fairly affordable around $250 for all the bells and whistles 6. Puts a smile on your face as it is a true joy to fish Why not the Exscence DC 1. Reel is a bit heavier in weight than most high end reels 2. Only one gear ratio so not suited for apps requiring low IPT With that said the reel isn't noticeably heavy or bulky when paired with a 7 foot plus MH or Heavy rod.

Yelp! The Ned is the answer to every condition on every body of water world wide! Y'all really think they don't throw something because of sponsors?"

Very well said....

I personally don't think that most people get a DC for longer casts. They get a DC because it's a DC. Sure, longer casts are great but in the end, it's just a longer cast. With the DC reels, excluding the Scorpion DC, when you make that longer cast, you get that unmistakable whine. My understanding about the whine is the DC system charging itself for the next cast. I have one DC reel, a Conquest 50DC. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. But it's a Conquest 50DC and that alone makes it worth owning. If you are the type of guy that can appreciate something that is unique, then get yourself a DC. If not, don't.

I'll disagree on the stick to a Senko thinking. A wacky hooked finesse worm can out produce on highly pressured, lethargic fish rather often. Unfortunately you won't find that handy bulb area on most finesse worms, nor will a stick bait designed O ring fit on one. Use a smaller size 1 or 1/0 sharp hook. I prefer Owner. When a fish has completely taken this presentation just reel up similar to a drop shot. The Jackall flick shake worm is a great place to start, and it does shimmy on the fall. Most finesse worms don't, especially if they are under 5 inches in length. Use a weighted wacky head and base the weight on depth and how fast you want the bait to fall. Senkos are great producers, but when it's scary slow, I can always get a bite on a flick shake.

Finding this thread was very reassuring, I thought I was the only one who compulsively buys tackle. I only started fishing maybe 2 years ago and just freaked out and bought all sorts of random stuff. Part of me wants to sell/give it all away and start over now that I have a better idea of what I want/need.

The cult of the Exsence DC is among us in this thread. Simply put, you get one of the best reels ever made with the bells and whistles of DC braking and x-ship. From what the consensus has said in other topics, this is one of the best DC systems available, with more adjustability than most other DC reels. It's a steal at its current price point. What other reel would you rather have for $250? I fish because it's fun and relaxing. A DC reel just makes it more fun. Will you catch more fish? No, probably not. Will you enjoy your time on the water more? Yeah, you probably will. That's the bottom line for me.

A wacky rigged finesse worm has saved the day many a time..............when they won't even touch a senko.

The whine and the fact that it clicks when a fish is taking line are pretty awesome. Something different for folks who want just that. The Chronarch D was one of the finest reels Shimano ever made, so the question is why wouldn't you want one?

Same ones I use all year long just in different locations!

What makes a finesse reel? A bail that flips over the top of the spool

I use a pistol grip rod every fishing trip I take. I prefer small waters. Even when fishing big lakes like Istokpoga I work the shoreline under cypress trees. I'm always skipping under mangroves or Brazilian Pepper with them. People think they are useless today but everything is made for bass boat fishing. If you fish a Jon boat or canoe it has lots of uses.

All my reels are pre C3 Ambassadeur's. I catch bass and inshore fishing including cobia, baby tarpon and small sharks with them. They are jazzed up with 7 b.b.'s but I prefer not having an infinite anti reverse and there isn't any repair I can't do to them. With the right rod they will toss quarter ounce plugs but I don't make it a habit. I buy expensive low profiles every now and then but they always disappoint me and I go back to the 4500C's.

I look for an isolated hydrilla matt and pick it apart with a june bug RI Sweet Beaver with a contrasting punch skirt with the appropriate weight size on an 7' Allstar ASR rod with a Curado E spooled with 60lb braid. Mike

For anyone interested, the Calcutta Ds are 40% off at japan lure shop

Custom slp works Steez sv tw

I'll put out the call....

You're on point as far as sticking to brand names as ABEC ratings have been known to be counterfeited. You'll never get a true picture of what any bearing offers until stick bearings have been flushed and oiled properly. Buying performance parts on a price only basis just makes no sense

Someone on here created and posted a pretty nice chart. I can't find the link, but here's a picture of it. Wish I knew the OP's handle, because credit is due!

"...but geeze." It's easy to be a sideline quarterback. I think the pros are aware of the Ned.

The OP never stated the Ned Rig was the answer to every slow fishing day. He just wondered why MLF anglers didn't try it when other finesse techniques failed. That sounds like a fair question with a few possible answers to me. As for an answer, I can only speak from my own experience. I am more familiar with finesse techniques like shakey head, stick worm, drop-shot, jigging spoons, etc. than I am with the Ned rig. There are times I probably should have tried it and didn't because I thought that one of those other techniques would work and I would catch larger fish. However, this year, I have purchased what I believe to be the appropriate "Ned-ware" and I intend on becoming more comfortable with this technique. Does that mean I will never be skunked again? No. But it does mean, I will have another technique up my sleeve.

Over the years many baits have been in the spotlight like the Ned is now. Grubs, "frenchfries", Senkos, dropshot, shakeyhead and many others have been that "can't miss" bait. I have caught many fish on all of these baits, and at times believed that a wacky Senko or a 3" grub on a light jig would always work, yet I have been skunked using them all. This I know: There is no one bait that always works in all situations. I really enjoyed the Swindle video. He is an honest guy that says what he thinks. Sometimes that is more than he should, but I have that same trait...

Very well said. I agree 100%, except for the fact that I own 1 Exsense DC. I would not hesitate to buy another if I needed another reel. I will add, buy from Digitaka. JC

Ned rig is a very light weight and very slow falling presentation that takes time tournament anglers don't have to locate bass that may strike. Shaky head, dart head or drop shot is a lot faster to locate and catch a few inactive bass. What you don't realize is a lot of lures and presentations can catch the same bass a Ned rig does, they do it much faster. Tom

WOW, somebody re-wrote the book and done got into some electrical/electronics I've never heard of. Paralleling two eight gauge wires from the rear to the front of the boat is going to do nothing but make ONE cable slightly smaller that if you had run one piece of 6 guage cable to start with. Circuit breakers should be at the battery end, not the TM end to keep from burning your boat up if they happen to short or have problems. At the TM end, they are only going to protect it if the TM itself has a problem. They are not resistors so they should not be limiting anything. The only real limiting factor to the whole setup, provided it's not a large enough trolling motor you should be using larger than 6 gauge wire would be the single piece of 8 gauge wire you are running to the TM, Then it's going to be working like resistor and over heating with the more restriction it's causing. To the point it could actually melt. Not sure where the voltage dividing and because it's two wires instead of one it will only draw half the current and that will let it run twice as long stuff is coming from. The TM is a load on the battery. The harder is pulling, the more the load it's going to place on the battery. If the cable between the load and the battery are not large enough to handle current that load is drawing, they are going to start creating a resistance to the current and start to heat up. Heat is wasted energy. At the same time, as the resistance too small of a cable increase, it's going to create a voltage drop at the load/TM so performance is going to drop. However, the lower voltage and drop in performance is not going the increase battery run time because the heat being generated is wasting that. Then, what since does it make to buy a 80 pound TM to have it perform like a 60 pound TM because you are running too small of wires to it. If anything, you should be going to a larger 4 gauge or even a 2 gauge TM cable (which is what I run) for all battery connections and up to the TM. This limits the amount of wasted energy from heat, lets the TM perform at it's peak and provides the most efficient operation and longest run time. If you are running a 12 volt TM and want more run time, upgrade to a 24 volt, A 24 volt motor is about 25% more efficient than a similar size 12 volt because there is much less internal heat being (wasted energy) generated. I don't have the numbers but I think a 36 volt adds about another 13% to that number. The higher the voltage the more efficient. That's why they run 600,000 volts down high tension power lines.

Referring to smaller bass and 5 fish limits really doesn't fit this discussion. In the MLF the OP asked about its not about the biggest 5, its total weight of any keeper size fish. Not 100% sure no one fishes it but everyone is going to fish what they believe is their strength and what the are comfortable with. What may be a comfort bait to us may not be to them.

Try a flick shake ... Killer. Not so new anymore. BassPro also carries a worm and hook which is similar.

Between the two, I will fish a squarebill in wood almost 100% of the time. It comes through much better, and produces, no need to toss a lipless into a laydown and risk losing it. I use lipless baits often.............just not in wood. Maybe if I had standing timber/stumps/etc......it would be an option, but 99% of the "wood" I fish is laydowns, often willow, and/or locust trees, with an occasional hard wood.

I do my shallow and lipless cranking with a 7' MH/fast action rod on braid (with a fluoro leader if I am around hard cover). I can't stand moderate cranking rods, especially around grass.

DC is another type of braking. Supposedly more progressive and requiring less user input(thumb control) making for longer backlash free casts. I don't think it's a cure all or a replacement for proper setup and casting technique though. It's also something different that tackle enthusiasts find appealing.

Since you like to launch TopWater baits I would suggest the following, a Calais 200 DC and a Loomis SMR 702C-TW. The Rod is 5'10" and rated for 1/4 to 3/4 oz baits but do not let the length fool you. You can put some serious ump into your cast and it will perform for you without hesitation. As for the reel if you cannot get it to sync with the rod PM me and I will be glad to walk you through it. P.S. Launching Topwaters is one of my favorite things to do out on the water...

Me too except for color: white and chartreuse . And remember to install the double hook correctly!!!

Dave "Reel Mech" was good his passing is a loss to the industry. I'm proud to help fill his shoes and have helped a number of his former clients. Regards Mike

I use the AquaVu. I currently have the small handheld one with the color screen and the built in recorder. The cable on this one is 50 feet. You can take a close up look at "cover items" but in my opinion you will not have the depth of view even in really clear water to get a feel for "structural elements". It is something of a time bandit activity on the water. You drop that camera down, start looking around, then you realize you just ate up 30 - 40 minutes of fishing time. These cameras are not a huge help in fishing in my opinion when compared to a fish finder but if you are fascinated by what is going on down there (as I am) they are kind of cool to have.

The amount of mono you're using isn't going to affect the sensitivity honestly. There isn't much stretch in a 6-8ft piece of mono. A little but not a huge difference like if you were using it as a main line and had a 30-40yard cast. Then you're going to loose sinsitivity since you have stretch. Short leaders you shouldn't have any issues and I use the swiveled dropshot hooks as well just to help keep the bait straight out and can attach different sinker depths if needed with a smaller size line as so if i'm hung up I can break off the weight and not loose the hook. If it's really clear water, then there is the only reason I'd really stay with FC over mono.

Truly hard to believe that happened that long ago, I was working in the D.C. area at the time as an automotive tech, we watched the whole thing from launch to when the unthinkable happened. There are a lot of things that have happened to us as a nation that should never be forgotten about, America is the greatest place on earth because of her people and the courage they have.

Hey I'm new to this forum and just wanted to say Hi. I'm fishing mostly Nashua, specifically the Nashua River behind Stellos to the Dam, and also Mill Pond. Looking forward to an early spring and some good times on the water.

[ Largemouth ] April 13, 2015 - 6lb 10oz, 23'' Bladed California Swim Jig [3/8oz Strike King Pure Poison (Black & Blue) + 4.8'' Keitech Swing Impact Fat (Rainbow Shad)] - - - - - - - - - - [ Smallmouth ] September 18, 2015 - 5lb 02oz, 21 & 1/2'' 1/8oz Jig Head + 3.5'' GitZit Tube (Brown Crawdad) WolfyBrandon

A-Jay

Behind bagnell has bank access and has great bass fishing spring-fall.

i have an older model zillion i received in a trade with a site member. I would say it is very comparable to my tatula rod. In all honesty, my tatula even feels a bit lighter in my hands. I really like the zillion for what i'm using it for (jigs and worms) but if i were looking at these 2 rods side by side i would take the tatula and save the money. again, this was the older version zillion. cannot comment on the newest generation.

Getting back to the OP question, what reel cast the longest. Guys, keep in mind that I am laughing a little bit as I am typing so please, don't get your britches all in a wad and give me it's the rod, then the line blah blah blah. What he wanted to know was, what is the longest casting reel for him and the lures that he is going to use. That means that he is using one rod and whatever line he chooses. If you take 25 different models of reels, and spool them with identical line and mount them on the same rod and use the same lure, more than likely, one reel is going to come out on top. Out of what is available now, the Calais/Antares DC wins.

I only buy snaps and terminal tackle from premium brands since they are all relatively inexpensive and the most important link to landing fish.. I buy what is on sale and like the Norman Speed clips, Spro clips, anything that says Owner, Mustad elite etc...Just make sure you buy the right size and lb test rating for the application. I would not skimp on buying snaps and swivels since I have seen guys in saltwater lose nice fish due to a cheap snap or swivel not holding up.... I look for clearance on the Spro snaps personally as they are my favorite just because I have never heard anyone say a bad word about them. With that said, I try to never use them, I like tying the loop knot but I know it is personal preference....I only use a snap if I want to get weight on the front of a lure...

I tried a few different kinds and kept having troubles with them opening up from time to time. Then, I tried the Gamakatsu and never had that issue again. I will admit that the trade off is that the can be a PITA to get on the lure sometimes, but I'll take that over losing a lure. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_G-Finesse_Tournament_Snaps_10pk/descpage-GTS.html

My comment was more directed to the guys that fish with oversized gear and sight these large round reels as distance kings. I am not disagreeing but rather looking at this realistically in terms of modern day bass fishing... Not surf fishing, large freshwater game fish, or such. Casting distance is a term that always creates some controversy. Most of the numbers are often not realstic. What I mean is how often is a bass fisherman casting a lead sinker only? Or how about a hevier lipless crank bait? Most of what I throw has some degree of wind resistance to it. What I want are reels and setups that will cast normal bass lures, in normal weight ranges, that are comfortable to use for extended period of time to achieve an "acceptable" long distance. Do I think it is fun to tie on heavy or impractical baits like a 1 oz lipless with no hooks and see how far I can chuck it? Sure, that kind of distance is fun and intersting to think about. What I am more interested in the every day side of it...

I've actually dabbled in long distance casting years ago. I still have all my gear. custom surf rods made by Ryan White(master class) competitive caster from hatters jacks. Rods Made on conoflex(1st rod company to reach 900ft) blanks. Breakaway rods and purglas from South Africa, Penn ppt pendulum etc. all my reels are Abu 5500, 6500 ctc3 reels with no level winds. Also a penn 525 mag. There are 3 basic reels used by all competitive casters. Abu 5500/6500, penn 525, and DAIWA millionaire mag model. All the reels will be set up with an additional knob for braking and Good bearings. The line is usually 8-10lb mono with shock leader being 10x the lbs vs weight of the weight. 4oz=40lb, 5oz=50lb, with just enough shock leader to wrap around the spool 4-5 times. Top rods are century, conoflex and zziplex. With reels mounted at bottom of the handle for most leverage. These guys are using basically the same equipment. It is the person and technique that makes the difference. Period. There is no arguing this. Certain casting techniques are more powerful than others and get more distance. I.e. Off the ground cast(fairly powerful) and the pendulum(most powerful and most distance) this is also proven on the field. Spinning rods don't come close the bait asters in this realm also. Though none of this has anything to do with bass fishing it has help me be a really good caster. most good bass reels will have close to the same performance. It has more to do with the man loading the rod. Each Rod performs differently for casting. Bottom line is your not casting for records or bragging rights on the lake. Cast to your intended targets and be reasonable with the distance because physics is against you(hook setting capability at distance). Sorry for the long post. Btw, If anyone is interested in learning to power cast with long rods. Look at Neil mackellows video from breakaway. He shows all the casting techniques used in competition/surf.

All I use are the Norman Speed Clips. Easy to use and they work.

The most compact snap is Owner welded Quick snap, Owner makes a snag less dual lock snap and Cross Lock snap. Tom