bulldog1935

harrumph.

back to the original question, if I was looking for a dedicated rod, it would be Valleyhill https://fishingshop.kiwi/category/Rods/Casting-Rods/Valley-hill/buzzslater/ FishingShop.kiwi normally has the lead on this brand, but note, they charge $40 to ship.

Shimano A and Daiwa S knobs all interchange as long as you stack it right. Using Shimano knob on Daiwa spindle requires the "plastic collar" (bearing-size spacer/bushing) or you can also use an extra inboard 740ZZ bearing. I do the extra inboard BB on MH and H spinning reels with Daiwa handle and, e.g., Livre knob. If you tinkered this stuff as much as I do, you'd have bearings and shim washers, etc. to spare... This is a full handle swap, but the Studio Composite handle and knobs are lighter than the stock.

Offering some rod taper considerations, which go back to splitting and planing bamboo strips (split cane has an equivalent modulus to S-glass). Fast tip pretty much defines parabolic rod taper, where the tip doesn't flex, and flex is in the mid and rod butt into the handle. They load more of the total rod length and get maximum cast distance in a shorter rod - characteristically unforgiving for the power trade-off. This taper is independent of the power, which range from XXH to traditional UL. In fly rods, these get the moniker "broomstick" They're easy to spot by a Narrow lure weight range. The opposite is a progressive taper, where increasing weight loads a band that moves progressively down the rod length. Progressive taper has a softer tip, faster mid, and rigid butt. Easy to spot by an extreme-Wide lure weight range. Characterized by forgiving and accurate. This is also how you get an extra-fast UL. In general, every functioning rod taper is going to be a blend of both. But you can describe rods as more para or more progressive. Certainly the simplest way to match a rod to your niche is by lure weight range.

FishingShop.Kiwi has Steez A in both 6.3 and 8.1, both RHW - $40 to ship. https://fishingshop.kiwi/DAIWA-Steez-A-TW-HLC-6.3R/ also a great place to check rods, lines and lures.

@AlabamaSpothunter - we actually covered this on a different thread (Other Species Latest Catch). Texas redfish slot, 20-28" are too big to pan blacken. I used to release them or give them all away until my buddy Josh taught me about grilling half-shell fillets I'm now a grill-blackened redfish junkie. Two things happen on half-shell fillets. You brown the meat side first, and all the vitamin A moves down from the skin, making the meat sweet. Keeping the meat from sticking is a trick, but a couple of extra coats of grill oil spray, making the fire flare right before you lay them down really helps. When you flip them skin side down, they pretty much can't dry out on the grill.

this just off the grill... Shared with my folks (just up the road) who made it a feast, with homemade Spanish rice, green beans, and my mom's banana pudding, which is beyond anyone else's. Not only that, they only ate half their skin-on grill-blackened redfish fillets, and will still be eating them tomorrow, so they sent me home with half the banana pudding.

@TnRiver46 I'm too tired to write my trip report - paddled 40 mi last week Nina got a 28+" red - took her for a sleigh ride through the marsh ps - I will be back later with a trip report. I put my long report on FFR. After Josh posts his day reports on TKF, I'll borrow some of his photos and write my condensed report for BR Other Fish Species...

16" speckled trout 17" flounder 24" redfish

I would say OOS is most always about batch manufacturing. They stock up, stock the next in the manufacturing queue, while the last one sells out until it's back at the head of the manufacturing queue. You can follow it with any JDM reel model.

Last week of salty sunrises

@Jrob78 described proxy shipping company, which may work the same way, but I've posted about buying from Japan using a broker. Twenty years ago, using a broker was the only way you could buy from Japan, both for the language barrier, and Japanese banking laws. I still use the same broker, noppin.com, for buying from Yahoo and from companies that don't market direct to US, like KTF, Haneda Craft, SquidMania. The nice thing about having an e-friend there, Masamichi, he'll ask questions that you could never get answered, will make sure you're getting what you want, and will store it up to 60 days if you want to combine several small orders from different vendors before he packs and ships DHL. He's also set up to bid on Yahoo for you, but I've never tried that. This service used to cost 20%, but with recent competition from other brokers and Japan vendors direct marketing to US, broker fees are down to 5%.

The only manual-bail Mitchell was 440 Ottomatic.. Every complaint about spin fishing is solved with proper manual bail technique: wind knots line behind the spool loose line at the end of a cast runaway line in the wind. The Shimano bail is designed so it won't randomly close during a cast. While it has auto-bail close, it's so stiff as you noted, and you really want to use manual bail technique. Keep your free hand close to the spool. Use your fintertips to feather the line at the end of the cast - like thumbing a baitcaster. Close the bail with that hand - do not use crank-auto-bail-close. Turn with the rod and take up the slack before you retrieve. ___________________________________________________ The offset weight of the bail and rotor is really what keeps the reel turning on its own, though the imbalanced handle weight adds to the mass that makes it turn on its own. You can solve it with count-balanced or double handle, which also very much improves finesse feel through the handle.

Older sister was 4 when she caught her first fish. Completely different, though an equal Texas treasure - just after dinner and sunset from a boat dock on Lower Laguna Madre. The Zebco UL-1 and Eagle Claw Featherlight glass rod were also common to both stories. Calm evening, and the most important part was a spray with Cutter to keep the mosquitos from eating us. When Taylor caught her nursery trout, realized I left the camera upstairs, and ran back to get it, just keeping the fish in the water. After the photo, when we tried to release the fish, it went belly-up. Didn't make sense because we were generally kind to it. "I didn't want the mosquitos to eat the fish, so I sprayed it with Cutter"

the best are two with kids My younger daughter was not quite 3 when she caught her first fish. Took her, mom and sister to picnic and fish Shoemacher's Crossing on the upper Guadalupe. We began the morning in the back yard, adding grasshoppers to a plastic coke bottle. She played in the water while her older sister fished through most of the grasshoppers. Finally, she took over the rod and caught a nice, fat cichlid. Her eyes got big as saucers watching me bait the hook with the next-to-last hopper. She grabbed the coke bottle and ran. "Daddy - Don't - I love him"

you can still buy pistol-grip handles, Two I know of are Eagle Claw Featherweight UL, and Smith Super Strike for round reels.

you already got your like on the gaspergou photo, which I said you couldn't tell it from prime rib with a half-shell grill.

pan-blackened redfish is even better on Louisiana-size redfish fillets. Slot fish here are too big to pan blacken well, and grill blackening of skin-on half-shell fillets is our feast.

half-shell fillet on the grill is about the same as javelina on the smoker - you won't know it from prime rib. Brush butter on the side down plus Prudhomme's Seafood Magic honestly, I never cared for huge redfish fillets until my buddy Josh showed this

That's a niche I don't fish - freshwater UL spinning. Instead, my rods are 7'6" and 7'9" Japanese rockfish rods rated from 0.5 g to 5 g, 0.6 to 6 g. NS Black Hole is a really good Korean rod maker - they target Japan market, and their rod quality is higher than their price level. The Seoul vendor on ebay only lists their highest-grade UL rods. Valleyhill is another rod maker that fits that niche (based in China and targeting Japan market - they also make Whiplash Factory). They offer Accustream in 5' and 5'6" (FishingShop.kiwi seems to have the lead on Valleyhill rods in Japan, and note they charge $40 shipping) 13Fishing Defy Silver could be a great choice, also.

Cetus stands alone in that niche. No one else makes a reel that picks up where Alecdo Micron left off,. Cetus took it to the next level in modern computer design and balancing. It's choice for under 4-lb mono and PE#0.5 and smaller. The Cetus above got dressed up with a Daiwa SLP Works double handle and Avail knobs. My first one fished 7 hard years in salt XUL. Landed too many nite-lite fish to count, and seatrout to 23" on 4-lb Kamikaze salt copolymer. Tica reels in general are a great buy and built to fish hard - they build a fair portion of Daiwa's reels, and have built offshore reels since 1960.

I would say yes, they swap, since the same Avail spool fits both reels

We take advantage of winter glass minnows in tide passes and under dock lights for inshore. Speckled trout will hit a larger flashy lure for slashing into bait balls, but both redfish and snook will only sip the correct size bait. Micro-jigs and micro trout plugs (w/ hook swap to plug singles) shine here, 30 mm to 45 mm, weight 3 to 5 g.

My 13Fish Omen Green ML - it's the least expensive rod I fish, very fast, and I feel every blade of grass through it.

I figure this doesn't help the value - the value is in the reel itself, but Don's signature could make the difference in someone choosing it over a different example.