bulldog1935

The Japanese are a travel rod culture - they travel by train to fish, mostly fish from shore. The Yen is at an all-time low, 160/US$. Certainly the best suitcase package is 5-pc Legit Design Wild Side - comes in a Meiho box 21" long. Inside, theres a zip-neoprene case, with a rod sock inside that. For what you're describing, I don't think this rod would disappoint, and will have a familiar bass action. You won't lose anything with the rod spigot joints. Tackle Warehouse has this rod at USM prices. I bought mine 2 years ago from FishingShop.Kiwi for $234, but they don't have current stock. Worth looking around. The All-purpose rod, including baitfinesse, is Daiwa Black Label Travel C66ML-5.

I can recommend two - both will cast 2 g beyond 100' without windage swing. Both rods surprise you with light lure distance. These are not trout rods, but baitfinesse rods with power to turn big fish. Surprising quality and light-in-hand for the price. Abu Xrossfield 6'5" 4-pc BF is an inexpensive jewel - Abu named it for "crossing all fields" - inshore, shore casting, bass. Closed length is 52 cm. Daiwa Black Label Travel 6'6" ML 5-pc, though rated 3-g low-end, will cast 2 g accurately into next week without windage swing, and is the best multipiece rod I've ever handled. Daiwa also made this to be the All-Japan rod, inshore, shore casting, bass, and even vertical jigging to 4 oz. Notably, 2 g loads the rod past the first joint, and it casts that light weight really well. Closed length is 46 cm. A 3rd rod to consider is Legit Designs Wild Side 6' ML https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/LEGIT_DESIGN_WILD_SIDE_5-Piece_Travel_Casting_Rods/descpage-LEFW.html I have the 6'8" MM - this is all-bass, not a BF rod, and it's rated 5 g at the low end, but will cast 3 g without windage swing.

Most people I know who bought package Daiwa BFS reels still upgrade them for casting lighter weights with AMO, KKR, or Roro spools and palm-side BFS bearing. What you gain with a package BFS reel like Silver Wolf, etc., is increased LW pitch that will let you fish braid smaller than PE#0.8 without line dig. Standard LW pitch will fish PE#1, which is a joy (equiv dia to 4-lb mono). https://www.jpfishingtacklenews.com/japanese-line-size/ I've stuck to 34-mm Daiwa - all interchange spools - and most recently bought a SLPW Zillion ($192 on Amazon) because I was going to add my own handle and spool, anyway. SLPW Zillion with Ray's SV spool, and Steez with AMO spool (my longest, lightest result). Fixed-rotor spools like AMO, KKR and Roro cast the lightest weights to the greatest distance, but they turn MagForce into linear mag - these spools weight 5 g. They will fish 1/16 oz and limit your top weight to about 3/8 oz. (KKR will fish mono) SV spools like Ray's and Daiwa 1000 Boost PE Special (Silver Wolf) let you fish wider lure weight range (1 oz). These spools weigh 8 to 13 g. (Daiwa SV Boost 1000 PE will also fish mono) If you cast with wrist snap, or want to fish wide weights, SV is forgiving on spool start.

@Bazoo - thanks. Small frame Ambassadeur (1500C to 3600C) fish fine on straight reel seats, but the medium frame reels, 4500C and larger, are a stretch on straight reel seats. The Japanese still make offset grips with separate rod blades that are very comfortable with medium-frame round reels - a style that ended in USM in the late '70s. These are go-to for me in river kayak for bass. Smith Ltd. makes Super Strike w/ 12-mm butt ferrules. The other Japanese grips and rod blades use a 9.4-mm butt ferrule from the old Fuji standard in the '70s. These grips are made by Bright River, Robelson, and a few other brands, and there's a cottage industry of boutique makers for matching rod blades - I call this market the Japan Underground. They also sell the ferrules in a range of I.D. sizes, if you want to build your own rod blade. They offer rod grips in 4 handle lengths, from short 4" and pistol grips up to 2-hand 12" grips. This combo has a salt niche, skip-casting to redfish backs in mud marsh and mangroves.

Of course, the only place big EVA knobs go on a round reel is on a big surf reel. I've never found a use for cork knobs - set some up for friends (he picked the wood on the reel below - cork ended up on a smaller size of his reels) - but cork knobs are also a terrible choice in the salt. FWIW, there are quality grades in EVA. One of my favorite handle/knobs is Livre titanium-shell knob, and the long counterbalanced handle on this high-geared reel makes a big difference in lure finesse presentation in my salt jerk bait niche.

What Shimano and Daiwa have done is make their line management accurate enough to handle the tiniest threadline braid, and have the line rollers to match. If that's not enough, aftermarket makes improved dual-BB line rollers for both Daiwa and Shimano.

Since Ambassadeur came up - if you race these out, they look best with Haneda Craft handles.

@T-Billy Hedgehog offers the best deal on Avail STi2 handle, as a kit with knobs and trim parts. My go-to big Avail knob is Type A. FishingShopKiwi has the best price on Studio Composite RC-SC EX-plus handles. Abu also offers their copy of Studio Composite giant knob, but I can't vouch for it - and they're proud of it https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/4508t. Studio Composite sells their carbon-tube knob fit to Daiwa S/ Shimano A spindles, but at their prices, I would spring the extra $20 to get the complete RC-SC carbon handle that comes with knobs and trim.

Something in the driveshaft stack is worn enough, it's causing the shaft to bottom out when you (over)tighten the drag knob. The obvious place to look are the drag washers, on each side of the main gear, which are made to wear.

there's a reason for the "breaking strength" observation - table for YZH from YoZuri/Duel Int'l website: If you compare diameter/strength to a high-grade fluorocarbon (Toray), YZH has essentially under-rated all their lines for USM, who asks to be fooled this way. I would rather know the actual breaking strength of my line, so I can properly set my drag to 1/4-weakest-link on spring scale, and take advantage of the other properties of the line that come out in fishing.

Abu knobs interchange with Lew's and Doyo in general. I recommend these fat EVA knobs from SDS Customs in Ukraine. As to the "You" question, I'm a junkie for Avail long handles for high-geared reels, and Studio Composite for low-geared reels. both handles and giant EVA knobs are lighter than stock handles with rubber knobs - titanium spindles, carbon knob tubes.

@1984isNOW most of last decade, I wouldn't have anything to do with braid. (Braid caught up, now I fish nothing else). Post from Oz was cheap before all post went wonky in '20 - I noticed this link, closing out Kamikaze in Melbourne. We're talking salt-specific XUL line, low memory, good sink, abrasion resistant - became a dinosaur with advent of Japan x-braid. The diminutive Tica Cetus and 4-lb line landed salt doubles fishing UL tandem jigs, including a slot snook doubled up with an undersized spec (the fish fight each other on the heavier leader, you just have to net the big one). A skill I honed putting growing daughters on fish pays off big now every winter...

@1984isNOW - the thinner stretched line dug under the line stack at the bottom of the skirted spool. The line simply wouldn't cast out any more - wouldn't budge on the spool. On that old reel, a combination of the extra-thin line (reduced to like 2-lb dia), generally poor line management and spindle/rotor flex in a '90s reel tackling too much fish. The light reel on Falcon 6-1/2' Open Hook Special made a great combo for my daughter through her teens. I landed a couple of over-slot reds on the combo, but that was the first and last day for Berkley Spiderwire Copolymer. The reel was go-to for my daughter, more often fished finesse niche on Falcon UL rod, and lasted several more years, eventually replaced by Tica with Kamikaze copolymer, and Stradic with threadline braid. (my daughter is grown now)

@new2BC4bass maybe not worth changing context (Braid was the context). The worst I've ever seen was Berkley Spiderwire Copolymer - it extrudes to smaller diameter, just like this borrowed illustration from a technical journal article. Imagine 10' of line turning into 20' This day, my daughter caught 3 big sheepshead, which stretched her line, dug into the bottom of the spool, locked up her reel (Penn 4200SS), and ended our day - it's OK, we had a good morning and took home a meal of schoolie specs - I didn't want to mess with the sheepshead, but it was a hoot for her to catch them. Sheepshead on the flats turn into UPS trucks trying to get back to deep water. Boy did this thread get weird.

@Choporoz consensus on BR is an oxymoron.

Just like any rod - spiral requires fewer guides in the top third of the rod than a rings-up casting rod. They make great jigging rods. I have 2 rods that are spiral wrap - 7' offshore slow-jigging, and 8-1/2' 7-pc rockfish assembled that way out of necessity (doesn't have enough tip guides for rings up). My 14' surf-meat rod is 3-pc, and the guides are taped. If I choose, I can wrap the 4 mid guides for spiral, and insert the tip section rings down.

@Junk Fisherman - if you're feeling creative, I have a good rod leash design for you. It uses a rod-end and separate leash quick-connected by a 1/2-inch paracord buckle. Whatever rod isn't in use is clipped to a leash in a rod holder. Somewhere on East Flats last fall, my buddy Lou paddled off his favorite Twin Power spinning combo - he had a commercial rod leash with him that was too cumbersome to use. I made him a gang of these, and I've been using them more than a dozen years, including two turtles. You can get by with short bungee leashes with swivel hooks that glide on your anchor trolley line (or longer bungee and clip into deck eye). The leash is easy to knot using bungee-size toggles, and has the male paracord buckle. The rod end wraps both the rod and reel foot, and keeps the reel from falling off the rod. (Loop on rod, insert the reel foot facing backwards, and when you turn the reel forward, loop wraps the foot...) Just have to make a rod-end for each rod - the rod end uses coreless paracord, small cordlock toggle, and the female paracord buckle. (round turn and half-hitch seized w/ sailmaking needle and twine) Need longer loop on rod end for baitcast foot than for spinning reel. You can get everything to make these on Amazon.

Most of the answers on this page are wrong, even answering a question that wasn't asked. If your braid makes noise, it's not in the running for best. If your braid is twice the diameter for the same breaking strength, who are you kidding about it being the best. The OP asked who makes the best, he even implied the Single Best, but he didn't ask what braid do you use (for your single datapoint). Yes, 832 is worth using, and I used enough to buy it in 600-yd spools, but it is always notably larger diameter than they report, and seemed silly to fish their 6-lb when Japan X-braid in the same diameter is 16-lb. Maybe this thing is on. If you're looking for most cost-effective Izanas-made, consider Gosen and Florida Fishing Products.

YGK, with Varivas matching their X8 braids https://japantackle.com/lines/pe-braid-spectra/ygk-shinijx9.html Varivas also has the toughest coating https://www.varivas.fishing/products/avani-sea-bass-pe-si-x-x8/ Both brands are made in Japan by Izanas. Probably worth noting that only the Japanese have a standard (JAFS) for PE lines

The people I know who make single-hook baits for long-cast fishing recommend fishing braid for no stretch - nothing stretches more than mono.

Smartest thing is pick one of your existing reels, Pixy, Alphas, or Zillion, and swap-in aftermarket spool and BFS spool bearings. You'll have a better reel than twice the amount spent on an Ali Express reel. And you can always swap it back.

Abu knob on Zebco Omega Pro https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/4508 https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/7160 Studio Composite also uses 5-mm spindle, and all Doyo reels. Though Studio Composite also sells their super-light carbon-tube giant EVA knob in DaiwaS/ Shimano A. FishingShop.kiwi sells the RC-SC ExPlus handle (w/ knobs) for $98. SDS Customs in Ukraine sells a really nice 5-mm-spindle thick-paddle EVA knob for Abu/Lews/etc. https://www.ebay.com/itm/254304783046?var=553810539374

@FishTank that's my absolute favorite EF30 knob, but I don't know what to tell you. I use my Japan broker and order Livre through SquidMania, who has their exclusive Livre parts, and discounts any Livre handle/knob combination. I like the counter-balanced Union handle. (hook keeper on Livre Balancer is SquidMania exclusive part). I paid $124 plus 6% broker fee for my handle/knob below. @Choporoz Shimano A and Daiwa S knobs interchange, with the addition of a bearing-size spacer (or 3rd bearing) at the bottom of Daiwa spindle. Since we're talking about spindles, note that titanium spindles are 40% lighter than stainless, etc.

@FishTank - hi friend, Livre knobs are notably lighter. The outer skin is titanium (their bread-and-butter is motorcycle racing parts). They form titanium sheet and weld it (CNC) - it can be very thin and have greater strength than Gomexus all-aluminum knob. What's clear is that Gomexus copies Livre styling across the board (also Studio Composite). Livre is notably lighter weight. Where Livre really makes a difference are the big power knobs. Gomexus and even Yumeya power knobs can be 25-40 g, while Livre is 11 to 13 g, and down to 4 to 5 g in their I-shaped Fino knob. The more weight you cantilever away from the reel, the more torsion it places on your wrist. I paid $11 on Amazon for the Gomexus carbon handle and swapped-in Livre EP37 in place of a pot-metal power knob. Also keep in mind some aftermarket handles aren't worth buying. Before I cobbled the offshore jigging handle above, I tried a BassZone handle - their carbon handle actually flexed - a lot of good that's going to do...

Hedgehog Studio will have the most options in one place, OEM, OEM upgrade (Yumeya), and aftermarket. https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product-list/207