21farms

the way elkriverangler described it is the way the SX owners manual says to do it too and is generally the way you would do it with most of baitcasters out there. HOWEVER, me and many other SX owners will tell you that you'll have better luck tightening the cast control knob until the lure only starts to fall when you give the rod a little shake. the most important thing to remember about casting with the SX is to use a smooth and fluid casting motion and be consistent with every cast. since you're just starting out, i'd recommend starting with the magnets set all the way. i'd also highly recommend the "masking tape trick". strip out as much line as you think you'll make on your longest cast, pull out an additional 10-15 feet, and then put a piece of masking tape over the remaining line on your spool and wind all the line back on. that way, when you birdnest, your tangle won't go deeper into your spool beyond the tape. good luck.

what i'm interested in knowing is what size crankbait were you throwing? by the way, the 7'0" winch is medium and the 7'6" winch is medium-heavy.

here's what i wanna see: longer handles standard — the 80mm handles on the 1st and 2nd generation revos are just strangely short more durable finishes — the chrome on the thumb bars discolor with use and the tops rash very easily (dunno if that is a quality of materials issue or a design issue or both) more ergonomic knobs — some people may like them but i can't stand the rectangular knobs abu uses. i don't think i'm alone either as you often see used ones with rib marks on the knobs from those accessory 'reel grips' that people put on continuation of design — here's a little thing about my SXs and STX that just drove me a little nuts. the SX has the nice red on the handle and spool but didn't continue to add a red accent to the sideplate...why not make the mag dial red, or perhaps the bezel around the mag dial? same thing with the orangey-gold spool, spool tension and drill hole accents on the STX...you get to the side plate and it's all silver. i have a little bit of a design background so i notice little things like that i guess.

i rented a row boat to do my fishing for ten years. i'd take 3-4 setups with me and it was fine. me and my partner now have a 20-foot bass boat but i still prefer to only have 4 setups with me. having fewer forces me to make good decisions and to stick with something i have confidence in longer than flitting around with different lures/baits, which has paid off for me.

i am somewhat obsessed with crankin' rods, having bought the lamiglas XCF-705R, SR705R and SR765R, the dobyns 704cb and 705cb glass, powell max 704cb, 754cb and 765sw/cb, g.loomis CBR845, shimano 7MM crucial, as well a a few of the BPS crankin' sticks. however, my favorite crankin' rod isn't really even a crankin' rod: the abu-garcia veritas 7-foot medium/moderate-fast. at 4.1 ounces, it is the lightest of them all with just the perfect amount of tip to keep treble hooks pinned but plenty of backbone. it casts my super light rapala balsa shad raps the best of any rod i have too. this rod has me thinking of trying out the veritas winch.

i love my 735c and haven't had any problems with it. but, rods seem to be highly personal so, if it doesn't float your boat, sell it and try something else until you find the right fit for you and the way you fish.

the lew's tournament MG comes close to fitting all your specs: 12/150 line capacity, 5.4:1 gear ratio and $130 and very low profile. the bass pro shops pro qualifier may fit the bill too...i know for a fact that the lower gear ratio'd PQs have a larger line capacity than the rest of the lineup as they have a smaller, solid spindle instead of the wiffle spool despite what the BPS website says.

the revo SX has got to one of the more-discussed reels on this and other forums. a search for "revo SX" will yield tons of information.

X2!

i baitcast 99 percent of the time and avoid spinning as much as i can. that being said, dropshotting and fishing tubes is so much easier with spinning gear. not having to strip out line by hand for a vertical fall has already been mentioned. but, the biggest thing to me is the weight of the reel under the rod...it is so naturally balanced that i can work the bait without fighting the torque of a baitcaster wanting to flip down.

i have not handled the powell frog rod but i do have the dobyns 735c which i chose because i like full handles. however, it is lighter in power than i was expecting when i ordered it and lighter than what i'd want in a frog rod...i do love the rod for other stuff but less than ideal for frogging in heavy pads and mats. i do have other powell rods and i love 'em too. good luck.

they're actually on sale now for $79.99 but only in their stores and not online: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&appID=163&template=circular.cfm&i=106179&m=22453&storeID=5

the pro max is a decent reel. it can cast really, really far and IMHO, the 'magtrax' brakes on it are superior to the 'linear mag brakes' on the revo series. the problem with the max series is that they do not incorporate one-piece aluminum frames. after awhile, my pro max starts to squeak and squawk. plus, under load, you can feel it flexing a little bit. personally, i always recommending getting a reel with a solid metal frame.

i had the SR705R, the SR765R and the lami XCF-705R (which is the same as the SR705R without the gaudy orange paint but with slightly tapered cork handles). i bought the XCF-705R first and loved it so much that i added the SR705R. i then got a SR765R thinking i'd be able to cast even further but i very surprised to find that i didn't notice any gains with the added length and that i just liked fishing with the 7-footers more and turned around and sold it.

well, looks like three time's a charm. i took my second JM carbonlite back to BPS to exchange today as i decided i just could not live with the grindiness. the very first one the salesman let me open was smooth and quiet! it was like night and day compared to my first two. even with the cast control knob tightened down to normal fishing setting, it was world's better and finally one that i would characterize as "fairly smooth". the spool will free spin for close to 20 seconds compared to about 3-4 seconds before.

i got a spool of the neon orange sufix in 80lbs test...i was expecting it to jump out at me in terms of visibility but it really didn't. not only that but the colors wears off the braid really, really fast. white braid is actually the most visible to me and the color never wears off ;-)

front drags are mechanically simpler and typically offer a more direct route to a larger drag stack. otherwise, in addition to the quick access to the drag lever, a rear-drag reel offers super fast and easy push-button spool swaps. still, front drags are my choice.

i remember reading about an bearing issue with the orras on this board. also, check the reviews on TW...more than a few complaints about the anti-reverse going out.

went to the west sacramento walmart a couple of days ago...they had luckycraft pointers!!! still, they weren't any cheaper than anywhere else so i'd still rather buy from a board sponsor.

i received a new 7.1:1 JM CL a couple of weeks ago. i was absolutely shocked how rough and grindy it was. i have bought a ton of new reels over the last few years and this was the worst...i'm not kidding...you could feel the vibration through the handle as well as hear it audibly. i took it back to my local BPS and the display models were only slightly better than mine. the salesman let me go through a few boxed ones and they were all rough. i finally picked out the best one i could find, a 5.4:1 but even that one is not close to what i'd consider "smooth". but, i was pretty determined to have one so i brought it home with the hope that a good lubing and some break-in time fishing it would help smooth things out. well, it didn't...i used it extensively on a 11-hour trip and, while it casted fine, it is still rough and grindy. i also had one incident where i got hung on a log and the boat was drifting the opposite way so fast i couldn't push the spool release button so i loosened the drag all the way and it still would release line...the spool was stuck and the line broke. after i was finally able to press the thumb bar and then re-engage the spool, the drag started working again. i really don't know what to make of people saying theirs are smooth...i tried out about a dozen of them from new stock and they were all rough.

this is from http://www.lineandlure.com/info/faq/ i bought a bunch of bottles super cheap a couple of years ago when the manufacturer had a blemish sale (bottles where the adhesive label wasn't put on smoothly).

"value" is a hard thing to put your finger on. i have two of the tournament pros and never for a second even considered the regular speed spools because of the 1.6-ounce difference in weight. shedding a little weight tends to get disproportionately expensive. weight is a big deal to me so i'm willing to spend more for less of it but, if you're happy with the SS as-is, just stick to what you like. by the way, generally speaking, brass gears are naturally smoother than duralumin gears so that is one plus for the SS.

the quantum tommy biffle and shaw grisby tour rods are a light blue color. the st. croix are kind of a darker blue and don't stand out much.

if you want to put the SX handle on your S, you'll have to either also replace the drag star or bend the arms back on your current drag star with a pair of pliers to clear. however, those replacement handles aren't cheap and i'd be hard-pressed to pay $30+ for another 80mm handle where the only difference are the bends and the red accents. pflueger, daiwa, lew's, quantum, and bass pro shops handles will all fit on the driveshaft of your revo so you do have more choices. i personally find the standard revo handles too short and i'd opt for an 85mm carbon handle from bass pro shops parts department first.

yes, BPS is a little tricky in their language. i think their description of the frame for their new extreme reels is the most accurate: "die-cast, then CNC machined." fully machining a one-piece fishing reel frame would be super expensive and time-consuming. as for extruding, i don't think it's possible to extrude aluminum into the shape of a fishing reel frame.