bulldog1935

There will always be a thumb learning curve, just for start and stop. Your thumb should always be close enough to "read" the spool "fuzzies" of incipient backlash. What's toughest for most spin fishermen is getting jerk out of your cast, since it's rewarded with distance in spinning cast, and MagForce helps with that up to a limit. MagForce is the easiest brake system to set up, since you adjust it for light end and wind backlash (mid cast), and the MagForce takes care of start-up and the heavy end. There's always a bit of pontificating re: thumb training on these threads from guys who began on Ambassadeur - I began there, and don't wish it on anyone with modern reels out there. If you really want to become a thumb expert, a Meek or Talbot will cast the same distance as any modern reel. @Jack Hanson just saw your question about gear ratio - stick to 6- or 7-geared reels. 8+ are really fast. There's usually a sweet spot for lure action. I also came from the school of spinning rods in right hand, and bait and fly rods in left. I think the learning was better this way, since there's so much difference between spinning and the other two. This will always be a case of personal preference. If you're a switch-hitter, or do different things between right and left hand (tennis, ping pong, etc.) consider my way. e.g., my daughter can only crank any reel with her right hand, so we set her up that way.

One tried to make an argument on FFR forum that modern spinning tackle made baitcasters obsolete. Any time tight line and instant retrieve is an advantage, baitcaster is superior I only use my spinning tackle in the dark, and have set up light-line baitcasters that will out-distance comparable spinning tackle. I'd add to the $50 ante and start with Daiwa Fuego to get MagForce brake. Unlikely, but if you decide you hate it, you can sell it on the forum classifieds.

I couldn't be more hooked on finesse tackle. I'm a 48-y fly fisherman, and have caught well over 100 species on fly rod in rivers and salt. Finesse tackle pretty much makes the fly rod obsolete for all except trout fishing moving water. If it makes you guys feel better, also have a local 400-acre no-motors reservoir, high on creek headwaters, where I kayak and fish my BFS MM bass rod (or 2). I use a stream trout BFS set-up for our endemic river bass - Texas Brook Trout - this is most often busting and wading, just like you'd use a fly rod (a bit of kayaking thrown in). Also a good way to beat the summer heat in spring water and cypress tunnels. My most recent Japan purchase included Meiho 800NS lure boxes, which are the best for small lures I've ever tried. You can fit a gang of them in your fishing bag, along with whatever else you want to bring. (Meiho 1200ND is the same adjustable box sized up for bass-size plugs). Nothing in the boxes below is over 4 g, and only a few are over 2 inches. Newly put together this floating (and +diving) box Rounded out my sinking box with Smith Niakis spinners and the black/gold Shine Ride crank on the bottom row is for bottom-bouncing. Salt finesse has 3 main uses for me. Winter glass minnows in tide passes, and especially nite-lite dock fishing along a favorite navigation channel. Same nite-lite use for tiny summer mullet in coast neighborhood canals. The third use is wading and sight-fishing expansive salt "lakes", same place you'd use a fly rod. I added these lures to my salt finesse boxes. Magbite Mimiq slow-sinking pencil shrimp that makes me want to wade Fence Lake with UL right now. Timon Buriburi glow floater/diver (wakebait) going into Arroyo glow finesse box (only floater in the box). We mostly prospect deep in the navigation channel for schoolie specs and snook along the dock piles, but have seen times when their defense mechanism sent them to surface-only eats. The bottom two are Smith Gunship floater/divers for sight-fishing reds in skinny grass. The "larger" 45-mm Smith plug has bad-boy Vanfook #3 single hooks installed. While a few of these plugs come ready with single hooks, most come with tiny trebles. I also tried Vanfook ME-41 plug single hooks for the first time. The photo on the right compares the tiny 36-mm Smith plug with #6 ME-41 hooks installed, next to an Owner/Cultiva S-55 #6. The short shank on the Vanfook hook lets you go up a hook size - the tiny plug would need a #8 in the Cultiva hook.

McBride's Guns but if it's more than 15 mi from your house, the $8 postage is cheaper

choice tackle - I like the dragon

I find I can tune my baitcaster gear ratio to the right retrieve with handle length. Longer handle on higher gears, shorter handle on lower gears. With a longer handle, you use a little more arm, with shorter handle you use more wrist and can spin faster.

That reel has a definite Doyo look, so it's going to be very similar to Lew's and Abu mag-brake reels. This isn't going to be your exact schematic, but close, especially for what you need to clean - the spool spindle, spindle contact bushings, and the spool bearings. The first thing to do is remove, or at least fully loosen the tension cap, represented by p/n 57. (also easiest if you remove the handle and star drag first, but removing those parts shouldn't be necessary just to deal with spool free-spin and spool bearings). Everything that contacts each end of the spool spindle, p/n 88, should be cleaned. You'll also have to remove the palm-side cap to get the spool out, represented by p/n 96. The spool bearings are p/n 107, p/n 89, and possibly p/n 57 - you'll either have all 3 or just two of these, either 89 or 57. To remove the main spool bearing (89), you need a pin tool. The $15 Billings version should work great on your spool. You can likely find many bearing cleaning tutorials on the forum, removing shield and washing the bearing balls and races, then re-oiling. I would recommend starting over with line, so you can check free spin on the empty spool, proper end play when you reinstall the palm plate, and before you tension the spool with the end knob. If you can measure the bearing sizes, you can simply go with new bearings from an outfit like HPR Bearings. He has an e-bay store, good communication, and he can put together a bearing kit for you. Your drive is going to have the same waxed and caked grease, and probably needs cleaning of the gears, also, but limited this post to getting the spool spinning.

YZ-Craft makes the high-grade 7x4 mm sleeve https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/4244

you're exactly describing not getting the outer BB to slide onto the spindle when you tighten the screw. You use shim washers to dial out end play, and will have to go through several install trials to pick the right number and thickness.

this can't be correct. The Gomexus handle will fit Daiwa S and Shimano A knobs. These are Avail knobs on Gomexus, and same Avail knobs on Daiwa SLP handle. review this post for knob installation the proper stack is shown - if you're running into a hitch, you may not be getting the outer BB to align and slide onto the spindle when trying to tighten. all nice handles shown above, but you should already have what you need. The cork handles came with 4-mm I.D. shim washers.

@MacJig It's going to be close, it will never be exact. There will always be a small exchange rate fee in the transaction, where's it's either billed to your card in US$, or you card applies the fee to pay out in JPY. It shouldn't hurt your feelings or your pocketbook. Look at it as all of Japan is currently 20% off. Using Asian Portal e.g., I've received charges that were 10% lower than their asking price, and one paid out 3% higher.

@Tennessee Boy both Daiwa and Shimano are heading this way. The idea is you have more, finer gear teeth meshing at the same time. This improves gear alignment, and increases the contact surface area, which reduces contact stress and wear.

not so, I pick and choose. But I used to drive from San Antonio to Nashville on Mountain Dew and Mars bars.

The closest datapoint I cam come up with is my BB-25SW after 20 hard years. I've never experienced "geary" in a reel, but I do recognize there some reels made to last only as long as you tinker with them in the store. @TnRiver46 's Mountain Dew bottle will never be geary, but line twist is something else.

@Catt I don't own either, but I like my 4-year Super Duty G enough to go back for seconds. I'll still never understand why boasting about catching nice fish on cheap tackle is so important to so many here, or if I do understand the obvious source, it's not a pretty human emotion. If your question needs an answer, it's neither - and yes, this exactly answers your question.

I'll add a twist here, since my last half-dozen rods are JDM and niche-specific. Slower taper is one way to interpret it, but you could also say that about my IM6 MM Crowder, blank handmade in Florida. What's more accurate is to say Japanese like progressive taper rods, and they may only bring one rod for the day. There's absolutely nothing slow about these rods, which will cast and fish well the full lure weight range. They're also remarkably light in hand, belying both power and length. MM power, Regular Fast taper MH power, Regular Fast taper @Ravox JDM = made and packaged in Japan for Japan Domestic Market. If you look at their reels, they offer 5 different models at home for every reel exported to USM. USM = imported to US by a distribution company, built to the manufacturer's interpretation of US desires and specifications. USDM = should be made in USA, but you can argue US-based companies importing tackle made to their specifications get to play.

actually, this thread is simply more proof that philosophy and fishermen make strange boatfellows - a thinly-veiled boast, frugality, and anti-gear pile-on, on a forum page dedicated to gear.

I had a salt guide buddy who fished through his Lew's BB-1NG in 6 months, simply because he never rinsed it, just fished it and leaned it in the garage until the foot was corroding through. I still have mine, and it fished 25 years. (They were so popular on the TX coast, Roy's Bait & Tackle bought the parts inventory when Zebco discontinued support). Spend your money where you're going to use it. In offshore jigging niche, a Conquest would be very nice, but I wouldn't use it enough to justify it, so I'm happy with the Tica Caiman I matched to the niche - it casts those 1 to 4 ounces really well. Nina, my buddy Josh's sister - she'll fish her baitcaster until it backlashes so bad she puts it away for the day. I'm not going to get between her and Josh, but I've set up all my reels so they're pretty much effortless in each niche, and backlash-proof. If you're going to take advantage of the technology and nuances of the reel, which will justify it, buy it. If you're not going to do that, buy something cheaper. For a dozen years, I pushed a diminutive Tica Cetus way beyond its design in salt finesse. I've upgraded that niche with Shimanos, but I have some other Ticas that sometimes rotate in and especially use for loaner reels. They're not slick, but they manage line very well, they're built to take abuse and last. There's never been a rod and reel that caught a fish - it was the fisherman (I think fly tiers are the worst about understanding this).

But what they improved in the 19 Stradic didn't lose anything and made significant gains. Longer pitch, stiffer spindle, larger finer-toothed gears, overqualified A/R roller bearing. What it gained is just about amazing. When it came out, it was dubbed "The Best $400 Spinning Reel You Can Buy" (but it only cost $200. Parts exchange with '18 Stella - Daiwa doesn't built reels this way - all the current Shimano worm-drive reels are the same design, with cost cut in material selection and Malaysia v. Japan labor. This is JDM C2000SHG, which is the same as US-market 1000FL (and $60 cheaper) If you can figure out what the quote below has to do with me, you won't be able to let me know. A 5th made the list.

At least half the redfish I boat are on ML. The reason is long-distance fishing 1/8 oz lead in 2' of water.

this is about as big as they get - ate a pistol pete

Sorry I'm late - should have been here last week. nite-lite dock fishing is one of the best things you can do in summer, - summer mullet under the lights will be tiny and this is where you use your finesse tackle - 2" swim shad. Next best to that will be the surf. Here's the primer on reading the surf. 2-oz spider weights are handy for keeping your bait out, kastmaster spoon is go-to. Most everything happens offshore in the summer - snapper season, king mackerel, cobia. (you can buy Dramamine patch over the counter) Wade fishing can be tricky, finding good bottom - pretty much have to move to Matagorda to find easy wade fishing. Renting a kayak is not a bad idea, hiring a bay guide is even better. Where you'll find the most people talking about that area is TKF forum

looks like a warmouth, lepomis sp. should be found over most of TX this is a rock bass, ambloplites, sp., and the only place I find them in TX hill country is the cold Guadalupe tailwater also lepomis sp., this is a Green sunfish - lepomis will readily hybridize, especially in a pond, and next to it is a hybrid (probably green with long-ear) BTW, Green sunfish have the largest gill area/ body mass in the family. During drought, when oxbow pools become isolated from the river flow, green sunfish will be the last species there.

no, but I carry fishing poles, bag, wading boots, lunch my friend is a retired Special Ops command general - he brings home elk on his e-bike. He built his bike, too. @Deleted account the only thing you ever explain is yourself.

@a1712 after initial cure and long-term use, if you want to apply new coats, rather than sanding, use a light rub with 000 steel wool.