FishTank

For me it has been the Megabass Valkyrie 7'1'' H. I can throw crankbaits, jigs, topwater, etc a long way with this rod. It loads better and easier than any rod I have, plus it's just a work of art.

I would go with FC, something around 16lb, especially if you are around toothy critters. I fish in two lakes that are filled with sauger and walleye. Braid does not fare well at either lake. If you feel you must do braid, I would go with 40-50lb. If you go with a thinner PE line, I would definitely go 50lb or heavier. Also check the diameter to make sure it suits your needs.

It looks good to me but what really matters is how it feels after fishing it all day. No matter how it looks, I give St.Croix some props for trying something innovative at a middle of the road priced rod. Usually, this segment gets the hand me downs from more expensive rods. Hopefully this will be a step forward from the previous version.

I think it could be just about any reel from Daiwa or Shimano. Reels seem to develop a cult following years down the road, look at the Shimano Curado B. A solid workhorse reel that people loved. Shimano changed the platform and for about 15 years after that, they were still going for around $150 used. I don't think anybody at that time would have thought this reel would have had that amount of staying power. I would say the same about the Core 100 and 50, as well as the Chronarch 50e. I have had offers for over $200 for each of the ones I have but I am not going to give them up anytime soon. Daiwa has had a ton of different reels that still have a high collector's market, like the Megabass TD-Ito, the Monoblock, the TD Sol, some of the Alphas, Steez Limited etc. As far as a current reel, I don't know. I think the higher end reels like the Steez, Exist, Antares, Conquest, and Stella will continue to have a good resell value but to me it will be a niche reel with a short shelf life that will get people's attention. From Shimano, that might be a reel like the Antares MD or from Daiwa, the Silver Creek Stream Custom.

If you need parts, it's not always 100% but a lot of Shimano parts from Japan do crossover. All else fails, there is always Plat. I like my MGL Bantam but the new one is supposed to be a better all around reel. I would definitely consider the Metanium as well.

I have tried several and so far the best I have used is the Dr. Slick Braid Cutters but they are sharp, like cut your fingers off sharp.

I have one in Ghost Trout and so far nothing but I haven't caught anything on a glide bait since June. Maybe when the water isn't 85+ degrees, they will start biting it.

I have a Mojo Yak rod and have been very pleased with it. It's pretty soft and is fun to fish. If the regular Mojo rods are like it any fashion for $120 I would jump on it. On the other hand, I have Dobyn's Champion XP M Fast and it too is a nice rod. But at the price of the Mojo, you would have to cut back to two set ups instead of three.

I have the JDM version of this reel and @bulldog1935 is correct. I would stay around PE #1.0. I have been fishing 6 and 8lb FC on my Steez CT with no issues but on some of my other reels, I have fished YGK Upgrade and Varivas Dead or Alive. Both have held up well.

I called them two years ago for a question about either repairing or doing a warranty claim and all went well. They did say they were short staffed but the rod in question was an Avid. The replacement would have been a Victory which I would have had to wait for. I ended up repairing it myself. I have heard rumors though that they had a high turnover rate during Covid and the new staff is not the same as the old. Good company though.

I have been dealing with tennis elbow for a few months now. It comes and goes based on how hard I push my self (gym, work, fishing, etc). When it comes to having it while fishing, I turn to BFS gear when it gets bad but if I actually hook into a good fish at anytime, I am putting myself at more risk. As far as what reel I have that casts the furthest, the Shimano Antares 70A has been the best but as @WRB mentioned, the rod has a lot, if not more to do with it, and also line for that matter. I try to put my reels on a rod that will help it reach the reels best potential. I don't always get that lucky but I try. Below in order is what casts the furthest for me besides the Antares 70A Shimano Antares 2012 Daiwa Steez AII Daiwa Zillion SV TW Shimano Curado DC Shimano Metanium MGL Shimano Conquest 101 Shimano Bantam MGL Lews BB1 Pro Shimano Core 101 Daiwa Steez SV TW

The Shimano Vanquish gets my vote. Great reel and just fun to fish.

I had pretty good day on the water despite the rain and wind. We caught about 20 good size large mouth and even a striper. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the monster catfish I brought in that did this because my phone was drenched but I'll let you take a guess as to how big it was. This a Deps Evoke 3.0. It's a 1oz, 3in+ squarebill. The catfish I caught bent out a 40lb test Owner Hyper Wire split ring and pretty much ate this big lure whole. It was awesome.

Megabass Kanata in Mat Shad. There is just something special about this one and it's worth it. A couple of others to look for..... the Lucky Crafts mentioned above. And the Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow. The bass don't know it's for salt water. I had one and it caught fish but it got destroyed by a sauger.

I use mine for almost BFS stuff. I like to throw a 6in roboworm and a 1/16oz skakey head, small creature baits, small paddletail swimbaits, and light jerkbaits. Great all around reel though.

Sufix Siege 6lb Camo.

I like braid to leader on spinning gear, some topwater and for some bottom contact baits but not much else. My suggestion is if you want to go this route, use actual leader material and see if that makes a difference. For me, it did. I have one set up with the same leader on it since early spring and last year I didn't change it until it snapped on some rocks. I do tend to make my leader around 7-10 feet and change it when it gets down to 2.

That's cool. I got to try it.

TSI 321 has worked for me so far. It doesn't seem to last as long as the BFS oil from Shimano but it works great. I use it on all my reel spool bearings.

Very rarely do I swing for the fences on a hook set. It all depends on what rod or reel or even sometimes what line I am using. For example, I have a Daiwa Emeraldas spinning reel on a G. Loomis NRX+ 821S NRR and the reel has a very slow start up and the rod is pretty light. If I whale on the fish as soon as it bites, the hook will penetrate but the drag will get stronger during a large sweeping hook set. This can be a problem with the light line I am using. If I use a light tugging action, I don't have any issues. On the opposite end of things, I have a G. Loomis 866C IMX Pro Deep Flex that I use for deep crankbaits. I need to pull hard to drive a hook home with this rod but once on it's awesome at keeping a fish pinned. Another example would be the Megabass P5 Criffhanger Thrilling with a Daiwa Silver Wolf and PE #0.8 line. This thin line can almost pull out a tree stump but with the small lures and light trebles, you have to gently lay into a fish otherwise you will bend a hook out or just lose the fish in process. I always set my drag by hand based on the lb test of line I am using. Knock on wood, this has worked for me.

Lemmy one more time..... Born to Lose. Live to Win.

https://baitfinesseempire.com/product/shimano-majestic-rod-series/ Looks like a BFS rod to me. I think I have 3 BFS rods that are rated up to a 1/2 oz but I don't think I would throw a 1/2 oz lure on any of them. Rod ratings are just guide lines. They tend to be all of the place and until you actually fish the rod in question, you don't really know.

Missed this one. Those things bring back another funny memory.... I had an old boss that would give us either a Zero or a Payday bar on payday with our check. If you did well, you got the Payday bar. If you messed up that week, you got the Zero. Over the course of a few years, I learned to like Zeros. I did ask my boss one day why he gave them out. He responded by saying "Because those things taste like regret". I still eat them to this day.

Growing up in Indiana, we had a Hostess Factory here and there was an outlet just down the street from my house (both old and current). They were great and i probably have eaten more than my fair share of them but like a lot of things, they aren't the same now. They are kind of nasty. They were so popular when I was a kid, we use to call fanny packs "Twinkie Pouches" because that's were we would keep our stash of junk food. Our school served lunch at 10:30a. and we would usually not get home until 5pm. It seemed we were always hungry.