poisonokie

the p model is 4.9:1, the h is 6.3:1, the sh is 7.1:1

ACS for life!

I don't know, you'd think that might mess with your centrifugal brakes or rotor. The tackle trap has those new hedgehog spool pin removers for $27, though. It seems a lot better than the old style.

Well, he misspoke. I watch all those icast videos, too, and misinformation abounds. HVF is not SVF.

it is not the same blank. It is made with HVF (high volume fiber) graphite vs the SVF (super volume fiber) found in the standard tatula, zillion, and steez rods. There is lower fiber density and more resin in the blank. It's like the difference between "36-ton" and "40-ton" or "IM7" and "IM8" graphite.

Yeah, but each rod maker has a certain idea about what those ratings should represent, so standardizing it across the industry might serve to alienate their customer base. That's part of what sets a brand apart from others. Daiwa guys don't want a rod that feels like a Loomis and vise versa. Different materials and production processes will yield rods with different characteristics even if the rod taper remains the same. Tackle Tour's RoD wrack is a great representation of that.

50-65# power pro super slick. The 30# has more than enough breaking strain, but not much abrasion resistance and will dig down into your spool with heavy drag settings.

100mm does take some getting used to. I have one on my 6.3:1 cranking reel and I like it, especially for deep divers, but I prefer 80 for finesse and 90 for jigs/worms, etc. 100 is great for leverage, so using it around a lot of slop would be beneficial, especially with a high speed 8:1 type reel, but it does have the effect of gearing it down, like smaller diameter tires on a car.

Daiwa Tatula 761HFB. Svf X45 blank+Fuji alconite guides for sensitivity durability, and light weight. Awesome proprietary reel seat. Nice, sculpted eva split grip. Great fast action tip that isn't too stiff for use with heavy braid and loads of backbone. Casts 1/2 oz frogs like no other and pitches 1/2-1oz jigs effortlessly. They really are extraordinary for msrp and just stupid nice for what they can be found for. Can easily be found for less than $150 tyd. They are just a tiny bit tip heavy with a 7.5 oz reel, but it is a 7'6" rod, after all, and the nice long handle rests comfortably on your forearm while the tip is up. Also, that long handle allows for monster casts and hook sets. It also makes a decent deep cranking rod. The tatula xt and dx rods use a lower modulus blank and aluminum oxide guides, less comfortable reel seats, IMO of course, different grips ( no awesome contoured butt grip) and are probably heavier.

I don't think line visibility makes any difference with cranks. Maybe jerkbaits, in which case tie on a few feet of fluoro leader. If you're cranking around rip rap, tie on a few feet of fluoro leader. Other than that, straight braid is where it's at, especially for pricey baits with upgraded hooks, etc.

if you're using a cranking rod, especially glass or composite, braid will work just fine. Better to have give in your rod than in your line, especially on a long, cranking stick cast. You get better sensitivity and depth than with mono. Braid doesn't float, it suspends underwater.

I don't know, I think each rod has one presentation that it's best at, whether it's marketed that way or not. If that's the technique you have the most fun/success using, and it jives with the reel and line you use, then that's the rod you should buy. For instance, if you like fishing frogs more than anything else, buy a frog rod, not a flipping stick. It will perform both tasks well,as well as c rigs and deep cranks, but will excel with frogs. Obviously no one rod is going to work for every technique, but will cover a range while being the most effective with the one you had in mind when you bought it.

Be stealthy and light footed and pitch easy and low so your jig slips into the water with out a splash, let it fall straight down and dead stick it. Then watch your line. When it jumps or swims sideways, reel up the slack and set the hook. This is great for wacky rigs and Ned rigs, too. Cast that crank along the shore and try running it into rocks, stumps, anything to force a reaction strike. Don't attempt a jarring hookset. Just keep tension on the line and lean into the fish. When it makes a run, you can really get a good, sweeping hookset. You can slow crawl jigs this way as well. With jigs / t rigs, vary your retrieve between a slow crawl, pump-pump deadstick, and swimming/twitching it back. Always start out casting to some type of structure, emergent vegetation, overhanging branches, bridges/docks, etc.

It's just that it's easy to add them yourself. It's a pain, yeah, but at some point you'll be tearing that reel down, anyway, so throw them in there then. A tatula is potentially a *** reel. Does it need all those? Probably not. Will I throw them in, anyway? You bet I will.

Action does get used interchangeably with power, though, and I can see it either way. You'd think a "heavy action" with a fast taper (heavy power/fast action) would have a stiffer tip but with the same bend as a "medium action" with a fast taper, but that's just not always the case. It's just all so subjective.

see, that doesn't even make sense. A sol should be an alphas variant, right? Who knows. They just throw names around at Daiwa.

its pretty much a tatula with a standard line guide.

They are indeed carbon fiber, which is stiff by nature, so variables in fiber density, wall thickness, mandrel shape, etc, equate to different powers and actions. I see what Bill's getting at, though. I think there should be a third rod spec. Power is obvious, as well as taper, but I think action is more subtle and varies from rod line to rod line. For instance, you can have a heavy powered rod with a fast taper, meaning that the tip bends about a quarter of the way down before giving way to the backbone. However H/F tells you nothing about the stiffness of the tip. It may have a tip that is supple and loads easily or it may have one that is stiff and takes more torque to load. I think that should be considered the action of the rod. So a heavy power with a fast tip that loads easily should be a H/F/soft or something to that effect.

Yeah, I got those already, that's the only reason I know mine didn't have any in the knobs. TT made it sound both ways in their review, so I thought that was how they made it. At one point they say it has non-bearing supported knobs, and then a caption for a pic of two bushings says one bearing and one bushing like you said and I expected, and then on the spec list it says bearings per knob: 2 bushings. I have the schematic, but my Japanese is pretty rusty, lol, so I'll have to look to see where the other two bushings are and find those bearings at the rc store.

crap, that means I still have to tear it down and measure bushings. I thought it still felt like there was something missing, but figured it still needed a little break in time. Oh well, no big deal. I am glad they went ahead and threw the wormshaft bearing in there. Surely no one swiped that one.

Yes sir! Couldn't pass that up. I bought the ss sv he had, too. Awesome combo. It balances directly under the reel and the combo only tips the scales at 9.1 oz. It's absolutely feather light and effortless to use. I was pinpoint pitching a 1/4 oz shakey head with a 5" dot crawler with it today. It was like the setup was doing it on its own. For the record, the four missing bearings are all in the knobs of the ss sv.

No problem. You'll love it. Did you get the 65ML?

Read my reply to the "Sv105 alpha" topic.

Major Craft Volkey. Either the VKC-68L/bfs (reg-fast) or the VKC-69ML/bfs (ex-fast). The 65ML basic series rod would also be a great match. There is one on eBay from a seller named Jimdep who I had a good experience with. $145 tyd from Massachusetts. He uses PVC pipe for shipping. The bfs rods are $170 and ship from Singapore through shimreels, who is also a good shipper. I'd say look into a Major Craft MS-X 65ML or one of the baitfinesse rods in that series, but unless you get lucky you're looking at almost $300. Those Volkey's really nice rods with the perfect power/action for that reel. Also, I've no experience with them, but there is a Gan Craft Killers-00 Blue Series Assault model on eBay from a great seller. It's 6'6" ML/F 3/16-1/2. They are sometimes offered for nearly twice that. All the rods I've mentioned are new.

they're nice and smooth on cast and retrieve, they do well with baits 3/8 and up, they're built very solidly, aluminum all the way. The braking system is adequate, but not great. I kept mine turned up more than normal to avoid having to be surgical with thumbing the spool and risking backlashes. I know a lot of people really like them, especially for $60, but here's the caveat: The one I had worked just fine for a couple months, no problem. It felt fairly refined to me for a $130 reel. However, one day I bombed a spook out there and as I casted I heard a terrible grinding noise as my spook slowed to a halt and plopped in the water. After that, it seemed to retrieve just fine, but made a terrible screeching sound when casting, which wasn't as good as before. I don't know if it was the bearings or what, but I sent it back for another and it eventually did the same thing. By that time, the tatulas were out, so I just got a refund on the lexa, threw in another $20, and never looked back.