jwhiteney

I took a look at the exsence. looks nice, the reviews i read on it are very positive. i have never used a 8:1 gear ratio though... seems fast. :S I may bite the bullet and look into the antares dc... i was thinking of going into a store and holding an antares now to see how i like the feel, but from the picture it looks like the antares dc has a different frame.

I did hear about the antares DC with the 4x8 system, but it is quite pricey for me. Even buying from one of the JDM sites, the canadian loonie isn't doing so well right now and I would be adding quite a bit to the cost... as well as if i get dinged for duties.

Thanks for the input. I'll be sure not to mention that company anymore, I had no idea it was banned. the maintenance I do on my reels is just putting some grease on that main gear on the inside and then put a drop of oil on each bearing. I do this a couple times a year (not that I have been fishing for very long so unsure if this is the best way long term)... If a DC reel requires more than that, I would rather stay away from it for the time being. Also it seems the 4x8 is the DC system people go for and as it is not in the metanium DC, that is another thing steering me away from DC. i do quite like shimano, I just find they fit best in my hand of the reels I have tried. I also live in Canada, so my selection isn't as vast as the selection in the US. I guess all three of my original options are still possible, but leaning towards two cheaper reels or the metanium.

It's sounds like I may want to hold off on a DC reel for awhile then. I do find them cool but the extra maintenance isn't something I want right now. maybe I'll go into a store so I can hold a metanium. I was looking at the Antares and aldebaran too... But from what I have read, it sounds like the metanium is more all round.

Hoping someone can help me out a little on this decision. Birthday is coming up and was thinking of getting a curado and a *** (for crankbaits and for soft plastics). However then i started looking into the metanium and was thinking maybe i should get my first high end reel. That led me to finding out about DC reels. Are DC reels all they are cracked up to be? I would be using this mostly for soft plastics. I also found out the metanium DC has a system which is inferior to the 4x8 system. Do you think I should get a couple lower end reels... a normal metanium... or the metanium DC despite the lack of 4x8.

Just yesterday I bought myself a second curado i. Would i be better off trying to return and wait for this one? Or is really just preference?

no. but i didnt think i had to as its not really cranked down to hard ok thanks. i will give that a try yes... i am aware 1/3 of 15 is 5. issue is 5 seems like the max it will go seems like it is cranked down really hard. also wasnt sure if it was bad for it to crank it down that much

I got it this year. Only used it a handful of times now.

I have a BPS pro qualifier and just picked up some 15lb line to go on it. I read that the drag should be set to about a third of what the line is. The drag only seems to be able to be set to 5lbs, online it says it should be 10lbs. I have it cranked down really hard. To set the drag I took the line out of the guides, attached a digital scale to the line and pulled straight away from the reel parallel to the rod. Am I doing something wrong or is it the reel?

Thanks all for the input. Th XML seems to be pretty popular. I went ahead and ordered 1.

The XML is on for $120 down from $150. Maybe I should go for that?

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely take a look at them. Too bad there don't seem to be any other options.

I am thinking of getting a casting combo and need some suggestions on the rod. It was suggested to me to get the pro qualifier reel and a MH 7' rod. My problem is I need a 2 piece which looks like limits my options by quite a bit. I went through BPS and cabellas and these are the 2 piece MH 7' rods I saw BPS bionic blade XPS Cabela fish eagle 50 Cabela tourney trail Cabela XML I was mainly looking at the bionic blade as I will be around a bass pro this weekend, but are the cabelas rods a lot better if at all?

Thanks. I am actually looking at getting #1. Although I'm limited to 2 piece rods which seem are hard to find for baitcasters. Looking for a 7' MH

Gotchya. I also spent the money on it because as you said it, the combo is pretty versatile. If it was a rod specific to certain situations, I definitely would not have spend that much on it.