Cranks4fun

I have been a crankbait fanatic for decades. I have used all kinds of rods (spinning and BC) for crankbaits of various sizes. I think the Fenwick HMG's are great with just enough flex to absorb shock upon the strike. Some like glass rods but they tend to be too heavy for my liking. I have used Dobyns fury's too but they are a little stiff for cranks.

Just curious as to why you did not mention the Stradic or the Nasci (I have both and they are great). I hear that the newly (2023) released Nasci is a good as the Miravel - That is second-hand info though. Regardless, Daiwa and Shimano both make great reels. Even some of the less expensive ones would serve you well and likely last you a long time (years). I do hear/read great things about the Tatulas. I have three Tatula bait casters but none of their spinning reels. The reviews are very positive on them though.

I use Super Lube Grease on my gears and Any of several types of light oil on the bearings, Bushings, and shafts (3-in-1 oil, Shimano Reel oil, ABU reel oil, Rem-oil, etc.). I have no discernable issues with those.

Thanks for the responses, guys. I have Lots of Shimano Baitcasters (2 Curados k & B, 3 Calcuttas, an SLX, and some old Bantams from the 1980's). I have never had any serious issues with any of them except not getting enough distance casting the older ones. I have a few Daiwas too ( 2 Tatulas -older 100 and an SV, a Tierra, and some vintage Pro mags from the Neanderthal Days). All of those reels have been good but I really want a durable long-casting reel. My Curado K has only been used recently and I want some reassurance before considering another one or the new Curado M. Maybe a need to get a new Tatula and add some ABEC 7 bearings to it. My son says that worked on his reels.

Aaron_H, I see that you are living down there in the land of gators, giant bass, and Peakcock bass. Catching a big peacock bass is on my bucket list. I have family (cousins) in Florida. I need to create a reason to go visit them!

Aaron_H, I have one of the SLX standards too and it has been fine for the two outings or so when I used it. I have read a lot of positive reviews on them. Four years of regular, steady fishing is a pretty good run. I hope you get another 4 out of it. What do you see as the advantage of the MGL version? casting lighter lures or greater distances or fewer backlashes?

r83srock, Thanks for sharing that. I really love both my tatulas, especially my Tatula SV, and might settle on another one. I have a Shimano SLX too and have not had any issues with it yet, but I just started using it.

Past reading, along with personal experience, has taught me to avoid fishing extreme post-frontal conditions (big temperature drops & high pressure). I wait 3-4 days after a front usually in the fall unless I am desperate to fish (which is often too - ). Lots of guys love slowly dragging jigs in the late fall and winter, but when water gets around 50 degrees or lower, I love fishing suspended jerkbaits with long pauses (usually necessitates fairly clear water and bass in less that 15 ft of water). I have heard of guys nailing lots of bass on rat-l-traps when the water falls into the 60's, and I have caught some in those ranges too. However, I actually prefer lipped cranks and finesse worms at that time personally, but everyone has their preferences. I often still do well with topwaters too when water is in the upper 60's.

I have a a couple of Daiwa Tatulas and a couple of Shimano Curados and was considering getting a second Curado K series reel but I have been seeing complaints on several forums about thumb bars falling apart. One guy said it was just a problem with early run Curado K's. Has Shimano corrected this issue? I have not had the issue myself but I have not used my Curado K but four times/outings. Years ago I fished Shimano bantam 200B's almost exclusively and had three of them and Castaic. I gradually phased them out for reels that could cast further and effectively cast lighter baits. I still have one old "greenie" that I keep for memory's sake. I like the K series as well as my Tatulas and wanted another one but I am reluctant to buy one because of these complaints. Does anyone know whether Shimano has corrected this issue on the K series? One guy suggested they have on another forum.

For bigger females, March and early April (pre-spawn & temps in 50's or low 60's) in SE Virginia and SW Missouri. For numbers and an occasional bass up to 5 lbs., all summer (water temps in the 80's) dawn-9:00AM and the last two hours in the evening. I want to do more night fishing this year though to try out the 11:00PM -3:00AM slot. Did it once last year and unfortunately we fished a bad area (that's my excuse anyway ).

Well, I keep thinking I have them (bass) figured out and they keep changing to stay one step (or ten) ahead of me. I'll have a great day catching bass on a certain bait under certain conditions and then fishing the same bait on the same body of water under similar conditions two weeks later I cannot beg a bite! I am not just talking about the three spawn transitions either. It seems that the last two years it has been harder than normal for me to consistently catch them with certain methods. I guess I am educating them to avoid me. I guess I need to find a lake that has bass that are genetically inclined to be stupid!

It is called a "Gary Yamamoto Midasu". I've only fished it once or twice and I don't think I've ever caught one with it either. It does look cool though, for whatever that's worth! Haha!

I own most of the lipless brands, I think (Xcalibur, Booyah, Rat-L-Trap, Yozuri, Red Eye Shads, Cordell Spot, H2O Xpress, Rapala, etc.) I have caught most of my lipless bass on Rat-L-Traps. The truth is, though, I have used them more because they were all I owned at one time. I have also been primarily a mid-spring through summer lipless thrower. I have been more committed to suspending jerkbaits, jigs, and deep lipped crankbaits for winter and late fall fishing. I want to try the lipless baits this week on my pursuit of white bass and hybrids in Oklahoma. Our water temps are still in the mid-40's so I will try several types and colors this week to see how they perform. True Story: I was fishing with two other buddies in Virginia once. Two of us were crappie fishing in mid-lake and the other guy was bass fishing. He (the bass fisherman) hammered the shoreline with soft plastics and topwaters and who knows what else for probably 2 hours and caught nothing. As we came back in with a bunch of crappie, we asked him what he had caught. He said, "Nothing. They don't seem to be biting." I said, "Ah! Bass are easy catch here!" I was really just kidding around with him, of course. I tied on a Rat-L-trap, chunked it near a stump, cranked it about 5 times and WHAM! Bass on! At that point, I acted like I knew what the outcome was going to be but it was really pure luck. It looked good though! Haha! Anyway, I say all that to emphasize that sometimes those lipless baits are exactly what the bass want! Sometimes they seem to be the very best bait to throw. At other times... eh, not so much. I guess that is true for all baits except for wacky-rigged Senkos and Ned rigs. If bass are biting, those 2 lures seem to always catch a few anyway. That day was in mid-spring, by the way. I pictured some of my lipless baits below: I am a huge fan of H2O baits too. They are built well and they produce well! I have a couple of the H2O Spro Aruku knock-offs in the picture. I have not used those lipless ones much yet but I love their small deep running lipped cranks!

I actually caught one in a clear run on Indian Creek this past week. The area was about 20 ft wide and between 6 and 8 ft deep and gin clear with a slight blue/green tint. Chunks of ice were floating by but I did not measure the water temps with a thermometer. Here's the one I caught. He was caught on a ghost Shad colored H2O xpress ultralight crankbait from Academy. It is not a suspender by design but it floats up very slowly and it got smacked on the pause. PICTURE BELOW - notice the snow in the background. He's one of the Neosho subspecies.

That would be a COOL thing to have! I do not doubt you got a bad one. I am confident that the reviews about the spool disengagement clutch were accurate. The one I doubted and still feel was phony was the one guy who had two reels get stripped gears when NO ONE else did. It is just statistically VERY improbable unless he was horribly abusing those reels. If he was knowingly abusing them, he deserves what he got!