Jrob78

To me the weights you listed aren't really in BFS territory. If you're having trouble casting I would look at your line and your rod first. Any decent casting reel should do fine with a weighted free rig and regular size, bulky plastic.

I'm glad you said this because I thought the same thing. The 2 Kistler rods have very short handles, which to me does not indicate that they are swimbait rods. Especially because Kistler does sell actually swimbait rods that are set up like swimbait rods. For the weights and baits you are after, I would look at one of the Dobyn's 795's, the Daiwa Rebellion 7'11" swimbait or the Evergreen Combat 7'8" swimbait rod. They all excel at 1.5-3oz hardbaits and don't cost a fortune.

I've got a 7'6" H Helium arriving probably tomorrow. I have the last version on the NFC blank so I'm curious to see how this new one compares.

No such thing as too many options. You don't have to buy all of them, although I recommend you do so. ?

I use a 6'10" M Expride for jerkbaits and 95% of my topwater fishing, including small poppers up to 5" walking baits. It would also work great for weightless finesse worms, darter heads, shaky heads and finesse crankbaits. M powered casting rods are generally pretty versatile for lighter techniques.

If you used a reel for a year and didn't realize it had these horrible shortcomings until you disassembled the reel, are they really shortcomings?

Go with the 744, great Senko/Ika rod.

Just ordered some reapers, spade tails and paddle tail grubs. I've been meaning to get some forever but just never did.

Japan Lure Shop has a P5 Blade for around $315. I don't have any experience with that rod but I would imagine it would handle everything on your list if you wanted to stay with a P5.

They're playing 2 nights here too, 1 night with the new Pantera lineup. I've seen Metallica a few times and they are amazing live. I've also seen Pantera a couple of times and would kill to see them one more time, even without Vinny and Dime. Good tickets start at like $1000 each though, tough call.

I've never had a bass reel that I thought needed more drag.

I like a variety of the little ned rig creature/craw baits for those Firework jigs and other micro style jigs. I've also had good luck using the 2.8 and 3.8" Bellows Sticks as finesse jig trailers.

I usually go for a filet or ribeye but let's be honest, I'll take any of them. Medium rare, seasoned but no steak sauce.

Same, I never bought any for that reason

Hopefully the price Digitaka has listed is the MSRP, otherwise that's a pretty large price jump over the 20 Met and 22 Bantam. Edit...It looks like that is the case, they still don't have a price listed in the actual sales price section.

Is having an identity crisis regarding his current location

I ordered some baits from ebay that came from Singapore with free shipping, it's been 3 weeks so far and they still haven't arrived but tracking is progressing, just slowly. I've also ordered from Japan many times and had stuff get here in 3 days.

I would use mono or copoly for big baits. Sufix generally makes good line but I don't know anything about that one specifically.

This reel offers way more than Shimano's DC reels and is innovative, even if 98% of bass anglers won't find it useful or necessary.

The thing that is kind of cool about this and what separates it from Shimano DC reels is with the app it keeps track of all your casting stats for the day. How many casts, casting distance, different braking profiles used and umm...other stuff, sort of like a fitbit for casting. As someone else mentioned it will also allow you to add new braking profiles and whatever else as they become available. This a big bait/saltwater reel. I owned a DC reel for awhile and to me it was a solution to a problem that I just didn't have. I've never owned a reel that I couldn't control or that backlashed so much I felt like I needed computer assistance. It always seemed completely unnecessary and gimmicky to me. At least this reel adds something new with the ability to keep up with casting stats. That info would be pretty much completely useless to me but I can see how some people would like it. As of now it is JDM only so it might not even show up in the US. This reel is not for me and not something that will ever even be on my radar.

Tombstone

This is an interesting question. These days when I buy a rod it's usually not a rod that I absolutely need. So I am buying just because I want a new rod, I am curious about a brand I've never used before, it's a brand new technique I feel I don't have a proper rod for or I think I can improve an existing rod in my lineup. With those things in mind I'm not usually looking at lower end rods but I'm also not necessarily looking at the very top end either. My most expensive rods are generally for bottom contact techniques and I tend to go more middle of the road for cranking and moving bait rods. I prefer rods with micro or at least a smaller guide train but no Recoil guides or guides with no inserts. I am not particular about reel seats as long as they aren't skeleton seats. I prefer split grips but I'm less concerned with grip material. Cork is great but eva, carbon fiber or something like the Monocoque grips that Shimano uses work for me too. I have a bunch of custom rods and rods from most of the major manufacturers and I've not found too many that I hated.

Senko, normally the standard 5" version

Absolutely, I don't think I would ever say something to someone, especially a stranger, as I am definitely not qualified to diagnose medical conditions lol

There was also a med student sitting behind the bench at a hockey game and noticed a mole/lump on the back of a coach's neck, she got word to him and it turned out to be cancer. https://www.today.com/health/pre-med-student-spots-cancerous-mole-hockey-staffer-game-was-dangerous-rcna10779