Eric 26

Hello all, I need some advice and I’m hoping to hear from our mechanics both in the actual trade ie @Woody B and or shade tree members. So I have a 2009 Ford Focus with about 158,000 miles and a really good body with some minimal surface rust under the paint on the frame where it meets the body. I basically had the suspension rebuilt this year and now it’s in need of a new ignition lock cylinder and as we just discovered this morning a new/rebuilt transmission because the current one is slipping. I’m looking for advice on return on investment vs just going ahead and purchasing a used vehicle with a budget of no more than $15,000.00 which I’m aware is not going to buy much in today’s market. I apologize for the long winded description but appreciate any and all advice that is shared.

If you need to tape it but don’t want to wrap the whole handle my suggestion is the tape that BPS uses on a few of their house branded rods, @bulldog1935 has used it and can explain it better. Here’s the wrap.

If I may with very limited knowledge or bfs experience offer my advice if you’re on the fence about bfs and don’t want to spend a whole lot figuring out if you like it then look into a Daiwa Tatula 80 with a bfs spool that @bulldog1935 shared with me for my Tatula 80 both on AliExpress for around $124.00 before taxes and shipping. If you decide to upgrade the reel at a later date you can sell the Tatula and spool or just spool and have a nice extra reel and as a bonus decide if you like the Alphas platform which the Tatula 80 shares.

Review 🤔

@SeanKC15 According to the Okuma website the blanks are 24 ton graphite so no glass as far as I’m reading. Also so you know if you buy it now you get an additional 20% off so it’s under $150.00.

I’m going to suggest looking into Okuma especially right now with the Tackle Warehouse 20% off rods sale. Although I don’t have their crank bait specific rods I do have a couple TCS A rods including their 7’-0” medium plus moderate fast taper that I’ve used smaller cranks and square bills on and they have a 7’-6” heavy moderate fast TCS A in addition to a couple different crank bait specific rods.

Good golly I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again John Jurkovic a former NFL player and current sports talk show host has said if you ain’t cheating you’re not trying as far as holding or any other advantage but good lord how many times are they going to show the KC offensive lineman hold on national television before the commentators let alone the referees call it. And believe me I get it although I only coached little league football I had so many kids complain to me and literally saw it with my own eyes that I understand referees can only watch so much but there were times I told my players if they can get away with it so can you, whether that was right wrong immoral or not it’s the reality but we weren’t being shown on national television every week either.

@12poundbass That and the blatant hold in I believe the 3rd quarter which is what pushed me over the edge today.

Is it just me? How many freaking times are the Chiefs going to get a freaking pass on blatant calls 🤬 I don’t care what their record is at the end of the season heck I don’t care if they win another freaking Super Bowl but for the love of Pete make them freaking earn it! And yes I’m watching the game currently and just watched them lose.

@CDMTJager I know this is an old thread but I’m curious if you tried the Kast King line and if so what you tried and how you like it? I’ve been using the Kast king monofilament in 4 pound test for a few years and really like it anlong with a spool of 4 pound flourokote that I also like. Also curious if you tried out the Kast king casting rods yet? I have a speed demon pro 6’-10” that I used this season and although I’m happy with it it isn’t outstanding for the price imho but that’s just my opinion so I’m curious to see other’s opinions.

I’m hoping to add an Alphas or a Zillion for the upcoming season.

I’m glad I’m fishing just for fun because my gear and tackle selection is all over the map so to speak as I feel a lot of us are. I’m probably partial to Daiwa as I feel their braking system is the easiest to use for my style but I have rods and reels from multiple vendors and will continue to do so as I love trying out everything.

My perspective is a bit different in that I felt Jake Paul had a 2 part plan that he actually executed well . Part 1 don’t get hit I know DUH but he definitely locked Tyson up and backed himself into the ropes especially in the first 2-3 rounds assuring a break with the clock running and zero damage to himself. Part 2 tire Tyson out which at 58 years of age wasn’t much of a challenge especially given part 1 of the plan. With that said although I don’t know if it’s true I heard the contract read that Tyson couldn’t knock out Paul in the first 3 rounds or he wouldn’t be paid which if true definitely goes in favor of JP. After last night I really hope JP gets his butt knocked out soon but until he takes on a real boxer closer to his age I think it’s always going to be a clown show watching JP fight with the undercard being the real reason to watch.

Here we go!

Definitely cool. I’ve only had a top piece of a 2 piece rod shipped from St.Croix and they did a great job although that was at least over 10 years ago. And once again I’m going to say that’s a good spouse right there. My wife did the same thing for me with a rod that I put on my wishlist from Tackle Warehouse’s Black Friday sale a handful of years ago. It’s still one of my favorite rods for both being a rod I really wanted and because she purchased it for me even though she has zero interest in fishing.

@MN Fisher That is freaking awesome my man. Kudos to your wife for either having kick butt taste in rods or at very least having a good memory when she heard you talking to her about the rod. I’m really excited to get to handle these at our local outdoor/fishing show but that’s not until February. I’ve got a question for you, do you have any experience with the Dobyns Sierra line? And if so how would you say it compares in hand or how do you feel it compares in hand to your Mojo’s and Victory’s?

I’m curious if anyone else is looking forward to the match coming up this Friday the 15th? At 55 years old I’ve watched more than my fair share of Tyson matches on pay per view when he was in his prime.

Not going to lie this really hit home as my wife and I had to recently say goodbye to one of our 3😢

Personally I think there are quite a few good to really good reels that aren’t named Daiwa or Shimano. Yes they are made in China or Korea and as a bonus they actually share parts from another brand which in my case was a double bonus as I needed to replace a part on my Piscifun which as it turns out is the same reel as an Ardent reel who gave me the part for free as an extra bonus. My most recent purchase is a reel that’s based on the same platform as the Okuma Hakai and other than the spool I’m pretty sure anything I need replaced can be done using site sponsor DVT purchasing Okuma parts. As a final bonus I only paid $108.00 vs the $199.00 for the Hakai.

@BassSteve Are you unable to return the one you just purchased? I’m not sure which Okuma reel you purchased but if you’re able to get a refund I recently purchased a second Dream Tackle Design Formula D from Ali Express based on my experience using one this season, the reel casts beautifully from an 1/8th ounce in-line spinner to a 5/8 oz lipless crank on the appropriate rod of course. It’s basically an Okuma Hakai reel with an upgraded spool and A/E is showing a price of just under a $100.00 currently and I’ve had zero issues with the drag to boot which is supposedly 20 pounds although I’ve not measured that for confirmation. I have a couple photos in the bait monkey rod/reel section if you’re interested in seeing them and I’ll attach the A/E description to boot. Best of luck finding what you’re after.

@JamieOsage Add a picture of this setup please.

Although I have magnetic, centrifugal and had and still have 1 reel with dual brakes I’ll agree with @ww2farmer that the Daiwa brakes on my Tatulas are by far my favorite and I feel the easiest to adjust along with having plenty of adjustability. I will add though that I had zero issues with my SLX’s centrifugal brakes after setting them 3 on and 3 off and if I did need to adjust them the side plate was easy enough to open and held on when opened.

A few years ago I purchased a Favorite Soleus reel for $50.00 during DSG Black Friday sale.

I wound up purchasing a second Dream Tackle Design reel from A/E last week to pair up with my medium light BPS Crankin Stick. I paid $108.00 to my door and they’re currently showing them for $91.10 vs the $150.00 I paid from Amazon earlier this year. As a gift they included some plastics I’ve never heard of.

I have a few for sure. Mine are all spinning 2 belonged to my older brother a Daiwa B1000 that bounces in and out of use and a Ryobi MX10 that stays ready to go on a Empire 5’-6” light powered rod I bought when we were at one of the Tinley Park high school fishing/outdoors shows together although I had the Daiwa mounted on it in the photo. I also have an Abu Garcia Cardinal my stepson/wife bought me 20 plus years ago that was mounted to a BPS Bionic Blade ultralight that I purchased with a gift card from my parents for Christmas. My brother and mother are no longer with me but every time I catch a fish on these reels and or rod it brings me a sense of joy and for that I’ll never part with any of these reels or rods.