PhishLI

If distance is your primary concern, the largest spool you can get away with is the answer. You can put a 25 size reel on a 10' pole but get litttle increase in distance over a 7 footer as the spool lip friction as the line gets closer to the arbor will ultimately govern how far you can throw a lure. All reels aren't created equal. The oscillation type and spool length will impact how well line leaves the spool too. Take a look at a Daiwa SS if you want extra distance. Old tech, but still in production. Line flies off the spool amazingly well. All things being equal, they'll outcast just about any reel of comaparable size. And the drag is world class.

I have several Fuegos. I like them alot on MHF and H rods. Mostly 7' and up. Not a big fan on 6'6"-ish medium or on a 7' MHXF. I can throw with them all day on the lower power rods, but it requires a certain consistency of stroke and more concentration than I'd like to expend while keeping the brake dial on the lower limit. Personally, I'd go for a centrifugally braked reel on your ML 6'6" set up. I think you'll have less grief. Magforce Z doesn't do well with any type of snap. Trouble happens more on a short medium power rod if you're casting with differently weighted lures close to the rod's limit. It's hard to avoid. Crank up the brakes and you'll be fine, but you might not hit your target if it's out there a bit. Just My opinion.

No. Just a slight click at most in either direction. Do this: Reel the line in and tape the tag end to the spool. Set the brake dial at zero. Click the thumb bar down. Give the spool a fast spin with a finger. How long does it spin?

I'll second that on the Aird rods. My brother picked up the Daiwa AIRX701HFB to get his feet wet pitching jigs. 54$ on Amazon. I was suprised at the build quality, feel, and weight of the rod. Very light. He's even chucked 1 1/4oz swimbaits on it too. No problem.

Thanks! Trust me, he came and is still coming. I'm already hiding tackle from my wife! Thanks, Russ!

Hello Everyone, I grew up within walking distance of the biggest lake on Long Island. Totally hooked on bass fishing from the get go. Saved my paper route money and bought a Daiwa 1000C and 5'10" medium Ugly Stik. Hot stuff for a 12 year old in '77. Armed with a Super Vibrax inline spinner and an Arbogast Hawaiian Wiggler, I was on fire. Last day I fished was Sept. 3,1980. Caught a big pickeral tossing the wiggler into the pads. Electrifying! Glad a fishin pal was there to see it. Nobody would've believed me otherwise. So what happened? Life. Mostly all of a sudden I had a girlfriend. A bit older. Much more interesting to a 15 year old than a fish I tell ya! Then another. Cars. Motorcycles. School. Work, to pay for it all. But i always guarded my rod/reel combo, knowing that the day would come. Then it did. My daughter brought her new boyfriend/future husband to a family picnic. During our first converstation he mentioned "bass fishing". That was it! The day came, sort of. Another year went by. I had a crazy workload. Finally, I tore down the reel and greased it. Replaced a guide on the old stick, and it was on. Got my permit 9/20 last summer and hit a local spot by myself. Surrounded by trees and water, every feeling I had as a kid gone fishing was back in a state of absolute perfection. A true and wonderous time warp. I brought my brother out with me back in April of this year. His pride and joy Victory Viking now collects dust in his garage while surrounded by fishing poles. He's all in. When his riding pals call on a nice day he's usually already waist high in the water. New friends, new family, Chronarchs, Curados, Tatulas, flippin sticks, jig rods, rods rods rods, etc, etc, etc...I'm back and I love it.

My Tat Sv sat for about 2 weeks between uses. I was hitting a lake with a bunch of skip-able docks, so I brought it. Couldn't detect any issues while skipping. However, on long casts it was making a new noise. Ignored it for a while that day, but it bothered me. I've only used it in freshwater. It was dunked once while wading deep. Tried to hold it up but a whopping pickeral wouldn't let me as I tried to unhook it. Anyway... Tore it down after the dock skipping trip. Handle side spool bearing was frozen, essentially a bushing. The spool shaft was a little scored. Polished it. I pulled the sheilds from the bearing. No corrosion or gunk that I could see under 30x magnification. Soaked it in PB Blaster. Worked it loose. A drop of Bantam oil and all is well for now except for a little more slop than I'd like between the inner race I.D. and the spool shaft O.D.. Performed the same cleaning and lube on the sideplate bearing which was otherwise fine. Gonna chuck some Hawgtechs in cause I'm curious and they're affordable. Anyway, It happened to you. It happened to me. Bet it's not isolated to us. Love the reel otherwise. Going for Walleye and Bass in the rain today. The Tat is coming with me.