J Francho

I've seen lots of reports about issues with the Lexas on swimbait forums.

The Calcutta will be a more refined retrieve. It's a bit beefier construction as well. Really, any of them will work great. If it comes down to budget, keep in mind, we probably have some more hard water ahead, so waiting might not be a bad idea.

Usually a 5", unless I'm targeting smallmouth on beds, then 4".

I was talking about the salmon...they're all kype'd up and ready to spawn. When this happens, the flesh turns from bright pink to gross, brown, and not so great tasting. Unfortunately here, we aren't allowed to fish the walleye spawning run. Too bad, because I've seen some pretty incredible runs in the feeder creeks on some of the better walleye lakes here. Painful to see all those monsters, and not be able to cast at them!

Not really. Set up properly, they can out cast a disengaging reel. Just a simple fact. One of the farthest casting reels I've ever used was a Conquest 400 OWNED AND FISHED WITH BY @Maico1 with a non disengaging line guide. I'm talking unreal distance. Now that is a silly high end reel, but is a real world example. I've set up quite a few big round Abus, and they also cast very far.

Negative.

There's a reason they use these reels for long distance casting tournaments.....

Ugh.

Yeah, I can't believe all those guys that eat the mud sharks. Walleye, that's another story! Yum!

It does that to allow for better casting, less backlashes because the spool is so wide. I disagree that it impedes casting, and rather helps getting distance.

I'd like to hear your logic here. Both are fine reels, and will suit the task. The Abu will be a bit smoother.

I do it at my location all the time. You have them check it in at the front counter before you go through the turnstyles.

I do almost the same process to stop a spool's drag slipping, if needed. There really isn't a right or wrong here.

Where is transducer installed? Can we get a side by side with standard sonar? And yes, sitting at home with the graph in demo mode, and working through all the features is a must.

I like their Magic Swimmer. Nice beginner hard swimbait that doesn't require special tackle to fish.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/abu-garcia-ambassadeur-c4-classic-round-baitcast-reel

Looks like the Salmon R. in Pulaski, NY during the king run.

Bullet proof, easy to disassemble and clean, reliable, strong, fits your budget. I like them, but I like a Calcutta better. You may be able to find a used one in your budget.

They're waterproof and corrosion resistant.

That's insane. Thanks for posting that!

I'd pass on the ultra light gear. You mention 28", so that's scraping double digit weight territory, and UL gear has no business. Something at least 7', I'd prefer 10' rod with a ml/mod rating and a 3000 series spinning reel, or if you're going to commit to float and drift methods, a centrepin reel. Use 8# main line, and 4-8# fluoro. Raven makes some nice floats and other terminal tackle. Good luck. For reference, the cork on the rod is 21", minimum keeper size here.

Looks a lot like what we had a week or so ago. This most recent nor'easter produced only a bit mixed rain and snow. Not enough to even stick, because temps are above 32°.

I'd be mounting the charger in here. Every single boat I've had located it here. One boat even had it mounted to the lid.

I've never seen him back reel, or just didn't notice. I have seen him literally strip line off the reel to feed it to the fish. Personally, it seems a little melodramatic to me. Set the drag in the first place. They work.

Not off hand. I bought them when they came out, and just started experimenting. Think of the Lake Fork Swimmers. I went back to the original Trash Fish.