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I changed the wording so it would meet your criteria. Do yourself a favor and see what Alan Tani has to say about this product, I assure you he knows it better that both You and I.

I had good luck this year on the Zoom Z Drop.

I think if they want to ban any language use on this site it should be the word "Best". Your idea and my idea of best are probably very different and even if we agree, there will be 100 others that don't. I assure you that I have used as many different brands of swim jigs as most people and made many of my own, the one thing I have found to be consistant is that the good ones all have a lot in common. Dirty Jigs are a very good brand as are a lot of others.

I clean the bearings in acetone in my ultrasonic cleaner, then rinse and dry them. I then place them on a piece of wire and submerse them in TSI321, I remove them and let the excess run off of them on a piece of cardboard for several minutes and then install While TSI321 will help the races of hybrid bearings it is not beneficial to ceramic ball bearings themselves as it will not bond to them as it does SS balls, cages and races. Alan Tani is an excellent source for information on this subject.

Your part number is W53-3101 - Brake Collar. Mikes reel repair has the parts and they cost like 75 cents each, but the shipping is 10 dollars with a minimum order of 5 dollars. Like Ghoti said, you reel will work just fine with 1 missing.

The new Zillion looks good on paper. The Tatula and Curado I both are nice reels for a lot less money. With your budget you would just about have to try to purchase a poor reel.

This is my observations the three spools that I mentioned, the stock Fuego spool a TDZ100ha and 100sha, and the TDZ-100M. The 100M out performs all the other by a small margin during normal casting situations, but I notice that it performs much better when pitching lighter baits. My belief is that there is a difference between the Mag Z and Mag V outside the shape of the spool.

I have the Stock spool, the Zillion spool and a 100M, what scares you about the 100M.

There are some very good older balsa/cedar crankbaits that can hold their own with any of the new stuff. WEC, Lee Sisson, Bagley, Fred Young Big O, Poes and a bunch other that I am sure I have forgot to mention.

I want to thank everyone for all the responses , overwhelming at this point but I sure have some great ideas, feel like I am torn between a custom on a St.Croix spinning blank and the Phoenix 713. Love to hear what anyone else wants to say. I can see a custom on the Avid blank with recoils and the Alps MVT reel seat, but it will be expensive, the Phoenix is within my original budget .... It's nice to have choices.

Custom Fuego

Thanks, I will check it out. Is this a rod you use often?

Go to your Dr. and get a steroid shot, gone in two to three days.

That's the one I have been looking at, any idea how many guides it would take to build that rod. I would like to use recoils on it.

The reel seat on the *** rods is not comfortable for me to use. I have large hands and it tends to pinch my fingers on the trigger. Even with that said if it casted well it might be something that I would consider, I could always make modification to the trigger to make it work for me. See if you can cast a 1/8th oz road runner on it, that has kind of been what I have tested with.

Sounds like a couple of nice builds, I will be looking for pictures of the finished product. I would love to hear your review of the Alps reel seat as well. I have had some communication with MIke, and I agree that more than likely to get what I want is going to require a custom build and more money. While I am good mechanically I do not have an artistic bone in my body, so rod building is something that I have not tried.

What do you think a rough estimate of cost would be if a guy wanted to build on an Avid/Rage Type blank with REC Recoils and an ECS/ACS reel seat, nothing fancy with the wrapping. I would prefer cork but could live with other options.

Thanks for the recommendation, the St.Croix blank is definitely one that I am considering. The ML / XF is very nice in the spinning rod version, and might be perfect for what I am trying to do. Thank You

I own many Falcon rods and really enjoy them. I had hopes for the Eakins Finesse Jig model as it and a few others are rated to 1/8th oz. but IMO do not load anywhere near well enough to be usable at this weight. I will take a look at the Expert, and have a friend that may own one, as Falcon rods are big in this part of the country. Thank You

Thanks for the recommendations, I have a couple of custom Fuego's that I intend to use with this rod. I like the St.Croix blank, and had thoughts that maybe it would be possible to build a casting rod on a spinning rod blank, the spinning version of the LTB blank you recommended is exactly what I am looking for with regard to power and action. and the length would be fine. I will have to try and get my hands on that Tatula rod also, I have handled a few models of this rod but not the one you recommended, I was impressed with how nice they were for the money. Thanks again

Thanks for the information, my post is a little misleading, I know that 250 will only purchase a very minimalistic custom build, and would more that likely require more of an investment.

Where are all the members of the Sooner State (OK), it is their State Fish. The White Bass or Sand Bass as it is usually referred to in OK is a member of the Bass family, they look a lot like a hybrid wiper and fight just about as hard. They hit your bait like a freight train and you will have no problem knowing when you have a strike. They often school in big numbers and eat baitfish on the top of the water, making it look like it is boiling, We just fillet them, cut the red meat out and cook them like any other fish. Lots of fun to catch, caught over a 100 in an hour on the river at Amistad when it is was too windy to fish the main lake, they were all cooker cutter fish in the 2lb range, it was a blast.

Do you have experience casting weights in the 1/8oz range with a model of this rod?

We have discussed many topics about finesse fishing, but they almost always seem to migrate to a discussion about reels. I am looking for advice on a casting rod, I don't care what brand, but I do have a few requirements, it must properly load and cast a 1/8th ounce bait. I would prefer cork handle, 6'10" or longer, ML or M power and preferably a fast action. I don't want to spend more than about 200 -250 for this rod. I have a friend that owns a tackle store and have had the opportunity to place my reel on many different rods that are rated down to 1/8th of an ounce and cast them. What I have found is that while they may be rated for 1/8 they are almost unusable at that weight. If I can't find a production rod that meets my requirements, I am considering having a custom built.

Outside of using a quality line, line conditioner and not using any heavier line than that needed for the job, I don't have much else to add. Do you notice it twisting more after using a certain type of bait or just in general. Some baits have a tendency to create line twist because they spin while either working the bait or during the retrieve. 20lb test mono is a very thick line, do you need this heavy of a line for your style of fishing?