Ventenberry

You're post piqued my curiosity as I have sort of been looking for the same thing. But for me, being small isn't the main criteria, being light and stable on the water is. Ease of paddling would be third. So, after some research here is what I came up with: 1. Apex Tyr, it's only $11000 dollars of carbon fiber but at 45 pounds, sure is light. 2. NuCanoe F10. About the same as what you already have but about 12 pounds lighter than the F12 3. Vibe Yellowfin 100. 4. Diablo Chupacabra. Seems well built but no big dealer network. It is pretty light and would appear to be extremely stable.

All Terrain Crocs. They are built tougher than regular Crocs.

Buck Knives has been the USA made standard, although many are made overseas now. They have many traditional and modern pocket knives at various price points. https://www.buckknives.com/knives/pocket-knives/ If you really want to look at all options go to https://www.knifecenter.com/

The bottom is a mix of rock and vegetation. If the lure hits the bottom it's definitely going to pick up some sort of vegetation and I've always believed fish won't bite on a lure with vegetation on it. It doesn't have to be a hard bait. I only said that because I looked on Rapala's website and couldn't find a hard bait that runs at around a foot, so instead of searching everywhere, I decided to ask here. I know I could use a worm with a jig head or bullet sinker or other types of lures. I just don't want to hit the bottom if possible with whatever I'm using. Also, would still like to use a lure with some weight to it, so I can get some casting distance.

I'm currently bank fishing for bass on a shallow bay where at the deepest it's probably about 4 feet. I need a hard bait that on retrieve will run probably no more than a foot to foot and a half deep. Suggestions?

That's what I have gathered as well, but I'm thinking a Zeebaas or VanStahl would be the most "waterproof" while the Stella and Penn Torque II would be on the same level as the IRT. I have no proof of that, my opinion of course.

To follow up on my previous post, I've had the IRT 200 for several months now. It's the smallest reel in their lineup and is meant for freshwater or light inshore/offshore. My impressions of the reel are as others have said, built like a tank. I don't think there is a single plastic part outside or inside of the reel, although I have not taken it apart. FYI, I took a picture of the reel but did not upload it because I could not compress it to below 1000kb. So, if you want to believe it didn't happen then it didn't. I've never had a wind knot or any other screw up and I'm achieving excellent casting distance. The line lay is a bit conical on my reel. It's thicker at the back of the spool and smaller at the front. I have removed a shim but the line lay is still conical. It may have something to do with the type of line, I'm not sure, but I'm using Sufix Tritanium 10 pound test. Good stuff, I've been hung up and can't break it with my soft hands, had to cut the line. The cranking of the reel is geary and loud, but from what I have interpreted, that's to be expected with a stainless steel main and pinion gear. Hopefully, the gears will smooth out in time as others have stated for stainless on stainless regardless of the manufacturer. I'd like to see someone like Tackle Advisors from Youtube, Alan Hawk or Alan Tani do a review on the IRT's, but as of yet to no avail. Below are some messages on a different forum from end users and an IRT rep. It's dated March of 2021 and it will give you more technical information about the reels than I ever could. Hi everyone. Thanks for your patience and sorry for not responding sooner. Hopefully I can answer all of the questions posed here. In regards to Rivverrat's comment about our gear material - our 200 series up through our 500DD series have both a stainless steel main gear and pinion gear. Above that, our dual drag 600, 700, and 800 series reels are also stainless pinion and main gear. In the 600, 700, and 800 series, the single drag models have a stainless main gear and bronze pinion. Within the next year, all of our reels will be stainless main and pinion gears. I'll address some other questions while referencing the IRT600 (as requested by jurelometer below). With 25# of drag (or more), a 600 series reel can be completely emptied without burning up the clutch bearing. Our anti-reverse is a one-way clutch bearing, so unlike many others that have on/off switches for the anti-reverse, ours are a simple compact unit with built-in springs. There is a much lower chance of failure as ours is a simple unit without many interacting parts and we do not grease our clutch heavily, which allows for the proper amount of friction. This also allows it to be much less susceptible to temperature affects as well. Other brands that do not have an on/off switch are similar to ours. The only real difference is brand of bearing and what has been tested to work best in our reels. If you've had problems with A/R bearings burning up at 15# of drag, I can say with confidence that our reels (even as small as our 200) are more than up to the challenge. No reel manufacturer will tell you that you can maintain locked down drag constantly and expect your reel to perform flawlessly forever. While the max drag ratings on all of our reels are different, utilizing 25# of drag on an IRT600 is more than safe for a long duration. Our published max drag levels are generally for short bursts, but our reels can take a full emptying at that level of drag without showing wear. We have many guides who have used our reels daily at heavy drag ratings (particularly our 500 Dual Drag) series and fight large fast fish without wear on the reel - if properly maintained. If a specific question has not been answered, feel free to ask it. I'll try to answer the best I can. Also, regarding your comment about the gear noise - It's important to note that our current gearing is far superior to what it was 12-18 months ago. While stainless does make a little bit of noise, we have significantly lessened this effect and make a gear set that feels incredible compared to where we used to be. We've changed the way we machine our pinion gears to clean up the teeth significantly, thus making a quieter, more smooth gear.

I've got a 200 series IRT in all silver that's on back order. Should be here in about 5 more weeks. I'll do a review when I get it.