Need a new froggin' reel

[Diggy]

9 minutes ago, Mhan7 said:

 

I actually bought a 13 Fishing reel, in the course of this conversation.  Waiting to test.  Still looking.  That recommend for the Japanese Revo seems pretty solid.  I think I might pick up one of those, also.

You can get the revos for a good price on Amazon Japan. They get here in like 2-3 days from my experience.  My friend has the Big Shooter and the compact, both for swimbait setups.

My 2 JDM market Revos are more for looks than anything else, didn't purchase them for any specific purpose, just liked how they looked. ?

I started using dual purpose lures for snakes, things I can swim for bass or swim up top for snakes like paddle-tails with weighted hooks. I caught a few recently on ali express versions of dark sleepers and chatterbaits. Long gone are my days of walking the banks for hours in the heat for them since no boat.

[Mhan7]

Good info.  I always forget about taking the foreign avenues.

 

I definitely still love walking the canal banks.  I typically cover about 8-10 miles in a day of fishing, so it's nice to have the exercise.  My son just bought a gheenoe, and he's all about trying to get me in that thing.  We'll see.

 

As for the baits...  I've settled on just about anything soft and noisy/turbulent.  We have a nice 3D printer that builds beautiful molds for plastisol or other.  So we can even recycle our old stuff into new lures.  The Snakeheads aren't really picky, so I don't use anything expensive or durable/semi-durable, anymore.

[Luke Barnes]

I use a Shimano SLX XT in 8.2-1 for my frogging reel and it's done well. I have my drag locked down and pulled a 4lber through the muck without it slipping. I personally love it. 

[Mhan7]

18 minutes ago, Luke Barnes said:

I use a Shimano SLX XT in 8.2-1 for my frogging reel and it's done well. I have my drag locked down and pulled a 4lber through the muck without it slipping. I personally love it. 

We have started to notice some hanging about that are well over 12lbs... some that are possibly in the 13-15 range. There are areas that I fish that have been relatively undisturbed, and they've gotten a chance to grow into some impressive dimensions.  If you're not familiar with the term "coconut head", it's a very real thing.

 

No Shimano low profile with the 11-12lbs drag is the right reel for me.  I don't want to enjoy a sporting fight. I want to ****** and winch.  I can't afford to pontificate about how smooth and buttery this or that is, when I've got a fish charging like a bull across a minefield of underwater obstacles. (trees, heavy vegetation, thick fibrous plants both in and out of the water)

 

 

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Seriously moderators... the word $natch is censored?  What are we, 7 years old?

[Luke Barnes]

4 minutes ago, Mhan7 said:

We have started to notice some hanging about that are well over 12lbs... some that are possibly in the 13-15 range. There are areas that I fish that have been relatively undisturbed, and they've gotten a chance to grow into some impressive dimensions.  If you're not familiar with the term "coconut head", it's a very real thing.

 

No Shimano low profile with the 11-12lbs drag is the right reel for me.  I don't want to enjoy a sporting fight. I want to ****** and winch.  I can't afford to pontificate about how smooth and buttery this or that is, when I've got a fish charging like a bull across a minefield of underwater obstacles. (trees, heavy vegetation, thick fibrous plants both in and out of the water)

 

 

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Seriously moderators... the word $natch is censored?  What are we, 7 years old?

Oh wow. Yeah my PB is 4.7 lbs so I wish I had your problem when buying reels!

[jbsoonerfan]

51 minutes ago, Luke Barnes said:

Oh wow. Yeah my PB is 4.7 lbs so I wish I had your problem when buying reels!

He's not bass fishing. I understand your confusion since this is a bass forum, but he is not bass fishing.

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, Mhan7 said:

the word $natch is censored?  What are we, 7 years old

I'm 6 and even I know that's a derty werd, silly.?

[Mhan7]

8 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

He's not bass fishing. I understand your confusion since this is a bass forum, but he is not bass fishing.

I've tried to make it clear by updating my first post.  I ask questions in bass forums, because there is more overlap between snakehead fishing and bass fishing, than most other types.  We literally tend to either use the same kind of gear, or at the very least, run in the same circles.  I've seen more than one fella who likes a fully locked drag for jerking fish right into the boat. So that's why...

 

 

5 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

I'm 6 and even I know that's a derty werd, silly.?

Well, thank glob there are grown ups around here, to keep us from using bad sounding words in nice ways.

[GreenPig]

I primarily fish Shimano's but my frog reel is Revo AL-X 8.0:1 and 17 lbs of drag. If it blew up today I'd replace it with the reel that replaced it which is the Revo AL-F 8.0:1. 

[Mhan7]

1 minute ago, GreenPig said:

I primarily fish Shimano's but my frog reel is Revo AL-X 8.0:1 and 17 lbs of drag. If it blew up today I'd replace it with the reel that replaced it which is the Revo AL-F 8.0:1. 

Sounds like Revos are a pretty popular reel around here.  I really think I'm gonna end up with one of those Big Shooter compacts. Thanks for sharing.

[Luke Barnes]

3 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

He's not bass fishing. I understand your confusion since this is a bass forum, but he is not bass fishing.

That's what I get for reading the title and going from there. I must have forgot this was an any species forum. My bad. In that case, use whatever, because no idea what a snakehead requires. 

[Mhan7]

What I decided:

 

Not everyone's cup of tea, I get it.  But I got a good deal on a 13 Fishing Concept Boss.  I heard lots of talk about this not being a $400 reel.  For sure, it's not.  But that being said, it's still a d**n fine reel.  Definitely casts better than my Smoke reel.  Some don't like that you have to open a cover to access the magnet setting.  I love it.  I will only ever fish frogs on this rod/reel, and that means set and forget.  No bumping or accidental changing.  It also is one less place for gunk and grime to get into, so in theory, less maintenance.  The drag is great, the reel is compact, it casts fantastically well.  Objectives met.

 

I paired it up with a Cashion Elite 7'3" Heavy action, fast tip frog rod.  Haven't got to fish the rod just yet, because the first one I got came damaged.  So I had to put the reel on my other rod, first trip out.  New rod is here, waiting  for a tolerable day for my next outing.

 

Still curious about those Japanese Revos.  Coming soon.