Capt.Bob

I use it from 6# to 60# on all my reels for main line, all tipped with fluoro leaders of appropriate weight. It is by far the best braid I've used for strength verses size over others smooth through guide performance rounder than others abrasion resistance in rocky fast water it's proven better than others best casting braid I ever used It just plain outperforms all the others, and is a bargain for the price, but since I always use fluoro leaders, the color or no color does not enter the ability of its uses for me.

First off were only talking $200.00 rods, not $500! The Fenwick HMG in the same weight and length is not as well balanced with the lighter reels, much heavier, and not as sensitive as the Avid, the Avid-X I have no experience with, I just don't see buying any rod at any price with half a handle! I will say before someone calls me, I do own 2 Legend Extremes but they were less than 1/2 price and came with the same guides I use on my custom rods, Recoil Guides, lightest, most durable, and most sensitive guides available, but the 50 bucks to get the handles fixed made them a steel! My Avids all 7 of them have Fuji guides. I don't own any Avid X and never entertained them just because I want full one piece cork handles, the X version turns me off with the 2 piece handle.

I started using St. Croix rods 30 years ago, as the years have gone by I find they are better and better and continue to lead the industry. I have had a couple replaced but only after over 15 years of use, and in the case of those rods ( pitching flipping and Salmon and Pike fishing) more abuse than use! I have tried a few quality rods from other manufacturers over those years, some I was happy with at first, but all are closet queens today and the only thing I will spend my money on is St. Croix! Today I pick rod blanks, and have them built. My suggestion would be St. Croix, no doubt! But they offer dollar for dollar rods in all categories. They also offer both quality American made rods,,,, that I would highly recommend, they have Premier in your price range or for a little more their Avid series, probably their best bang on a budget for a high quality rod. The Premier is also a very nice rod, light with great sensitivity and durable, with some models on your price range. But for a quality rod assemble overseas with their American made blanks, the Mojo Bas, Eyecon, and Triumph all fal in your price range. My money says if your leary and not sure what to spend, these rods will make a believer out of you, and sure to lead to stepping up to their finner quality blanks such as I mentioned. Bite the bullet and splurge for an Avid, if you want unbelievable,,, the Legend series are unbelievable, till I started fishing them I never knew you could feel fish breathing before they hit!

Gill's moved off the beds now, but still had a good day to start my grandsons summer vacation, he's primed for the summer now. Supper over a campfire after hammering out a limit of big O'le gill's has em always want'n to go back to fish camp with grampa,, I love spoil'n em,,,,

Well off the beds but took the grandson to our fish camp fer a couple days, after 17 Wednesday we found them more receptive Thursday morning. He get's his choice of what, when, and how, and let's me choose where, the way it needs to be when you spoil em the right way! Wednsday night he said can we get up at 4:30 and get around to go get em, so I suggested 5:30, and have some juice and go fishing before sunup then come in before it starts cooking us and have a Big Man Breakfast, (mashed fresh blueberries I freeze in pancake batter, served with butter and local honey instead of syrup, sausage links, and eggs) spool em right! He scored, we came off the water for the big breakfast at 9:30 with mostly 8" to 9" gills, but over a dozen of the 35 up to 10 1/2". I have always told him the early guy gets the best bite, and love it when they choose what and when they want to go, and get results at the dock like this! Nothing like get'n em into nature, he is one grand-kid that will never choose big fancy lakes with ski jumps and sandy beaches over one with lillypad and cattail's lined with wild flower shorelines, and nothing but the sounds of cranes, swans, and songbird's to breakup the background noise of tree and bull frog's! Then supper over the campfire instead of hot dog stands and Mickey-D's,,, truly spoiled right, and what makes me smile! This is what it's all about today and what really makes me me smile!

Well off the beds but took the grandson to our fish camp fer a couple days, after 17 Wednesday we found them more receptive Thursday morning. He get's his choice of what, when, and how, and let's me choose where, the way it needs to be when you spoil em the right way! Wednesday night he said can we get up at 4:30 and get around to go get em, so I suggested 5:30, and have some juice and go fishing before sunup then come in before it starts cooking us and have a Big Man Breakfast, (mashed fresh blueberries I freeze in pancake batter, served with butter and local honey instead of syrup, sausage links, and eggs) spool em right!

This why when it comes to round reels I kept my Calcutta's, no other reel will do what they do, but on my lightest, most sensitive finesse outfits are where the Calcutta's get left home. This is a fact and no other round reel has ever offered the quality of the Calcutta, to bad they don't put this much effort into the other baitcasters. Their spinning reels I feel in the 1000 and 2500 size are unequaled, but you again pay for it, which I don't mind when it truely is as good as I can find. But when I want the smoothest lightest reels with outstanding drag performance, I can have anything other companies offer for less than their compatible offering in the Lew's line. I would never say other reels can't match them, but for the price Shimano demands, and to not back them as well, and offer nothing better,, it's all about fan base!

You got to know Catt, sorry but I have an old 100B and there are some parts that are NOT AVAILABLE. I like that though, ain't changed a thing and the handle knobs ain't even wore, or the paint in the etching, no with all those years of rough use I gotta say that is impressive, you gotta use em a little to need parts as they do wear! I have no sword to carry against Shimano, but like I say, I have better options today that are less money!

This was one of the things that made me change several years ago Darren, would it be to much to ask to use a 50 cent stamp and eat the .005 cent envelope it would take to send it? Oh ya, there ain't enough money in the mark ip of the part,, so well charge 100X than we need to get it to ya? I figured if they can't think any more efficient than that about shipping something, how can think to engineer the best reels.......

If anyone thinks custom rods for any purpose are a waste, don't put much thought in what custom rods offer! I think big panfish are a very good reason to have a rod made for exactly that purpose. I have a 6' and 5' avid in Ultra light, I had a 6'6' and much prefer the 6'. But I do a lot of panfishingm from Redears to Perch, and when you get a big gill, (over 1.5#) on in the environment where they are likely to be,, around weeds! Control can be an isue with to wimpy of a rod, and trust me I've lost enough on 2 & 4# test line to know. I think one thing grub man said is especially important not only for weight to balance a longer rod with a smaller lighter reel, but also to add the most sensativity as possible. I Built my big gill and perch rod on a, Avid blank, but I wanted the 6' light Fast tip, with a bit more length, so had it built with 3" graphite extension in the handle. I wanted a small contoured grip, and chose different colored cork rings to be snded down and contoured to my liking to the same length the 6' factory Avid UL had, this hid the extension, but kept the sensativity, and the tip and backbone I wanted. Then to account for the 1000 CI4+ and help take weight off the rod at the tip and farther out the blank, I went with Recoil Guides! I have 5 custom rods built with these guides and today will never build another rod with anything but, lightest, most sensitive guides made, and indestructible, from Pike to bluegill, and 4# test line to 65# 832, they are bullet proof and show no abuse to the line. This rod blank is not what I would have chosen for a dedicated custom Crappie rod, but for Bluegill,,,, or Perch, they have a tough enough mouth to take the slightly less forgiving tip, and you can be sure I have more often than not when I wrestle the bigger gills around and out of weeds, been happy chose this blank over using the UL blank. These are just a few reasons I have for building a custom rod, it is perfectly balanced with a short handle and super light real, with enough backbone to wrestle fish outa weeds and still lighter than any rod you can buy factory made close to this length, and sensitive beyond belief to feel the lightest of bights when tight lining, and great for casting weightless baited hooks and tiny jigs. Go for it, but take everything into your decision, from what reel you choose, to where it may be used, and don't cut corners, a few dollars today may be what it takes to still be a favorite in 15 or 20 years!

Good luck with the new power plant A-Jay! I think this sounds like a well thought out plan, and only makes sence, as the current motor will take a big hit off warranty cash wise, and with 6 years not worrying about maintenance cost's, if a gut can afford it it sounds like the is=deal thing to do, as well as the 4 stroke with same weight, win win! But like you I would not care about top end speed, hell it is going to be more than I would use, but what I do care about more than speed, is fuel economy! That alone is worth 5 or 6 mph to me. Enjoy the upgrade!!

I got slammed on this exact same topic 45 or 6 years ago! Eveb though I do this and have done reel repair and maintenance for dedcades as part of my Charter service for customers and other guides I worked around. Just like today when DVC says YES IT IS REAL! some think they know more. This is usually because they have limited experience with different models, most can't even tell you how many models of the Stradic there were, or Curado, Calcutta's etc et'c, those models have all been made for over 30 years, and have over a dozen models and year changes. The new Shimanos are smoother, but in my experience less durrable as some earlier models, as some earlier models were less durrable etc, etc. There seemed top be a time when their reels got better and more robust, then they seemed to get more rfined feeling but that didn't seem to last as long. I had over 15 Shimano baitcaster at one time, from Bantams to Calcutta's and spinners from Super Speed masters to Sustains. I used to call Shimano and at times just for a screw or friction ring I would get a whats your address and N/C, today a $0.30 screw will cost 6 to 8 dollars after shipping, that is if they even have it! Today I own 2 Calcutta's and 8 Lew's. I sold the shimaos when it became obvious to me I could by a smoother, better casting reel for less money and buy just as good as the best shimano if not better in the Lew's line. I have and still do have times I call Lew's and if it is a lost screw, a brake shoe spring, a pin, etc, I usually get a we'll just send you a couple, other parts that are more than a few cents I have never been told we don't have them anymore. But to all those who had all the answers and all those that told me I'd see in 3 or 4 years,, well it's been well over 3 or 4 year, and the Team Gold's, and MG's and BB1's, even my favorite Pike reel the Super Duty, are still going just as strong and smooth as the day I bought em, some over 7 years ago. For the same money, I will still expect better performance, and durability from Lew's! I will stick with my Stradics, but can see a day like with my Mgfb's that parts wont be their, and if I can't make em, they will be what american's has shown they want with everything, throw aways instead of something that will last, and be serviceable. Kinda like my old 1999 Suburban,, today,, sorry chevy a station wagon SUV combo, should not were the name SUBURBAN! So go's with ShimaNO,,,,, Until several years ago, Shimanos decades old had parts available to keep em going, but they have brain washed Americans into believing a decade old reel won't do what a new one will today, sadly manufacturers have done this with about everything.

The 9"+ are why I put my gill's up this time of year, and as most know in this area, far from rare, unless you don't know what waters to fish? I don't keep them the rest of the year, 7.5" up to 9" are what I keep after the gill's leave the bed's, but I am only fishing the lake I am on for them after that, I quit traveling to other lakes, and am no longer stocking the freezer for the next 12 months variety! I only fish the beds for the "BULLGILLS" but I don't fish waters that are in danger of being over fished either! After 64 years and the last 27 doing this full time 5 to 7 days a week, being retired, and because of health reasons having to sell my Lake Erie charter service 12 years ago and quit guiding, I have a pretty fair knowledge of what waters to hit for freezer meat and which ones to avoid. Most lake's are no wake lakes or have limited speed limits, and a few are electric motors only, thus see very little pressure, as most think you need a big boat and a lotta HP to be successful these day's. . I also own 3 small rigged boats instead of the 16' or larger bass boats or deep V's to be able to access most of the lakes I fish. But Panfish, Pike, and Walleye are all I fish in three different states year round. I am not one to fish for junk fish like Bass or trout, except my annual couple trips north for Salmon, which are also for canning not releasing! But Walleye are kept during the spring spawning runs, bluegills for me and the wife during the bedding season, and Pike pre spawn through the ice. after that I am only keeping fish for camp meals, and a few summertime perch trips for a little more variety! This trow em back crap is good advice only on some waters, as you get older you learn to understand that, it is like thinking a hunter should only take 2 or 3 deer a year? That morality is only correct in some places, some places I hunt they need more of the hunters that are hunting some areas, killing more than 4 or 5 to keep a healthy heard, or more hunters on or the other, and fishing is no different! To many of any species is not healthy, any waters can be overpopulated with any species to a point there is not enough food source for different species. I know some Lakes that need Bass caught and their throats cut like dog fish since they are not worth eating, and this would help make bigger fish and more available baitfish to produce a better healthier fishery! Sorry to sound so heartless to some that think they know what they are talking about but just because it is legal, a responsible fisherman knows if it is ethical as well,, but on some waters I agree, just because it is legal doesn't make it very responsible! As for Flyroding and what flies, I quit using what everyone else thinks is good years ago! My best gill fly depending on the lake is either a grey cricket pattern, or a black cricket pattern, and as I said in that first post, over 1/2 of these gills come on a fly, but at 64 years of age with a crushed shoulder and broken pinned and plated neck with a total of 11 busted vertebra in my spine from a 42 foot fall ending my steel erection carrier, I can only take so much before I start getting stingers and numbness running through my hands, that means stop now if you want to hit it tomorrow! Lastly I just came home of three days at our lake, had limits everyday over 7.5" and a couple 9.5"ers but on our lake I don't keep em unless I am eating them there, and it is one lake that has some big gills but caution has to be used on how many you take, I usually only take 7.5 up to 9" gills from this lake. It is like anything else as you age in life and become more in touch with your surrounding, you have to their limitations!! Good Fishing!

If the axle rotates it can change the load on the bearing that nut was set at. You have to hold one, and tighten the castle nut, I am guessing both ends of the axle have a castle nut? This only makes sense anyways as it is the only way to control bearing load on what I am seeing here. So you may need a thin jaw open end wrench to hold the inside, they do make them but you may not need it? but while tightening the outer, the bearing nut will need to be heldgood luck.

They will be turn'n on there any day now, and the shoe will soon be on the other foot!