FrnkNsteen

I know the feeling.!! I just bought a couple Stradic FL's with the deal they were offering on Wednesday. $139 for a Stradic FL 2500 was too hard to resist!!

I remember going to Runnings with my Dad when I was a kid. We lived on a farm south of there by a little town called Garvin. My Dad would pick up stuff for thw farm, but we would also always look through the fishing stuff! He always hit Runnings or the Shopko across the highway. I still have his old tacklebox and some of the old Rapala lure boxes still have price stickers from Runnings and Shopko. Nice flashback!!

I never did get used to it. I have an SLX DC and a Curado DC and they both get on my nerves. I can use them for a while, but then the noise starts wearing on me. I need to break down and just put them on the flea market.

Only one I have is a Scorpion Metanium MG7. Bought it used. Pretty clean, light and comfortable to fish with. I like it!

Honestly,.... Up to $180, for spinnerbait or chatterbait, I think I still stay with Shimano centrifugal braked reels, but maybe jump up to looking for a black friday deal on the Curado 150 MGL. I just like those reels for long casting moving baits. Where the Daiwa reels shine for me is more around close cover like laydowns, stumps, or docks. The Daiwa braking system shines on cast control and the Shimano reels excel at long casting where accuracy amd cast control isn't as critical. In those instances, I like a good deal on a Tatula Sv, Tatula Elite, or work8ng up to the Zillions. Just my opinion.....

I had an Inception reel and really wanted to like it but could never find a use for it where I liked it. I'm sure it's a good reel and hear people saying they like it, but just wasn't my experience. That being said,... I like Daiwas. But the CT isn't one of my favorites either. I just don't see a ton of gain over the Fuego. If I were looking for a centrifugal braked reel in the $100 - $150 range I would be looking at the SLX line of reels and grab the best I could afford, starting at the SLX, then the XT, and the best being the MGL

That's good to know. I like my Zodias, and have been tempted to try an Expride, but they just don't feel right in my hand either, so I keep holding off. I guess more expensive isn't always better. Not for everyone anyway. Different people have different likes.

Good advice,... The only thing I would add is do it in one sitting and take pictures as you go. Sleeping in the middle of the teardown lets you forget things easier when it's time to go back together! Also,... If you can find a cheap older used reel, start with that first and make sure you can go through it and have it still work when you are done. Once you can confidently do that, you are ready to do nicer reels!

I don't have an Expride to compare, but I do have a Zodias and a Levante, which are both $200 rods. Between those two, I choose the Zodias over the Levante. Mainly because it is lighter, better balanced, and at least to me,....feels more sensitive to me. Assuming the Expride is a step up from the Zodias,... Logic has me assuming the Expride would win. That being said.... I have never bought an Expride because they don't feel right in my hand (balance issue ro me) but I can say they always seem to be the choice others compare to in to $200-$300 price range. That usually says a lot!! That being said,... The Levante IS a nice rod and is beautiful. I have a '18 Bantam MGL on mine throwing a spinnerbait and the rig is the sharpest I own!!

Interesting,.... I had no idea ReelX was lower viscosity than the Abu oil. I use the Abu oil on most of my reels, but have used ReelX on sone of the shaft bearings thinking it was thicker than the Abu. I now know differently.

Life's too short to deal with that. I'd be done with him! My suggestion is to start setting aside money to find a kayak or something as Darnold suggested. Should be able to find something for a reasonable deal!!

Good choice! I agree that the clearance Mojo rods are better than either the SLX or the BassX and cheaper right now. I think you will like it!

The few anglers I know that are actually left handed all cast with their left and reel with their right using a RH reel.

As you tighten down the spool cap, are you able to eliminate the side to side play? If so, then it SHOULD be able to apply enough force to slow the spool. I actually just run all of mine with no tension and just tight enough to eliminate side play. I had one Lews LFS that just wouldn't tighten up. Turns out it was missing the carbon disk that goes in the cap. To test, you can cut a small piece of one of those square bread bag clips and put it inside the cap. If it tightens up then, ... Something is missing. In my instance, I contacted Lews customer service and they sent me a new cap.

I don't have any BassX rods to compare, mainly because I always thought they felt cheap in the hand and don't like the feel of the handles. They just feel like cheap plastic to me. I agree with others above,.... that if you are looking for a budget St Croix rod, grab one of the Mojo rods being clearanced out. No brainer in my opinion, the Mojo is a nicer rod than the BassX, and probably cheaper right now, I saw them at Cabelas for $119.

^^Agreed^^ My Sierra 734 currently has a swimjig on it, but PBBrandon is right, the Sierra 734 has a little slower action than the other Dobyns 734s, but still a pretty good backbone. I haven't used it for a lipless, but I have thrown 1/4 - 3/8oz chatterbaits on it with trailers and believe it would fish either just fine.

For light Shad Raps, Rapala Original Floating Minnow, jointed minnows, early Husky Jerks or Smithwick Rogues, I often threw them on spinning reels due to their likelihood of tumbling in the air and causing backlashes. You can really zing those out there with the right spinning rod (ML or M) without having to even think of over-runs.

What I like about them is they don't break down and eventually fall apart like a standard rubber banded jig. I hate it when you grab a spinnerbait or jig out of the box and the skirt falls off because the band deteriorated and fell off.

To me the Lowrider feels a bit heavier, but I really like the large cork foregrip, so I just put a reel on it that balances well. I have the Shakey Head rod and like it.

Never seen one of them! I like that kind of stuff. Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

From the options you listed, I'm assuming budget is $100 - $150? Spinning rods are hard for me to recommend to others since the reel seats and handles vary SOOO much. I like a spinning rod that doesn't have the threads at the front, or at least has them hidden, and appreciate some sort of foregrip since I typically fish with three fingers in front of the reel stem. I have mostly Fenwicks, with some Falcon Lowriders, Daiwa RG and Tatula, and Phenix Feathers mixed in. I really like Dobyns casting rods, but don't own a single one of their spinning rods. For me, I HAVE to hold a spinning rod in my hand with a reel on it before buying.

See, now don't do that to me Bulldog!! Cool Stuff. I don't know what that springy rod is in the first pic, but that's cool as heck!!!

Yes, I am the same way. I don't know if I "Collect" them, but I guess that sounds better than I just have WAY too many dang reels. I think I am somewhere around 40 casting setups, plus another 10 or so casting reels on the work bench upstairs. I kind of got into a kick of buying old Daiwa TDZ and TDX RH and LH reels, plus some old Shimano Calcutta, Scorpion, Metanium MG and Curados. I need to sell some off, starting with a SLX DC and Curado DC, plus some others, but just haven't gotten around to it! 😁.

Agreed,,... I think if the fish are schooling and feeding on something particular, then it's important to match that hatch. If the fish are scattered, I think you need to give them something different that gets a reaction. For instance,... We were fishing down a shoreline up in Ontario for smallies and not having much luck getting a lot of bites. We came upon a series of points that opened up behind them into a grassy bay. We started to notice small fry skipping on the surface, but didn't know what they were or what might be spooking them, ... Until we saw one floating on the surface. They were 2.5 - 3" Northern Pike fry. We looked through what we had and found some 3.5" Mizmo Green Pumpkin Fizz tubes. Green pumpkin body with a smoky tail and blue & purple glitter. Starting flipping those tubes weightless around the rocks let them slowly settle down. You had to pay attention because they were just sucking them up. You would just feel a little weight on it and set the hook. The smallies went NUTs!! We were literally catching smallies on every cast. I counted 9 straight casts at one point. Seemed like the smallies were laying by the rocks ambushing the northern fry as they came out of that grassy bay. We just kept working all the rocky edges and continued to slam them for an hour or so until the bite just finally died off and quit.

I have a label printer and label the outside of all my boxes, but no way I am organized enough to keep them straight inside the box. I use a Plano Elite spinnerbait box to hold my jigs that has three rows, left is various regular jigs, middle row is swim jigs and right side is vibrating jigs.