Tywithay

Bottom contact, jigs and t-rigs for the Zillion, finesse jigs for the Vanquish. Been looking at NFC IM blanks, but still really eyeballing a K2 for the Vanquish.

Has the ice melted yet??? Buying some blanks to start making custom rods for each of these probably later this week.

I use a pair of zirconia scissors. Never need sharpened and never rust.

The bearings he's comparing to are in a Stradic and they're ARB. By most standards, they're pretty good bearings. Not all reels with a high bearing count are junk, but when you spend $40 for a reel with 13 bearings, it's not going to have even decent bearings.

After looking deeper into it, the side plate covers are nylon 6-6 and fiberglass, not graphite; they're just painted to look like carbon fiber. It doesn't have a thread-in handle, it has a shaft-through, which is an inferior design. The 3000 also weighs over 10oz, not really practical for most bass-sized rods. Cheap zinc alloy gears. Having a hard time deciphering some of the pictures, but it also has some kind of copper gear, which is unsuitable for most fishing, especially saltwater.

Not true at all.

Beautiful is subjective, reminds me of the ugly old Ardent elite. What quality materials are used to make this $40 knock off? What are the drag washers made of? If the bearings are of typical quality used in knock off reels, it just has 13 pieces of junk in it. I've seen threads on this brand of reels while searching stuff in the past and read stories of AR bearings failing, bearings seizing up, handles breaking off, etc. In most instances, you get what you pay for. FYI: The Stradic 3000FI retailed for $149.99, when it came out.

A hawg handle doesn't catch fish, buy 3 reels. You can always buy handles later.

I used the new version of the IMX 873CRR. I didn't really come away too impressed. The handle was very short and very skinny, which made the rod extremely tip heavy; the cork was also of poor quality, with a lot of filler. Carolina rigs are fished tip up almost exclusively, so you'd think balance would be something they'd take more into account. Sensitivity-wise, I didn't feel it was on par with my Kistler KLX rods and was certainly not even on the same level of a 13 *** or Megabass Orochi XX. It fished similar to a lot of $150 rods on the market, in my opinion; very similar in overall feel to my Tatula rods. The build quality was excellent, and I like the size of the Fuji K-series guides. All in all, the rod was extremely well put together and fished excellent, but I didn't feel like it was worth the money for the performance. There's similarly priced, and even lowered priced, rods that perform at an equal or higher level.

If you get a part number, you can order the stock LT or LTZ spools from a Japanese retailer.

If you're paying $500 for a Certate, you need a new retailer. The new 2013 model can readily be found under $300.

I would say the NRX is the best bang for your buck in the Loomis line. It's the only Loomis I've used that truly outdid all comers. All the other lines, I've found comparable performing rods for far less money.

Mono: Shooter Defier Fluoro: Tatsu or Shooter, depending on application

They're nearly the same height as the CI4, but shorter in the front end. One of the easiest reels to palm.

It will start up faster, which is beneficial with light weights (1-/4-1/8oz and under). It won't have much of a benefit with weights heavier than that, because capacity will become an issue.

Trilene XL is actually one of the least stretchy lines on the market, given how well it handles. It has roughly 9%-10% stretch, which is comparable to most fluorocarbons on the market.

I think the Tatula is the finest $100 reel you can buy. I know it's not an option, but I do recommend holding it before buying, since some folks find it uncomfortable. Performance-wise it's an A+ though.

Improved clinch for everything. Been years since I've had a knot failure.

Look for a used Stradic FJ. I see them go for $100-115 all the time. Nothing else is close.

Trilene XL

Shimano Vanquish C3000

I use a 7'4" mh casting rod with 12lb Tatsu. I like the longer rod for extra casting distance and more line pickup on hooksets. Don't go too soft or you'll have to use very light wire hooks to get a decent hookset. Senkos are pretty heavy too, so if you're going to ever t-rig with a decent size sinker, you'll need a rod heavy enough to cast well with 1/2oz+.

5" senkos?

Where'd you get that rod from? They don't even make them.

With Magforce Z and Mag3d, I set it just tight enough to remove side-to-side wobble in the spool. I then set the Mag 3/4 of the way up and cast, then drop it a couple clicks until line starts to fluff up, then add 1 back. Do that when I first buy them, and rarely touch them after that. I don't think I've ever had a backlash with any of my MagZ reels that wasn't completely my fault (catching limbs on the backswing )