kickerfish1

Ain't that the truth! I did a quick inventory of the casting reels I own in casting only. They broke down like this... 5 mid to high end shimanos 1 high end US Daiwa reel 2 high end JDM reels 2 lower end Lews reels 5 mid to high end BPS reels 1 high end Okuma reel I am not really brand loyal as you can tell. If I had to pick a brand preference I would say Shimano and Daiwa would be my selections followed closely by Okuma.

I would go symetre and elite tech.

Depending upon length of rod it may balance slightly different. Even given a difference in length, dobyns rods balance very well most any reel. With a reel as light as the CI4, I would opt for a rod under 7 feet in length. Sensitivity and components of both the champion and champion extreme are right up there with any rods at this price point.

I fish most of what has been noted above. Another quality bait is the Yamamoto pro senko.

The dream shot did not seem to float when I fished it last September. On a drop shot it caught a few fish and had decent action but if my memory serves me correctly I think it slowly sank and did not suspend/float. I only fished the dreamshot once but for a similar style of bait I would look at the roboworm fx sculpin or jackall I-shad. The action of both of these seemed to be slightly better and produced a bit better for me.

I have way too much of everything. I guess my top 3 would be: 1. Quality hand tied jigs. 2. Soft plastics 3. Megabass jerkbaits and topwater

I am thinking you should go all out on this one! Talking carbon fiber handle, corks knobs, abec7 bearings, supertuning, a carbontex drag, and what the heck, throw in a custom paint job. You only live once! Good luck with what you chose to do with the reel!

Put me in the symetre crowd. I have an older model that is wicked smooth after lots of use and time. The new symetre now comes with x-ship which is a great feature for a sub $100 reel. I also have the sahara and it would be my second choice.

Probably tied somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 Alberto knots while spooling up some reels for the season. Once you get the hang of the knot you can get them done in under 30 seconds.

X2 ... and in the same order as mentioned. If I am on a finesse bite I usually have these 3 rigged. I also might have a tube or grub rigged. Occasionally I will downsize to smaller 4 inch senko. However the dropshot is so important to me I will usually have 2-3 rods rigged this way. On a side note take a jackall flickshake and rig it wacky on your dropshot rig. It will help keep this smaller worm from getting missed by a potential fish if there is any vegetation on the bottom.

I am not 100% what is accounted for in turnaround time. Assuming the shipping there and back does not count? I dropped them off at USPS on January 12th and received them back on March 8th. I would say remove about 10 days for transit time (getting the order there and back) and it would be around 5-6 weeks give or take. We had to wait a few days for a part to arrive as well. Keep in mind this is peak season still for professional reel mechanics/tuners. I also had a fairly sizeable order. As to whether the turnaround time is more or less right now I would call or email Mike for a more current projection.

Among the users of this braided line that I have talked to, I have heard nothing but rave reviews of it. I haven't had the chance to fish it, but I am strongly considering using it when frogging season rolls around.

Got my reels back from Mike the other day. Early impressions are quite favorable, though I haven't fished them yet. He has a very good handle on all aspects of the business and I am planning on sending more reels in the future.

I know a few guys that run 4 and 5 pound floro on their pixies for finesse fishing. Personally I haven't gone under 10# floro on a casting reel yet, as the lakes I frequent have some fairly thick cover throughout the year. I see know reason why 8# wouldn't work given the right conditions and spool size.

As others have noted it is a 4 part equation for casting distance with either spinning or baitcasting. Rod + Reel + Line + Lure. All 4 of these must be in sync to get maximum distance. Having your reels professionally cleaned and oiled/lubed is a great start. Upgrading the spool bearings and supertuning only will help with distance. The only drawback is that a trained thumb is required to help add additional breaking to the point of making the upgrades worth it over a stock reel. I would say about 90% of the time my casting reels are launching baits further than my spinning rigs. I have a few casting reels that have been upgraded to just about the max and the casting distance is just unreal.

100% floro with NO braid involved. For 90% of my finesse fishing I am running 8# sunline sniper or seagar invisix.

Boy, I know I may beat this to death but assuming the budget for the rod is around $150 I would suggest the Phenix recon 714. From weightless flukes to 1/2 oz jigs plus trailer, this rod is versatile. It has a lifetime warranty as well as the rod is quite sensitive for a rod in this price range. Throw in the fact that from a pure cosmetic standpoint the two would be a pretty awesome pairing! The price is a touch over your budget but I picked up mine during a 20% off sale for under $150. If you are not in a hurry I would bet that there may be an Easter sale that some of the online retailers would offer.

Way too general of a question. The amount of answers and variables is too great to even attempt...

Any standard size paint brush will work fine that one would use to paint with watercolors. One small note is that you don't want to get the sealer on the blank or the "non-cork" portion of the rod. If you do wipe off with a towel or papertowel. I did around 30 rods with it and have well over a a 1/2 bottle left.

You are correct that is a very short handle for a casting rod. I haven't handled any of the elite tech casting rods, but the spinning rods are very comfortable to me. I like the looks of the rig paired together. Drop us a line on how it fishes from a performance/comfort standpoint.

Depends upon how important a good spinning reel is to you and what features you want. The features of spinning reels are much less known compared to baitcasters among the average bass fisherman. For my own persoanl needs I wouldn't by any reel lower than a shimano symetre or saros.

X2 on the cumulus, cumara, and elite tech! Add another vote for the dobyns championion extreme. For what you pay for phenix recon they are no slouch either.

Simply amazing Ray! Thanks for sharing!

Some absolute stellar reels ray! Very cool and diverse group as well. The AOI is off the charts rare! Dare I ask if there are more JDM reels? Care to share the other part of the equation ....there rods?

I have both the cabelas rod sock and a rod glove. A few comments about each... The cabelas rod sock is nice and perfect for keeping your rods from getting scratched up. They are also very light, which makes them easy to transport if any of your fishing requires you to walk and do any wading or bank fishing. To me they aren't as fast tor put on and off as the rod gloves are, so if you are storing your rods in a boat locker they wouldn't be my first choice. The rod glove or similar knock offs, use a more rigid frame for lack of a better word. They slip on and off quickly and there are options for different color jackets. This will allow you to distinguish them in a crowded rod locker... ie the red and black rod sock is my flipping outfit and the blue is my crankbait rod. The only downside would be they are not great to have to carry if you have to bank fish. It really weighs the tip section of the rod down and is very wind resistance making it even more of a hassle. I would suggest leaving them in the backseat of your car/truck but not take them around your local lake/pond/river. They both have their advantages and disadvantages so I would say for a boat the rod glove would be a much better choice while a non-boater ... land bound angler would probably benefit more from the cabelas rod sleave.