new2BC4bass

The first Alphas is known as the 'Purple' Alphas. Made from 2005-2009 from what I could find. I have 3 of them. The third picture might be a Type F Alphas and pretty sure it will have 'Type F' on the reel somewhere if it is. Been awhile since I've used mine and it would take too long for me to find it right now. I am a fan of the Alphas reels and the 50th Anniversary Zillion is one of my favorite reels. The first Alphas looks to be in very good shape. The others not so great. I know some people say they are just tools and scratches, boat rash, etc. gives them character. Sorry, but I like to keep mine looking like the day I bought them. And I still manage to catch the occasional fish with them even tho they look nice. It only takes a few seconds to put a reel cover on. I learned the hard way. Not doing so put a nice boat rash on my mint Chronarch 101A.

I can believe timing is critical on the Spiral Cast. I can side arm roll cast fairly accurately. I tried incorporating it into my overhead cast. I see now that I should call it an Overhead Spiral Cast. Quite a bit more difficult to be accurate. It's all in the timing. I originally tried the cast (overhead roll/spiral/arc cast) to smooth out my casting stroke. Whenever I visit Florida and fish with my B-I-L I have to change my casting stroke. I often found my back cast to be very abrupt which led to backlashes. Takes awhile to get used to changing my back cast. Adding the roll smooths it out right away, but accuracy takes a hit. EDIT: The roll on the overhead cast is much smaller than the side arm cast. Just a little to help smooth out the cast.

I don't hate spinning gear as that is what I used for most of my life. However, once I tried a baitcast reel it was love at first cast. So I choose baitcast whenever possible. Actually I previously would avoid a technique where I really needed spinning because I like baitcasting reels that much. (I'm not capable...yet...of using 1/8 oz. or less on a baitcast reel.) It wasn't until about a year ago that I decided to start using spinning gear again because I wanted to seriously downsize my lures in hopes of catching a few fish. But life (and health issues) kept me from from following thru this past year. Maybe next year. But as stated by others, I don't mind missing out on a few fish for the pleasure of using my preferred reels. I'm actually hoping to add another option next year. A fly rod. I already have an old 8wt. Just need to find where I stored the reel for it.

This is a mental issue. The Bait Monkey thinks you need to see a therapist.

I admire your fortitude in getting rid of most of your rods and settling on just a few. I got back into fishing in 2009 and decided I wanted to try a baitcast reel. Loved it! Have been purchasing rods and reels since then. I know that I should be able to sell my OG Tatulas and Fenwick ET Smallmouth rods for what I paid for them. Maybe even more as I got them at great prices, but don't see myself being able to sell any of them. Paid less than $100 for several reels because I bought used or closeouts, but it would be even harder for me to sell any of them. My current inventory of both rods and reels far exceed what I can use, yet I find it extremely hard to sell any. At 73 it behooves me to sell at least 50 rods and more than that number in reels, but deciding which to sell and which to keep is an exercise in frustration. I've got about 4 reels and 9 rods that I might be willing to sell. Selling any of the others would nearly break my heart. What prompted you to downsize and how did you force yourself to follow through? I need a little of that magic.

I spooled 10# P-Line Fluoroclear on a reel I took for a visit to Florida with my in-laws. When I got back to the house after the first day of fishing with it, I put a different reel on the rod. (I always carry at least one extra). Broke way too easy. First line I used when I got into baitcasters was 8# CX. Handles very nice, but it did break down in the spool. I figure it was most likely due to the backlashes I got while learning, but have been leery of using the rest of the filler spool. Guess I'll try the rest. See if it holds up better now that I don't backlash very often. I like Elite. Only have it on one baitcast reel, but use a lot of Siege in 8# and 12# tests. Like it a lot. Especially in the Neon Tangerine. Makes it much easier to see my line.

I'm probably wrong, but I've always felt that if a rod was capable of loading with a 1/8 oz. or 3/16 oz. lure then the rod was capable of handling treble hook lures. I used a MF for crankbaits for a long time before buying my first dedicated crankbait rod. No braid. Notice I didn't just say capable of casting that weight....but loading. That is putting a nice bend in the rod with a normal cast. I've seen tomustang cast those weights on MHF St. Croix rods and we all know they fish on the heavy side. He has a powerful cast. One that literally makes the rod whistle on his more powerful casts. But I wouldn't fish treble lures on such a rod if at all given a choice to use something lighter.

Agree. Not likely to happen now tho. fishnkamp was around for a short time, then disappeared. Haven't seen a post of his in about 2 years. Too bad as I liked reading his posts. Hopefully he is doing alright.

I use a lot of 8# mono or co-polymer on my Medium & ML casting rods. Big Game, AN40, Siege, XT. Never had a problem with it digging in. I put some 6# Excalibur on a Pixy, but think I only made it out once with the reel so far. I'm using 10# (cheap) braid (4# mono equivalent) on an Airy Red, but haven't put much pressure on it yet. It's mounted on a Light power rod.

I know nothing about Penn reels. When I bought my first expensive rod about 45 years or so ago....a Berkley Lightning 6' ML spinning rod...I bought a Penn 430SS for it. You can find the reel used on ebay for $148.99 plus $11.85 shipping. I probably paid around $40 when I bought it new. Mine would look new if it wasn't for a little boat rash on the bottom front. That one looks pretty worn.

I bought my B-I-L a Daiwa Revros about 4-1/2 years ago for his birthday. Haven't heard any complaints about it yet. He lives in Florida and fishes a lot more than I do so it has seen a fair amount of use.

My only Pflueger spinning reel is an older President XT. I've read that the new Presidents aren't nearly as good as the older models. I suggest looking at a Daiwa.

Never heard of a Heavy action. Do you mean a Heavy power? EDIT: I know what you mean, and am not picking on you specifically. I see professionals saying the same thing and it gets my goat. I understand newbies not knowing the difference at first, but professionals and youtubers doing it?

If I could only have one Loomis rod my choice would be the Asquith 490-4 fly rod. But of the choices you offered, I'd pick the 844C MBR as it would fit how I fish quite well.

Want to, but have never used a Phenix Feather. Probably one of the lightest factory rods made. They get a lot of love from the people using them.

Same, except for spool tension. That is already set low. I do completely back off on the drag either before putting the rod in the car (normally) or when putting the rod away at home (if I forgot earlier). Also keep reels with covers on them at all times when not in my hand.

There are many, many "How to" skipping videos. Also many threads on skipping lures. Search is your friend. Bulldog, thanks for the link. I might have to try one, but $20 for 4 plastic baits that are only good for a couple fish (each) gets expensive pretty quickly. Oh. That's right. One would last me a year locally with no problem.

What? $200 rods aren't high end?

You only take 6 each?

I seriously doubt Lew's would honor the warranty since you opened up the reel. No idea what they charge. DVT gives a 10% discount to bassresource members. Personally I'd support a sponsor. Mike does good work.

Wow! Same reels except mine is two Sols and three purple Alphas along with the other two reels. I'd like to say great minds think alike, but mine is far from great.

Thanks for the explanation. So spamming a person's email and smart phone isn't enough anymore? Geez!

First you would have to explain to me what a beta-bot is. I've never been accused of being a tech guy. Again...$400 is a lot of money for me. But we have guys here fishing $700 reels on $700 rods, and have a quiver full of such combos. Heck, I've read of fly fishermen owning at least 3 bamboo rods in the $3000 plus range. And this is on top of their $1200 graphite rods. Naturally the reels on them run in the $800-$1000 or more range. I can give you a link to a used fly reel with a price of $9250. Whoa!!!! I don't personally know of such a person, but I know they exist. They have enough money that they don't care about the cost. They just want the best. And the OP doesn't say what he wants the rod for. Maybe he is like my daughter, and only fishes one type of lure. Then again, like bulldog said, maybe it isn't even a real person so we are all p...ing in the wind. My oldest brother-in-law could afford any rod/reel he wants, but he is the type of person that probably wouldn't spend more than $100 total. That is how he got, and keeps, his money. As I said before, the $400-$450 is the OP's max budget. There's nothing stopping you or anyone else from suggesting a $100 combo. Plenty of guys...including yours truly...have suggested an all around combo without knowing what the OP would be using it for. Not knowing has never stopped anyone before from giving an opinion. And I'm sure what you guys suggest would do the trick for years to come. I fished for many years with a K-Mart cheapo rod and a Mitchell 300. My first expensive rod was a 6' ML Lightning spinning rod and the expensive reel I bought for it was a Penn 430SS. No idea the cost of either, but betting total was quite a bit less than $100. This was over 45 years ago and I still have and like the combo.

I would have like one of those Pinnacle rods, but they were out of my budget. Wish they were still being produced. Love my Pinnacle Primmus reel, too. Enough that I bought 2 more when they were on closeout. Guess they just weren't popular enough. Unlike a lot of people, I've never been afraid to try the less traveled road. I've got very nice reels at very low prices taking that road.

Personally I've never spent $200 on a spinning or baitcast rod. Some of my rods had an MSRP of over $200 and a few over $300, but I purchased used or on closeout. I have spent over $200 on baitcast reels...both new and used. The OP has been fishing with his brother's gear so I assume he likes fishing. He is willing to spend a fair amount on one rod/reel so I also assume he isn't hurting for money. I also agree that he needn't start out spending that much. You can buy some nice all around outfits for quite a bit less....both in spinning and baitcasting. But it's his money. I can tell you from experience that it is better to buy a few quality rods and reels right from the beginning if you know you will be sticking with the sport. One look in my basement and you will understand why I can say that. Some people are happy to fish with gear way less than $100 even though they can afford better. Some of us get a lot of pleasure from using quality gear. Do I catch more fish with a $400 combo than a $150 combo? No. But I get more pleasure for using the $400 combo. Not everyone does.