Cgrinder

President on an Elite Tech would be a great setup. Those rods fish above their price range. I would also recommend braid because it is more manageable on the spool and leader knots are easy to learn. I usually use a mono leader in open water because Pike. No reason to skimp on line if you can afford it.

You know, if your budget is that tight, you might be better off with spinning gear. More bang for your buck, so to speak.

x2, not a fan of the reel seats, but lightweight and very sensitive.

I went out last night. Big, popular public park. Shore wasn't too crowded but there was good comedy to be had out on the lake. Four adults in a ten-ish foot john boat with just a trolling motor was a show. The show got better when they went into the lily pads. Of course, you couldn't pay me to go out there tonight.

Bass are closed in MI from Jan 1 until end of April. Plenty of Steelhead around though.

Green Pumpkin, Watermelon Seed, Red Bug, and Junebug. I like baby and standard sizes.

Bill, it depends if you like green or black on white. The 50's are essentially the same reel. You'd have to fleabay the Curado but it's not too hard to find one.

I have a President 6925. It's a very nice reel. My girlfriend is in love with her Daiwa Legalis. It feels a lot smoother than my President but it is also kind of heavy.

I'm willing to pay a lot for frogs and some hard baits. Jigs, too. I try to be frugal with plastics and swimbaits because they tend to get torn up quickly in my lovely pike-infested waters. When I need to add more walking baits to my arsenal, I'll probably pick up some Gunfish or Repomen. I have a Sammy 100 that I hate, so go figure. I saw this custom $25 balsa prop bait the other day; came dangerously close to pulling the trigger.

I recognize you from a certain subreddit. Nice to see you on Bass Resource!

First off, what up SE Michigan. On to your questions, for the same price as a Mojo Bass, you can get an *** Black, which is the flavor of the year rod so far. Time will tell if they're good for the long run but so far, they are meeting or exceeding expectations. I have one and it is very nice for the price. As said, the St. Croix's tend to fish a little heavier. 6'10" or 7'1" would be my length recommendations. As for reels, there have been some issues with the gen 3 Revos. Most people seem to have moved on, save for die-hard Abu fans or people who hate Shimano. I'm being a little facetious here. Don't shoot. I like the look of the new Pfluegers but they are just that, new. I haven't found any info on them yet. If I was going to buy a reel for plastics tomorrow, I would buy a Chronarch 50E new or fleabay a Curado 50E. I have one Chronarch and it is very good for throwing the small stuff. Lew's is also a good option from what I have read.

Between those sites and the Flea Market, I've got a spending problem.

I've got the Chronarch 51e on the 6'8" MF Cumara Jig and Worm. It's a very light setup and casts nicely. I guess the F's are for worms and the XF's are recommended for jigs. The M is only rated 1/8 to 1/4 oz but I feel like it is a conservative rating. I'm sure 3/8 oz would be doable. I bought a gen 2 Cumara for exactly the reason you described. It's a very good looking rod. You should handle one first. It's a different handle design but I really like it. At this point I'm trying extremely hard not to buy more Cumaras.

You could always pick up another Cumara for consistency's sake.

Even if it's a little light, I would pick the 733 for the techniques you have specified. You may want to bump up to the Champion, as the word around here is that Savvy's aren't the best for bottom contact rods.

Ok, checked the teeth and the drag nut. All good. No visible stripping. Spring washers seem pretty flat, but there's still a little space between them. I'm going to go ahead and say there was an issue with the reel before I broke it down, since I only messed with the drag spacers and washers after it was suggested to check them. I flipped the spacer around; tried it with gold side up and gold side down. Gold side down seemed better, but the internet seems to recommend gold side up. I'm only $47 into this reel and I can still take it back. It's my current frog reel, so I don't want it letting out line. This is what I get for buying display models from a store that doesn't keep good tabs on their fishing gear. Good excuse to buy a Chronarch or Super Duty, says the Bait Monkey. I appreciate the help guys. This has been a fun one.

I'll check the AR bearing. If it is damaged, I'm going to take it back or send it in. Side note: could overgreased drag also be a contributor?

Thanks for the help. Certainly learning a lot! I do have braid backed with a good fifty yards of mono. I have a chronarch with 11 lbs max drag as well but I can't pull out any line on lockdown. That's what is making me suspicious. In regards to the spring washers, they may be flattened. Reel was a display and I seem to remember the drag being sort of tight. It's also probable that they were originally installed )(, which would cause the shavings as described and maybe flatten them prematurely. I'm going do see about bending them. Shimano will send me two new ones for $3.78 if this fixes it. Again, thanks for the good help all around.

Too bad they aren't LH. Nice deal though.

Well that's good regarding the play. However, I have another question. I took the spacers out and a large amount of metal shavings came out with them. Like, a lot. There was also a fair amount of metal shavings on the gear shaft when I took the drag star off. Is this normal? It seems like a lot of damage for a "new" reel that I've used for not even two weeks. And of course, the locked down drag still feels like it is letting out line too easily.

The drag star was fully seated. However, there seems to be some play in the drag star with the handle on. Is it possible that I have unreasonable expectations for the drag on the Citicia G?

Update. Took the handle off again and put it back together as described. Drag still lets line out too easily. How tight does the nut after the spacers have to be?

You may be on to something. I didn't take the spacers off but maybe they got shifted around.

The spool wouldn't come out so I took the tension knob off. This released the spool but i had to take the drag star off to get it back on.

I don't feel that straight braid is all that bad. Then again, I am fishing it on a Cumara and I still miss some bites. I'm in the same boat as you, switching to either yellow braid or opening the can of worms that is fluorocarbon. You have to buy good quality fluoro and line conditioner is recommended. It's a jump in cost that I'm hesitant to make when my straight Power Pro is "fine". There's always Yo Zuri Hybrid, which is popular. I've got a spinning reel coming with an extra spool and TW should be having a Labor Day sale. Line will be purchased, testing will happen, and I'll send you my opinions then. I think a Heavy power *** is a good rod. You might have some trouble throwing 1/4 oz weight and plastic on it though. On the upside, great frog rod.