PhishLI

All I fish in my immediate area are shallow lakes. There aren't any marinas and generally no lights whatsover. In these places the worst nights to fish are when there's moonlight, like tonight/this morning. I just got back. Thankfully there was cloud cover, but the moon illuminated it enough that we barely needed flashlights. The bite was OK tonight, but nothing like it's been recently with far more darkness. All of my bites came in the shadow lines cast by the moonlight. To be clear, I'm not saying that a situation like a well lit marina can't be a positive, just that here it's not. As a matter of fact, the far side of this particular lake has a culvert where street lights shine on the water. Fishing at night there is rarely good at all. My point is don't limit yourself to where you fish at night to areas that have light. The best fishing might be where it's darkest. Baitfish have a survival instinct too. There's a reason that they go shallow. They also avoid the light in order to not be seen. P.S. The swimbait bite wasn't happening tonight. Everything came slow rolling paddletails on the bottom, which is typical on moonlit nights during this part of the season where the pads aren't up yet.

The zero adjuster is a gimmick, IMO. Yes, it's harder than usual to rotate the tension knob. Adjust it to where you want the tension and don't worry about it, even a little.

When you open the sideplate and swing it out you'll see a gear next to the thumb wheel. Put a drop of bantam oil on it in addition to backing off the screw a tad. You have a pretty small window where the screwdriver clears the frame in order to reach the screw. Close the plate and cycle the thumb wheel back and forth several times. That should loosen it up. I've had to re-apply oil now and then when it gets tight again. Don't go overboard loosening the screw. No benefit past a certain point.

It may be less advanced in theory, but in actual use as implemented in the 200 it's absolutely fine. Never came close to backlashing that reel. No weirdness period.

They aint trying to fool ya. If you'd like a greater understanding of how mag brakes work then look up "Permanent magnet eddy current braking". It's been used in industry forever. Daiwa didn't cheap out by offering Magforce and not Magforce Z in the 200. It's a heavy bait reel that doesn't benefit from using Magforce Z. Other Daiwa reels that are intended for heavier baits and happen to have Magforce Z may employ such a stiff spring that their inductors are nearly fixed, just like regular Magforce. The Tatula 150 is a middle ground reel with respect to lure weights, so it has Magforce Z. BTW, the 200 is fantastic if you're thinking about it. Every bit as good as the Tranx 200 in use, I MO. Considering it's street price it's an absolute steal. I have both.

Bucca Bull Gill Slow Sink, Shellcracker G2, MegaBass Magdraft Freestyle. Right at your budget and these 3 versatile baits will attract any size bass and cover the column nicely.

Bam!

I got a buddy who was cozy on his couch and "wasn't going anywhere" out for a midnight wade with the old "I've got a really good feeling" shtick. Works every time. It was kinda crappy with steady 15mph winds with 20mph gusts, but not bone chilling this time around. Got one 20 minutes in on the Rat 40. The Beast Coast Miyagi in Dope Gill got the rest of the attention.

Here's my first entry and a tip. There're so many good places to throw a rat. One situation where I really like to chuck it is when there's some wind, but there's also a natural wind break. I always try to throw it as far as I can into the ripple and retrieve back into calm water. So many strikes come at that boundary. Sometimes it's just inside the ripple and sometimes just outside of it. Give it a whirl. Tonight's Rat 40 fish came in at 12:20 am with 15 mph headwinds, so total chop. 45 degree water temp. I retrieved it just outside of an emerging pad field and hooked up. Nice runs and a great fight. 7'3" 13 Defy Black Crankbait/Plfueger Supreme XT/Sufix Siege 17lb.

It's dense and heavy enough to be very cast-able without a weighted hook, Rigged this way it can be run higher in the column at slower speeds. Just an option.

The magnum SK Caffeine Shad has great action too, just like the regular size. I run it with an unweighted 6/0 superline or an Owner Beast 1/4oz 6/0. 3/4 oz with the unweighted hook. Casts great.

No toilet paper in today's delivery, but Jackhammers were!

You've gotten good responses so far. For me it's efficiency and feel. I'm not a hand switcher, so I'm casting and reeling instantly. No bail flipping. Palming a baitcaster with fingers wrapped around the rod transmits vibrations and hits differently than a spinning reel/rod. Please note that I said differently, not better. I use spinning gear when I have no choice, which is rare. It comes down to personal preference. You can fish effectively with either type just about anywhere in any cover.

If you're set on Shimano then get a Chronarch instead. I use mine all the time for light jerks and cranks. Or pick up a Curado 70 on sale right now. They're both better suited for lighter baits than the K. If you want to be really happy get an Alde MGL. It's great down to just shy of BFS size baits. If you're not committed to Shimano take a good look at the Lew's Tournament Pro LFS. It's tiny, has a great braking system, and can throw light baits with ease because it has a 10 gram spool. I own or have fished with all of these reels, so unless I'm just lame with a baitcaster, or clinically insane, they're all better than the K with lighter baits. BTW, I almost always have a rod with the K on it with me when I'm out. Aside from the stupid brake dial I like it quite a bit. So smooth on the retrieve.

I doubt that's the case because they come out of the box slicked up nicely with clear grease. Both mine and my brother's did. While there are "self lubricating" or infused thermoplastics, I'm not buying that they're optimal under wet, gritty , service loads, or don't require lubrication used in this situation. Shimano obviously feels that the material they chose is acceptable pulling duty as a worm gear. Anyone concerned about it can easily order a few spares. I'm not worried about it personally.

Snuck out of self quarantine to wet a line for a spell. No drama tonight, and I stayed dry. A skinny guy wrecked my Miyagi, then his bodyguard blasted my chatterbait. The prespawn bite's in full effect.

An internal conversation between me and myself: me: A chrome rat? Get outta here! Myself: BlueBasser's legit you big dummy. me: Eh, I guess you're right. A chrome rat, hmmm? BRILLIANT! Myself: Remember, we're hitting a smallie lake on Saturday, and there's no way to get that rat before then with the Corona. me: MY GOD what are we gonna do? Hmmmmm? Myself: Well, we have a chrome spook and we have some rats. me: So What! How in the name of dancing monkeys does that help us, you idiot? I don't get it. Myself: Put a rat tail on a spook. FRANKEN-RAT-SPOOK!!!!! me: EUREKA!

That color's called Nasty Shad. My brother's fav and his best producing rat in the BBZ series. Morning Dawn is mine though.

Bull Gill Glide is on the bottom.

agree

Reading your first post in this thread, I made the assumption because your son is 10, and you didn't mention the XT, that this was his 1st and only baitcaster. I mean really, how many 10 year olds are on their second! I like this kid already! Anyway, thinking that, I'd recommend a reel that had a broader range. I have a K. I like it for what it does well. Nobody can say with a straight face that it's a good light bait reel, cause it's not. The XT is better here. The Tatula is even better yet "for light baits". Not talking about the SV either, just the regular Tat 100, "for light baits" like small jerks, cranks, and 5" unweighted senkos. If I'm going to the lake with one rod/one reel to throw light baits the last thing I'm bringing is a Curado K. So, as a one and only all arounder a Tatula is the better choice than the K, IMO. Far less touchy with lighter baits than the K and easy to adjust to conditions like wind. Way easier.

I did a scouting mission during daylight yesterday in search of emerging pad fields. I found a pretty good stretch in an area I usually don't do well in, but it's near the deep spot, so why not. Plus, I wanted to try out my new hip waders. Until the other day I've only had fulls. I talked to my bud about 8pm. He'd just wrapped up a quick dusk sesh, but was frozen and done for the night. Told him that I was heading up to a juicy spot I'd found earlier at about 10:30 'cause I had a feeling. He paused, but then said "I'm in". It was 37F with 10mph NE winds when we got there, and naturally the spot I chose was on the west bank. That didn't matter though because on my 3rd cast down the bank of the Keitech Noisy Flapper I got a nice scrapper. A few minutes later my bud got one too on a twitching fluke, and the cold didn't matter much anymore. I worked my way north throwing a few wakes and glides, but found nothing. I just got a new Quantum Tour S3 and was hoping to hook up with it. It's always nice getting that first fish on new gear. It doesn't always happen right away for me, so I was pumped when a nice chunk slammed my Berkley Champ swimmer. Great fight! I got a 3rd a few minutes later, but in the moment somehow forgot I wasn't in chest waders. It was a shock when the 45 degree water poured in and hit my foot. Wet foot, wet leg, and cool and the gang were soaked and frozen too. It was a mere 1000 ft. trek through the woods and a creek sloshing all the way back to my truck, no biggie. Miserable and happy at the same time, I was just glad I had the sense to have spare socks in the glove compartment. I started practicing my explanation immediately as to why I was driving naked from the waist down in tube socks and sneakers. I wasn't pulled over thankfully. It felt good to make it home without a rap sheet.

If you've got the gear, sure. Like I said, it's big. The Bull Gill is 2 oz. This bait is 4.5. There's a big difference side by side, but the Bull Glide isn't a giant bait by big bait standards. If you can only have one to start I'd suggest the Bull Gill.

It's chunky. 4.5 OZs

The gill glide is huge