FrnkNsteen

Mine turns really easy on my Zillion. WAY easier than on my Alphas SV TW or any of the other Daiwa Tatula SV's, Tat 100's. Or CT Type R's that I have. Thats why I was going to look into how the detent for the brake dial works to see if I could tighten it up.

Oops,... Sorry. Forgot to answer that... Nope. I cast right handed with a LH reel so no hand switching. Hence the "Casting while in palming position" comment above. My index finger tends to drop down between the reel and the reel seat and bump up the brakes when I cast. Fortunately it just leads to increasing brakes and shorter casts instead of decreasing the brakes and having a surprise backlash. Don't get me wrong,... I still love the reel! I just have to watch out for it.

Thanks for the reply, but I wasn't talking about the cast control knob. I set that at just enough to eliminate sided to side movement and leave it be. I was talking about tension/tightness of the brake knob.,.. Meaning how difficult it was to turn when setting. Mine on my Zillion moves very easily if bumped. My Alphas SV has the same design. But is tighter so doesn't change if bumped.

I prefer mono or flouro on my spinning rigs. I just think it offers more sensitivity on a slack line. I like to fish a lot of my plastics weightless and let them slowly drift down. I think mono or braid lets me feel it better if something picks it up. The only braid and leader setups I have are hi-viz braid with flouro leader so my wife can see the line twitch or move on a bite, and get an easier hook set with the braid

I have more ML spinning rigs than M. My favorite wacky rig setup is a 6'10" Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth rod with a Daiwa Fuego LT that I put Carbontex drag washers in. I've caught quite a few 5 - 6lb smallies on that rod and never had an issue. You just don't horse them into the boat. I like it because it is light and has a great tip so I can skip that wacky under anything. To me a ML will do a lot as long as you have a reel with a good smooth drag.

The brake on my Alphas SV TW is quite a bit tighter and it doesn't happen as often on it.

LOL! Can't help it. It's second nature. More comfortable and better balanced for me. I actually tried shifting my hand back to just have my index finger in front of the trigger, but within a couple casts my hand shifted right back up there.

If it were me I would start on rocky points and shores, or sandy gravelly areas. In my experience, smallies like rocky cover more where largemouth seem to prefer wood and heavier weeds. Though rocks with sparce grass or reed edges have done well for smallies. I'd start with wacky rigged stickbaits, tubes, or cranks. Under the rught cinditions topwaters like poppers. Torpedos abd Ploppers have done well

Well,... Just got back from vacation up north of MN in Ontario, and finally got a chance to spend some quality time with my 6spd 21 Zillion G. I started with it loaded with 17lb mono on a Plopper setup on a MH/MF Mojo Spinnerbait rod.. I was enjoying that setup until getting bit off by a big Northern. So much for me recently saying I hadn't had issues with Northerns on a topwater!! ? Guess I jinxed myself! Anyways,... After getting bit off, I changed over to a craw colored OG Slim and started tearing them up. LOTS of Smallies, Northerns, Walleyes, and even a 50" Muskie. He just nipped the back treble and never did let go!! Anyways,... Other than hating the location and tension of the brake knob, I love everything else about the reel. To coin a phrase,... The retrieve is "Like Butta", and when the brakes stay where I had them, it casts really nice and controlled. If I could find a way to tighten the detent on the brake knob so it doesn't turn so easy, I would love this reel. It is just TOO easy to bump in the direction of increasing the brake and I tend to bump it up a click or two on every cast when casting in the palming position, Anyone know of a way to tighten up the brake knob, I'm thinking maybe a stiffer spring on the detent or something.. I need to pull it apart and see what controls brake kbob tension. Other than that it is a GREAT reel!! One of the smoothest reels I have every fished!

If you're looking for something to use outside of fishing. Vanish is very close to straight 100% PVDF, also known as Kynar. Pure Kynar is very stiff, even at thin diameters. I used it at work due to its ability to withstand acids during an electropolishing process. I talked with vendors and was able to determine that Vanish is approximately 99% PVDF with a very limited amount of additives to make it at least manageable for fishing. I don't believe anybody uses "100% Flourocarbon" because it wouldn't cast well. It worked great for what we needed and was cheap. As far as I know,... We still use it use it today on those manufacturing lines.

Agreed. That's what I use, not the rubberized string net. It's a all rubber net and rarely has an issue. Only a couple times have I ever had a hook actually penerate the rubber and get stuck.

My personal opinion is I don't like throwing very heavy rigs with a spinning rod. The reason for me isn't that the rod won't handle it, it's because holding/releasing the line with that heavy of a lure while trying to properly load a heavy rod would wear on your finger pretty quick. I have a couple medium action Eagle rods and like them, but I don't know that I would enjoy casting a heavy action rod with that heavy of a rig. I would think thin 15lb braid would want to cut into your finger pretty good with heavier lures! My guess is you just aren't loading that rod up well enough to get good distance.

If you like Dobyns rods and have a $150 budget, Id consider the Sierra or Kaden series. Someone mentioned the Fury 733, but I really prefer the Sierra series,... Especially for what you are describing. In my opinion, they feel lighter and have a slower action than the Fury and Champion lines. I love my 734 Sierra. Haven't tried the Sierra 733, but after fishing some with my 734, I plan to pick one up. The Kaden 735cb has been getting pretty good reviews as well.

I have a pretty good local shop ( within an hour) that I prefer. They carry a pretty good supply of rods (Loomis, Shimano, Dobyns, Daiwa and misc others)and reels (Daiwa, Shimano, Lews). They stock the typical common namebrand plastics and hardbaits, plus some proprietary labeled plastics (Tubes, Craws. Etc). I rarely go to BPS/Cabelas anymore. Tired of them never having any deals on name brand rods/reels and WAY too much BPS lures/plastics

Nope,... I agree. Abu changed them all up on the Gen 4's. I dont like them either. Revo S went from centrifugal that worked well to magnetic. SX went from magnetic only to dual brakes that STX had and STX and Premier went to their IVCB or whatever they call it. Just my opinion, but I think they ruined them,... Well, except for maybe the SX. It may be similar to the Gen3 STX that I like.

Agreed. I actually like it. I agree it sucks when you lose a big one, but those are the ones you remember! I've caught a lot of nice bass over the years, but its the big ones I lost that are etched in my mind and those make fun stories. My friend and I were on a hot piece of shoreline one evening and nice smallies were EXPLODING on Whopper Ploppers. I'm talking full launches out of the water as they were hitting. About a third completely missed the lure. Another third got off, and the remaining third were landed. Didn't matter.... We were giggling like schoolboys and its an evening I will never forget.

I've done that too. It's kind of lije walking a dog! ?

If Fleet Farm doesn't have it,.. You don't need it!! ? I miss that store after moving away!!

Curious which generation you had? I've got about 6 of the Gen 3 STX with the dual braking in LH 7.1 ratio and they have been awesome. Now I will say the originally were overloaded with grease and got better after a good servicing. I have a handful of Gen3 Revo S as well and have been happy with them too. Bought them all a few years ago when Cabelas was clearing them out in the Bargain Cave to make room for the Gen4 models. Couldn't pass up $79 for the Revo S and $119 for the STX.

Actually I have seen them in person and thought they pretty much the same. Same basic body shape with the same flat bill. Appreciate the information though, because even looking at the two images in this thread, they don't look significantly different. I may have to get one and try it out.

Agreed. Foul hooking a fish that takes a swipe at your legitimate bait is nowhere near the same thing as "Snagging" a fish. That being said,... I give the guy credit for admitting he foul hooked it, and agree it didn't meet the requirements for a legal catch, so in that case,... No,... Not a record. However,... I still give him credit for catching a fish that was bigger than the official record,... Even if it didn't qualify. I realize it can be a slippery slope on things like this and they have to draw the line somewhere, so I respect the rules,... But am honest enough to admit it doesn't mean I necessarily agree with them.

Yep!! Kind of what they are for! ??

Nice to see, but to me the first thing that I thought was that they just copied the OG Slim.

I had one of those and other Plano models. If I remember right,... Soft plastics ate thosevold boxes so you had to keep them in their original bags. I have a few old boxes in the closet but the action they see is holding extra lures. One is my Dad's old box and is pretty much exactly as it was when he used it for memory sake. The other is my supplies for lure and hair jig making. I now use various size Plano style boxes and a bag now. It's just more flexible to quickly grab what I want and go. In the boat they are just packed into the front compartment.

I also really like my Sierra 734 as an all around rod. I mainly use mine for swim jigs, but it also does well for Whopper Ploppers, Chatterbaits, Spinnerbaits, due to it being a little slower action. In a pinch it also works for jigs and worms.