A bit of a rant...

[Bluebasser86]

34 minutes ago, Jonas Staggs said:

 

 

So I bought some expensive flouro in 4# test. The line was getting frayed from the guides when I was setting my drag. I tie to a heavy object and have the drag pull at max pole bend is how I set mine.

 

I didn't notice much of a difference either between my flouro and cheap mono while fishing.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought mono has better abrasion resistance than flouro. 

If your guides are fraying your line, the line isn't the problem.

[Jonas Staggs]

1 minute ago, Bluebasser86 said:

If your guides are fraying your line, the line isn't the problem.

 

Never had the same problem with any other lines though. I checked the guides, everything seems fine. Even with 2# test mono

[Tatsu Dave]

5 hours ago, Jonas Staggs said:

 

 

So I bought some expensive flouro in 4# test. The line was getting frayed from the guides when I was setting my drag. I tie to a heavy object and have the drag pull at max pole bend is how I set mine.

 

I didn't notice much of a difference either between my flouro and cheap mono while fishing.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought mono has better abrasion resistance than flouro. 

 

Well Jonas I will try to respond, first I don't use 4# my experience is with 8-10# , with that said if guides are your problem then it would effect your line quite a ways back from where the lure is tied on. I would think a Q-tip ran around the inside of your guides and rod tip would quickly expose the problem, if you're saying the line is fraying just putting pressure on it to set your drag I would expect that to be 2-3#, so if every fish you fight would do likewise to it how long would it last?

 

If you didn't notice much difference between flouro and mono then switch back to mono and problem solved apparently. Yes flouro is superior in abrasion resistance but remember there are a lot of manufacture's getting into the flouro game and they sure aren't all equal, I can attest to that from experience. The forth type/brand I tried was magic and I never looked back. We fish where mussel shells, rocks, concrete, structure, and toothy fish all take there toll on line and flouro has preformed better than braid and mono for us testing on the water. Don't know what flouro you used but suggest you check your guides and try another line if they are good. I've never heard of line fraying when you put pressure on it.........it would normally break at a certain poundage point. 

[gbassman519]

sounds to me like you used braid on that reel and it has cut a slite groove in your top guide, thats whats cause line to fray. run some cotton over your guides and see it it hangs.

[AnotherInstanceOfMe]

I had major problems with President XT reel. However, I feel much better after:

- change old braid line to thicker 25 lb

- accurately reeled

- change breaking settings

- change knots connecting braid and fluo

All these factors brought me DRAMATICAL difference in cast distance and cast quality. 

Yes, you won't have really long cast with this XT reel, but in short distances it will do to what it designed for.  

 

About rods: all my rods are St Croix now and I had Ugly Stick before. I see that Mojo Bass way more sensitive then Ugly, but almost no difference between St Croix Mojo Bass and Legend Extreme, regardless of 3.5 times difference in price.

 

 

Conclusion:

Good reels and rods may give you some more confidence, but it's a psychological moment. IMO you will definitely feel a huge difference between $30 and $130 rod/reel, but all rods/reels will work more or less similar after particular price level.

[Jermination]

On 10/11/2020 at 9:57 PM, finatic said:

A bit of a rant about my past month of fishing and learning certain things.

 

I have been having a bad time recently fishing. Line snaps, snags, one unknown mammoth fish just chomping a twenty dollar lure right off my line (and it was 40lb power pro, too). Add to that the other day I bought a craw colored KVD squarebill and while reeling it in it would swim off to the right or left. I thought the lure was defective so I took it back and got another one, and that one also swam funky. Then I had an idea - the rig I was fishing the lure on was a Ugly Stick Lite Pro rod and a President XT spinning reel. I though maybe it might just be the rig, so I attached the lure to my Field & Stream Tech Spec black and Okuma Epixor XT spinning reel and it swam perfectly straight.

 

I never thought that the rod and reel would make a difference how a bait ran, but I guess in this case it did. I'd been having a rough time recently with a lot of fishing trips just turning out to be aggravating because of line, lure and rod and reel issues. I guess there's a lot to be said for spending the extra money on better gear, whether or not that would have changed my recent experiences I don't know, but at least with the crankbait it proved to be true.

 

I'm wondering if any of you guys have had this type of experience, learning that your low end cheap gear isn't really doing the job that a more expensive setup might do. The Ugly Stik rod was clearance at walmart for $30 bucks, and the President XT spinning reel while a nice reel was still on the cheap end. Pairing them together obviously caused issues with how certain lures behaved. Then I used my Tec Spec (a go-to rod choice of mine for the past few years, because of the amazing quality) and the Okuma Epixor XT spinning reel (an amazing reel with some great performance) and everything just behaved better.

 

Also, I have been having issues with the line I've been using. I've always been a braid guy, but sometimes it's nice to have some clear line in the water when fishing certain baits. I have had terrible luck with fluorocarbon (Seaguar, P-Line, Sunline, etc.) so I started using monofilament, preferably Sufix Siege (12lb smoke green) which I never had any trouble with. Seems odd that so many guys recommend fluoro but in my experience it's crappy line with horrible memory and twisting/knotting issues. The mono I use doesn't have any of those problems.

 

Anyway, for me this has made an impression. From now on I will spend the extra money for better fishing gear - as well as line and lures.

When it rains it pours! A lot of time the crankbait will just need a small adjustment, take a pair of needle nose and move the circular piece on the bill to right or left to adjust. This can also be beneficial if you want to bend it around docks etc. Your Rod is going to play a big part in your castability, your line size and type will play a bigger role in your action on the retrieve. Also I've noticed the KVD squarebills BIGGER than 1.5 always run like crap, I may have one that runs right out of 5 that i buy. 

 

When it comes to gear you definitely get what you pay for in most scenarios. If you're just an average weekend angler who goes once or twice a month I would look in the price range of 60-80 bucks for a rod, should be able to get some decent all star or veritas rods in that range that will serve you just fine.

 

If you're fishing clear water with braid just tie a leader on, double uni knot very easy to do and takes a couple minutes at most. I really don't recommend spooling an entire spinning reel with  fluoro, it jumps off the reel and causes a headache. Continue to throw braid and just tie leader knots. If you must fill the reel up with Fluoro after you put the line on take the spool off and run it under the hottest water your sink will put out for about 60-90 seconds. That will knock the memory out and keep it from jumping off the spool. Once again you are going to go through more line doing this because braid doesnt have a shelf life as far as I know and can be used for many many seasons

 

Keep at it buddy, Murphy's law is very prevalent in fishing and things will find a way to mess up and pile on during those rough days lol

[wis bang]

Got back into fishing after 30 years and quickly found that the old glass rods N heavy reels from the 50/60's just didn't cut it. While Ihve upgraded a few, I started out with a $19.99 7' Shakespeare spinning rod from Wal Mart that is still my 2nd spinning rod and over the past few years most of the larger bass have all been on that rod

[ironbjorn]

If you have a crankbait that is running funny on one setup and not another, it's likely that you're running it too fast, which could be because of gear ratio/inches per turn.