Hytekrednek

I love the one I have with the Bantam 100 on it. Awesome combo! I scored mine for around 175 with a bantam 100 on it. Both are in excellent condition. The bantam on this rod was a NOS reel my grandfather gave me few years ago. He had it stored away many years. I put an Avail lightweight spool in it, carbon drag washers, and better ss spool bearings. This is a fun to use combo!

The 5 Edge rods I have are great. Extremely sensitive, good looking, feel great in hand. The service I got was good, no complaints here with service. I did have to wait about 2 months for one of the rods, but I was told that up front. The others all came within 2 weeks. Their service may have been poor in the past but my recent experience was good. I looked at GLoomis nrx+ and a couple others. I did not like them and thought they were over priced for what they are. I did find a GLX pro spinnerbait rod I liked alot and purchased, but the rest of gloomis rods left me unimpressed, especially at those prices.

I have a 5'6'' hvy fast pistol grip Fenwick I throw spinnerbaits and buzzbaits on when around lots of limbs and overhanging stuff. I wish there were still some good pistol grip rods on the market. All I ever see anymore are cheap imports. Getting a nice vintage rod from ebay is always an option too. Lots of wonderful top shelf pistol grip rods were made several years ago.

The Kistler Helium 7 foot hvy fast is the rod I use for pitching and mild flipping. If i need more spine, then I pull out the true flippin' stick. The 7 footer does fine for 75 percent of my flipping needs and is much lighter. With a good strong line, a 7 foot hvy rod will work.

I would look for a used top shelf reel from shimano in very good condition. I just picked up a like new scorpian antares for $120 delivered. it is smooth as silk, a wonderful caster, and built like a Swiss tank

give Cashion rods a look. USA made, well designed, and the 2 I have are extremely sensitive, which is a requirement for me. Also check out the Edge Rods First Strike line. Gary Loomis's new company. I have several from Edge and they all are stunning. My favorite worm rod is the Edge Silver Widow 7'3'' Med.Hvy Fast.

I love mine! The rods Shimano made to go with them are works of art too, and they look awesome together. They are a pleasure to use, even today. I did buy an Avail lightweight spool for it, and upgraded the drag disc. My only 2 complaints are the handle is a bit small, and the lack of a modern instant anti-reverse is a bit annoying. I also recenly purchased a like new early shimano/Childre BB-1 speed spool. It came with the optional spool too. I hope to try it out soon.

you may be able to add some of those stick-on lead dot or strips to your bait to help. Just try to balance the weight. I have also drilled a hole and inserted a piece of a nail in some crankbaits for extra weight. I have better gear now and dont have to do this much unless I want to make a bait suspend. When I was younger, I did what I had to to get the baits to the fish.

in the old days, if a bait was to light to cast far enough, we just added weight to the bait or line, like stick-on lead dots and strips, split shots, I even used some tungsten putty. The putty worked great.... until it got hot in summer. Then it melted and dripped into the boat carpet, on your shoes, in your shirt.... that crap got everywhere and wherever my old boat is, I promise you there is still tungsten putty spots in the carpet. If only it wouldnt melt it would be great for adding or removing weight to baits for whatever reason. As it stands, that crap is forbidden in my boat!

I finally found the correct brake blocks for the old Shimano Bantam 100's. Here is a link below. They have 2 sizes. Also, they sell a super light weight spool for the Bantam 100 for use as a BFS type reel. These reels still are kicking butt 45 years after being released. https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/3994 Here is a link to the light weight spool https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/1911

its not 6'', but close. The Creme Devil's Tongue. The tail floats up from the bottom, getting more attention and is easier to be inhaled. It is also great for drop shot rigs.

Creme Tube worm, or Mann's Flippin' Waggler

Creme 8'' scoundrels, Bagley's DDKB2 Killer bees, 2'', double deep! Awesome summertime riverbank lure for downed tree tops.

Yes! I have the 1000 and it is still smooth, reliable, and just a pleasure to use. even after all the years of use, it still functions like new. I hope my new Vanford 1000 last like my stradic has

#1 is my 2021 Antares DC, 2nd is my 3 Calais 200 Mg5's.... older but still smooth as silk and strong and reliable.

I was hoping somebody still had the little blue capped tube of extra parts that came with these shimano reels and similar. The extra parts container contained an extra set of both size brakes, some copper cast control shims, bearing retainer springs, and a few extra screws. The smaller size brakes are blue, the larger size are black. I will locate some eventually.

I have considered that. Hopefully I wont have to but at least that is an option. With my luck, I would get one without the brakes in it just like mine.

I will check it out. Also I will keep up the hunt. Thanks for helping

yes, the brake collars are similar. The originals are just like a 1/4'' piece of a wd40 spray straw. They do not have the ring around one end like the later vbs brake collars. I do plan to fish it some, but it will be babied for sure. Yes, it is in near new condition. Paw always took extremely good care of his gear. Even the 2 reels that he took every time and used lots look excellent.

try a few more wraps if it is slipping. works for me

Thank you. This reel belonged to the man that got me started fishing, showed me how to garden, and lots of other useful stuff. He was a wonderful grandfather and friend. My dad was a great man too, but he was busy working to cloth and feed me and the family, so growing up I spent lots of time with my grandfather. Thankfully, my grandparents lived in the same neighborhood, which was also right next to a nice neighborhood lake. We would garden and do yard work till noon, grandmother would feed us, then we went fishing until supper time. Often supper was fish!

I used one of my 6500c3 reels 2 years ago to winch in a 5' black tip shark on the beach. With that reel and a lightning rod flipping stick, using 40# braid, it was a challenge. The 6500 took it like a champ and asked for more.

I have a very good condition Shimano Bantam 100 that my awesome grandfather left me. I recently cleaned and lubed it when I noticed it is missing the 2 brake collars/shoes. These came with blue and larger black brake collars. I have looked high and low for some replacement brake collars, but havent found any yet. I will be happy to get any but I would like to get a pair of both the blue and black so I can try them both out. This reel means a lot to me, so I do not mind spending some money on getting the brakes for it. I will use the wd40 straw pieces until I find them. They are better than nothing. Any ideas on where I can source some brakes for it? You have some extras? Thanks for any help you can offer. The drag washer was stuck and messed up, so I got some carbon tex washers for it recently. That was a huge improvement. I plan to upgrade the bearings too soon. I do plan to use paw's old reel some, but it will not be hard use or abused. I also found this old shimano rod for it too. This makes the perfect combo from years past. sorry for the poor pics

I have 3 and they are my favorites. VERY light and sensitive. After using them, any new rod I get from now on will have to have a carbon handle. I like them that much. I do wish they were available locally, but then the price would be much higher, so I dont mind waiting a bit for a super nice rod.

Ive got an old 5500c, and 2 6500 that I use for large live bait fishing like catfishing, surf fishing, and such. Any use for bass fishing stopped 20 years ago for me as I like the low-pro reels and they are lighter. I do have an old steel blue 5500c that granddad left me. Looks like he didnt use it much at all. The build quality of this old reel is great. It just feels smooth and strong! Plus, it is very good looking. when I was 12 or 13, I finally got a "real reel", a 5500C, silver 1991 or so. I put many miles on that thing, after I mastered picking out the backlashes... it was my first baitcaster. Sadly, it is on the bottom of the Black Warrior River now. Its been 20 years but it still hurts to have lost that reel. I do still have the box though.