Stasher1

I prefer spinning gear in the kayak, but I rarely fish heavy lures. I'm typically casting weightless plastics, or light (3/16 oz or less) texas-rigged worms on 8lb mono.

I'm steadily reducing the amount of unecessary crap I bring with me in the kayak. Right now it's a soft bag with four Plano 3600 cases and about 10 bags of soft plastics. I'm looking at cutting that in half over the next couple months. I'm getting tired of having a big tackle bag between my knees all day. It'll make a huge cockpit seem cramped after a little while. Anyway, sorry for the hijack. Carry on.

If you don't want to glue the dividers, you can wrap them with a single layer of masking tape and they'll fit tight enough stay in place. I've been doing this for a while now and it seems to be working fine. That Falcon box is pretty darn tempting, though... :-/

I'd pass on the Daiwa Procaster Tournament PT100 in favor of an older aluminum-framed Procaster 100H or a Procaster Rojo. Cabelas has the Rojo on sale for $59, which is the same as Bass Pro's price on the PT100. They were $90 at this time last year.

Personally, I'd spend it on the rod.

While I can't say the Procasters are the best reels under $100, I like them enough to buy four of them in different flavors. I've got a Procaster 100H (like the one in another siteatick's pic except black/gold), a Capricorn 100H (9 bearing version of the Procaster 100H), Capricorn 100XTC (Dick's ported spool version of the Capricorn 100H), and a Procaster Rojo (basically a Capricorn 100XTC with a flipping switch) They're all nice, solid reels with good drags and decent brakes. They're built on aluminum frames (not graphite like many of the sub-$100 reels) and they're all available for less than $60 if you look around a bit. No, it's not. I'd be surprised if they shared anything more than the Daiwa name.

We rented a house on Gaston a few weeks ago in the SE quad, right by the dam. We had pretty good luck with black Powerworms and 3/16 oz. weights in 15'-20' water. I'm not a real big fan of Powerworms (hate the smell), but the stinkin' things worked.

Shimano Sahara 2500 with 8lb. Sufix Elite on a 6'8" ML BPS Extreme "Woo Daves"

I've never fished with a Daiwa L&T, but I did handle them in the local BPS and wasn't impressed. I actually wound up leaving with two BPS Extremes instead. They just had a better feel in the hand. Why not match that Shimano reel with a Shimano rod? The Crucial runs about $130-$140 and is an excellent rod. I've got a 6'6" Med/Fast teamed with a Symetre 2500 that I just love. I'll probably pick up another in 6'8" ML for dropshotting and retire my 6'8" ML BPS Extreme. I've got to agree with dodgeguy on this one. The 36" retrieve rate on the Stradic is just too high, IMHO.

I spend more time with a spinning setup in my hand than a baitcaster. Fishing from a kayak, they're just easier to deal with. If I have a major line problem I can just swap spools instead of sitting there in the middle of the lake trying to pick out a backlash. Use whichever reel you're more comfortable with.

I live about 12 miles from Tribble and 8 miles from Stone Mountain, so I usually bounce between the two. Fished Tribble yesterday morning for a few hours. It's much, much better during the week than it is on the weekends.

I've got four of the older Procasters and of the four of them, two of them (Procaster Rojo & Capricorn 100XTC) do poorly with weightless plastics but do okay with T-rigged worms and weighted soft plastics. The last two were bought used, on Ebay. One is an immaculate Procaster 6+1 (AKA Procaster 100H) that's been babied, cleaned, and properly lubed. It casts like a dream and would probably do very well with weightless/lightweight plastics. The other (Capricorn 100H) had been used, abused, and neglected. I've never even bothered to put line on this one. It's my "parts reel". So, what I'm trying to say is this: I don't know. :-/ Spool them both up with the same line and head out to the lake/pond and give them a try. It only takes a minute or two to swap reels.

I'd either return it or have it professionally serviced (cleaned and lubed).

You need a kayak. Mine only weighs about 50 lbs, floats in about 6" of water, extremely quiet, and no battery/trolling motor/registration fees.

I only use two different knots for everything, the San Diego Jam Knot for spinnerbaits and large crankbaits and the Palomar for everything else.

I had a similar package arrive from TX yesterday. Three DandD's, five 187's, and a couple bags of Floaters. I couldn't be happier with my purchases. Heading out to the lake tomorrow morning to try them out.

I live about 15 miles from Atlanta BPS so the only time I order from BPS online is when my total order is less than $30. Any less than that and it's cheaper to pay shipping than pay for the gas in my Suburban. My orders have all been correct...so far.

Usually between 5:00 and 5:30, but I've got a really short drive to the two lakes I normally fish. It's about 12 miles to one and 8 miles to the other. I can get up at 5:00, take my shower, get dressed, load up the kayak, stop at McDonalds for a biscuit and be at either lake by 6-6:30.

Looks like a Sedona to me. They've only got three bearings and if you google Shimano Sedona you'll find a bunch of them with different handles. Looks like a pretty good deal.

The Shimano rod is most likely a Scimitar or Sojourn, not a Compre.

+1 A kayak will get you more places than a belly boat. If you've got 6"-8" of water, you can float out into it and fish. It'll also allow you to carry more crap than a belly boat, like extra rods/tackle/water bottle/snacks.

I usually rig them with the same 3/0 wide gap hooks that I use for just about everything.

Both of my Shimano reels (Symetre 2500, and Sahara 2500) were like that but broke in nicely after a couple trips to the lake. I rarely close the bail manually, I cast and crank. If/when the reel develops a problem I'll either have it fixed or replace it.

For around $150 I like my Shimano Crucial, but I don't have a lot of experience with the other brands/models in that price range.

Why not use the Exceler for a year or so, then upgrade? IMHO, you need to spend some time with a "middle of the road" baitcaster to understand and truly appreciate the differences between it and a top-shelf baitcaster.