Tywithay

They should be marked on-off and slide one way or the other.

It's a 150 size and truth be told, the Curado feels smaller to me.

I retie it when it gets too short to be functional. Might be a couple times in a day, might be once a month.

You set the hook, then reeled in slack to set it again. You've already identified the problem. If you set the hook and allow any slack, chances are that the fish will come off. There's no need to set it again for any reason. Set it once, keep the line tight, and start bringing them in.

Avid or KLX are two of my favorites in that range. There's some father's day sales right now, you could probably get a Dobyns Champion at 20% off too. I like the KLX over the Champion, but all are good rods.

The bearing that was faulty on mine was under the handle. Pretty easy to get to. There's a small screw on the handle that holds the retainer. Remove that and remove the nut beneath it. The handle should come off. Be careful because there may be small shims stuck to the bottom from oil, if those fall off they're hard to find. If it's a regular Tatula and not the R, under the drag star there should be a spring assembly made up of washers and a brass nut. I take everything off one at a time and set it in the order it comes off. Printing out the schematic is not a bad idea either. Once all the handle and drag star assembly is off the bearing is flush with the sideplate. It's kind of a booger to get out, but with a little work you can slide it out without having to remove the entire sideplate.

I started with 2 brakes on inside and adjusted the external as needed. Eventually ended up 1 on inside. I just set the spool tension for a slow fall and let it fly. It was a lot more finicky than my Tatula though. The Tatula I just tighten the tension enough to remove side to side movement, and the mag pretty much stays on 6 all the time unless it's windy. The CI4+ I had to use the external adjustment and tension a lot when changing baits.

The worm gear should be greased, not oiled. Oil may break down the grease that's already there and make it rougher. If I had to guess I'd say what's causing your problem is the bearing under the handle that sits on the AR-bearing, or the pinion bearing. I'd take them out and give them a spin to see if they're rough. I had one that was completely seized up and it slowed the handle from spinning very well.

The Eyecon is made for walleye, are you sure a bass will bite if you're using it? All kidding aside, the Avid is a better rod. Eyecon does have a better handle, but uses the same blank material as the Triumph, Mojo, and Premier; though they all use different tapers. The Avid uses the SCIII material, which is lighter and more sensitive. The reason the weights are the same is because the Avid has full cork and bigger guides.

I use improved clinch for everything.

Tatsu for all around, Shooter for rocks and timber. I use an improved clinch on everything and have never had a problem. Just keep it wet when you tie it.

Have you tried modding the trigger at all? I have a custom with a trimmed ECS to make it a skeleton seat and it's one of my more comfortable rods to hold.

Rotten line, or if it snapped near the knot you may have burnt the line. If the knot is not wet well before clinching it, it can greatly weaken the line; especially fluorocarbon.

It has absolutely nothing to do with getting down to the knot. Lack of a knot improves line lay. Doesn't matter how small you tie a knot, it's going to leave a lump which can make the line spool unevenly. It's just easier to tape it down if you're taping the spool anyway.

I don't use braid anymore, but I used the tape as well. One thing I would do is tuck the tag end of the line under the tape, and you don't have to worry about tying a knot.

Strongest fluoro is Sunline Shooter, by far. Strongest mono I've used is Sunline Defier Armilo, but you have to pay attention to diameters.

Overpriced and underperforming. Seems to fit the reputation just fine.

There's not a rod in that price range that doesn't have a fiberglass scrim. Surprised you don't like the reel seat though, as it's one of the most used, and widely liked, seats in the industry. ALX has some of their 2013 Zolo rods on sale. Has the Hydra blank on it. They're extremely good rods, and even better at the lower price. http://www.alxrods.com/product/2013mitch/

Braid is actually much lighter than mono and especially lighter than fluoro. Kind of a strange issue, as braid is typically much easier to cast for most people. Only thing I could think of is that the spool is spinning too fast at the beginning of the cast, because the lighter weight makes it start up easier. It's usually more of a problem with heavier lures, or light lures on too heavy of a rod.

Probably not ideal, but it will work. If you're not fishing heavy cover, I can't see you having a problem.

Daiwa Goldcast is a very good one. It does have a line roller on the pickup and it's made of tungsten carbide, it will not groove. I've never had problems with a Zebco 33 wearing out either. I don't use them anymore, but as a kid I used the same ones my dad had used in the 70s. Still have a few for my nephews and they work just as well. Only reels I have had wear out are the cheap plastic ones like the 202, 404, 808, etc.

Some braids are less noisy, like Samurai, but they're all noisy compared to mono. That's basically the reason I won't use them because it drives me crazy.

The first Recons were pretty soft compared to the ratings on the rod. With the M1 and Recon2, they've improved that and gotten the ratings much closer. My biggest issue with Phenix was the build quality. I had one Recon2 I had to send back because the reel seat was put on so crooked, you couldn't even get the reel on there. The replacement they sent me had epoxy all over the blank and a couple crooked guides. They do look nice, but there's pretty performing rods for the money, in my opinion.

Just the *** and Veritas, to my knowledge. Though "titanium" is a very open-ended term. They only have to have a certain percentage of titanium with nickel to be considered "titanium." There's also varying grades of titanium. The stuff that we use where I work for the thrust reversers on Boeing jets is likely a much higher quality than scrap yard titanium used to make cheap guides. I know the Evolve titanium guides are far cheaper looking than a good set of Fuji guides, but the price reflects that.

I don't feel that the medium *** is as powerful as the MH, but maybe that's just me. I had the 7'1" M and it actually had a nice light tip. I used it for 4" weightless senkos and 1/4oz spinnerbaits. It was very effective for both.