jimmyjoe

I think you can answer this one for yourself easily. If you had problems with the Steez, would you say to yourself, "Dang! if I would have bought three Curados, I'd have a backup right now, and I could continue fishing!" The reason I say that is that I know a guy who always buys two reels. Always. He says that problems usually occur during the peak of the season. Waiting sometimes 5-6 weeks for a resolution or repair makes his blood boil, so he always has a backup. How would YOU feel if the Steez broke in the middle of the season? Good luck on your decision! jj

I've been out of the field for 5 years now, but I will tell you one thing: make absolutely sure you know what to do and who to contact if something goes wrong with the unit. That goes for ANY brand. Just a word to the wise. jj

Interesting. Which 15 years was that? Reputations tell a person what happened yesterday, not today. Today's world can change overnight. Literally. That's one of the reasons people ask question nowadays. I hate to be a wet blanket, but I don't trust ANY company's reviews that are on their website. Not fishing equipment, not cars, not clothes and not anything else. Guess I'm just an old curmudgeon. jj

If I ask a question and people avoid answering it, or want to know why I want to know that, it raises alarm bells for me. YMMV jj

Average of all year long? The 3/4 Hank Parker Classic from Mann's, Colorado and Indiana. It really pains me to take that over the 3/4 Silver Minnow or 1 oz. Dardevle in red & white, but I gotta do what I gotta do. ? jj

Boonies? It's not "the boonies" unless you have propane lights and fridge, a windmill with a cistern and a 12 ga. over the back door for weasels in the henhouse and deer in the garden. jj

I fish from shore, so I'm forced to fish only a few certain places at ice-out. In those places, I use: 1) Jerkbait 2) Flutterspoon 3) #3 double-bladed Aglia I always like to try something new, so I'm trying a fluke for the first time this early. We'll see how that goes. jj

Dang, @J Francho! Don't fall in, or your PFD won't be able to float you with all those keys dragging you down! ?? jj

I don't care about depth or blade design as such. I care about water temp and bottom composition. Where I fish, colder water or a rocky bottom merits slower retrieve, warmer water or a clear bottom merits a somewhat faster retrieve. I choose my spinnerbaits accordingly. jj

I hated it, too. I was persuaded to try it again recently. I like it on casting reels. I don't like it on spinning reels. If that's the way you finally decide, you're not alone. jj

So it sounds like you'll be going with monofilament. The 2000 and the 2500 are the same price, but the 2500 offers more drag area and greater spool lip diameter. The drag area MAY come in handy with smallmouth, and the greater lip diameter helps with line management and line memory in regards to nylon line. Yes, there is a 1 oz. weight difference, but I (personally) think the advantages of the 2500 FAR outweigh the weight difference. Just my 1/50th of a dollar. jj

We don't have any of those around here now, do we? ?? jj

I found open water!!!!!!!! ? It's 38 degrees, and the open water is just a pumper on the Mississippi, and it's only half- thawed. BUT I DON'T CARE! I'm going fishing, whether I catch fish or not! Yaaaay !!! jj

A friend of mine who is a snowbird (I'm not) says they're just extra-fast action rods that are more durable and less liable to break compared to other extra-fast action rods. He uses them for the salt as well as freshwater. I took that to mean that they were workhorse rods, not debutante rods. Hope that helps. jj

My goodness! What would they do with a crank phone? ??? jj

PM sent.

What's a "smartphone"?

I got some. OK ..... I lied. I got lots. Need some? ???? jj

I'm a shorecaster, and I fish a sand quarry that has the exact same activity that you've described. I have a 7' ML/F St. Croix Avid-X spinning rod with 6 lb. Stren Original. When I saw activity such as you describe, I threw these lures as far as I can. None are "lightweight": 1/4 oz.) Eppinger Dardevle Spinnie and Devle-Dog, Rat-l-Trap, Worden's Roostertail, and Mepps Aglia Long. 1/3 oz.) Eppinger Cop-E-Cat. 3/8 oz.) Mepps Aglia Long, Rapala Countdown and Worden's Roostertail. I also have a M/MF casting rod with a Shimano Curado 70 on it; I use it for casting a fair distance with anything over 3/8 oz. The fish in these circumstances seemed to prefer the smaller lures. 70 feet isn't very far. You can use mono if you wish. I was casting over 50 yards, because that's where the activity was, but I also overcast activity that is nearer to shore, so as not to spook fish. I benefited from braid, but I'm still experimenting with that. The fish I got were all largemouth, all about 1 to 1 1/2 lb., and all were hooked within very few feet of the surface. Don't ask me what they were feeding on or chasing; I couldn't see. Considering the lures that they hit, I doubt it was any insect life. Those lures are associated with minnows. FWIW, I've never seen this kind of activity close to shore, only out over deeper water. And BTW ...... make sure you're not seeing carp broaching! Hope this helped! ? jj

Worked fine; I used to do it when I used the Ambassadeur reels, but I don't use those reels any more. How well it works with the lo-pro reels that have a smaller spool diameter, I can't say. jj

The only experience I've had with UV was to use spinners that were supposed to be more visible in the presence of UV light, like certain Panther Martin and Mepps Comet-UV spinners. I never saw any difference in 2 full years of use, so I think "hooey" is an accurate description. jj

Excuse me, @Finessegenics, but I don't quite get your point. @J Francho had said that he preferred up-locking reel seats, like you showed, evidently because the exposed threads on down-locking reel seats (like Cashion's) are uncomfortable. My point was that you can have down-locking reel seats with NO EXPOSED THREADS. That's what I use. jj

"... I like the up locking seats. The threads just get in the way and don't feel great on my hands. ..." Threads? I'm sorry ..... what threads?

Oh, well. Another manufacturer that puts a reel seat on backwards. And I had such high hopes ........... ☹️ ☹️ ☹️ jj

My wife and I have both thought of going South, but I lived in both Texas and Florida during the summer. I'm not crazy about it. There are some places where it's not too expensive, but generally, the cost of living there is beyond our means (social security x 2). So .... we stay here. jj