Cranks4fun

RDB, you might be right, especially if using Tatsu for leaders only. I have to honestly say I have never used it. It may be a huge jump in quality for fluoro line as far as flexibility and durability go when compared to InvizX. I just do not feel I (me personally) need to spend that kind of money on fluoro line yet... this year's rising inflation may cause me to retract that statement. On the other hand, if you are getting it for $30 a spool, you are getting far closer to what I consider reasonable than the $55 a spoo I usually see. My main issue is trying to stay married while continuing to suplement my hunting, fishing, and guitar-playing habits. She does not understand why a single Zebco 33 or a Scooby Do rod and reel would not be enough. It sooo hard!

I agree. Consistent negatives, even if they only show up 3 or 4 times in a list of reviews, usually catch my attention and cause a hesitation/ red flag effect.

Have you ever tried to make a decision on a new purchase and browsed purchaser reviews? I was reading some interesting (entertaining) statements recently. I was reading reviews on a certain popular Shimano reel and nearly everyone was offering positive feedback. A couple of guys complained about backlashes or difficulty removing and replacing the sideplate (that's usually user error). Another guy had a clutch fail - it could have been faulty. Otherwise, the mechanical aspects, the sturdiness, smoothness, and general functionality of the reel were not in question, except for the statements of ONE guy! He claimed to have the gears "strip out" on TWO of these reels and yet no one else among the 56 reviewers had that experience. There is an important reason why I bring this up and why it is important for all of us who read reviews. At this point, logic and reason should kick in. How can one guy out of 57 users have the exact same failure TWICE and none of the other 56 guys experience that? Statistically, it seems highly improbable. What is MUCH more likely is that they guy is revealing one of three things: 1) He really had the gears in two reels fail but it was because of abuse. It's hard to believe that gears would go before a modern, barely-used, $180 Shimano-quality reel's drag would spin. It is possible that it happened to him two times, but very unlikely. It has happened to him but no other purchaser, and it happened to him twice? If it did, there has to be a reason. He could be EXTREMELY abusive with his gear - I've fished with those guys! I have even been that guy years ago! Haha! Statistically, though, you gotta doubt this claim. To quote the worst president ever, "Come on, Man!" I just do not think this is a likely possibility even if he is abusive. This claim is, statistically, almost impossible. That brings me to the next possibility. 2) He exaggerated the issue by claiming it happened twice to increase the weight of his complaint. To be less diplomatic, he lied! He was mad and wanted to punish the company and discourage others from buying a product which for him was, for some reason, less than satisfactory. He may have stripped the gears in ONE reel or it may have ceased to function for some other reason that he did not understand. BUT gear stripping in TWO reels when no one else among 56 users experiences that? I don't think so. You are free to believe that, but I cannot. 3) The third option is that he's a rabid brand loyalist. He may not have even purchased one of these reels but he wants to make a strong statement. You may have met these guys. They love ONE BRAND, the one they use, and EVERYTHING else is pure junk! When discussing tackle, reels, rods, etc., these guys usually have only one statement in the discussion. It goes like this "XXXX brand, nuff said!" Why is a brand name of any product ever "nuff said?" I am not condemning everyone who says, "nuff said" but everyone needs to be reminded that a brand name is never "enough said" to answer a reasonable person inquiring about the quality of a specific model. Imagine someone wanting to buy a vehicle to drive in the mountains, all-seasons, off-road. They are asking if a Ford Fiesta is satisfactory for those conditions. Others are suggesting other brands and models. imagine also that you have a great Ford 4X4 truck that handles the conditions they mentioned so you answer "Ford, nuff said!" At that point you are just being ignorant. Lots of Fords would fail under those conditions. Having a trustworthy Ford truck for off-road does not prove that a Ford fiesta is good for off-road. Brand loyalty has, in that instance, blinded you. Ford is not"nuff said"! Any company, yeah EVERY COMPANY, that continues to produce items over time is going to fail and miss the goal sometimes. You either lack experience or you already know that. Both Shimano and Daiwa have have occasionally produced some unsatisfactory rods and reels. All companies that have existed very long have done that. If and when rabid brand loyalists say anything more than "nuff said", it will usually sound something like this, "I've used XXXX brand reels for twenty years and they have never failed me. Every Quantum, Daiwa, Shimano, or ABU I'ver used broke within the first two months. They are all JUNK!" Haha! Those kind of extreme, absolute statetments are revealing to some, but some other less-discerning, inquisitive shoppers are misled by those kinds of dishonest claims. They do not realize, oftentimes, that the statements are being made by dishonest, emotional slaves to a certain brand. They, as a result, are misled. It is OK to be brand loyal as long as you are not dishonestly brand loyal. We have Shimano guys and Daiwa guys and Lews guys, etc. and tha's great. You have found one brand that consistently satisfies you. It is OK to have favorites. My favorite reels are Daiwas but I have found and own good quality examples from many brands. Why is this issue important? First, because we can miss out on great products at good prices because of misleading reviews. Anyone can lie about a product in the review section for whatever reason. That is why I like products with LOTS of good reviews. Reviews from a large pool of experienced samplers/ users are statistically far more trustworthy. In those cases, a few dishonest guys will be overrun with much larger number of honest reviewers. Products with only a few reviews may be great, but it is hard to know by just a few reviews. It is hard to come to a solid statistical conclusion. You generally just have to take a chance if you want the item with only a few reviews or wait until more buyers chime in.. Secondly, it is important because bad products do go on the market sometimes and we all want to avoid those purchases when possible. Deceptive reviews are just false facts, "fake news", from bad actors and they can and do affect buying decisions and cause people not to make the best choice. Sometimes the dishonest reviews are fairly obvious to the discerning reader, like the one I shared, and sometimes not so much. A guy can also abuse his gear horribly and when he damages the product, blame the company instead of taking credit for his own bad actions. There are defective products even among good lines sometimes, but if a bad review seems highly improbable (when compared to others), or too bad to be true, it very likely is just that. I guess I need to add that good reviews can come from the same deceptive motives too. Some could exaggerate about how good a product is because of their brand loyalty. Some reviews really are just box openings, like when people review reels as "great" and then add, "but I haven't fished with it yet." Those reviews should probably not carry much weight. Read product reviews with caution. Also let me suggest that all of us can help and contribute to our collective wisdom by making honest reviews when we have good or bad experiences with products.

My Zillion is put away right now and I am not sure of the exact model # but I know it is not an SV. It looks just like yours, the more silver one in color. I bought mine for far less than full retail. I did the same thing with my Shimano Calcuttas and even my first Tatula and my first 3 Curados. I rarely pay even close to full retail... sometimes but rarely. I am not attacking those who spend $250- $400 on a reel. I have quite a few of those reels. To each his own. Do and use what you enjoy! On the other hand, I will strongly disagree with those who say your fishing skills will jump to the next level when go from $150-$200 reels to $300-$400 reels. That's a joke. It may feel better to hold those reels and you might gain a few yards in casting distance but it will not revolutionize your fish-catching ability unless, over time, it causes you to fish a lot more and develop better skills. That is what I was trying to say. If you want to catch more fish, you need improved skills not necessarily more expensive gear. Spending money is not the helpful shortcut most hope it will be, that is unless unless you are still using Zebco 202s, kite string and bone hooks or something. This is not just my limited experience. Many retired pros and guides who are no longer having to do brand promos will tell you the same thing.I've seen some incredible older fishermen using heavy, noisy gear that I would hate to be stuck with. I've seen guys with cowboy hats and ancient red ABU Ambassadeurs who were unbelieveable fishermen. I've also seen guys who try to dress, and talk, and copy the movements, and spend like the Pros they watch on videos and they look rediculous and fish badly. They are entertaining to watch though! You'll read references to the"bait monkey" on here often. He's not just enticing you to buy unnecessary lures. He's also a rod and reel monkey. He's made a monkey out of me many times over the years. I could live another 100 years and not use all the tackle that I thought I "had to have" when I bought it. Yep! I've been a long-term sucker and I hate to see guys follow in my steps!

I have read great reviews about some of the Piscifun and KastKing reels but I have not really fished with them. On some of the Fly fishing pages, the big-money guys ($600 reels & $1,000 rods) get upset when lots of the younger guys promote the $90 Piscifuns. I love it! I say buy what works and gives you enjoyment! I have a couple of cheap Shimano AX spinning reels ($19.99 new) that I bought about 10 years back for my youngest two sons. I use them for loaners now. I keep having to respool those things because they will not die even after LOTS of time and abuse on the water. I suspect there are baitcasters like that too.

Yeah, that's what I have read too (they're not a lake fish). I cannot say that Neosho smallmouths are my favorites (I like them all) but they are the only Smallmouth game in town within an hour of my home. I like kayak fishing for them too. I usually fish around Anderson or north of there. I have not fished as much around Noel because I have heard that car break-ins and damage can be bad down there. Have you had any issues with those things when parking down there?

I just priced Invizx at our local Academy and it has jumped up in price by $5 to $23 a spool. It is still less than half the price of Tatsu but still I am hesitant to spend that much on fluoro when I can still get Power-Pro braid at $13 a pop and it lasts 2-3 years. Everyone has to set their own limits I guess. I'll probably find InvizX on a clearance rack or on sale online and stock up again sometimebut for now, it is just leader line along with my Seaguar Red Label stuff.

I was just re-evaluating trying straight fluoro again just to have a rod dedicated to Suspended jerkbaits. After reading all of this, I'll stick with braid to fluoro leaders. I would personally never buy Tatsu (at present prices) and it hurts my stomach to think about paying the latest prices for Sunline or Invizx ($23+) for leader lines though I will probably do it with lingering regrets. Too many unexpected and often unavoidable frays and break-offs can happen when fishing straight fluoro around cover to justify spooling a reel with $55 line, for me that is... If you have the money and the desire to do it, do it and enjoy it. But for me, its braid to leaders I guess until some unforseen competitor creates a new more-manageable fluoro at a more reasonable price.

I have an Shimano SLX and many other pricier reels. The SLX performs just fine alongsong side of my Curados and Tatulas. Like MN Fisher says, the Fuegos are probably good too. I have read several times that they are really just Tatulas without the T-wing system.

In addition to countless other Daiwas and Shimanos, I have the Tatula SV, the Curado K, and a Zillion but my Zillion is not the SV version. I think you will be plenty satisfied with the Tatula SV. It will handle lighter lures better than the Curado though I love my Curados too. I do not think you'll notice a super increase in performance between the Tatula SV and the Zillion SV, though I could be wrong. I was wrong once back when I was in the third grade. The Zillion SV might (possibly?) cast lighter lures slightly better but I don't think it will be a huge difference. My son says that upgrading the spool bearings to Boca ABEC 7's will improve casting distances some on any of those reels but I have not tried that. I have read that the Daiwa Alphas BFS and the newer Curado BFS are much better with lighter lures but they require lighter rods and do not cast larger jigs and things as well. When I started getting into that $300 plus reel category I started realizing that some of the claims about performance were slightly exaggerated and sometimes greatly exaggerated. I'm not saying the Zillion or Metanium or any of those reels are bad. They are not, but they are not what many people think or claim they are. In fact, some of the earlier Chronarchs were just Curados with a different cosmetics and a couple extra bearings. I would find a friend who has one and cast it before throwing that kind of money at it. Then again, you can buy one, tell us about it, and save us some bucks. Good luck!

I do not fish that area often. It is about 2 1/2 hours away. If you have a boat, Bull Shoals has public access points but I am not familiar enough with the area to tell you where you can fish from shore. Any of the streams and creeks that run through the Mark Twain National forest in that area are likely to have smallmouth or trout in them and the National Forest and its waters are generally open to the public for sporting activities like hunting and fishing. There might be a $5 hunting/fishing Nat'l. Forest permit in addition to your Non-res. fishing license (There was in Virginia) but I am not sure.

Bull Shoals is a great Lake for LM, spots, and SM bass. however, the Smallmouth in Bull Shoals are a different subspecies than the "Neoshos" that inhabit Elk River, Indian Creek, and the clear creeks in the western Ozarks. The lake variety gets bigger and tend to be more prevalent in deeper water. Stockton lake and Table Rock are the big smallmouth spots on the Missouri side. Stockton was the home of our last state record smallmouth. If you like wading and clear creek smallmouth fishing for smallies, with ultralights or fly rods, the lakes are the wrong choice. The lakes actually offer the chance at bigger fish but it is more like largemoth fishing which is fine and fun too. I like both but I get in the mood for the quiet, clear creeks as a preference at certain times of the year (mid-summer-early fall). MGF, I used to live in Starke County Indiana (7 years) and I still go back occasionally. I know the Tippecanoe River and the park and the whole area. I really miss fishing for steelhead, Cohos, and Brown trout on Lake Michigan too! And those northern Indiana whitetail bucks ....oooh ....aaah. Monster Bucks! MGF, I lived in Starke County Indiana for 7 years. Tippecanoe was close as was Bass Lake in Knox IN and Lake Michigan. You live in a honey hole!!

I've wondered about this too. We fish Elk River in Missouri that flows into Grand Lake (of Bassmaster Classic fame) just over the Oklahoma line. When I fish and talk to others who are fishing I find that no one seems to catch smallmouth in Grand Lake. The state biologists tell us that the Neosho subspecies of smallmouth (those in Elk River) hate and avoid deep still water. They are different than the smallies in the Great lakes and in Tennessee lakes and even in Missouri's Stocton and Table Rock lakes. If that is so, where do they go? I can see the smallies in the gin clear river here and there in the summer but I see none of them in the winter. Maybe they are there and almost totally inactive and therefore invisible (?). I did catch a nice one on a craw colored rattle trap bounced on the rocky bottom of Elk River two winters back. Just one. I caught another on a suspended jerkbait in a creek tributary off the Elk river three years back (pictured below), but again just one! Maybe it is just super SLOOOOW fishing winter creeks in our area. It is frustrating when compared to spring and summer for sure.

The BFS craze has caught my attention. I use Curados and Tatulas for most of my baitcasting but my son bought me a KastKing Zephyr BFS for Christmas. He wanted me to have one because he has one and he wanted us to try together. I have only used it in the backyard so far. I was able to cast the smallest rebel craw crankbait (called a "Tinee Craw" I think) . I was able to cast it over 20 yards but I cannot even get it out 5 yards with a Tatula or Curado. I have a Tatula SV too! Anyway, I will try it on the white bass run this spring to see if it is going to be a staple on the boat and to test it's durability. Baitcasting technology is slowly catching up it seems. I love ultralight spinning gear and have about 8 UL spinning rods. My biggest bass on UL spinning gear to date is a 4 pounder using 4 lb.mono. I am not sure that BFS reels are able to match UL spinning casting distances yet. Then again, I have not tried a Daiwa Alphas BFS though. I will stay with UL spinning until I see a BFS reel cast the same distances that I can cast with my UL Spinning reels. I do like the idea of throwing inline spinners (awesome creek baits) without fighting line twist after an hour or so. BFS may be the ticket for that. I have tried swivels and braid and all the other tricks but I still get line twist after a while. I have had some killer days with inline spinners but they almost always end with twisted line that has to be worked out dragging the line behind the boat.