ChiCityBasser

Daiwa just put out a new cranking model with I believe 4.9:1 as a cranking model. I have the 6.3:1 HL and 7.1:1 SHL models and both work fine with me putting the 6.3 model through a year of time on the water. It has held up fine with no problems. The 7.1 model is new so only time will tell how well it holds up.

You can probably upgrade to a better Cabelas rod with one of the rods they have on sale. Print the pages for a couple of the sales rods and take them in and see if they'll upgrade the rod and give you a better deal. Good luck on whatever you choose and as someone said practice keeps it from being frustrating and easier to learn.

I use the Kistler Mag TS 7' M/MF that I purchased off ebay and sure a deal can be found there on the same rod. I also have the Cabelas Prodigy PDC705-1 7' MH/MF http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Fishing-Rods/Casting-Rods%7C/pc/104793480/c/104764680/sc/104823180/Cabelas-Prodigy174-Casting-Rods/703905.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-fishing-rods-casting-rods%2F_%2FN-1102351%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104823180%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104764680&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104793480%3Bcat104764680%3Bcat104823180 RIght now the Prodigy is on sale for $70

Check out Cabelas Prodigy and Magtouch rods they are normally $100 and on sale for $70 & $75. In the Prodigy rods series they have both regular guide and the micro guide rods on sale. I agree with the 7' M or MH and these are two solid rods at great prices. As far as the reel goes check ebay as someone else mentioned and the flea market for a deal On Ebay you can find the older Quantum Accurist PT 500/501 for usually around $50-60 NIB. It's a solid reel and a pretty easy to learn to use. I have one that has held up to more than a couple years of use and it's worth taking a look at. You can read up on it on tackletour as well. Good luck with whatever you decide to purchase.

I have one of the older 500 series PT reels and never had any problems out of it. It's a very solid reel and the older models can be had on ebay for around $50. Solid drag and no problems with the finish for me fishing from the shore. Flipping switch can be a little tough to move initially but the reel is solid all the way around.

I agree try a softer action rod or mono to slow the rod down a bit. You might also want to try triple grip hooks as well. I would run into this problem with round bend hooks and started switching my most used cranks to the mustad triple grips and don't loose nearly as many fish as I was befor the switch.

Cabelas has the Prodigy rods on sale again for $69

I fish alot of lakes that are filled with grass and milfoil and weeds at certain times of the year. What has worked best for me is the Strike King 1 XS which is there version of the Xtra Shallow running crankbait. Basically the same as the Minus one and the Bandit footloose. Determine the depth of the weeds and then pick a crankbait that will run over the top of the weeds. If you start with a 5 ft diving crank and are getting weeds on 3 of 5 casts then move to a crankbait that runs in the 1-3ft range and so on. I've outfished my brothers on many days becausse they can fish a crank in places I was throwing the 1 XS and getting fish.

x2

Got these 2 on two outings to small ponds/lakes with one being on a jerkbait and hitting after the pause. The other was caught on the Rapala clankin crank in the helsinki shad color on a pause and then retrieve again. Both were from the bank and the fish caught yesterday was one of many that were cruising the banks. The lake is upto 20 ft deep in some places one of the few places I can fish from the shore that is that deep.

I watched a video here that talked about the LumaFlex skirts and how they worked better than rubber and found them on Ebay but in limited colors unless you want to buy in bulk. There were $2 plus the shipping and handling and I wanted to try them in Chartreuse and White which the seller had as a single color. Haven't had them in the water to give them a test yet.

I guess for me long as I'm catching it doesn't matter either way.

You can find them on Ebay for usually less than $60 for the PT models and that standard models going for a little less and good luck.

I understand you aren't bashing Quantum and neither am I and I had a similar bad experience with that same reel in the spinning model. I would recommend the Quantum Accurist PT in either the 500 series(older model),the new Accurist PT or the Kinetic PT. Never had a problem with my Accurist PT 501 and its going into its 4 year of service.

Both the black and red BPS exclusive spinning reel which I owned for a weekend and return and the casting model have had problems at least in my experience with the spinnng model. I have and use plenty of Quantum reels and returned the spinning model after a couple days use. Do yourself a favor if you are looking at these reels and step up to any of the Quantum PT models.

SK had them out right after the KVD classic win and they have sold out at most places. I have seen them on ebay for as high as $25 for a single lure. I didn't purchase that particular color but got the gizzard shad at BPS during the classic. Haven't had it in the water yet but thanks for the updated on the way they run.

If it's working for you I wouldn't change and if it's putting fish on the hook you are ahead of the game. My most expensive rod is the Cabelas XMLTi which retails for $189 (last years model) but it is also my least used rod in my arsenal. My Xml, Prodigy and Magtouch rods spend more time on the water and are mid priced rods all caught on sale and all better than what I was previously using. I fish mainly moving baits like crankbaits and my prodigy rod is way ahead of my daiwa d force but I didn't break the bank and don't consider it high end either. There are always sales to get into a better rod and that's how I've taken advantage of getting the best rods for me to catch fish.

I just spent some time last night in the house pitching into a punch bowl and at pieces of paper my kids put out as fish for me to try to land on them. I used a half oz. jig wrapped in a lure keeper and spent about an hour just working on it and I admit practice is what I needed as well. My reel is the Quantum Accurist PT and it's sat long enough without me learning to use it properly.

Great find at a great price and I use lefty baitcast reels also and hat that some models I look at don't come that way but the ones I've been using do and very happy with them.

Take a look at the Cabelas Prodigy series and the Magtouch series which are both right at the $100 mark but when they go on sale they are in the $60-$70 range. I have a couple of both rods in spinning and casting models and they are great rods.

Gizzard Shad has always worked well for me from spring to fall. Strike King 1xs

I've fished crankbaits for a year on a cheap Daiwa D-Force as my crankbait rod and yes I caught fish but I couldn't tell what the lure was hitting. This year I switched to a Cabelas Prodigy rod which normally retails for $100 but I got it on sale for $60 and there is a big difference in the sensitivy and being able to tell what my lure is doing and hitting. Yes I caught fish before but now I can feel things I wasn't feeling before and I didn't break the bank on the rod and got better components, a better warranty and a more sensitive rod.

I agree as well with the jerkbait being very successful for me on one of my trips to a small lake/pond.

Any one of those would be a good choice as I have a couple of the Daiwa Excelers myself and they perform well.

I checked out a smoke at Cabelas not too long after your post and found none of the defects on the reel that were shown on the reel you purchased. There were no machining issues or flaws as I did a very close inspection after seeing the pics you had taken. True the quality of the reel you received was poor indeed and don't blame you for returning it at all.