PhishLI

My fishing buddy got one last fall. It swims great. There are times where they want it cranked slowly just under the surface. The Shellcracker G2 can be fished this way and most of the time this is the only way they'll hit it around here. Crank it down just a little, then let it float up, but continue reeling it in keeping it subsurface. Should be able to fish the MB the same exact way, and with its torpedo profile it's very eatable. That's one of the reasons a TK is so deadly. Its profile.

Not yet, but soon enough.

That one's on my list for sure in my Alewife spots. Thanks! Did you see the MegaBass SuWitch @J._Bricker posted in the monkey thread? Go to their site to read the full description about the ways it can be rigged to run. Oh boy. Sick!

They grow big to huge around here which is awesome and terrifying at the same time. Like bass, their heads continue to grow over time, so their mouths widen. That's an angry mouth full of daggers, and they can slice you to the bone if you're not cautious when they do the crazy shake while unhooking them. The one I caught yesterday had its top and bottom lips pinned shut by a treble, so there was no way to use the fish gripper. Yeesh yet again. They can engulf a decent size swimbait too. I had one cream a Gantarel Jr a while back. Checked my line carefully and felt no nicks. I was just about to chuck the bait again when I stopped, grabbed it tightly, pulled on the line, and blink, it popped very easily exactly above the knot. A cast or two later I had a 5-15 bass hooked and landed. No way the line would've withstood the hookset. Pickerel like to head-shot a bait, so the nick is sometimes right at the knot, and it can be hard to detect doing the fingernail-feel-test. The smart move is to just retie. If you're impatient and a blockhead like me, at least grab the bait and the line and give it a good pull, but that has dangers of its own if the bait slips. Double-ouch?

Lew's has the Custom and Custom Pro lines on sale for 25% off on their site. Use code MAD25. Code worked on the Custom Pro gen 2 and Custom BCs.

As the Bulldog just alluded to, this thread was nothing but a troll from the jump. Even with that, nobody who came in to respond went near saying one reel was better than the other or disputed the "versus" part of the OP's post. Whoever perceives that this happened and continues to propagate it by building various strawmen arguments is living in fantasy land. The greater "we" who post here often on the subject of reels and reel tech own a plethora of brands, show pictures proving that we actually own them, relay info which proves we actually use them, and for the most part respect that people have different preferences for a number of reasons. The OP is entitled to his. If you read this forum often, disputes over preferences are unusual, but if someone's going to bloviate opinions as flat-out indisputable fact, well, game on. Anyone can choose any reel, set it up flat out wrong, then chit on it to get a reaction. If I would have done the same thing with an Antares, a number of sane people here would've probably entered the fray to correct the record, and they'd be right to do so. That wouldn't make them slovenly apologists either. And by the way, if I ever hear the word "fanboy" leave my lips, especially if used to diminish someone else, I'll tear arse to the doctor to get my testosterone checked. Then let's see your Zillion G right next to the Catalina. I'll believe if I see it, maybe. Why? Because why would you write "But people have talked about that , lack of casting distance and doesn’t skip as well as say the tatula sv tw" if you owned and used one? Sorry, but that's not how someone speaks who has first-hand experience. You'd relay your first-hand experience instead by saying "I", not "people", and not do it retroactively if you're being truthful. Actually, don't bother. I've already lost enough brain cells on this crackpot topic. Hopefully, if a newbie with a Daiwa reads this thread someday, they'll know how not to set it up.

Actually broke the ice on Feb 20. All swimbait bite in 38* water! Spro BBZ-1 Shad floater tweaked with lead tape for a super slow sink.

I was cozy yesterday watching the Redcrest finals, and it's been so crappy out with freezing nighttime temps with snow and sleet, so I had all intentions of staying put. Oddly, the winds finally shifted from north to south in the late afternoon, so even though it was still miserable out, I started thinking. My brother sent me a late afternoon swimbait bass pic, then I saw @The Bassman's snow bass, so I was out of excuses. By the time the Redcrest ceremony officially ended it was dinner time. I bribed my wife with delivered sushi, then made my way up. By the time I trekked to my spot my it was well into dark, and hands were already burning from the cold. Water temp dropped back down to 37 from the relentless north winds, and my dogs were barking rather quickly. My cheapo PVC hip waders literally transmit the cold to my feet. Worked the bottom nice and slow with the usual suspects, but no takers. Rigged up a hard swimbait floater and nabbed a scrappy bass pronto. Threw the chrome rat for the first time and the pickerel demolished it. Got a crazy wintertime topwater explosion followed by a ferocious fight. They didn't saw off my rat, so I bounced outta there frozen, but happy. More snow tonight, so it was good to slip in a session.

I could tell you about the strangest place I caught crabs, but I'd get banned.

In other words, you have no idea yourself. No firsthand experience obviously. You just wanted to make some educated noises? I suppose @bulldog1935 saying it's a good distance caster in this very thread is irrelevant? The Fishtank says it's perfection, and he fishes with the primo stuff across manufactures, but you're quoting nebulous "people". He has no standing, but they do? While it's up for debate whether or not @Phil77 played tackle football without a helmet, at least he actually held one and formed an opinion. Apparently, he defeated the braking system nearly entirely, so his review as-is and opinion does not really apply to how the vast majority of people would use and judge it. Daiwa's brakes rely on spool speed to function properly. Dialing in the type of tension to allow for the brakes to be set at 2-4 is asinine. That's not even a matter of opinion either. Have we not lived through enough posts here where doing this has screwed a brother up? Oh yes, we have. Yup.

If it says it needs a Beast, then get a Beast. Go 1/4oz weighted 6/0 so its runs correctly.

But the line through version is interesting. Check out the vid on his YT channel. Included talks with the bait designer.

Clean excess off the tip if you see any build up, shake it up often, even if you haven't used it recently, and it'll last a very long time. Gorilla Super Glue Gel | Gorilla Glue (gorillatough.com)

What a grind! Made me tired watching it.

I guarantee most "men" who "love" triggering strangers on the internet were the same boys who got wedgies on the playground, but instead of duking it out on the spot, they ran and cried to a teacher instead. Meow.

This is different.

Same here. It's ugly outside.

Now that's it's been revealed that the spool tension is being leaned into enough to cast at 2 or 4 on the dial...comparisons to how the vast majority of people fish this reel are quite meaningless, regardless of whether he likes it or not.

Thrift smokes 'em to take Knockout Round lead on Lake Norman, 15 anglers advance - Major League Fishing

I don't. You can't tell when you're being trolled? Would the hyperbolic rantings of a cantankerous goofball shift your perception of a dish you enjoy at your favorite restaurant? I'd imagine not. Besides, who cares what drives the taste of a total stranger?

OKie doke. You do you, Holmes.

Mach Werkbait 90 in Ghost Gill.

The spool bearings come loaded with grease on these. Put a drop of oil on each one between the outer race and the shield which will cut it, and most of it will express out after casting it a while and the reel will open up a bit.

Around here the trout googans are catching them minutes after they've squirted out of the tube. Four stockings a year with these knuckleheads running around.

Do it to it. The trout stocked spots around here all grow big bass, so don't shy away. I know where they pump them in on my lakes, and where they always congregate in the short term, so if I'm fishing around the time of the stocking, I'll just work the opposite end. My buddy got this juicy holdover the other day. MattLures got it right.