JGBassinAL

Thank you iabass8. I talked to Dan after this whole thread started to get out of hand and he assured me that they are ABEC 9 bearings. Side by side with ABEC 5s they blow them out of the water. I may be naive, but I will listen to Dan on this one. Instead of knocking them everyone should give them a try and see for themselves.

My gut tells me that a guy who has cleaned and supertuned Shimano reels for 20 years with a spotless reputation is not going to lie about ABEC 9 bearings. The $20 price is with a service on your reel as well, so they might be more expensive if you just bought them straight up.

Maybe it is in my head, as I did not measure the casts. It sure did seem like I was casting farther, maybe it was just me wanting it to cast farther. But his ABEC 9 ceramics are only $20, which are cheaper than ABEC 7 Orange Seals so I'm not complaining.

Braid - Sunline SX1 Fluoro - Sunline Sniper Mono - Sunline Defier Armilo Don't use Copoly but I heard P-Line is good as stated above. Tight Lines!

I bought these from Dan at ReelEx who has serviced Shimano reels for no telling how long so I am sure they are ABEC9s...

Ok guys I just want to clarify something. I have a Curado E5 with ABEC 9 ceramics and one with ABEC5 ceramics. I have them both on the exact same model rod, and when throwing the exact same bait with the exact same line the E5 with ABEC 9 ceramics throws a good bit farther than the one with ABEC5s. I just thought the ABEC7s were a friendly suggestion to get him a little better casting. There might not be much of a difference in the ABEC7s and ABEC5s but there is a good bit of difference in ABEC5s and ABEC9s for I have seen it first hand.

How heavy are the jigs? Personally, anything 3/8 and up I use a heavy power rod, but medium heavy will do for anything up to 1/2. The medium won't fit those applications well in my opinion.

I'm confused...are most non-Americans left handed?

I agree on Tackle Warehouse. I personally use Strike King 5XDs and 6XDs. Also agree on the bright colors in dirty water. My favorite color is Chartreuse Blue Back. One thing to note though is that I ALWAYS replace the hooks with size 1 KVD Mustade Elite Triple Grip Short Shank hooks on the 6XD and size 2 on the 5XD. If you want to really get down deep then try a couple 10XDs! They are killer in the summer in Alabama!

I agree to an extent .RM. but my post was geared towards best overall performance for the reel, not just so the OP can cast better. What I posted will get you better results than just regularly tuning the reel.

Throw some ABEC 7's in there, use two brakes, and loosen your cast control knob to where the spool can slide left and right a little when casting. Then use your thumb to keep it from backlashing and it will throw twice as far as that carbonlite.

I have just as good of hooksets with a moderate fast tip as I do with an extra fast tip, and I don't lose as many big fish when they surge under the boat or when they jump because of the extra little bit of tip with the mod fast. That's why I prefer it over the fast and extra fast.

The rod I use is a 7'4" heavy with a moderate fast tip. The moderate fast tip isn't the same as a mod fast tip on a cranking rod. I have found that I get better hooksets and lose less fish when I use mod fast tip. I throw either 17 or 20 lb fluorocarbon, and I feel like I have more sensitivity with the softer tip. I can really feel what my bait is going over with that little extra give in the tip. I throw mostly football jigs with it, as it is my casting jig rod for ledges. But I have also flipped lay downs with it using brush jigs and such. Never used it for swimming a jig, I use a glass rod for that. And I throw shakey heads on a spinning setup. Check this video out by Matt Allen of * about mod fast action for jigs: http://*.com/proper-rod-action-jigs/

I like a moderate fast tip when I am jig fishing. But most companies rod ratings are so different that the Sellus' extra fast tip could be like a fast tip in another rod...

Listen to this guy!

Exactly. Hold your rod tip towards the water...and don't use braid. Even if you are using a crankin rod the no stretch quality of braid could rip the bait out of the mouth of the fish. I use mono and fluoro, one on each setup. I have 12 lb sunline reaction fluoro on one and 8 lb sunline super monofilament on the other. If I need to get my crankbait deeper I throw it on the 8 lb mono. I have never had a problem with hooksets using fluoro or mono. Although I feel like you have to sweep a little on the hookset with mono, but when I use fluoro just reeling tight and putting pressure on the fish hooks them. And I can't remember who said something about mono and a crankin rod making the hookset harder to accomplish, but I use glass crankin rods which are a lot more flimsy than graphite and I have never had trouble setting the hook with mono.

I throw strictly 5 inch senkos and I would never throw it on a medium. Most senkos weight 1/2 oz weightless...

My 7'4" heavy won't load on a 3/8 oz jig and I throw them all the time. Like I said I can cast it 40 yard easily. But I'm gonna get off this topic though. I think you would be happier with the medium heavy, way happier. If you have any questions alee17 just pm me.

Used to have it. I used it for topwaters.

I have 2 custom 7'10" MH glass crankin rods made by Scott Dobbins at Tigerodz. Sick rods with awesome pricing! I also use a Shimano Curado 200E5 on both.

Ok in all seriousness alee17, the tip is light on the 7'1"mh and can throw those weightless baits with ease. I don't use a medium heavy much, I use heavy most of the time except for my glass cranking rods. I can throw a weightless senko or 3/8 oz jig 40 yards on a 7'4" heavy all purpose rod that I have, and it has a way stiffer tip than the 7'1" mh *** black. But I also have a Shimano Curado 200E7 that is super tuned on that rod. Still, if I can cast those baits that far on a heavy power rod...you get my point. Oh and I rarely ever get backlashes.

I have used the 7 ft mh and have played with the 7 ft medium in store and they both have the same tip. So it makes sense to go with the mh cause it gives you more backbone. Someone said something about not getting a medium heavy because of the weightless flukes. The mh has the tip to throw them and work them just as good as the medium. Plus the mh can be used for so many more things.

To each his own bootytrain. Shimano has just always treated me good even compared to higher end abu. But hey whatever gets your line wet. And turnaround on that would be about 2 weeks probably. Depending on how long it takes to get your spool in from Japan.

Oh and I would definitely go with the 744DX over the 743DX, but I like to fish up a power from what I am supposed to.

I tried to make myself like Abu, I really did, just didn't work for me. I have a buddy that loves them though. I used to be a daiwa guy and I wouldn't touch a shimano because of fanboys. Then I got a few curado e series reels and I will never use anything else. If I were you, I would buy a shimano chronarch 50e, send it off to Dan at ReelEx and get it super tuned and abec9 bearings put in (around $44 total), then install carbontex drag (around $8). I would also put a yumeya bfs finesse spool in it (around $100), then get a 94mm carbon fiber handle with cork knobs from Hawgtech ($90). You would be getting the reel for $160 with your 20% off which would put your total around $400, which is $40 more than a core 50mg7. Or $20 more than an LTX which wouldn't have a chance of competing with the chronarch 50e with those upgrades. You would have the best finesse reel for $400 you could ever dream of fishing with. I have a curado 50e with stock bearings that was super tuned by Dan at ReelEx and it casts farther than my stock 50mg7...