AlabamaSpothunter

Wow, what a time that must have been. That's a ton of Bass to be catching for an entire day much less morning. What are the odds I caught a chunky little Spot that puked up a threadfin on my hand this afternoon as well ? Unlike you though I only managed 4, and for the most part caught everything that hit my baits for a change. Caught a nice 3lb+ fish on my new reel I got today, so everything after that was gravy on top. Nice fish came on a 3/8th Breaking Bream Chatterbait with zoom twin tail trailer, 2 Spots and small LGM came on a T rig Roboworm. I wish I could have frozen time this afternoon and the weather always be like it, while still a bit hot it was truly a beautiful afternoon. Awesome fish Functional and A-Jay, some pigs to be sure

After fishing it for a couple hours this afternoon, I'm starting to believe all the reviews on these Zillions. Don't have much experience with the newest stuff like yourself, but this reel is silky smooth, and casts a mile. I think a $350 MSRP reel should come with a reel cover though like my steez or calais, but when that's all I can come up with for complaints....Daiwa did a fine job on these. It's also exactly the same Daiwa level of quality I remember in the early 2000s, and late 90s. First few casts with it I caught a nice 3lb+ fish on it with a chatterbait. If I threw heavier baits I'd have to get the HD like you, but as it is I don't throw much stuff over 1/2oz. I do plan on throwing some finesse A rigs though....darn you monkey lol. Small TW labor day sale order finally arrived today as well.

Absolutely, and the only downside to this whole transaction is the monkey screaming Japanese even louder into my ear ? One thing that's not mentioned and doesn't really matter......It's darn cool getting a package from Japan. I was tickled over the Japanese Sports page in my package. Directions are all in Japanese, no English option......it's just a unique, authentic feeling shopping experience to top off the quick deliver and unbeatable pricing.

Thank you Katie for such kind words Your passion for the sport, the work you put in to catch your fish, and the fantastic reports you give makes being supportive easy. As for frogs, you'd school me on them everyday and twice on sunday. From all that I've read though, your setup sounds dynamite, and hopefully it will address the specific reason you bought it. I was reading that leaders aren't really needed for Frogs in a thread here yesterday. I'm hoping for the same thing when my new rod gets here, just tired of missing so many fish on the chatterbait.

Fantastic job Tim! What a beautiful fish, looks exceptionally healthy.

1. I haven't been tracking JDM vs USDM prices for long enough to answer that, but I can assume they were never this cheap in comparison. Japan signals chance of yen intervention; market unconvinced | Reuters 2. Digitaka or Japan Lure Shop. Some use Amazon Japan, but you run the risk of getting charged tax. JLS is cheaper but charges shipping, most report however that you get a surprise free lure. One guy got a Jackhammer. On the other hand, Digitaka has free shipping, and no free lure. It's about a wash in terms of which is cheaper. I opted for Digitaka because I wanted the absolute cheapest price. 3. Yes, you are absolutely correct in thinking these prices are unusually great, again see the article I posted above. Lastly, Japan Lure Shop IIrc only allows you to pay via Paypal, whereas Digitaka has Paypal, and a Visa/MC processor. Paypal plays dirty games, and charges you currency exchange rate fees and use outdated rates to calculate the fee. Imho, don't pay with Paypal.....thus ruling out Japan Lure Shop.

Absolutely wow'd over my JDM and Digitaka experience. Less than 3 full days from Japan to Alabama. Can't wait to fish it. Thanks to all the wonderful members who educated me on JDM, and Digitaka. Seriously folks, if you are pondering a Digitaka/JDM purchase, do it! Let the Tackle Monkey caress you ever so sweetly and whisper Japanese into your ear

You catch so many nice fish that a scale will pay for itself within a trip or two. I've yet to see a report from you where you didn't catch a few nice ones, so I don't think you'll have any problem getting another one pal. That's gonna be a killer setup with the Curado and braid. Should be a perfect frog setup.

Bill Dance Fat Free Fingerling.

Ordered from Digitaka late Sunday night. Product actually shipped Weds. It's on track to be delivered today. From Kobe, Japan to central Alabama, it took 3 business days. Combine the huge pricing discounts, with the fact that somehow this place ships quicker to the US from Japan, than US companies can do for the US.......yeah Digitaka won a customer for life. I don't think I'll be able to refrain from getting a nice spinning real I need if these rates hold. I've never even seen lures like that with the hook placement especially, very cool. Interesting about the blue. For whatever reason I've always had the most success off of purple, red, and black at night. Had some luck on pink/black spinnerbaits though.

Great looking rod, I really like the reel seat and handle. Not to mention that rod can perform a number of tasks, not just frogs. Not that you would in the places you fish, but you could even throw A-rigs on that.

You made me very happy Katie reading about the new SCALE ? You catch some really nice fish, it's gonna be great to see the weight on some. I know the feeling you are having, got the Labor Day TW sale order coming today, and the reel I ordered from Japan. Then got a rod coming I imagine on Monday. I'm done after that until economic and inflation conditions improve. Fishing stuff especially with JDM stuff is as affordable as it's ever been, but everything else in my life seems to cost so much more. ETA: 45 degrees, crazy, it won't get 45 here for months here.

Watching a fishing show right now where they are fishing the Mullet run, catching mainly snook. I really dig your style of fishing. That's mad man stuff, I love it.

I can't even imagine handling a 100lb Tarpon from shore. That's awesome, and I love to do that....what a thrill! You the same member who has a thread about fishing at night in the everglades for pigs? So jealous of your location......South Florida is the best place on the planet for a fisherman.

Lol, I was just about to post this Maine 11 lbs, 10 oz Moose Pond Rodney Cockrell 1968 Seems the Maine record is relatively safe......68 was a long time ago

I'd stop fishing if they banned colorful language....it's the only way I cope sometimes ?

Just in a month of having side sonar, and high quality sonar of the current generation in general changed the way I prep to fish. Half the time these days I'm able to catch fish because of what I'm learning on the sonar, and being able to lockdown on specific structures or features of the lake. Before I'd just say I'm gonna fish that section of the lake, or I'm gonna focus on CBs on main lake channel points, etc. I'm finding it much easier to just go out there, hook up the sonar, cruise around for about 10 minutes to find the thermocline to establish a depth and eliminate any dead water below it, and see what all the baitfish are doing. Then do a little more cruising to areas that have held fish in the past and see what's going on.......process all that I gleaned in that 20 minutes or so and start fishing based off of that information. Spend an hour or two trying out that new process.....not working, switch back to established patterns and methods. I've found more places that hold fish in a month on my home lake, than I did in the previous 25yrs I grew up fishing it. Sonar, and really the new detailed side vu sonar stuff is incredibly helpful. Takes a lot of guesswork out of it in terms of planning where fish will be. That said, for night fishing, I have a very specific plan with a planned route, and planned spots to fish. I'm fishing for pigs then, so sonar isn't nearly as important at least right now to me at night.

If you mean by bringing the hook all the way through the bait and then catching tucking the tip back into the plastic bait, yeah these aren't the hook for that. That said, standard Texas rigging them works perfectly fine though, and I can't say I hung these up more than Gama EWG models. I was taught when in doubt, set the hook on plastics, so I lose a pack or two of hooks every couple of months.

Good pair of rubber fish handling gloves are great, and as you mentioned a net is important so that you can let them chill out in the net. This is why I like an oversized deep net so that I can leave the fish in the net while still in the water. I wait 10-20 seconds until it mellows out, thoughtfully find where I'm going to lip them, and then proceed to do so. With any treble hook bait, hook removing pliers are a must. So my three things would be: 1. Big net 2. Fish handling gloves 3. hook removing pliers

This with the addition of manmade structure using various things. If you consider a dam a structure, then no questions asked....I'll fish a dam all day long

I hope it doesn't come to an end soon, but it might given the Japanese Government is thinking about joining the rest of the world an start hiking rates to combat inflation. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/japans-kanda-will-respond-appropriately-yen-moves-2022-09-14/

It was explained to me in recent threads that you can't just take them to USDM Daiwa dealers, and IIrc you'd likely have to pay to send it back to Japan. That was the only downside of buying JDM Daiwa reels I found after researching for several weeks. Outside of typical paypal thievery, OP is the first person I've read about that didn't have a silky smooth transaction as well. I've owned a dozen Daiwa reels at least, never had a single one that needed to be repaired. Perhaps it's more of gamble to others than myself.

No hoops at all.....add to your cart, pay with visa/mc.....get shipping notification within 24hrs. I wish USD internet orders were as smooth and fast. It'll be two weeks from order to receive on my latest TW order.

Paypal has always been terrible, and the last way I'd ever pay for something. This is the same company that will ban and freeze your account for selling perfectly legal gun parts

Yeah you can't do the Paypal because they do a 6% currency exchange fee or something. Learned that here before I bought my Zillion from them on Sunday. My total came to $233 using just the Visa/MC link. Thing shipped out today, super excited. I love Digitaka lol.