Alpha Male

I cant speak for the phlueger but the revo has 22lb drag so if your going to use it for heavier applications that might be a good thing. other than that thay are pretty similar.

You have a lot of good advice here. The only thing I would recommend is to start out learning the sidearm cast for one simple reason. and that is to avoid the one issue youre having. The bait splashing down in front of you. with a sidearm cast your left and right accuracy will suffer by either being early or late with the release but you wont get the birds nests that youre getting

is the "key slot" a full circle groove all the way around the shaft? if its not it might be as simple as turning the nylon washer to the flat spots on the shaft.

some people have the reel seat some dont. I personally like the reel seat in my LTB (its a casting rod though). Unfortunately most retailers will NOT accept st croix rod returns, you can ask them of course. I personally think that fenwick Elitetech smallmouth spinning rod has the best reel seat even made. the elitetech bass rod is similar but not the same.

You have 2 choices as i see it. Step up with fluoro, go from 10lb up to 15lb. Or go with a co-poly line.

Its still worth having some CXX just be aware that its not true Fluoro. I think that next year I will try Sunline shooter. it supposedly has the lowest stretch out of any fluoro according to TT. and average knot strength

I switched to P-line 100% fluorocarbon. According to TT it has half of the stretch of invizx, unfortunately I didnt see the knot strength chart or i might have went with 15lb instead of 12. But I will give it a shot. Also Fluoroclear and CXX are copoly lines, I do have some 20lb CXX, but I just wanted to try it because of how strong it is.

I use braid a lot but not exclusively. out of 9 casting rods I have braid on 7. Four of those seven will have a leader if the waters clear.

First off... I like fluoro, for certain situations. Aside from the stretch of invizx that caused me to seek other line for my fluoro needs I have yet to experience any of the negatives commonly associated with fluoro. Secondly...there are at least 4 posts in this thread that repeat the propaganda that is printed on the box. I do not think that you or even quite a number of other members can't form your own opinions and do your research, but there have been more than a half dozen of these threads in the last month. So its seems there are more than a handful of people on this site even who read that fluoro has lower stretch than mono, that fluoro sinks and because of that it will make your crankbaits run deeper. The purpose of my post was to inform people and the OP that fluoro has its uses but despite the gains it does have short comings when compared to other line types. The purpose of my post was not to antagonize, bully, or insinuate that fluoro is bad line. Neither was my post meant to coerce anyone into or keep anyone from buying fluoro. I have 9 baitcasters and 7 spinning combos. Out of 16 setups 4 have straight fluoro, 5 have straight braid, 4 use braid with a fluoro leader, and the rest use mono/copoly. I feel fishing line is like a toolbox, I use the line I "feel" is right for the job.

After reading this whole thread, and the others like it, I can say that there are plenty of fishermen that eagerly buy into the propaganda associated with the fishing line industry. Facts i have looked in to about fluoro: Stretch - this is a joke. Like all line (that isnt braid) it stretches, some more than others, but the same goes for mono/copoly. Its up to you to do your research. I switched from invizx to P-line because of this. Knot strength - FAR INFERIOR knot strength compared to mono/copoly (even when tied correctly) i NEVER broke off a fish with my 12lb invizx it had one of the best knot ratings on the TT tests of fluoro knots. The P-line i just switched to was far lower in the rankings and i wont lie that i am worried about it. Smaller diameter - it does have a smaller diameter than the same strength mono/ccopoly. BUT.... Look at the tests that can be found on the web 12lb yozuri breaks at over 17lbs and invizx breaks at 11.8lbs. The 12lb yo-zuri has a diameter of .338mm and 12lb invizx has a diameter of .28mm. LESSON...rule#3 - dont believe what youre told...double check. Fluoro sinks - this is a kind of true. I say that because technically, it does sink in a glass of water with no current, however, in the real world in a lake with current the line has such little mass that the sink rate would be measured in feet per hour. That said the fact that it does sink does exactly Zero to make your crankbait run deeper. This is achieved due to the smaller diameter. There are plenty of other myths that i wont get into and will let everyone else duel it out on those. My opinion is that fluoro has its uses but go into the relationship knowing what the shortcomings are before hand.

I use braid from 8lb to 50lb and have never had the palomar slip. Practice more. I feel extra loops make line weaker not stronger. Adding extra loop to a knot is no excuse for sloppy knot tieing. If low pound test braid is slipping take more time and ic you feel it necessary add 2 half hitches on top of the palomar with the tag end.

I use a 7' 3" MH-F pinnacle perfecta. This is my first year using this rod for spinnerbaits as it was my frog rod last year. I like a stronger power rod so that the resistance of the bait doesnt overpower the rod. While i respect everyones choices i like a faster action for these. And i dont usually throw them in open water. Thats where i use treble hooks. I use 20lb braid and no leader. These are my go-to baits after T-rigs.

YEP

I have 30lb PP on a spinning reel. granted its an old shimano solstace 4000 size so it holds a lot of line. it works fine and casts plenty far. Granted I do agree with most other that 8-15lb braid is very strong.

Lews tournament SK.

I have a few revos and I like them. I got reid of all my quantum baitcasters and got a few lews reels and I am very happy with them.

You could certainly try a 7' rod and seee if that helps. Another xonsideration would ba an extra fast 6'6" rod.

I have been using 20-30lb braid for the last 2 years and have done well with spinnerbaits on that line. I cant say that the visibility of braid has been a reason i have gotten less bites and i fish pretty clear water. I would add a leader if i felt it necessary.

I thought so too but look at it this way... if youre flippin your using heavy braid and not likely to brake-off and lose the weight. also the regular size weights are reasonably priced around 40-70 cents apiece.

Look at the pic ripping lips posted. Some lews reels its not a screw and some it is. If its a screw then unscrew it. If its not just pull straight out.

The lews tournament ask is a gander Mt specific version of the standard tournament. The reel comes with 2 types of brakes and a spool tension knob. The two types of brakes are centrifugal and magnetic. The dial on the NON-handle side controls the magnetic brakes and it should be labeled 1-10 or low- high. The magnets act on the rotation of the spool and create a magnetic field and slow the spool throughout the entire cast. The second brakes are centrifugal and are adjusted by removing the NON-handle side cover. This is done by a long thumb screw on the handle side just above the handle.on the inside there are 4 spring loaded arms each one controls a brake shoe. When the spool is rotating at high speed they are forced out and contact a race and the friction slows the spool. When the speed of the spool lessens enough that the force of rotation isnt enough to force the brake shoes to contact the race then they are no longer having any effect on the spool. I would start with 2 brakes on and 2 off. And set the dial to 6 and work your way back from there.

To answer your question yes, mono works as well as any other line. there are advantages and disadvantages of all 3 types of line (which I will not get into!) The thing that has been discussed about mono floating and fluoro sinking is BS in the sense we are talking about here. its all about line diameter. and the thing that the others have been "discussing" is partly true on both sides. the fluoro line of the same "rated strength" will get the bait deeper because its thinner. why is it thinner? <---- Thats the important question! because if you take the diameter of a couple of main brand fluoro's they are smaller than most of the main brand mono's/Co-poly's. thats because their "breaking strength" is closer to the "rated strength". P-line 100% Fluoro, Invizx, and Sunline shooter all break within a pound of advertised strength. Look at a few mono's/Co-poly's and the same "rated" line breaks much higher BUT also has a higher diameter. Trilene XL, Yo-zuri, and CXX are the 3 that I use and all are rated at 12lb and all break close to 20lbs. Lesson for today? mono works just fine and For EVERY BRAND & EVERY TYPE of line take the "advertised breaking strength" with a grain of salt. Also look around online and you should be able to find a test done for all the name brand lines.

I own the exact rod youre talking about getting. I can say that it isnt as heavy as my daiwa heavy action or my cabelas heavy rod but it stacks up to a dobyns 5 power rod quite well. I am using my 7' avid spinning MH-F to compare to my dobyns 735c MH-XF

The only thing to remember about the tatula being under filled is that it will change your inches per turn. I would take the advice ripping lips but go one step further. Add the amount of cheap mono to fill the spool to where "you" like it. THEN I would tie it to something and walk it off the spool. Then go back to the end that is tied off and tie the cheap mono to the spool and boom you are now happy and you didn't have to make a trip to bps.

wind knot.