22RangerZ520R

I'm going to go with this......

I think the 903C would handle the Ikas just fine. How are your rigging the Ikas? Weightless, bullet weight, etc.? It's going to depend on your reel and line weight also on casting distance, etc. On my 903C Conquest paired with my Aldebaran 50 and 12# Tatsu, the Ika would cast a mile. I also had (4) of the NRX 893C's and I think that rod is the most versatile NRX casting model. I can't comment on the Fenwick, I've been strictly high end G. Loomis & Shimano for a very long time now...

Thanks man, appreciate it!

No sir!!! I haven't won or inherited a dime! All from hard work and great money management! Paid off my house back in 2012, been 100% debt free since... I was 31 years old back then and not too many that age own their home (and everything else) free and clear. I've also been dumping a ton into my retirement account since I was 23, hopefully I'll be able to retire a little early... I did the Dave Ramsey debt free "freedom" scream in 2012 it felt GREAT!!!!!!!

A pic of my rig will make you feel really fine then about spending money on gear! ($75k / 2017 F250 Platinum & $86k / 2018 Ranger Z520L)

Congrats on the PB!

Yeah, I wish... LOL Love em'. I had 4 Sustain 2500's before them. You can't feel the gears at all, super smooth/crisp feeling. There isn't a back reel/anti-reverse lever, which I never used anyway. I've only been out on the water once with them, but did catch several in the 3lb-4lb class and one 5lb on the spinning combo. Drag handled great. I almost went with Stella's, but I'm very happy with the Exsence 3000's. And I like the matte black finish on them, simple yet elegant looking. Feel one in person at your local shop and you'll end up getting one...LOL.

We shall see...... And yeah, kind of a weird name

Cool. I remember fishing Loch Raven every weekend when I was in officer candidate school at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. I caught a bunch of nice fish, largemouth up to 5lb and smallies up to 4lb 8oz. I'd rent a boat with a trolling motor and be out all day long! I remember jumping off the bridge there too...LOL. I caught some small pike too.

They're working great! I did a review of them in the main rod/reel/line forum...

Heck no! I did tournament fish a long time ago, but quit. I fish Monday-Thursday to avoid the weekend warriors and googans!!! Nothin' like getting to the boat ramp and being the first one there, then having the lake to yourself! Or at most seeing 1 or 2 other boats all day vs 100 boats! As far as overkill..... There's no such thing! Like I said earlier, the nice equipment makes the fishing experience for me that much more enjoyable! Nah, not right now. It's going to take a while for them to "prove" themselves, but I'm not closed minded to switching to a Vexus for my next boat in the future. There's no question that all boats right now are compared to Ranger's as being the top of the line, but that may change with Morris buying them and everyone else out... Vexus may become the new "top of the line" brand bass boat, time will tell..... I'm curious to see what they look like when they show the models off at the 2018 Classic. Definitely a lot of buzz going on about Vexus right now and I will be watching them closely.... I wish. If so, I would have got all my combos for free! I only could swing getting the 14 Conquests by selling all of my NRX's and putting that money towards the new ones. It wasn't that much money out of pocket to upgrade...

The_Vue's & islandbass, I added pics to the "Show off your stuff" pinned thread for ya'll...

2018 Rod & Reel arsenal.... (10) Shimano Aldebaran 50 (4) Shimano Calcutta 400D (4) Shimano Exsence 3000 (1) Conquest 905C (4) Conquest 904C (4) Conquest 903C (1) Conquest 842C (4) Conquest 842S (2 not in pics) (2) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 966C (not in pics) (1) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 965C (not in pics) (1) G. Loomis CBR 959C DD (not in pics)

That's not counting my other 4 big bait combos: (4) Calcutta 400D's (2) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 966C's (1) G. Loomis IMX Pro swimbait 965C (1) G. Loomis CBR 959C DD About $18,700 retail in 18 combos... (Granted, I didn't pay retail! ) The truck & boat (2017 F250 Platinum & 2018 Ranger Z520L) are where most of my fishing "expenses" are....! You only live once, right?!?!?

12lb 8oz / Tennessee

You want a pic of my rods...? I'll take a pic of my (10) Shimano Aldebaran 50's and (4) Shimano Excense 3000's while I'm at it I guess...

Yes, I'm assuming the reason for the "more solid" feel I felt is due to the Spiral X and Hi Power X technology in the Conquest. The reel seats are very similar to the NRX, very comfortable.

Conquest... 904C or 905C

Strictly Shimano / G. Loomis here.....

Finally got out on the water with the Conquests this week.... I got 14 of them in the following models: 905C, 904C, 903C, 842C and 842S. On the casting rods I have Aldebaran 50's on them all and the spinning models I have Exsence 3000's on them. Got to fish with all models except the 905C, which arrived at my house while I was at the lake... I will say with the 905C just feeling it in my hand it balances WAY better than my NRX 895C did, the 905C is not tip heavy at all... I owned all NRX's prior to upgrading and the Conquests have a more "solid" feel, hard to explain but the NRX's felt "hollow"/brittle in comparison. I noticed the casting was more "fluid" with the Conquests and the guides were quiet, sometimes on my NRX's I could hear the line go through the recoil guides during a cast or when fighting a fish. I do like the full cork grip on the Conquests and its a very smooth cork feel in hand, no pits/rough spots like a couple of my NRX's had. I can't "with the naked eye" tell a weight difference between the Conquest and NRX, but they do feel stronger/more "solid" than the NRX. I caught several 3lb-4lb class fish on them including a 6lb and they all handled the fight of the fish great, I even caught a 5lb on the 842S Conquest paired with an Exsence 3000 with 8lb line. And I don't know if it's the reel or the rod or a combination of both, but the 842S Conquest with the Exsence 3000 casted like a dream! Farther and with less effort than with my NRX 852S w/Sustain 2500. I was a little worried at first with the "fast" action of the Conquests vs the "extra fast" of the NRX's but it wasn't an issue. I fished the same baits on the Conquests that I did with the NRX's and the rods handled the baits fine. I met the lure weight limits on each model I fished with, zero issues. Sensitivity is slightly better vs NRX, not as noticeable as say from a E6X to a GLX. Now, is "slightly better" worth the roughly 20% higher cost of the Conquest vs NRX? That's up to you... I'm a gear junkie so it was worth it to me... Fishing is my "beer", so having top of the line equipment makes fishing that much more enjoyable for me. In my line of work I need lots of "beer".... If you can swing the coin, I highly recommend them!