poisonokie

which ponds do you haunt? I usually just go to the Yukon park because it's fairly close and there are some decent fish, and I know a few others in office parks and such.

I saw where people were slayin em at Prague back in march. Need to go check it out.

I know, that wind has been crazy lately and the water's not warming as fast as I thought it would. Fished a pond in yukon for 3 hrs last weekend, got one nibble early on and finally caught a pounder on a flick shake worm right before I left.

I use both light and med light / reg fast rods for this technique with great results. Couple those rods with high vis braided line and there is no missing the bite.

I use 20# super slick on my sv spools without issue, but those spools are on light BFS setups, so the rods are softer and the drag is lighter, which prevents the line digging in.

they're both good. I think pp and super slick are more colorfast, and in my experience pp holds a leader knot better. I think the gore fiber on the 832 tends to cut your fluoro. I have one reel spooled up with Daiwa j braid and it seems just as good as the other two, if not a little better, for less money. A double san Diego jam is my knot of choice for all three.

Yeah, with swim jigs and all moving baits, I let them take it before I set the hook, and oftentimes a reeling hook set is enough, but that rod is a mod fast action, so that helps. The MH has more to do with the backbone of the rod for solid hooksets and fish control.

I got some Daiwa j braid to try and so far it seems like really great line. I'll probably choose it over power pro super slick from now on. Just keep your brakes turned up until you get the hang of it. I think backlashes are a lot easier to pick out of braid and it won't get damaged like mono. Maybe spool up with cheap mono just to get your fundamentals down, then strip it off and move on to better line.

I use a Tatula 7'1" MH/R with 40# braid. It's pretty stiff, but has a nice bend. If I didn't use braid, I'd use my Tatula 6'10" MH/F, but as it is, that's my worm/jig rod.

nah, go lighter. Like 10-15#.

If you increase the width/height of the aperture through which the line flows, it comes off more easily with less friction. Even with micro guides, the first one is much further from the spool than the levelwind, so the angle of the line's path is much shallower, so there is less drag on the line at that point by default. Even with a 6.5' bass rod, you would get better casting performance without a levelwind, and the t-wing is the closest you can get. The poor palmability of the tatula is a result of the wider spool, and this new zillion does away with that. It will be closer to a t3 with an sv spool, which I have, and it is an awesome caster. Great distance with ease and no backlash. I barely have to thumb the spool at all, even casting an eighth ounce.

so all those surf casters who use non-levelwind reels are just manually guiding the line back on their reels for the fun of it? Now THAT would be a cool story, bro.

it's not just a sales gimmick. Why are you so angry? Go eat a snickers or something.

exactly. Turning a crank requires very little dexterity. It may feel strange if you just reach up and crank the handle of a reel mounted to a display at the counter, but it's wholly different if your right hand is involved. If you're right handed, your left follows your right's lead, so to speak. You can do things with your left so long as it jives with your right. Here's an experiment: Try writing something with your left hand. Turns out looking like hell, right? Now write the same thing with your right and left simultaneously. That's weird... It looks a lot better but you need a mirror to read it.

Like they said, no hand switching and you can set the hook and control the fish with more authority, not to mention it's easier to work your bait, especially topwaters. I liken it to the guitar where, depending on the style of play, you strum the strings, or pluck individual strings, or palm mute with your dominant hand so that you have more control over timing/rhythm and the force with which you hit the strings, while your weaker hand handles chords and position on the fret board, which is less control/speed/power intensive.

See, I think you don't lose fish with braid provided you use the right rod. For standard 1/2 oz cranks it's medium glass composite all the way. For topwaters, squarebills, and traps it's medium heavy glass composite. For jerkbaits, spybaits and other BFS, spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits, and swim jigs it's moderate fast graphite. For jigs, worms, frogs, and flipping it's fast graphite. Have a little patience and don't use extra fast for anything. With this approach I detect more bites and land more fish. My philosophy is that it's better to have give in your rod instead of your line.

30# is great for those techniques. It has the diameter of 8# test, so it will cast well, impart good action, and allow great diving depth. It will also give you more feel as to what's going on with your bait. Any lighter and it will tend to dig into your spool, especially with those spinnerbaits, causing backlash. Also you'll lose abrasion resistance, which i think is more important with moving baits. I actually use 40# for spinnerbaits, etc. If your rod is rated 8-14, then 30-50# will work great. I think that line rating has more to do with the guide train than anything.

some baits will work just fine with braid. Others not so much. If that's the case, all you need is about 2ft of mono leader, so stretch is practically a non-issue.

I use a 7'2" mh/mf glass composite rod for squarebills and traps, as well as deep divers and swimbaits less than 2oz. I've used a 7'1" mh/mf carbon rod for squarebills and vibes with good results, but I use that mainly for spinnerbaits chatterbaits and swim jigs now.

For what you're wanting I'd consider a Daiwa Tatula 701MLRB. They can be had for around $120 and will not disappoint. That said, this is the crankinest crankin setup that ever cranked a crank: Tatula 711MRB-G + TD Luna 103L + 30# braid. Sensitivity, castability, and catchability abound.

You might look into the 6'10" med/xf Tatula. I don't have that particular model, but I have 5 others and they all shine for their intended use, so I doubt that model would be any different. If I used xf rods, I'd get one myself for 1/4 oz t rigs, jika rigs, and jigs. Might do it anyway, hell.

yeah, if it was me, I'd fill it to that beveled edge.

never mind. It's 3/16-1/2. They just got the spinning and casting ratings backwards.

So what are the ratings? That would irritate me.