mrpao

Line depends on what you are fishing for and where. Around cover you may want heavier more abrasion resistant line. In clear water, thin clear line. For example. If crappie fishing with jigs in deeper water I usually go with trilene XL #6 clear. When crappie fishing around heavy cover in stained water, I might use daiwa J-braid green #15 so I dont lose so many jigs.

The majorcraft nanoace is also a good rod. They are super light and pretty sensitive for the money. I have the med 6'9" jig/ worm and two 7' cranking models. Wait for TW sales and they can be had for cheaper.

The 7' expride is a awesome rod. Dont let the low line ratings fool you. The expride blows the curado rod and zodias out of the water. Super sensitive and light.

For spinnerbaits - trilene big game #15 For jigs - P-line tatical flourocarbon #15 or 17.

Sorry about the neighbor. Nice collection though

What he said here. Plus, I like a faster reel. At least 7:1 gear ratio or more. It's easier to keep a buzzbait on top. And the rod needs to be 7' or longer to help get those longer cast out and better hooksets.

This.

Spinning or casting? Also what is your idea of finesse?

Adding shims or washers is quite common. As is removing them, to get proper line lay. That why they include them. I think all spinning reels should include extra shims. Some cheaper reels dont include them so if you get bad line lay on the spool, you're just out of luck. Even different lines will lay different on the same spool. I've had to remove or add shims when switching line sizes before, so it doesn't bunch up on the spool.

The med hvy crucial rod tends to be fairly stiff and not a very good rod for treble hook baits. The expride 6'10" is great for topwaters and jerkbaits. It is a much softer rod. I hear the megabass one ten special is also a superb rod for those techniques. Any rod that is not quite so stiff and fast would probably do well.

The main difference is the spool size. The really weight almost the same. Also the 3000 has the T knob not the I knob. Personally I prefer the T knob but alot of people like the I knob better.

Try adding spool shims to even out the line lay.

I have the 7' ultralight Presso. Decent rod but definitely pretty limber. It does has some backbone though, once you get pass the soft tip. I have mine paired up with a daiwa QG750 reel with 6 lbs test. Very nice looking combo. I have been throwing small crankbaits with it for crappies.

I like many of my older reels. Core 50, curado 50e, calcutta 50b, conguest 50, Core 100mg7, etc I also like my newer reels. Aldebaran MGL, conguest 100, Lews TI mag, Lews hyper mag, curado 70, etc. If I like a certain reel, I hang on to it. No need to get rid of what works for me just because something else came out. Just buy the new reel too.

I probably bass fish 80% of the time but I am game for pretty much anything that will bite. I just enjoy fishing. I'll fish from at small creek to deep sea fishing. And not just fish. Crabbing, netting, frogging, etc. Its all fun to me.

The Lews TI is a decent reel. I have one that I am using as a frog, whopper plopper and buzzbait reel. Is it worth the asking retail price? Proberly not. But then again what reel really is. Especially the higher priced reels. To me, most of the Lews reels that I have had feel all about the same. Granted, I have not had any of there low end budget reels. I have owned most of their offerings from the Tournament MB ($140) on up. They are all great casting and smooth. If i was to close my eyes, it would be hard to tell which reel was in my hand. That being said, I only own three Lews reels at the moment- Lews TI Mag, Hyper Mag and a older Tournament MG. All are great reels. My choice is the Hyper Mag, mainly because of the lighter weight. And its a littler cheaper than the TI Mag. It looks like Lews has a few new reels that they are adding this year also. They may be worth checking out. As far as the other two shimano reels, I cant say a whole lots about them. Even though I am a Shimano fan boy, I am not a fan of DC reels or the Antares. To me the DC feature is just something fancy to break later down the road. And the Antares up until recently has been a very heavy bulky reel. They new antares may be worth a look at, but for the money shimano has many other reels that would preform just as good.

I agree. My creek and river combos are older shimano spinning combo all around 6'6" with 1000 size reels. They usually get beat up pretty good due to all the rocks and sand. They also get dunked when wading in the water. They have held up pretty decent over the years though. I usually carry three combos with me if I'm bass fishing. Small worm or plastics. Small spinnerbait and a small jerkbait. That usually fills whatever I come across.

Everyone likes something different. I prefer at least 7:1 or faster just because if I miss a blowup I can quickly reel it back in and cast it back out.

I believe the LT series are the new versions put out by Daiwa. They are definitely lighter in weight. But I'm not sure about tougher. The frames are lighter and seem to flex more, especially on the larger sizes. I dont have any of the Zion based reels. I hear they are still pretty rigid.

Awesome looking area.

I tried frozen mullet before with little luck. But it could just be the lakes I fish. Each water system is different. I'm sure catfish closer to coastal waters would probably not turn down mullet.

Spooling the line on with uneven pressure can cause it to do that. Try dragging the line out in your yard or behind the boat and reeling it in with a steady retrieve and pressure. Extra washer or less washers usually only work if the line is bunching up towards the front or the rear of the spool.

They are screw in and can be changed out with other shimano knobs. You can also replace the bushings with bearings if you desire. I swapped out the small knobs on two of my Sedona 2500 to the T knobs. I did have to add an extra shim to make the knobs have less side to side play.

I use my expride 7'2" med hvy for several different techniques. Jigs, Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, chatterbaits, buzzbaits, and several others. To me, it's a good all purpose rod. Its not too stiff but not too soft.

The $530 reel I believe is magnesium while the $270 is CI4+. The magnesium body one is suppose to be a much better reel. More solid and smooth from what I here. The CI4+ version is basically a blacked out Stradic CI4+ with a different composite spool.