Nathan.bass.canada

Spool size, type and year. Kind of a hard question to answer considering they are just different models. Think of it as a Porsche 911, carrera 4, gts, gt3, turbo, turbo S, carrera S, etc. Plenty of variants of a reel work the same. nathan

Very hard to diagnose by sound. It could be numerous things. If you shake the reel, do you hear anything loose? It could be a piece that was broken and is rattling the gears? Does it feel smooth or when it clicks, do you feel restriction? I work on my reels and own practicaly all shimano's. Never seen an issue like that. Nate

I have a 401...for musky fishing. The size question is kinda pointless as both reels have the exact same body. The only difference between both models is spool size. So the only thing you have to ask yourself is what line do you think you will be using and then choose the spool size you need depending on the application. nathan

I finally went with a NRX 872s paired with a stella fj, and absolutly love the rod, Id stay with a 2 power personnaly!

For flipping I prefer a slightly longer rod but 7'4" will definitly be fine. For me the action and powerr is perfect for flipping, as I also use a moderate-fast heavy (tends to not rip a giant hole in the fish's mouth). For frogging I prefer a fast action but again, the rod will work for that application if its got enough backbone.

Garbage

If you want to get into the swimbait rod and reel for the cheap, get the shimano corvalus at around 70-80$ and whatever rod you want. Using a standard size reel like the ones you stated will end up is prematurly ending their functionnal life. 3-4oz baits arent kind on gear and a good reel will help a lot. The are many good options round or low profile depending on your tastes. nathan

As far as over rated, I think any big hype, big sale products. Stuff that is "on sale" when its been reduced to a price that is actually what the company wants. Every product from the Favorite brand seems to be made out of pure advertising and hype. Duckett products are all expensive for chinese rebrands. Shimano's high end products are amazing, but ridiculously priced. I have owned many stradics all the way up to a stella and dont notice a difference. Abu garcia reels are a joke, all made by doyo and I destroyed a brand new ambassadeur c4 last year by doing absolutly nothing wrong. Abu's low end tho is amazing for beginners. St-croix rods, depending on the series, get heavy and not so sensitive on their bigger rods. G-loomis rods are way overpriced, but sadly worth it. Under rated, most solid lower end reels from many companies are actually great, okuma ceymars, abu black max, shimano caenan, daiwa revros, pflueger reels etc. As far as rods go, okuma rods are really nice for the price, to bad the reels dont follow... fenwick HMGs and HMXs are not uber expensive and are a real nice rod. I find daiwa tatulas xt are also cheap and reliable good rods nobody talks about. But as a go anywhere cheap rod to me the most under rated rods are the okuma ceymar, abu garcia vengeance, fenwick eagle, shimano slx.

Get a daiwa fuego and forget kastking. If you want a chineseum reel buy it directoy from doyo or banax...

Not yet an engineer but not that far off.... to me looks like a lost wax or another type of precision molding with a few machining touches afterwards.... nathan

No real remarquable difference between both reels. You might see an upgrade since the reel is new but both will perform in the same way. Save your money

Exactly why id like to shed some light on what companies just use standard components and basic stuff vs others that innovate and create. Fascinating world it is! Thanks for the search! Let me know if you find the other thread, im very curious...

Yes St-croix have theur own facility in park falls. Their higher end rods are made there (avids and up), the other rods they have are made in mexico. Im curious where rods like abu garcia, okuma, duckett, fenwick and other big names are made and if its all by the same manifacturer nathan

Hey guys! As we all know, most companies (lews, abu garcia, lower end daiwas, okuma, kastking, you name it) with the exeption of shimano and daiwa use rebranded reels as their own. These reels are often made by doyo, banax, dawon or other chinese chop shops. My question is about rods, do we know what companies use certain asian blanks and who are the companies that make most rods? Where are the blanks made? Excluding obviously amercian made rods like gloomis or certain stcroixs and so on. WHERE ARE ALL THESE RODS COMING FROM thanks! nathan

Hey! I have a 7'6" legend xtreme Ml Xf and for me its the best drop shot rod ever. The tip does respond very well for working finesse baits but the whole blank loads up nicely when fighting a fish. The extra lentgh make it amazing for vertical hooksets and casts smaller baits a country mile. nathan