Preytorien

Yea, I've given up on anything but a frog for now. On a good note, we had a really hard rain Sunday night, which raised the water level a few inches above the grass tops. Broke out the weightless fluke and buzzbaits last night while testing out the new Gliss line (see another post in Rods, Reels, Line) and had a nice time whackin' em. I love that kind of fishing. Can't beat a nice squeaky Cavitron!

I'm not totally sure that it's a coating. It FEELS like it, but it seems its more of just how the line feels. In spooling as well as tying knots, I didn't notice any loss of that wax feel. It made knots easier to cinch down in my opinion, especially a double palomar, which on some braids is a hard ask.

I would expect a larger diameter to do better with alternative knots. But for the 24lb I've been using, it seems knots that wrap around themselves are prone to slippage. From the packaging I have, the diameters listed on TW are accurate. The line is VERY thin. I've never used Fireline or Nanofil, but this is much thinner than comparable braid. A-Jay you're going to like this on spinning....I'm confident. A couple things I still want to test are: 1. Actual breaking strength. The weights I use aren't at my house, so I need to get them. 2. A more long-term test to decide on it's toughness and resistance to fraying 3. What it's like for me on my casting reels (I'm already impressed with spinning) 4. I'd like to test out a line to leader connection. The package only recommends one, a Double Uni, but I'd like to try an Alberto knot with this since that's my leader knot of choice 5. Long term test to determine colorfastness 6. Just keep using it to see what other issues, positive or negative, that I can observe. If this is to become one of my go-to lines, I'll put it through it's paces before I start switching out other reels. To add on to what A-Jay said, this is currently a line I'm only considering for finesse tactics, so I'm not sure what advantages or disadvantages would be present for flipping or frogging, where you need immense strength and toughness. To be honest I almost never flip, but I do a fair amount of frogging. It's something I'll explore in the future though you can bet on it.

I use that bait very frequently. They don't work at all. They're horrible. When you get yours just ship them to me and I'll dispose of them No really though, those things are DEADLY when bass are hitting topwater on a nice still summer night, very similar to a jitterbug. You've gotta get your retrieve just right, too fast and they just drag through the water, too slow and they don't impart much action. I've had the best luck slow-steady retrieving it, and also twitching it. Some of my biggest fish this year have come off it. My local smallmouth river is still too high to fish, but otherwise I fully expect them to light this thing up. One note, the entire body (being two separate pieces) is held together by the belly hook eye, which is also the screw that holds the body together. I lost a fish and Shinmushi because that screw loosened and the entire thing came apart on a fish blowup. If you're not going to take it apart and customize it, do yourself and favor and just super glue the entire body together and superglue that screw in place. I didn't like buying another $15 lure because of that. Otherwise.....enjoy...and hang on to your rod!

A-Jay gave his excellent in-depth review which prompted me to go ahead, bite the bullet and try Gliss for myself. While my review probably won't be as thorough, and I'm probably not fishing the same way A-Jay would be, I'll offer my insights to it as well. A few points first.... 1. You'll notice the spool is very small, like a small sample of Trilene. But it's because the line is so thin. Besides, I think the smaller spool may help alleviate the line springing off the spool. 2. The line feels like nice waxy dental floss. At first when spooling I thought I'd have white wax all over my fingers, but it didn't budge. I don't think it's so much a coating as just how the line inherently feels 3. When you cast/retrieve, there's almost no sound. This is a nice alternative coming from every reel in my arsenal being either straight braid or braid + leader. This stuff is silent. As for on the water.... 1. The casting distance is unbelievable. Even weightless soft plastics launch with ease. I didn't try cranks or jigs since this was a grass heavy lake and I was using a spinning/finesse setup. 2. The sensitivity is on par with the best of braids. I use exlusively Sufix 832 and PP Maxcuatro. This is every bit as sensitive. 3. There truly is little/no stretch. Being not a braid I was skeptical of this claim but as the evening wore on, more and more characteristics of this line felt like braid, even though it wasn't truly braid. 4. Line manageability was right up there with braid. I fished in about 10-12mph wind all night, and no twist knots or tangles of any kind. It performed here much better than I had hoped. I bought the 24lb Gliss, in a 150yd spool in Translucent. It looks white on the reel. Matched my Stradic nicely. I pulled in several very nice 3+lb fish through grass and never had a break off, knot slip (see below), or fray. I know on other forums they list fraying as a negative, and to be honest I'm not fishing this over mussel beds or rocks, mostly in grass lakes. So I noticed no fray. One thing, and this is CRITICAL. I almost always use a San Diego Jam knot or Palomar knot. On this line you MUST use a Palomar, or more recommended a Double Palomar. The line is slick feeling, and I lost 2 lures (cheap ones thank goodness) due to my SDJ simply slipping out. I used a Double Palomar the rest of the evening....not a hint of slip. USE A PALOMAR. I'm sure A-Jay can add some stuff to all this. Overall, I'm very very impressed. It does everything it claims to do, and it's not very expensive (15). Buy some, give it a try, and let us know.

Yep, a Curado I on a Zodias rod

Do yourself a favor.....don't consider either and use the Power Pro Maxcuatro. Thinner, but the same strength. I've been using 50lb all year and I'm very impressed. It's on TW, eBay, and many others.

Thanks I'll have to give that a shot. I have an inline buzzbait that I've rarely used. I may try adding a weedless hook to it and seeing if that helps any. I doubt it though since it's the blade that gets fouled up

So I have a body of water I fish, and it frequently produces very well with a buzzbait, of course just at dusk. Lately the pond is getting a very heavy spread of grass cover from the bank out about 15' Is there a better or feasible way to pull a buzzbait through this without fouling the blade? I've tried my lucky Cavitrons and they foul up something terrible. Even the SK buzzbaits with the weed protective cone in front of the blade doesn't help. Am I just out of luck until the weeds die off in the fall?

X2 I found out the tough way that Rod Sox don't float. I contacted them to suggest they put some kind of warning or disclaimer on their site and products about it since I presumed it would float. They promptly took care of me. Offered me a new one for free and 50% off an additional one. Great folks to deal with.

I use the Rod Sox...the end of it is tough rubber to protect the tips of the rods, and the entry of the sock is molded rubber too to make it easier to put on without tangles

I've never paid as much for a rod as I did the Zodias. Before that I had a BPS Carbonlite, then a Crucial, then before that a Clarus - can you see I'm a Shimano fan? Ha That said, in all the rods I've had - the Zodias is hands down the best rod I've ever used. Objectively I can't compare it to a NRX or Legend Elite or anything like that, but it's a great stick, sensitive, light, looks good, build well, the Ci4+ seat is super comfortable, all things you need in a rod, and it does all those things.

I've only ever owned the Curado G, and the I is significantly smoother in my opinion and casts much further. I paired it with the new Zodias rod and it's my all-purpose rod and my favorite.

If it's truly 24 breaking strength, or even a bit below that, and the line performs well, then it might be a game-changer. I'd be using it mostly as a finesse line and in a small river here for smallmouth, this could be a new go-to line for me. That'd make this year a year of change for me as I've been making a slow transition to Maxcuatro braid (great stuff)

I use a leader with frogs....sometimes It usually only happens because I'm using a flouro leader, then I see hits on the top of mats near me or something, I'll throw on a frog for a bit. The only caution I'd say is that if you're using a flouro leader that's long enough and a relatively small frog (1/4oz), the leader can inhibit the walking or popping of the frog, and even slightly drag it down. If I'm specifically frogging, I never use a leader.

Well, I found a few different places that listed the diameters, but Tackle Warehouse - probably pretty accurate, shows 24lb Gliss being .007in, and Sufix 832 10lb, (my current line on this reel) is shown as a diameter of .008in, so it's a tad bit smaller with a higher rated breaking strength. Are my numbers off? Gliss - http://www.***.com/Gliss_Supersmooth_Monotex_Line/descpage-GSM.html 832 - http://www.***.com/Sufix_832_Braid_Lo-Vis_Green/descpage-S83B.html

Well, I just bought some of the "24lb" line. Seems that it'd be pretty thin, good for finesse plastics maybe. We'll see!

I put a recommended amount of waterproof (marine) grease on the gears, maybe a little more than one would normally put, and I still occasionally get this noise. One strange thing I've noticed is that it happens when I hold the reel at certain angles, which might be why I notice it coming and going, my hand probably rotates a bit on retrieve. As for worn gears, if Shimano gears wear out already on a reel bought in Feb, started using in April, well....they have QC issues, which I don't think is the case. It's practically new, so I don't think being dirty is a concern yet. Any ideas....other than holding my wrist just right? LOL

X2 I always find myself coming back to 832....its great stuff Although this last spring I spooled my Curado I with the new Maxcuatro braid....and it's pretty darn good....reeeeal good

My local Wal-Mart is stale. They have the usual 300 pegs of Zoom stuff that apparently no one buys since it's always in stock, then the Yum and SK stuff is always out and never re-stocked. The selection is always the same....always I could've really stuck it to their policy of items being priced right....there were 4 Lews Speed Stick Carbon rods all in the wrong section....marked at $34.99 I just played it honest and let the mgr know he was about to have a bad time if someone less honest than me took advantage of their mistake However....I went back last week and they're all still there....oh what to do...a moral dilemma

X2......very much agree Mike is world-class

I agree, and the Orvis models are pretty expensive. I love the BM bag, does the job well and I don't have to worry about tearing up an expensive bag in the process

I use the little bag that came with an old subscription to BassMaster.....fits a couple Plano 3600 size boxes real well. I use a 6'8" Shimano Compre with a Stradic FJ reel.....10lb Sufix 832 braid with a 6ft flouro leader

Yea, it's never caused any problems whatsoever, I just figured that with all the micro-improvements they do to reels these days, increasing the quality of materials in a near-constantly moving part would be high on the list. Must not be a high stress component?

I had to take my reel apart last night to check some things, and when doing so I noticed something that I seem to always notice, and it bugs me, so maybe someone can answer my question. It seems like that for all the durability a manufacturer states their reels possess, they all have plastic level winds and line guides, aside from the actual drive gear and the hole that the line passes through, the entire thing is plastic and flexes quite a bit and has a bit of play in it. Maybe I'm not correct in my thinking but wouldn't that be a point that at least a LITTLE more metal could benefit the reel, and maybe not flex as much? Or does the level wind/ line guide flexing not affect the performance much? I have looked all over for aftermarket parts to upgrade it, but aside from replacement parts there's nothing to upgrade or tune it.....that I've found at least.