The Rooster

$200 for a cranking rod is a lot for what I'd do with one. I'd spend $100 on a Shimano Compre and $100 on crankbaits. ;D That's just me though. Is there really a big difference in one that costs that much more?? I could see it if it was a bottom contact rod, but cranks??

I had a 2 piece casting rod, it was a Quest LS-7 from Dick's sporting goods, 6' long medium "action" as it said on the blank. I wanted a one piece but they didn't have one at the time so I got that one instead. I gave about $25 for it on sale. It was very well made for that price, had Fuji guides and ECS reel seat and IM7 graphite blank. Turned out to be one of the nicest rods I've ever owned and I probably enjoyed it the most of any I've ever owned while I had it (that's it in my avatar with that fish). It caught me the biggest bass I've caught up until now. Only reason I don't still have it is cause dad wanted a 2 piece casting rod but could never find a decent one that was affordable to him (he won't pay $100 for one like I will now) and I just happened to have one that was pretty good (and Dick's no longer has them so he can't get one there). So I gave it to him this past spring. I still miss it right now even though I have 2 Shimano Compres and one St. Croix Triumph to use that by rights should exceed what that little rod was able to do. Not one time did it ever come apart on me. It had the top section made to fit over the bottom section when pieced together, which as I understand it is the only good way to do a 2 piece rod (never bottom over top). That rod was fairly sensitive too, but because it was a little soft feeling, more like a MF tip instead of a F tip, I used it for shallow and medium diving crankbaits a lot. It was great for that and I have yet to replace it. I still like a one piece the best cause there are absolutely no worries that way, and you know it's as sensitive as it could possibly be without being upgraded to something better. With a 2 piece you always wonder if the one piece would have been better. The only reason someone needs a 2 piece is for storage or travel reasons. If you have a truck, a boat, and/or a good place at home to store your rods, then by all means get the one piece whenever possible. But I still have nothing against a 2 piece rod if I like the rod and a one piece in the same model is not available. I'm currently considering a Shimano Clarus that is 2 piece simply because the power and action I want it in is not available in a one piece of the same series. But then again, I'm also considering a one piece Shimano Crucial as well, which is about twice the price. ;D

As raul would say...."welcome to the dark side". I "gave myself" to the dark side earlier this year with a Shimano Citica. I'm just learning to use the Force a little bit better now to graduate up to the Curado. ;D Funny thing is, I'm already starting to think about a possible future Shimano Curado 300 for swimbaits. The dark side has fully taken me in, there's no doubt.

My first......CURADO!!! But I knew it was coming though. Still.....ain't complainin'!!! ;D

If the reel has a plastic cap in the center of the handle shank with a screw showing then you just unscrew the screw to remove the cap. Under that is a nut that has to be backed off. Once this is done the handle will be free to come off. In tightening the nut down again, it must be turned so that when the cap goes back on over it the screw hole lines up. Any parts you remove, be sure to put them back in place just as they came off. I say this because under the handle shank you may find a small washer that is flexible. It is between the handle shank and the drag star. This is turned so that the flexing tabs are turned towards the star for the drag. When the old handle comes off it may stick to it because of oil being on it. It goes back on the reel next to the drag star, then the new handle will go on over top of it. Just pay attention as you take it off and you won't have any problems.

Front drag reels that come with an extra spool also give you an extra set of drag washers by default. That would be one advantage for sure.

Got confirmation today, it's the Curado CU200E7 for sure!!! WOO HOO!!! :)

I was at my parents' house today working on putting up the trim and baseboards on a new room addition I've been building for them since the middle of summer (boy it's been a long year, haven't been fishing since we started it on July 1st). Anyway, mom has been pressuring me for awhile now to tell her a fishing reel I want for Christmas and I've been putting her off since I felt it was too expensive. But today she was questioning me again and she says "I know what it was you wanted, it was a Shimano, right??" I laughed a little and said yeah it was a Shimano. Then she gets this sick white look on her face like something is wrong and actually says outloud, "that guy sold me the wrong one." Them I'm like, WHAT!! "What did you do, mom?? Did you already buy one??" She says to come in the living room and she hands me a Christmas present she already wrapped up so I can open it. So I did, and it's an Abu Garcia Revo S. She says, "that's the wrong one isn't it" and I said, "yeah, but it's still a very nice reel". Then she says "no, I'm taking it back to get the one you wanted" and then her and dad both were pressuring me to tell them EXACTLY what one I wanted so I told them either another Citica 200E like the one I already have or the Curado 200E7. She said it was going to be the Curado if they have it and if not then it's a Citica. They'll probably have the Curado but either one will be fine with me. But.......HERE'S HOPING IT'S THE CURADO!!! ;D 8-)

Oh, and here's the final arguement for those of you who are young and still living at home with parents. Tell them as long as you spend lots of money on fishing stuff and then leave the house with it in your hand then they know where your money is going and where you are going with it when you leave. It could be worse. ;D

Tell them it's like buying a car. ALL of them will get you from point A to point B and yet there is a major price difference from one model to another. And it's not just in the hundreds like fishing gear is. It's thousands and thousands of dollars, but I guarantee that ALL of the people who were written about here who complain that you shouldn't spend as much money on rods and reels as you (and I) do have ALL bought cars that costed at least $1000 more than one they could have bought instead. Ask them why they did that. And if they tell you it was just because it was a "more dependable car" and that's the only reason then I call bull$#!% on that one. We ALL buy cars first because we like one better than another, and secondly because it runs good. I've never ever known anyone to buy a car cause it ran good even though they did not like it. Then they might go on about the list of features one car has over another, or how much more comfortable it is. Or what all it allows them to do that another model would not have. Same with fishing gear. They might say the more they spend the longer they expect to get out of the car. I can see that too, but it's still the same with fishing gear. And as a matter of fact, many fishing reels will OUTLAST a car's lifetime. What, 5 or 10 years for the average car, some longer if you take care of them?? You might fish with that $200 reel for 20 years or more (more if it's a Shimano ;D ). But yet they still might pay $1000 or more for one car over another and then choke at the idea of paying just $100 more for a reel. The only thing they might say at all about the price difference of cars vs. fishing reels/rods is that you could get more than one reel for the same money you pay for the nicer one, but they aren't buying multiple cars. BUT.......you still could come back with saying you will buy the one and it will outlast 5 of the cheaper ones. And you won't even hear that said out of the people who say you can't fish with more than one at a time. I'd even challenge that one. I can be deadsticking a bait with one, not touching it at all, or trolling one or more behind a slow moving boat, while cranking on another in my hand. THERE!! Now I'm fishing with 2 or 3 at once!! In truth, buying a car and buying a reel and/or rod is about the same. The cheaper one will get you buy but the nicer one is a whole lot more fun. And the money difference on a fishing reel is much more easily justifiable than the difference on a car. I think it really comes down to mental conditioning. We have all watched our parents buy good or better cars so we just accept it, but the same cannot always be said for good or better fishing equipment and that's why it's not so easily accepted by some.

My money would be on the Shimano Compre. In the 7' length they are a little over the price range at $110 instead of $100 but that's about as good as it would get for me in that price range. It's got a full cork handle, Fuji hardloy guides, Fuji reel seat, lifetime warranty, and even though I don't have a lot of experience with super sensitive rods to compare this to, I still find it to be very sensitive for bottom bouncing baits.

This is true but when I get a new one I immediately already know the Shimano stuff is not going to be on sale and that's all I'm interested in so I toss them all except for the main master catalogs that I keep around to look at the new baits. But as for which one has the BPS Pro Qualifier on sale the cheapest, or what specific BPS rods are on sale this time, they're not even the slightest bit of interest to me.

I used to not do this. I noticed each time I took apart my reels for cleaning and relubing that I literally had to scrape and peel the drag washers off the main gear of my baitcasters. Now I do it religiously for two reasons. First, it will extend the useful life of my reel's drag washers. Second and probably the most important, it will help prevent a sticky drag that might cost me a good fish one of these days. If the drag is compressed and stuck on so that it won't slip easily when needed then you may as well not have a drag.

Yeah, what's up with that?? They send me several of each catalog each year. I don't mind so much the master catalog cause by time the next one shows up my first one is pretty shop worn from looking at it so much. But all the others, I just toss them while still at the post office.

It's not strange. The drag knob is made to fit into the top of the particular spool it is being used with. One model's spool and drag knob may be slightly different sized than the other so it wouldn't fit back together properly unless you switch both parts out together.

Baitcasting reels........Shimano Spinning reels.........Shimano Oh, and for rods.........Shimano

For baitcasters, it must be a Shimano and it must have an aluminum frame. For spinners, it must be a Shimano, it must have infinite anti-reverse, and it must have main drive gear support bearings on both sides of the gear (most do but the Sahara does not, there is one bushing). The reason for that last one is that I retrieve with my right hand, even on a spinning reel, and if a company puts only one bearing on the main drive gear it's typically on the left side (as with the Sahara and one Sedona I owned in the past). I'm assuming they do this to promote the slickest retreive possible and since it seems that most of the world retrieves left handed on a spinning reel then that's where they put the one bearing. When I switch the crank to the right, I am now on the bushing side of the gear. My feeling is that a plastic bushing will wear out fairly quickly and especially if it's on the same side that I crank on. It would receive more pressure than otherwise since I switch sides with the crank handle so even if I do decide to purchase a reel with a bushing on the main gear, I quickly order a bearing to replace it with.

A couple of years ago I boxed up all the back issues of Bassmaster I had laying around and shipped them to an address in Iraq that I got from a forum member, "bassin soldier". I lost the address now and just did a search for him but cannot find him now to PM for a new address. Anyone know how I can send some more magazines to the soldiers?? I now have 2 years' worth of Bassmaster as well as a year's worth of Bassin' magazine and Field & Stream magazine built up here that would just go in the garbage unless I give them away.

You have a phone number for them?? I'd like to have it. PM me please if you can't post it outright. Thanks.

Too bad you can't stretch out to $70. If you could... CSS56LA Shimano Clarus, 5'6" light powered, fast action, 1 pc. rod, 2-8 pound line, 1/16 to 1/4 oz. lure weight. CSS60LA Shimano Clarus, 6'0" light powered, fast action, 1 pc. rod, 2-8 pound line, 1/16 to 5/16 oz. lure weight. Those two rods right there meet all criteria on the list except price. But their specs say they can handle pretty light baits and still take your 1/4 oz. cranks as well. But the 3/8 oz. baits might or might not be too heavy. You'd have to try them to see if they feel too much for the rods. Also, what baits are you looking at that are 3/8?? Remember, if it's spinnerbaits or buzzbaits they don't truly weigh what they are rated at, that's just the rating of the lead weight for the head. The blades, skirt, and hook nearly doubles that weight once they are added. Even jigs weigh more than they are rated at but not as bad as spinnerbaits (no blades to add). But if it's 3/8 oz. crankbaits you're talking about then it should be accurate. Then there is also... CSS60MA and CSS60M2A Shimano Clarus, 6'0" medium powered, fast action, 1 or 2 pc. rods, 6-12 pound line, 1/8 to 1/2 oz. lure weight. Those two really cover the whole range of lure weights you listed and are available in either 1 or 2 piece versions and are the same price, $70. Stiffer backbone but allows the 3/8 oz. baits with no worries. Also, if sensitivity is not a really big factor, there is a Shakespeare Ugly Stik that is also a 5'6" light rod in a 1 piece as well. It is $30, and you can usually get it at K-mart. It would be very durable against accidental damage from slipping and falling on slick rocks while wading and it would fit the price range you want too. Very soft backbone on it also so any smallie you hook is gonna be a fight!

Some pretty good stuff in there, notibly the Daiwa Exceler spinning reel for 1/2 off. $40 is a good buy on that. Then the Abu Garcia Revo S reel/All Star rod combo for $100, that's a decent deal too. Saw a Shimano Sienna spinning combo for $35, not bad either.

I did something similar to this with a couple of my BPS Extremes. I turned them into 9 bearing reels (originally 7) by adding two more to the paddle grips. They had one each in there before but now they have 2 each. There is a noticable difference in the slickness of the retrieve but it really does nothing at all for reel performance. Just smooths out any resistance you'd otherwise feel. It's more of a personal comfort than anything else although it will prevent wear a little better than with just the bushings only. I'm like you though, I would do it just cause it can be done and would make it seam smoother on the retrieve.

Pro Qualifier seems solid, but unless it's on sale or you just don't want to spend anymore than what a PQ costs, I'd get a Shimano Citica first. Now there's an amazing little reel.

I would venture to say he embarrassed himself when he left that post.

One thing no one here can argue with, no matter what the series, B, D, or E, if it says Shimano then it's good. Out of curiosity, was there ever a C series??