Basswhippa

I would guess using big worms/lures at night would be your best bet. Be careful.

Reel has to narrow of a spool for any line w' memory. Shouldn't be a problem on something like a 5000 size ABU or 200 size Shimano. I don't like reels with narrow spools due to the very thing you mention. Line problems. Never problem with braid. It has no memory. Solutions 1. Get a reel with a wider spool. Most expensive option. 2. Get a line with less memory. Might be a more expensive line but less expensive than a new reel. 3. Find a way of managing the line. This is hit or miss.

Chronarch. Proven design. If you don't have the $, then Curado.

15 years old. Long cast. Lost what appeared to be a 7 lb bass at Reelfoot Lake. Fished all day for that bite. Woulda been my PB Summer in late 80's. Setting Okeechobee. Set hook and fight a moment and 30 pound line snaps. Will never forgive that guide. Didn't get a good look at fish but it was big. 89. Okeechobee. First cousin looses what guide determined "9 - 10 lb class fish" right at boat. Not sure I'll ever understand that one, but cousin just put rod down and quit for the day. Pickwick Dam. Riprap. Long cast. Felt bite. Set hook. Nothing. Kept reeling fast as I could. Feel tension. Set hook on monster smallmouth that is now 30 yards on the other side of boat. Lose fish. Pickwick. Lose monster smallmouth on a point in Dry Creek. Joe Wheeler. Get 1 ounce SP almost all the way in. Get bite in Milfoil. Set hook. Fishin in the 9 pound class roles directly to the surface not 10' away. Eyes protroding like one of Big O's pictures. Fish opens mouth and lets spinnerbait with trailer hook just simple come out. He had bit the head of the lure and so the hookset was moot. These are just some of the ones I remember and of course I mentioned the big one I lost just this past Friday.

Revos don't have a wide spool and hence much line capacity, however I would simply just keep my spool filled to at least 1/8" from the end of the spool. That tighten the braking systems slightly and you should be fine.

Awesome stories there man.

I'm still stunned by the level of detail and your work gives proof of DVT's statements that it is a reel worthy of recommendation. Outstanding thread and work. Thanks again!

So how did you miss them? Or do you not want to relive it. LOL. I would understand. We love details man. Those were monsters. Sounds like private ponds, which are a great place to get one!

Is there a marine biologist around?

This past Friday I was on Kentucky Lake and had a combination of a hook failure and Murphy's law. I was dragging a 1/2 ounce spinnerbait through some grass and we had been catching 2-3lbers. I threw to the right of a clump of grass and felt a hit on my 50 pound braid but didn't feel the fish. I kept reeling and began to feel the fish. It hit and was swimming right at me, apparently. I got a solid hookset and immediately a largemouth in the 8 pound range cleared the water. It was heading to another clump of grass and I leaned on it heavily with my 50lb power pro and my 7' loomis medium heavy action rod. It leaped again and went strait into the clump. I am asking for advice at this point, as much as telling a story. I kept on leaning thinking the braid would cut the heavy hydrilla. It did not. Finally a clump came out and there was no fish. I probably should have run straight to the clump with the trolling motor. It happened so fast. What would you have done? The hook failure was this. I noticed my pro model Strike King trailer hook was gone. It either broke (which I doubt) or the plastic that was holding it in place came undone, allowing the fish to twist and turn and pop it off the spinnerbait. Either way, I'm going back to my plastic aquarium tubing and I really believe the material Strike King used cost me one of the biggest fish of my life. That said, it was a freak thing and the fish was in really heavy cover and I was leaning hard on him. I'll take any advice as to what I should have done. I think I should have went straight at him. Help. My teenaged son talked about it the rest of the day. That didn't help me, but hey, he's hooked for life. Thanks for listening.

I would call Shimano. I would try to have the part number. They will ship it promptly. It should be a very cheap part. It should not be hard to replace at all. Just go slowly. How do you like this reel?

The black max isn't really all that good from what I've read. The H2O Mettle is suprisingly well reviewed except every now and then someone complains of having a sideplate and or spool go flying off into the lake. No biggie. Just take the half of the reel you still have back to Academy and they'll give you new one that is still together. I would listen to DVT. He is an expert on reels and works on them for a living. Find a better reel, new or used and get it at a discount. I see citicas for $60 to $80 that have been barely used. I got 4 Citicas E's for $75 each shipped to the door. They blow the socks off either of the reels you mention and can be upgraded for a few bucks into something comparable to a $200 reel. It'll last a lifetime. That said, if you can get the Mettle for $19.99 you'll get you money's worth.

Spyderco Delica or Native, Benchmade Mini Griptillian, all manner of Buck knives, Case Knive, Victorinox Swiss Army knives. Suprised how few mention pocket knives. A sharp one will cut braid very well.

Wow, you got your question answered by two of the best in short notice. How cool is that!

I'm no expert, but I put it on the bearing which bleeds off onto the spool shaft ends. Maybe an expert will weigh in.

Sully, I edited my post this morning, regarding Lake Fork having a sale on one near to the size the 10.7. You might want to read it. Less than $300 is my memory. Good luck! PS, I though you fish looked a lot like a 9.5 I caught in December. Glad it was bigger. Congrats.

DBSULLY, regarding the 10.7, and I know it won't matter much as you probably won't face the same owner situation again, but you can always measure the fishes legth and girth with a piece of fishing line, and then send it to Lake Fork Taxidermy and get a good replica. for that matter, they run a special on a 25" 11 lber that looks great, assuming your fish was real fat. It is less than $300. Nobody would know but you. I don't have a picture or measurements of the second largest fish I caught. It was in a pond and I released it and assumed I would catch it again. I never did. I wish I had a photo and some measurements. If hard pressed I would say is was 24" with an 18" girth, but I should used a piece of line to measure.

Very reliable reel. I read on a forum a long time ago that if you bought 4600's you wouldn't ever have to worry about any other reels. Truer words have never been spoken. You might be outfancied, but you will never be "outreeled". It is the 5500's narrower brother.

Wow. Have you measured lenght and girth yet? Congrats Also, I have no problem with anyone mounting a fish. I do have a question though. You said you have caught larger and your profile shows a 10-11 pound PB. Did you let that monster go? If I were in your shoes, I might have mounted the 10+ and let the 8 go. Curiousity just got the best of me.... Congrats again!

I don't own any 7's so I may be hurting myself, but have always found low sixes fine. Personally I find myself going from slow and fishing faster and faster, so anything to slow me down a bit helps. I'd say on average 5.8 to 7.1 is pretty solid. That said, in the winter, you could find some situations where a 5.0 is fine. And my 5500C3's with 5.3's are almost as fast as the Curado B 6.2 adn Citica 6.3's that I use anyway, in terms of inches per turn. All preference, but the 7.0 fellows have a point, assuming you can force yourself to work the bait slowly.

In that price range I would also consider the Falcon Bucoo. It is an unbelievable value in that price range. I became a Falcon fan years ago when a dealer showed me that they spined all their rods. At the time few if any production rod companies did that. I don't know if they still do, but we have a couple of Bucoos in the family and they live up to Falcons heritage. Nothing wrong with the ABU's either. The blanks are every bit as good as the Bucoo if not better, but the craftmanship isn't as good as the Bucoo. Can't go wrong with any of these so far mentioned. You don't seem to be the kind of guy who is worried about warranty or you would be sending the Skeet rod back. So you might want to consider the new Powell Diesel. You get a rod that compares with the $100 +- crowd but it has no warranty, so they sell it for $70+-. If it breaks, you buy something else. I've heard good things about those. Good luck!

If you had the exact same rods and wiped out that variable the result would be what you are experiencing. The answer to your question is that spool SHIMANO chose to use for the Curado is lighter than the Citica spool. While that allows for tossing tiny light weight lures, it is a detriment to long distance casting due to simple physics. Heavier spools have more mass which is harder to get going, and requires a heavier lure, but once going, it is not going to stop as soon as a lighter spool. If you want, you can swap the spools out and change the properties of both reels. Or pick up the phone, call SHIMANO and have whichever you prefer shipped to your door by the end of the week. Additionally I'm pretty sure you can get a brass Tekota bearing for $1.00, replace the plastic bushing on the Citica drive shaft, and have something that is comparable to your Curado E or todays $200 Chronarch. Apparently the brass is just as smooth as the ball bearing in that placement and has no maintenance, save a tiny bit of oil now and again. If you want to make it a 7.0 or 5.0 reel, just order it. Again, the beauty of SHIMANO.

The Shimanos are actually worth fixing. I would prefer to get my own reels back in most cases, than to a new reel. I have memories with those reels. They are worth keeping and will last for decades, scratched or not. Interesting Website. You can order thousands of Pacific Rim reels a month for cheap, if one likes. http://www.tradekey....g-reel-rod.html Like it or not, it is the world we, including Shimano, live in. If anyone knows what "dumping" is well, US steel industry was slaughted/obliterated because of the Chinese doing it. Again, it's just the world we live in. Social/economic Darwinism.

I can't tell you the last time I've had a bass to eat. That said, I remember one guy telling me a long time ago, "I've never had a bad bass". If you cleaned those little guys quickly enough, they will be very good.

I'm not new here but the title of the thread made me post more than I normally do. Gee, nobody would have known that I was a "tool" or part of the SHIMANO "posse" had I not posted on this thread, because I've rarely said a single word about them until this thread. I did not crusade for Shimano against all others and explain that I own others, one Quantum, tons of ABU's including some(5500CS Mag Elite and 5 size Ultra Mag Plus) that tourny casters toss 200 yards, a Morrum and tons of Shimano. I've stated that Daiwa and Okuma make some great reels and will service them as need dictates. Even the Korean reels can be good, but you will have trouble getting parts on most of them and you are messed over if it is out of warranty. About me "not sounding smart", well, one must remember that half the population falls to the left side of the IQ chart. All that said, regarding the OP, Shimanos are well engineered, they last, the reel maintenance guys appear to love them because of the ease of working on them and you can get parts for Shimanos for decades through no more than a phone call. I don't consider myself a tool for liking these fearures.