John G

Dale, if I am not mistaken, I sold you the ceramics that you are referring too. That was Jan 2014. Glad to see that you are still using them.

Since you are asking the question, you must not be happy with the performance that you are getting out of your reel now. The first question that needs to be asked is......have you been studious about maintaining your factory bearings? If not, there is a chance that they are ruined and then the answer is yes, a new set of quality bearings will be a definite improvement over your trashed bearings. I know the one time that I replaced factory bearings with ceramics I noticed a big improvement in how easy it was to get my lure out there. I chalked the improvement up to ceramics being great and not realizing at the time that my factory bearings were trashed because of a lack of maintenance on my part. BTW, I sold the ceramics to a member here because as Ghoti says, I like for my reels to be seen and not heard. The ceramics were annoyingly loud IMHO.

....

BPM, congrats on your NRX/Stella combo! It looks sweet! If you are going to get a Calais DC, spend the extra few bucks and get the JDM Antares DC7-LV. It has a different finish, a longer handle, some other cosmetic differences and IMHO, and this is just my opinion, it is one of the must have Shimaos for the true enthusiast. It falls into the Ultimate Enthusiist category. I say that because before the Yen lost value, it was a $750.00 reel. I don't have one......yet but I will eventually. Another must have and plenty of people will agree with me, is a Conquest 50. BTW, there is a guy using a DC7-LV to catch Barramundi on YouTube.

This will be the last time that I ever buy an item that is shipped with economy shipping. For some reason I assumed that it was being shipped via FedEx cause that is what I have read but I guess I was wrong.

Be prepared to wait if you buy a one piece. I bought a Major Craft MS-X Limited MLC-67L/BF BFS Rod from Shimreels on eBay on June 16 and it's not here yet. Here is Florida. I am desperately waiting its arrival and I have no detailed tracking info to ease my pain and suffering. LOL eBay says that it should be delivered by July 14. I have bought from Plat. I received my first order from them last week and it consisted of parts for a JDM Calcutta 50 that they had to order from Shimano and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with my first experience with Plat.

Did you mean SBR751? I just added the SBR751 to my list of saved searches on ebay and if I get one, pairing it with a newly acquired Calcutta 50. I think that it would make a great 1/4oz Beetle Spin / 1/4oz Spinnerbait rod. It might even work out for some BFS jig work with it's xtra fast action.

It's been awhile so how did your Avail spool work out for you?

Buy another one.

Lowry, first off, welcome to BR. Second, What is your budget?

American Legacy Fishing has the Cardiff at the price that Catt posted plus they offer a $25 gift card if you sign up for their newsletter.

I don't throw any swimbaits but I have read some swimbait Threads and my guess is a lot of guys will reccommend the Shimano Cardiff 300.

Hard to believe that Shimano used to recommend using WD-40 on their reels.

In this situation, if it ain't fixed, don't break it.

4 against 1! LOL BTW K3, just having a little fun here.

2 others besides you say it's not supposed to be loose and my Rareneium CI4+ 1000S is not loose so right now it is 3 against 1. I'll go with it is not supposed to be loose.

Shimano recommends a light rinse so yes, they can get wet.

LOL

I thought so too.

If you want a metal line guide, you could buy a Conquest but I have never heard of the plastic, or is it nylon, levelwind, being a problem area for baitcasters. The levelwind insert that the line goes through is ceramic or metal in the reels that I have owned.

Check out the Shimano Clarus. I have an older 6' UL that I love.

15# Big Game has better slack line sensitivity than any braided line does and that means a lot.

If you are buying new, you might want to check out the JDM Sites like Japan Lure Shop, Digitaka and Japan Angler first.

I have bought close to 20 reels from Japan with no customs fees. The most that I have bought at one time was 3 Scorpions from Japan Tackle. There is always the possibility that you could have to pay but I never have. This is what Jun at Japan Tackle has to say about the issue. LOL