thehooligan

The 50 series Conquest is very easy to palm as its a tiny reel. Built like a tank and its a work of art. Just wish it had faster gearing, lol. I'm also really excited for a new conquest 50 series reel, fingers crossed for 7:1 gears !!

As a lightweight junkie, when you fish with a really light combo it can sometimes be really hard going back, lol. My cumulus/bfs xg combo comes out to about 7.5oz's and I never wanna put it down, haha. The conquest probably looks pretty good on the nrx too, mine rotates between a 1st gen cumara and legend elite...

A lot of good options with that budget. Dobyns champion 682 is great for everything your fishing. Kistler KLX, St Croix avid, save a little bit and Fenwick smallmouth is great, daiwa tatula is also nice...

I think its a pretty strong line. Just not as strong pound for pound as hybrid and cxx. Floroclear is a smaller diameter line and easy handling, that's why its my goto for finesse. I've landed a 5lb pike on 6lb line, and a 10lb+ muskie on 10lb. The green mist color is great in slightly stained/clear water too...

6'8 Cumara/ Stradic ci4 1000f - 10lb pp/6lb floroclear 6'5 Cumulus/ Bfs xg - 8lb floroclear

10lb pp with 6lb floroclear leaders is my goto spinning setup. If i use my finesse casting gear its straight 8lb floroclear...

I like yozuri hybrid and pline cxx in smaller diameters, max 10lb. Floroclear up to 12lb. Those three lines work great for me.

Like any hobby, i want the best that i can afford. Im unfortunately on a pretty small budget so i find myself using the credit card more and more. The td ito project has really set me back and ill most likely have to sell just so i can buy some christmas presents this year Anyway, once you step into the territory of high end gear theres no going back.... Its a vicious cycle

My 1st gen 6'8 medium casting cumara is probably the most versatile rod i own. Throws everything in my arsenal very well...

Pretty sure NJ has the most fishermen per square mile, lol. Every lake/pond gets pounded. Just one more reason to finesse fish. I get skunked here and there, but in most cases the bass cant pass up a nice flickshake or dropshot

This is called downsizing, lol. Went from all of these boxes being filled with hardbaits. Now the stack on the left are the only baits i kept, right stack is empty. After lots of testing and choosing colors i got rid of baits that werent getting used. Rather put my money into my reels then collecting baits...

spent way more then i wanted too... 1. Went about 6 months with no spinning gear, picked up a used ci4 1000f to go with my 6'8 cumara for dropshot. 2. Yumeya shallow spool for my core 51 3. td ito for winter project, pretty much done already 4. TW sale stocked up on line, few baits, and a tw hoodie

i regularly fish floroclear, pline cxx, and yozuri hybrid. I use floroclear for finesse fishing, cxx and hybrid for everything else. There both exceptionally strong so i downsize a bit. 8-10lb is the heaviest i need for regular bass fishing.

Ive seen the added benefits of bocas/hedgehog air bearings. Ive definitely got more distance, but im also comparing to stock bearings. Never did a direct comparison with flushed bearings. The real benefit for me has been for throwing light baits, 1/4oz and lighter. I regularly throw 1/8oz jerkbaits on a few of my casting reels, would definitely not be getting the distance without the air bearings. Hope to try the zpi bearings soon...

After using conquests, calcuttas, and cardiffs for swimbaits, if i had to do it all over again it would definitely be the cardiff. My 301 was awesome, added some bocas, and an 85mm zpi handle. Great reel, save that cash for swimbaits !!

I did my usual black friday tw order, stocked up on line, a few baits, and a tw hoodie. You dont know how hard i had to restrain myself from not picking up a daiwa px-L.... $320 with the 20% off

Besides the knob and colors theres not that much of a difference. The main difference would be the rarenium offers shallow spools if your interested in that. As Mark and john said, im also someone that leans to buying a jdm model over a usdm model in almost any case...

Reels: Shimano/Megabass/Daiwa Rods: Shimano/Jackall/Phenix Line: Yozuri/Pline Baits: Zip Baits/Megabass/Lucky Craft/Evergreen/Jackall/ Tiemco/Zenith Specialty Tackle/O.S.P

Nice reels Mark

Honestly, the only line I can't fault are copolys. Some Mono's have too much stretch, flouro is too unmanageable, and braid is visable in clear water. Can't go wrong with braid/flouro leader setup or straight copoly. Coming from a braid lover, straight hybrid has been working great for me...

Listen to rippinlips, these guys are trying to help you !!

If i ever go for a megabass round reel it will definitely be this one

lol, trying to add some variety to the collection. I've had my fun with shimanos, still want to add a stella or vanquish at some point, but from here on out i hope to add 2 or 3 more of the legendary daiwa/megabass reels to the arsenal

Winter project starts..... Now

The ito is here