bulldog1935

what both boils down to is being a fan boy If you're not a fan boy, you don't have anything to knock down in order to build your choice up. Figure out what works best for your where, and plug it in there. Let everyone else do the same, and avoid oversimplified statements and generalized criticisms. The tackle that's out there works, or no one would be catching any fish. Kind of like the pros who are so often trumped here as models of discerning tackle selection - they fish with what they're paid to fish, not necessarily because it would be their first choice if they were outfitting themselves.

@KP Duty, you will be giggling with any and every YB rod. Anyone I know who has bought them just says WOW. Mr. Yamaga always lands fish with shoulders at the end of his rod videos. Unfortunately, whatever big was bending his 69/B for several minutes at the end of that video, he never landed it.

First Lew's I bought for my dad's birthday gift was a BB-1LMG, which was Shimano-made. I bought it for him several years before Daiwa non-parts-support on my Millionaire 6H (7-y-o) forced me to buy my first BB-1NG (not Shimano-made). That kept me away from Daiwa until I bought my '19 Steez and then '21 Zillion for the aftermarket spools made for them. (Just bought a Zillion Silver Wolf for my 3rd Daiwa since 1978). Yes, it was Lew's patent that separated freespool from LW, and wrote a whole new clean sheet of paper and the Next Level in casting that everyone is spoiled with today. Shimano copied Lew's design, which ended Lew's business relationship with Shimano, and sent Lew's elsewhere to build his idea. I wouldn't have considered anything but Lew's until I found a better reel for my ML niche. And I'm still not sure how this thread ran for 3 pages.

ML and MM rods are choice matched with BFS. I'm going to take rare exception with @QED. I fish a BFS reel in my salt ML niche, and love the combo for 1/8 oz jigheads - it will cast them too far, but thumbing for range is what you want to do. Fast rod with some flex in the tip. My bass BFS rod is MM all-range and extremely versatile for kayak fishing - I can take it out as my only rod. This rod will cast and fish both ends extremely well - 1/16 oz jigs and neds to 5/8 oz crankbaits. Valleyhill calls this rod Regular Fast, and you wouldn't guess from the fast tip that's it's able to throw 1/16 oz. These are big fish rods, light-in-hand and extremely sensitive - my Omen Green feels every blade of grass, and very different from L/UL stream rods.

The normal production mode is batching one model at a time. If you check JDM sites like Asian Portal, you'll find some models with 100 in stock, and current models from the same manufacturer that are sold out. Have to watch for what you want, and snag it. Amazon has stock of both RH and LH SLX XT 150/151 XG

I thought the same way when baitcasters switched to full time A/R roller bearings. But I also replaced three A/R dogs on Lew's BB-1 reels. Ever have an A/R dog go out on you when you're trying to land a 30" redfish (rhetorical) - it takes 3 hands from there. Honestly, it seems like having optional A/R would be more important on a baitcaster, because without it, the only way to feed line is engage freespool or loosen the drag. Thirty years after optional A/R switch disappeared on baitcasters, no one is complaining. My Tica reels (who also makes many Daiwa reels, probably all the ones with optional A/R) - all have optional A/R switch. Can't remember the last time I used the switch, except maybe to align the handle to put the reel in a reel cover. You get used to full-time A/R - at first you work around it, then you don't notice it. You get really good at opening the bail just enough to feed one wrap of line (baitcaster doesn't give you anything that compares). You can take it to the bank, optional A/R is going to disappear, even before crank-auto-bail-close disappears. There's really no reason to give up all the qualities of a precision spinning reel just because it has full-time A/R.

@Darth-Baiter Complex rigs are where those silly-looking Japanese reel stand/ balancer/ hook-keeper that replaces the blank handle cap come in really handy. This is a jighead with a double stinger hook looped to the leader. The Tsubaki reel stand is also one of the cheapest and most functional, with the rotating hook keeper. Most of them also contain a pair or stack of o-rings that will grab your line to loop it around and back to hook your first guide k-frame. They store your lure, hooks and line away from the rod, prevent line wraps. Easy to grab and fish, easy to put back away.

Sufix 832 is choice braid, round, well-behaved, good FEP coating. Spool capacity of the Ultegra 2000 is 110 m 0.15 mm dia; 80 m 0.17 mm dia That corresponds to 6-lb or 8-lb Sufix 832. YGK X-braid is excellent, higher test for the same diameter, and has found its way on all my spinning reels. The Ultegra has more drag than you need. If you set with a spring balance, you should set drag to 1/4 of your weakest link, line test, leader test, or rod max line rating.

Buy your rod, then shop your 2000 reel in JDM. https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/pid/320552 https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/pid/300983 https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/pid/368003

At JPY 138 to the US$ exchange rate, consider that All of Japan is 30% off. Since you want to fish braid, I strongly recommend 3000MHG Shimano size. You can only get this braid-specific spool size in JDM, where it's available in all Shimano worm-drive models, Stradic, Vanford, Twin Power, Vanquish....all these reels are the same design as '18 Stella, with cost cut in materials selection and labor quality (Malaysia line vs. Japan bench). https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/pid/316257 https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/pid/300224 (these are the same reels, the only difference is Stradic aluminum frame vs. Vanford plastic-composite and lighter rotor). Likewise, for braid in Daiwa, I would be looking at Luvias LT2500, which has the right braid spool, right price, and is a better reel than previously made your list. https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/pid/301306 This is your chance to step up to a quality worm-drive spinning reel, with increased spool pitch for casting greater distance, and improved line management just for handling light braid. Leave All the locomotive drive reels behind. Twin Power 3000MHG medium frame, 47-mm spool dia, loadedwith PE#1.2 X-braid, 27-lb.

My Lew's Super Duty SDG1XHF has a flipping switch. You can't randomly bump this, you have to really want to move it. It's also a nice feature for vertical jigging. You use it when you may want to set a hook before you have time to turn the crank. Any time you push the thumb bar, it lifts the pinion from the spoon pins. It normally locks the pinion in that position for freespool, and you unlock it by turning the crank. The flipping switch defeats the lock, so when you let go of the thumb bar, the pinion spring pushes it instantly back onto the spool pins.

but nothing could be simpler in operation or set-up than Daiwa's magforce, which is why everyone else is playing catch up, because they can't directly copy Daiwa's patent.

kinda covered on the Brand Loyalty thread

I paid $257 shipped for a JDM Zillion Silver Wolf - a known quantity in comparison. Exchange rate hit 139 JPY to the $ that day, all of Japan is On Sale - 30% off. I-Cast is where tackle gets introduced every year, but they're going to have to make a helluva smoke screen to hide the current exchange rate for JDM shopping. @AmmoGuy fixed - Japan is good shopping anytime it's over 100 JPY to the $

tripod and focus-stacking - spiral-wrap slow jig rod @AmmoGuy - I would consider that rod damaged beyond use - I suspect it will break on a good fish. You can be sure it came off the mandrel straighter than that. It was probably bent during transport

I was anti-braid until braid and reels caught up with each other. Matched with the right reels, I've gone to all fine braid with just a couple of spools of fluoro main line. Can think of some lures that I was able to set on fluoro main line, but set so much better with braid (+leader). Even 2' of leader gives you some measure of shock absorption that braid alone doesn't have.

I fished nothing but Falcon through the 80s and 90s. Also kept my dad in them. (ok, I also fished longer Lami and GL2). Thirty years ago, they were peerless, but they also wouldn't meet your budget back then. On your other thread I recommended 13Fishing Fate Black. This means something. How many threads do you need to do this (rhetorical) @Eric 26 - tell him again

I don't have a 13Fishing bass rod, but I'm bowled over with my inshore 13Fishing Omen Green - it's the least expensive rod I fish, and I'll always have one in my ML niche. They have plenty of stock on the Fate Black bass rod, @Eric 26 has tried and recommended this rod, and it fits your price. https://13fishing.com/fate-black-3-spinning If you can up the ante, Omen Black is a very good price for The entry level Toray graphite rod. Those long steelhead rods are great for casting, but you'll get a lot more feel and lure finesse from a lighter-weight 7' rod.

It's exactly the same idea as thumbing your baitcaster, keeps your line tight, and the single greatest weapon against wind knots. It's manual bail technique, which we've covered on the forum many times. You don't have to touch the spool, and you can use all your fingertips to feather the line. While your hand is there, close the bail manually rather than using the crank auto-close, turn with the rod to take up the slack, and retrieve. Any time I loan a rod, we go over this. If you do this, you can load your spool to the brim with the finest braid.

@NorthernBasser the Design that you're complaining and that others have complained on the forum before is specific to Vanford and the CI4+ frame. It's definitely not enough to write off Other Shimano, because Stradic remains the Best Buy in a quality spinning reel. The other Shimano worm-drive reels don't have the short knee issue. Stradic 2000 .................................................................................Vanquish 2000 Twin Power 3000 don't have a Vanford to compare side-by-side, because plastic-composite-frame spinning reels are never on my purchase list. @The Bassman - Must be Pianist fingers.

The smallest I go on Sufix 832 with a deep-spool baitcaster is 20-lb. I use 20 to 25 yds 20-lb mono backing to make a spool arbor - 2/3 of the spool depth. Never anything close to dig. I go a lot smaller on Duel X-wire (PE#1, which is 22-lb), kinda comparable to J-braid, but only on shallow BFS spool, which fishes ML just fine. No line dig, never a backlash.

The USM market Stradic FL1000 is the JDM C2000SHG. They're all S-27 spool, and a C2500SHG spool from another model will interchange in all the small frame reels, along with any other Shimano S-27 spool - @MSlammer from Yumeya catalog there's only 2-mm radius difference and plenty of clearance for my '20 Twin Power C30000MHG medium frame spool to fit in my C2000S '19 Vanquish (and C1000S '19 Stradic) - I just tried it - but the pitch is different (S-20 spool) In the case of the 2015 Stradic, it's also different. The 2015 Stradic small frame is S-22 spool, and 2500S spool is S-23. I hope this thing is on.

It sure sounds like winding over backlash to me.

The mfg's can keep doing what they're doing, I'll fix my reels where I want them. Tee-knobs and flat paddles are my least favorite. I'd rather remove a handle that's not even close than one that began by costing more and isn't close, like this 2-ounces of rubber Shimano 5000 knob. .......................................................................................................Fixed, with 14 g of titanium Low-geared spinning reel, which you have to go to Japan to buy, anyway. ...........................................................................................................Next to it, even lower-geared baitcaster I like counter-balanced handles on light spinning reels, and want the manufacturers to stay out of that, too. Good lightweight power knobs, the handle length matches the gear ratio. @T-Billy's 105 mm is for 8x gears.

There are a few of us here who fished Big Game mono on baitcaster for a couple of decades. Bulk spools are inexpensive, and I never fished heavier than 12-lb. I left it behind with Seaguar fluoro - its density is a salt advantage, and fluro knot strength was terrible before Seaguar. The general rule with braid and baitcasters is to avoid it until backlash is a distant memory.