The Rooster

Mm-hm......and that review above from an otherwise die hard Shimano guy. Now I'm impressed. I was already impressed by the looks and description of the reel. Seems you get an awful lot for the price, and you know how it goes, if it's too good to be true then it usually is, but this might be the exception to that rule. I'm thinking about trying one of these out.

I'm looking for a reel with all metal build to possibly handle striper fish while I'm fishing for whitebass at the river. I thought about going with the Abu Garcia Ambassadeur reels, but they're too bulky and heavy. Then I remembered the Optimus, which is just like other standard low profile bass reels, but is all metal in build, even the sideplates. So I'm interested in hearing what you think of your Pinnacle Optimus baitcast reels in terms of performance, durability of build as well as finish, quality of build as well as finish, smoothness, drag,comfort, just anything at all really. Thanks.

I'm sorry, but I'm in the camp with those who feel this behavior should NOT be allowed, and fines should be imposed to prevent this. People say nobody would watch it if stuff like this didn't happen every so often but I beg to differ. Nobody even knew who Ike was 10 years ago, and yet the sport not only managed to grow and stay in the game all that time without him, but it thrived while doing so. I remember reading Bassmaster back in the 90's when they said it was one of the fastest growing sports there was, and more people bass fished than did golf and tennis combined. I also believe that if this type of behavior is what is needed in order to grow the sport to the level they want, and to gain the attention they want, then we're better off without that level of attention to start with. What fan base are they attracting with it?? Real fishermen will watch anyway, and if you're not a fisherman then what are you even doing here?? And if the tradeoff is that the sport might not be on the level of some others, or make the same amount of money, well, I'm personally OK with that. And I know that's basically me saying I'm OK with limiting the fan base to only those who are truly into fishing for what it is. I also know that would impact the money made by the sport as a whole and that opens up a whole other can of worms with things like how do we attract attention to real issues and raise money to fight such things as laws affecting the sport in general by trying to limit access to public fishing waters, PETA, and all that, but I don't claim to have all the answers there. I just know that this is the wrong answer, period. And the thing is, fines won't stop this sort of action anyway, so it's sort of like the promoters have their cake and get to eat it too because the people who watch only to see this stuff happen will still get their fix and keep watching. But at least some penalty for behavior like this will send the message that it's not how we should act. I know we've all lost our tempers (or as one put it, given them away) at some point. But never on camera. And when in front of the camera, you have a duty and responsibility to control it. If you're incapable, then get ready to be judged for your actions, regardless of whether those that judge could say that they would or wouldn't have done the same. As for fans of the sport who want to see this type of thing more than they do "people silently reeling in fish all day", I view them the same as those who go to NASCAR only to see the wrecks. The sport could do without you. Yes, your monetary loss would be felt, but it wouldn't kill the sport as a whole. I was personally happy watching shows like Bill Dance Outdoors where the most exciting thing that happened WAS that he caught a 5 pounder, and occasionally spilled his vienna sausages in the lake. Or shows like Hank Parker. Good, wholesome, family oriented shows with the best of intentions that they delivered on during the show, where no one went nuts and yelled at fish, cussed, stomped on american flags, broke rods, danced on the boat deck and generally acted a fool. I don't see the sport of fishing as that type of sport anyway.

I already have the boat. Have had it for years, a 16' V-hull with a 88HP motor. I took it to Beaver Lake once in KY, and going up one of the mountains to get there I had the pedal to the floor in my old SUV. It was a 6 cylinder. I made it up the mountain, but I never realized it was that steep. The SUV drove funny for a bit but was OK after that. Now I have enough power to pull the hills I think with no problems.

I got a new boat towing machine this past week. It's a 2006 Dodge Ram quad cab with 4 wheel drive and a 5.7L V-8 Hemi. I should be good to go for about any boat I'd want now. I'm not really trying to brag, but I'm excited about the truck and decided to share it here. It's about 6 years old but has low miles for it's age at 58,000, and it's in nearly mint shape, looks to have been garage kept. It was a one owner.

This might not even matter, but I read here that the Curado is the only one that has this part. The Citica E also has it.

For those who might want one, the BPS Pro Qualifier baitcast reels are on sale for $80.

No rod to rate. So... Mine is... Shimano Compre 6'6" MH/F Shimano Curado 200E7 Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon 14# treated with KVD Line and Lure

Berkley Trilene XL monofilament in 8 and 12 pound tests. Use it because of how easy it casts, 8 pound for spinning reels, 12 pound for baitcasters. I use this for things like crankbaits and sight fishing lures where sensitivity is not as important and line stretch won't interfere as much. I like the clear blue fluorescent for it's ease of seeing the line in the sun, but also the clear line only for use in super clear waters (I have one lake with gin clear water in it). Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon in 12 and 14 pound tests. Use this for sensitivity for bottom fishing lures and jerkbaits where a sinking line is more desirable to help get the bait down a little more. It's good for the gin clear lake also to keep line visibility to a minimum if needed.

I will post some pics of them. We went out early in the morning and I really wasn't all that prepared like I would have been if I'd had more notice on going. Trying to be quiet and get out of the house without waking anyone up was the main thing here at home. Didn't think I'd catch a thing at that lake either. I live within 15 minutes driving to it and I bypass it every time I want to go fishing for either one of two others that are anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour away. They are much better lakes. Now maybe I can have a shot at bagging a few fish on the closer lake too. But that's why I didn't think to bring a camera, I knew there would be no fish. Between the 2 of us we caught 7 fish. I'm blown away.

I've never really had any confidence in any ability I might have with a jig since you just tie it on and throw it out and it sinks like a rock. You can't feel it doing anything like you can with spinnerbaits, cranks, and other lures. You normally can't see it either so all you have is feeling of it bouncing on the bottom and watching the line for movement and that's it. I tried them a few times this past summer but not seriously, only just where I could watch how they move in the water up close in the shallows and then a few casts out away from me to see what I might get with them, which was nothing. Not the lure's fault, just where and how I chose to use it was all. When I'm on my boat I usually throw jerkbaits and moving lures of all types, or fish a worm weightless for a slow fall, or texas rigged when I want to fish the bottom. Today, I just knew I wasn't going to have any luck so I figured this would be a good time to try a jig and make myself learn to work it, when I wouldn't just think I was wasting valuable fish catching time by not using something else. I still didn't know how I was going to tell if a fish hit it though, but when they did, all three times I was told by my much more experienced brother in law that they were just barely taking it. It felt like little clicks resonating up the line to the rod. Like a "tick tick tick". Not a jerking feeling like when a bluegill grabs the trailing plastic arms of my craw, just a very slight ticking, and I figured this is something different so I'll set the hook and if it's nothing then it won't matter. Turned out I had fish on each time I felt that. Guess I must have did something right. This lake is extremely hard to fish,being so gin clear and all. Most local people here won't fish it for other than trout or catfish, and even then it's mostly at night. The Kentucky state record has been caught from it twice over the years, but not recently, it's been a while, so it's got some nice fish in it. I've seen some that I know would go 6 or 7 pounds just swimming lazily along. We were there in early to mid morning, from 7 AM to 11 AM. My fish came at around 8 to 9. I had one more hit later in the day, at just before 11, but I missed it. It felt the same as the previous ones had so I'm sure it was another bass.

Today was cold and windy, but the water temps are still in the low 60's so my brother in law and I decided to go fishing this morning. I didn't expect to catch a thing because we went to a lake where the water is extremely clear all year long (over 10' visibility straight down, it's like glass) and with the sun being high in the sky I didn't think today would be any different than any other fishless day on that lake. Since winter is coming, and I've been wanting to learn jigs anyway and figured that would be my best shot if I could catch anything at all, I tied on a green pumpkin football head with a Netbait paca chunk trailer in the same color. After only a few casts I got a small bass (my first ever on a jig), and then the next cast I got another one, which turned out to be a keeper, but it was only a 1 lb. fish and 12" long, which is all it takes for this lake to be a keeper. I fished a bit more and got one more on the same lure before making a hard cast and snapping the jig off. It was on fluorocarbon line so I'm thinking I must have had a fray in it for that to happen. Oh well, the jig was cheap and I can get more. I'm just pumped about my first jig bass, and getting 3 was totally unexpected, and for one to be a keeper, that was just unreal. This lake is notoriously hard, I hardly ever go there but he was staying at the hotel on the lake and is from out of town so I just went to have a good time fishing and expected nothing really. Now I'll probably try it more often, at least with a jig.

OK, I wasn't going to comment again on this at all, but after reading that you say I've gotten onto people over the same thing I'm supposedly doing now, I want to set that straight right here and now. When have I ever done that?? I get defensive over my opinion or over knowing an outright fact about something and having that disputed, but I've never jumped anyone over their opinion, first hand knowledge or not, and you can't even offer a shred of evidence to the contrary, and if you read that as a challenge, you read it right! And what are you calling first hand knowledge anyway?? Being there in person and witnessing this happening is not first hand?? That an absurdity in itself. And it seems you're now suggesting that its like I read one time somewhere that someone broke rods and I formed the opinion that it's a bad rod when I clearly stated I had read it many many times, some of which were people who had multiples of these rods and had several of them break nearly the same way each time, and also I said I had saw this with my own eyes too, on rods I could reach out and touch right in front of me, FIRST HAND. Here's a newsflash for you now....this is what reviews are all about. Reading other people's experiences with a product and deciding whether or not it might be right for you. If it didn't work and wasn't right then major companies like Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops wouldn't bother printing them in their catalogs or allow posting them on their websites. There are whole dedicated websites for this very thing, but you still want to discount any knowledge gained from reading any of it apparently. So now apparently I not supposed to read what has happened to others and believe any of it, is that what you're saying?? Cause if it is, then that's the real absurdity here, that I should spend $240 on a rod after reading a lot of bad stuff on it while not believing it and have the same thing happen to me too before I can then say, " I now agree with all the others", and at that point finally form an opinion. That's not absurd, that's downright idiotic. It's also not pure absurdity to form opinions on rods I do not own. Have you ever formed an opinion on anything you do not own, or to go even bigger, maybe about some person you have never met (say the president) based on what you've heard said about that person and any evidence that people might present about that person's actions and words?? Here's another newsflash for you.......the justice system of this country is based on this very thing, forming opinions based on hearing about something that someone supposedly done that they did not see for themselves. People sitting in judge and jury of others whom they've never met before and only just heard things about the person on trial and are presented evidence of what this person is supposed to have done, and then to complicate it the person themselves will deny doing it so then the jury must do what??.......form an opinion, and then this person is sentenced to sometimes LIFE based on someone's opinion who was not there first hand to see what they are accused of. And if it's good enough for something that serious then it sure as @#$% is good enough for me, AND YOU, on much smaller, insignificant things like fishing rods. Now deal with it.

They're not that old. Some this past summer. One guy I read about broke 10 Cumara's and one Cumulus. He swore off Shimano rods after that and went all custom built only for fishing tournaments. I don't want to say anymore about it though, or provide links, or proof of reading all this, and drag it all out into a full scale war. Y'all will just have to trust me on it or go look for them yourselves. That's my opinion on the rod and that's that. I'm done. I just don't like being called out for my opinion so some of my replies might sound harsh but I really didn't mean to get in a fight or anything. This thread was just another in a line of threads I've read about them breaking so easily, was all.

I'm free to offer my opinion after I've personally owned one?? What you really meant to say there was I'm free to offer my opinion anytime I want and YOU are free to pay no heed to it if you don't want. Now that we're clear on that..... I wouldn't own one of those rods just based on what I've read alone, but as luck would have it I've also had the personal privilige to see them in use up close with my brother-in-law who owns 2 of them (not hearsay, actual witnessing). They've both broken multiple times, and each time it's been pretty well in the same place, within 10 inches of the tip, and each time he has exchanged them with no problems but it gets old after a while. He was told by the shop owner that he has issues with those rods commonly and constantly doing this same thing and he had no idea why but it happens a lot. I've also read this numerous times as well all over the internet so forgive me if I don't take your single example of never having a problem over all those other glowing examples of many problems by others, some of which I've personally observed. I do not need to have actually held the rod in hand and fished it to offer my opinion on it or to know that this rod is J U N K. If it's laughable, go ahead and laugh. I am.

Dude, there is a problem with the Cumara line somewhere, whether they are brittle or not. I wasn't meaning that they are brittle due to higher graphite when they shouldn't be. I mean I've read nearly nothing but that they snap left and right. My brother in law has broken several whereas the Compre rods he has he's hardly had any problem with at all, and he has about 10 of those but only 2 Cumaras, that each have broken repeatedly. It's all over other forums too that they snap easily. What else would you think other than that they are brittle, and again, it has nothing to do with me saying higher graphite made them that way. It has more to do with experience in the Compre line personally, as well as witnessing it from near family members also, they just last longer, period. Cumaras are junk.

I hate that reel design. It's hard to work with and puts extreme pressure against the AR bearing by turning it backwards until the tightness of the threads breaks loose.

I wouldn't have called it sickening, I would have called it "his opinion".

If the Cumara is doing the job but snapping at the boat then most any bass rod will work, no need to go muskie heavy. I'd say drop down a notch or two and get a Compre or Clarus in the new line that Shimano just released. They are very good rods, sensitive, but not as brittle as the Cumara is. They're a lot cheaper too.

Something like that would be wholly misleading to the public. They see the guy using branded equipment and then like how it seemed to work so they buy it and it's not even the same thing. If this goes on in fishing and it came to light, heaven help the guy who got caught. He'd never be trusted again.

On the smaller one, if it has a pretty whippy tip then I'd definitely put 6 or 8 pound line on it and keep it set up to cast lighter baits. It might throw a 1/8 oz. bait just great if it loads up easily. I'm only guessing but it could have a range from 1/8 to maybe 5/8, or it could still be 1/4 as a bottom range instead of 1/8. However, the rating is only a guide and some rods can perform outside of their ranges. I can throw 1/8 baits on a rod that I have rated for 1/4. It throws 1/4 oz. baits farther but the distance I get with 1/8 is still good, and accuracy counts for more than distance anyway. Distance just means I can get to the fish if I can aim. Accuracy means I can get where the fish ARE.

A casting rod has the trigger underneath it near the reel that you hook your finger on to cast it so it doesn't fly out of your hand. Casting reels such as baitcasters (low profile and round, both) use these, as well as spincaster reels like yours is. The guides on these face upwards when in use. Spinning rods usually have much larger guides on them, especially the first one near the reel. They do not have a trigger on them. The guides on these hang down below the rod when in use. You may look through a bass pro shops catalog and see listed for sale what they call a casting rod AND a trigger rod. The difference there is that a casting rod has what they call a pistol grip, for just one hand. The trigger rod has a long handle behind the reel for two handed casting. That's the only significant difference there. Generally when someone says a casting rod, they can be referring to either of these, short handle or long, but it goes without saying that it will have a trigger on it. I'd be willing to bet if you bought the Zebco Hawg 733 as a combo (rod and reel both) that the tag on the rod you bought said 20# because the reel came prespooled with that. If they were bought separately and the tag still said 20# but the rod says 8-17 then go with the rod's ratings itself. The smaller line will cast better for sure. Sounds like the 2 rods you have are both going to be medium in power, based on the one saying 8-17 line, that's a general medium line rating for most rods, and the other rod having an M in the model number, I'd bet it's a medium also. A lot of rods that are medium heavy would have an MH in it instead. But you basically have a Zebco 33 reel (a classic for a lot of guys, they swore by these for many years), which I'd put 10# or even 8# on, and the other is a heavier Zebco Hawg 733 so you could go heavier on it if you wanted, but I'd still probably not put any heavier than 15# on it, and likely just 12# only....if it were mine. Performance should improve a lot that way, much more than the 20# line on it now. Lure weight is a reference to the sizes of baits that a rod can cast effectively without being overloaded by it, and also still put it out there a good distance. The 1/4 to 3/4 range your one rod lists is a medium range for most rods and also liable to be the general range most of your baits would fall in (half of what's for sale out there is in this range). But you may want to cast something in the range of 1/8 or even less. The rod might still do it but not as well. Distance would not be as much. It might be harder to get it where you want it because the rod wouldn't load up enough on the backswing as you cast (this helps to launch the bait like a slingshot when it loads up and releases). Also a heavier bait would possibly make the rod feel overloaded as you cast. Some more expensive rods with a lot higher graphite content might even snap under the weight of an overloaded rod tip with too heavy of a bait. It's not as likely to happen as you might think but it can happen, none the less. The lure weight range on the rod is a general guideline to tell you what the rod is best suited for. Not all rods have it though, but most do. They all have a range, just some neglect to list it ( go figure). That's one reason I like Shimano rods. They list action and power, lure weight and line weight. All of that info is on each rod they make. I don't mean to confuse you further, but this is probably a good time to let you know that even though your rod says medium "action", it is likely referring to "power" instead. Power is a rod's overall resistance to bending (as examples, a light powered rod is weaker than you have, medium power is in the middle and is what you have, and medium heavy would be stiffer, and so on). Action refers to the point at which the rod tip flexes, such as fast, extra fast, moderate, or slow (none of your rods say this obviously or you would have listed it, I'm sure). You can tell what you have by flexing them some to see, but I'd say your rods are in the fast to maybe medium fast range if I was to guess. Extra fast bends in the top 1/4 length of the rod, fast bends more into the 1/3 range, moderate would bend into the mid section, and slow would be throughout the entire length of the rod blank. Each has it's own use in the fishing world. Fast is generally good for most things. So, consequently, a medium rod with fast tip would be pretty good overall, which is what I'd suspect you have. This is a lot of info to take in, but since we were talking about rod specs, I thought I'd throw it in there. It's not of major importance that you learn it right away, but still good to know about anyway and would give you something to think about for any future rod purchases. Again, not trying to muddy the water, just providing as much info as I can.

Or even more rare, what one uses when they think they are out of sight of a camera. Not likely to happen, but....

What particular model of reel is this exactly?? Also, what does the rod say on the blank, near the handle, for what power/action it might be?? Such as medium, medium heavy, and so on (it might just be letters like M or MH too)?? The rod should give a line and lure size suggestion on it also.

I would second Grey Wolf's opinion, but you can do that as time goes on. To upgrade to an open faced spinning reel, you'd also need a new rod for it too. They use a different kind of rod. For the KVD spray, just remove the face of the reel, it just twists off, and then saturate the line with the KVD spray. You can also spray it on the original spool before you wind it on and then reel it in.