bhoff

The problem with this is I don't have a spinning setup and my casting setup for throwing this type of lure is far from ideal. Cant really spend the money to get another combo so I have to stick around the 1/16-1/8 oz weights at least to get adequate casting distance. I don't think a traditional nail would be heavy enough unless it was very long, at that point it would probably impede the action.

Wondering what your guys' go to neko rig worm is. I have been using trick worms, but with a 3/32 nail weight the head of the worm is almost too narrow and I oftentimes end up marring up the worm pretty badly. Thanks.

Ah well then @BobbyBudnick I appreciate the clarification.

If you guys want to see the SLX torn down, I would suggest going to the youtube channel "TackleAdvisors". He does tear downs of tons of baitcasters and it's quite informative if you are trying to see build quality and practices of companies. I could be wrong but I watched the tear down of the SLX and I think I remember seeing that it actually has an x-ship bearing but it is not advertised on the spec list.

I have nothing against Lew's but they certainly don't have the engineering experience that companies like Shimano or Daiwa have. Lew's and a handful of other companies have their reels made by third party manufacturers but to their specifications. Oftentimes components can be interchangeable between brands. Whereas you aren't going to see a Steez or an Antares in a manufacturers catalogue. You can look at YT channels like TackleAdvisor if you want to see reels broken down and discussed in detail.

Wouldn't use a leader for this. Braid is quite good because there is no stretch and it has the ability to cut through vegetation much better than other types of line. This feature makes it much better when fishing near weeds/grass or pads. The no stretch also helps with the fact that its much more difficult to get a solid hookset with a frog hook than a normal EWG per say.

Trick worm and PTL Ticklers

I bought a 7' MH Cashion last summer and I agree with pretty much everything here. The sensitivity was nuts for the price, more sensitive than my Dobyns Champions for $80 less. Although, I ended up selling it pretty quickly because I am the type that cannot stand a tip heavy rod. It was one of the main reasons for going to Dobyns in the first place. That being said, if you're looking for a rod that doesn't break the bank and has outstanding feel for the price, I would recommend these. They also have a very good replacement policy. Good review.

I have a Champion 703, 734 and 735. I usually stick to around 3/8 ounce jigs with trailers on the 734. It could go higher but especially when throwing into cover I would jump up to the 735. I don't feel like the 734 has enough power to pull a bass out of a laydown for example. Also I just realized that we live quite close to one another.

I usually use a Champion 734 or 735 depending on how heavy the lure is.

Yea I think that it might be caused from too loose of a spool tension or too little braking. I'm not birdnesting i.e. there is no overrun at the end of the cast. However, during the cast too much line may be coming off the spool at once. I'm not using micro guides either nor am I using a leader. The rods I'm casting on are Dobyns Champions. I didn't get a chance to walk out my line and reel it back in last night so I'm still hoping that will be of use.

The only type of lures that I can convince myself to spend big on are topwaters. That being said the most expensive lure I've purchased would have to be either the Deps Slither K or Buster K. I think they're around $20.

@Junger Ah gotcha. When I get off work that's the first thing I'll do.

Easily "swamp donkey" for me.

Im fishing from the bank so I'll just cast out and do the same thing. Worth a shot. In terms of the tackle itself, everything is the same as before. It's the same line from last season, both 40 and 50lb PP on two separate combos. I also was not fishing with a different type of bait. Im beginning to think that it could be my spool tensioner being too low on the cast. Maybe too much line is coming loose off the spool during the cast and causing the line to slap more on the guides on the way out.

I've been using the Deps Slither K and Buster K for a while now and they have produced the best results for me. Both are extremely easy to walk and have a great set of hooks. Probably the only lure that I can justify spending $20 on. Not too concerned of breaking off when using 50lb braid pond fishing.

I've been getting an uncanny amount of wind knots in my braided line this season on my baitcasting setups. Any ideas why that could be? I never seemed to have problems with them before, ended up having to cut a few sections of line off last night because of it.

I second the Gammy Octopus Hook. I'm sure both the circle and normal style would work but I usually just go with the normal version.

I switched over to Dobyns rods because of Gary's attention to the balance of a rod. Never handled a tip heavy Dobyns rod.

Chronarch 200e7 or Team Daiwa Zillion

So what is the difference in the braking system between the reels with the SV spools and non SV spools? I'm a bit confused between whether there is an actual difference in the braking system or if the lighter spool just doesn't cast the average lure as far.

@new2BC4bass Is there an altered braking system with the SV spools as compared to the non SV's? If so I was not aware, which definitely could make a difference. However, the lighter the spool the less inertia it will generate during the cast. The less inertia it has the less it will overrun. A combination of both most likely.

I appreciate the video link @QUAKEnSHAKE , it was an interesting video but I feel as if it was a bit biased towards the Curado. He seemed to be casting into the wind with the Daiwa while casting with the wind with the Curado. One thing I did find very interesting was that even though the Shimano spool is much shallower, the Daiwa spool by itself is lighter. When he weighed the spools with line in, the Daiwa was still lighter overall. This shows me that although I see a lot of people saying the Curado will bomb lures farther, the SV spool coupled with the TWS seems to be able to cast lighter lures further. Along with that I have been seeing that the SV spool seems to be quite good for skipping lures because of it being lighter.

So do you think the performance would still be better on the TWS compared to the Curado without the aftermarket spool?

I am looking at getting a setup for throwing light bait applications such as ned rigs, shakey heads, small jigs etc. I have the rod nailed down but am looking at which baitcaster would be best for this sort of setup. As of making this, I am torn between the Curado 70 and the Tatula SV TWS. I see that the Curado has a shallower spool which would have less moment of inertia, but the Daiwa has the TWS which allows the line to exit more freely from the spool itself. If anyone has any insight on these two reels it would be greatly appreciated, thanks.