Raul

I have several reels from that series: XLT Plus, 521 XLT Plus and Scynchro. They still rock.

Yup, it's a good length.

I know spring is already here, yesterday it was 75, today is 90 ! and by the end of the month it will hit 110.

Exactly ! I've owned many other reels besides the ones I have and those that ain't there no more is because, oh well, I didn't like them.

Ok buddy, don't pay too much attention to color, sight is only one of the senses bass uses to locate prey, when sight is hindered other, and ultimately more important, other senses take it's place, bass doesn't need to see the bait in order to strike it ( repeat it until you get bored and when you pull out a crank from your box and begin asking if that color works repeat it again ), when you fish water with poor visibility it's more important to select baits with high hydrodynamic signature ( fat ), with rattles ( bass can also locate silent cranks in low visibilty water ), with strong vibration, those attributes are by far much more important than the color of your bait. How do I know ? Oh well I caught my first bass ever from a pond with water so muddy you could literally plow it with a Rapala Original Floating Minnow silver black back, the absolute "wrong" bait for those conditions and it caught the fish.

We have a winner !

I got one and as you mentioned, mine is higher geared, 7:1. Pretty little reel and as said, $200 bones for a 350 bucks reel is a no brainer. I have used mine only a couple of times, liked it but that's just about it. Now if you are used to fish with aluminum frame reels you might find the magnesium frame has somewhat "plasticky and hollow" feel and many people don't like that ( I'm used to it because of my other magnesium frame reels )

Better ask me which of my reels I don't like.

Of course I can find fish without electronics nor topo maps or things like that, I got eyes and the contour of the terrain I see above water level is most probably going to continue underwater so I can relate to what I know that holds fish in my waters, extrapolation.

Big Game, but if it's real nasty then CXX.

Forgot to add that a Carbontex drag pad replacement is what the Dr orders. Yes there is a better spool option but I doubt you can find a SF Wiffle spool from either the Chronach SF or from a Castaic or from a Metanium Mg ( JDM ) since it's a reel that dates back to the 90's.

A good cleaning and lubing would be the only upgrade that reel would need in my opinion.

Should have purchased a Curado/Tatula and then you would have forgotten about "upgrading" .....

Another vote for Fat Alberts, one of my favorite colors is Margarita.

Lake El Azúcar, just across the border from McAllen, TX.

For fishing places like this : and skipping to docks might be considered similar, a 4 power ( 784/844 ) is the best option, I flip/pitch/skip to those with my MBR784 and it's perfect for those techniques, I feel the 723/783 lacks the kind of power you want, but it's powerful enough when not performing those techniques.

Not all combos are bad, avoid the "cheap" ones, if you want to get a combo pick those in the upper mid to upper level.

No matter how great is the Avid X it's still an inferior rod to the IMX, an Avid X is comparable to a GL3.

Lake Falcon, Lake Amistad, Choke Canyon Reservoir.

That's a very fine reel.

"RULES" .......

Bubububu but the regular SV spool don't look as kool as the other onez ......

Mepps Aglia, Mepps Comet, Blue Fox Vibrax. Hmmmm, I'm looking at that Sally and I think it's going to make a good addition to my arsenal.

Don't get it, get a shallow SV spool.

It's no bigger, it's deeper.