FryDog62

Curado 70 is a great reel and the most comfortable/palmable for me. However, if I’ll be skipping anything, or throwing light lures (under a 1/4 oz) then I’m a Daiwa SV guy 100%.

I’m a YZH fanboy but had same issue last year. Not huge but a little less distance. Re-spooled with Advance Mono and the lure flew off the reel. Seems more limp, and maybe YZH was a little more coiled coming off the spool. Lines are same diameter...

KVD’s line at Quantum wasn’t high-end either, so maybe he goes upstream a bit. But the premium stuff doesn’t sell in high volume and I would think they want to leverage his name to the masses again. Probably mid market $100-200 range but will see. I had been holding out to get a jerk bait rod this year, but got a deal on a Dobyns in the meantime.

Line capacity on the new Tatula SV TW is 100 yards with 14 lb line, I suppose you could exceed that somehow but I don’t think many people can. I think KVD is regarded as one of the longer casting distance guys on the tour and think he maxes out around 70-75 yards. I like the SV spool in part BECAUSE of less line capacity. This way I don’t have a lot of extra wasted line - or I don’t need to tie the extra backing on. And the other advantages of the SV spool make it a top choice for me. I use them for everything from skipping light lures (Steez and Alphas) to bombing long distance 3/4 oz Structure Heads or Chatterbaits (Zillion), as well as Tatulas on my Frog and Flippin’ rods. They SV spools are not magic, but with a little adjusting, they are definitely more forgiving and I spend very little time digging out lashes for any of the above applications. Love my Curado 70’s too, but why skip or throw ultra light lures with that when I have SV spools?

I cringe when I see the videos of how to get backlashes out of a baitcaster if it’s spooled with fluorocarbon. Wrenching down the drag and cranking the line with your thumb depressed on it is about the worst thing you can do. You may get the lash out, but that kind of kinking and pressure causes multiple micro-fractures in the brittle line. If you get to that point, just strip it off and get new line or be prepared for break-offs and heart breaks later on. Provided I don’t get any bad kinks and lashes, I get one season on fluorocarbon - then reverse the line and get a second year out of it. On lightly used spools, I may go 2 years and 2 years...

I prefer to rig larger worms like Trick worms or Magnums Neko style. With a nail weight in one end they do fall faster, but the tail sticks straight up off the bottom. Sometimes a slow sinking wacky worm gets bit, sometimes a Neko tail sticking up from the bottom works - like Francho said - have to see what the fish prefer. I like wacky worming when targeting the top half of the water column and Neko-rigging when targeting the bottom half. Action is similar, but I typically use the larger 6-8 inch worms Neko and save the 4-5 inchers for wacky.

I've tried many different ways of rigging tubes weedless - and the biggest problem I have with them is they are weighted at the nose. The beauty of a tube is its lazy, horiztonal swimming/spiraling/dying motion to get strikes. But if they are weighted at the nose you lose that motion and they just nose-dive to the bottom. Best rig I've used that keeps the balance point near the center of the tube is the Owner Phantom Weighted Tube Hook: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Phantom_Weighted_Tube_Hooks_4pk/descpage-OWTH.html

I had promised interior/storage pictures of the 1875 PVB “XS” version. Boat is out of storage, so here it is front and rear. A plethora of storage, the concern can be bringing too much. I try to keep it organized as much as possible.

Costa Del Mar has a few models that have built in bifocal “readers.” Their polarization and lenses are some of the best and made specifically for on the water. The Green mirror lenses are specifically made for sight fishing and they work great IMO.

Impressive Bronzie!!

I’ve used about every hook brand out there and agree there are many good options... But I switched to a size 1 VMC Weedless Neko Hook 2 years ago and am very happy with it. 100% hook up ratio and almost always in the roof of the mouth... and they stay buttoned. Gotta be the slightly longer shank that makes the difference...

I'm going to guess the landing percentage with largemouth wouldn't be that much lower if hooks were barbless - but if we're talking smallmouth, that's a whole different answer - they go aerial, and never never quit...

I like fishing with Barbs and also Annette to scoop the fish...

Best frog rod I’ve had... and it’s very good for swim jigs and even Chatterbaits. Very versatile... 4.2 oz is nice, was a great switch from my St. Croix that weighed well over 5 ounces.

I use the Dirty Jigs finesse swim jigs a lot - primarily 3/8 oz. Perch/bluegill colors here in the North. I plan to order some Sieberts Jigs with the wire tied skirts next... for .30 cents more definitely sounds worth it and still less than many other jig brands. The swim jig rod will be a Shimano Expride 7'2" MH power, Moderate-Fast action. Backordered but on its way by May (I hope) ~

What are you using for line..? I’ve used fluorocarbon/co-poly in the past but have gravitated to braid due to our abundance of milfoil in the North. Mostly 30 lb braid but am thinking of spooling with 40 lb this year to get into the thicker stuff if/when needed.

I have seen some of the write-ups and reviews of the Daiwa Tatula Pitchin/Flippin reel but I have not used one myself to attest to the Flippin switch capability. https://www.daiwa.com/us/contents/reels/tatulaelite/index.html

Looks good, I haven’t had the break off issue with the Owner Phantom Hook however...

I kind of see that as a possible trend, especially for the higher ticket items (i.e. rods vs. lures). Might find some deals now, but retailers/manufacturers won’t order a second round of inventory and will be out of stock and/or backordered later on.

Another alternative to consider is a 1/8 oz Chatterbait Micro. Not a spinnerbait, but I’ve had good luck with in some narrow parts of a local river I fish. A bit more snag-proof IMO.

I didn’t see many discounts around the Classic this year as Coronavirus was just kicking into gear, but I wonder now how prices will/won’t change. You could argue on one hand many people are losing their jobs or are so focused on buying toilet paper, stocking up food, etc that they are spending less on recreational items like fishing gear – hence there will be more sales to lure more buyers. The other argument is fishing can be a great activity you can do by yourself (or with limited numbers of people) and a chance to get outside and beat isolated quarantining – therefore demand actually stays normal or increases and so do prices. I also wonder with so many industry manufacturers supply chain in Asia/China that products will be delayed. Most retailers probably loaded up for the beginning of the season, but maybe mid year will be sold out and/or backordered. Supply-Demand will be interesting. Anyone from the retail or tackle industry have a perspective on supply/ordering and where prices might go?

That’s the key on the Alberto - gotta be absolutely certain you go back through the loop the same direction. Otherwise it can actually hold at medium strength when you tighten down the knot, but as soon as you ratchet up the tension on a fish, snag, etc It will give out.

This... I would think any St. Croix MH and a light lure are a mis-match. I've had plenty SC and they are heavy rods with a strong bias towards the tip. Many lighter and better balanced options IMO.

Braid as backing only could last forever... I'd say 5+ years easily. Just be sure you have non-braid backing below the braid or it will slip on the spool as it dries out.

I stockpile the torn up pieces over the season and take them to my local bait shop. The owner's son sorts by color and melts them down and makes his own worms. He said most are gray in color but he can separate the whites and greens fairly easily. Accent them with a little Spike It colors and you're good ~