21farms

if you never take your finger off the trigger after casting, then it makes sense to cast and hold the rod with the same hand and reel with the other hand. however, i palm my reels and switching hands after the cast actually saves me a step (try it yourself and see). ideally for me (i'm right-handed), i'd like to go with a LH reel for pitchin' and flippin' but stay RH all other times. however, i've tried LH on several different occasions and just cannot get the hang of it.

the red eye shad has a faster and tighter wiggle than the rat-L-trap or super spot. i've had days where the fish really preferred the red eye over rat-L-traps and vice versa. overall, i'd say the red eyes are excellent rattlebaits: extremely easy to start their wiggle and transmits a lot of feedback back to the angler and they flat out catch fish. about the only downside to the red eyes are their cheap finishes, especially anything in chrome or gold which begin flaking after just your first dozen or so casts. as for the clackin' rap, you have to fish at a good pace to keep them wiggling. i wish they were smaller for their size too.

oops, my mistake...i always was terrible at unit conversions. thanks for the correction

official spool weights according to bantam1: curado 200E7 13.8 grams citica 200E 14.8 grams basically, one-third of an ounce difference

f&p, thanks for the info! it confirms what i've heard and my own limited impressions at the store comparing the SR705R and XL705G side-by-side. the last time i checked, i saw that the XL705 glass was now also available in a full grip too. i absolutely love my lamiglas XCF705R and SR705R (both identical except for the color of the blank and a slight difference in the contouring of the cork grips) and would have to believe the excel-version is the best buy in this price range for a crankin' rod. i've been thinking about the powell spook/trap rod too and probably would have pulled the trigger on one if i didn't already have a gazillion rods. i tend to prefer a faster tip for walking spooks and that's what powell rod seems to have.

gotcha...you're right, i did miss that. thanks.

the prodigy is closest to the daiwa tierra. unlike the spinning tournament ZX, the casting tournament ZX is not made by daiwa. in fact, if you look at the current bass pro shops megacast and tourney special, they look almost identical. IIRC, the tournament ZX was the spitting image of the previous-generation quantum KVD signature reel.

baluga, i'm afraid you lost me a little bit here. 4.0 oz. and below would be light in anyone's book. but, with the unique exception of the cumara reaction, you're comparing apples to oranges. yesall else being equala graphite rod will be lighter than a glass rod but i don't think the differences are as great as you're making them out to be. i have a few 4.0 oz. and under rods but none of them are well-suited for crankin'. one of the most highly regarded graphite crankin' rods, the g.loomis CBR-845C, still comes in at 4.6 ounces. there are also exceptions to the rule too: the dobyns 704CB graphite is 0.2 oz. heavier than the dobyns 704CB glass.

hey f&p, do you have both? if so, you can share how they compare? there's lots of rumors that the blanks are the same and so i'm curious.

in this post: http://www.tackletour.net/TTForums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=43529&hilit=+plastic+citica, bantam1 confirms that the citica drag star is plastic. otherwise, i would've believed that they're alloy too based on their look and feel. i currently have two each of the curado and citica Es. the biggest thing i notice are the differences in the handles. the curado handles have big, grippy knobs made out of septon and are bearing-supported whereas the small, straight rubber knobs on the citica handle have no bearings. i don't notice much difference performancewise.

yes, there's quite a bit of difference between glass and graphite but i don't think there's much of a learning curve moving to crankin' with glass. when i switched, the first thing i noticed was how "dead" a glass rod felt in comparison to graphite...i was hating it UNTIL i started noticing that my hookup ratio jumped probably 300 percent. dramatically fewer short strikes. even better, no more lost fish! i kid you not, when i was crankin' with my graphite rods, my chances of getting the fish into the boat with graphite was 50-50 at best; with glass, i have lost only one fish in last three years!

i've had one for a couple of years now and it is an excellent performer. but, if you're a cabela's VISA club card holder, there's an ever better deal: the prodigy spinning reelalso made by daiwa but with the air bail and some other upgradescurrently for $54.99 (normally $100 and $70 in the bargain cave).

the citica. centrifugal brakes are simple and work great. the STX. built like a tank. you can't go wrong with the citica but, at $100, you get more for the money with the STX. i'd say get the STX and give it a try...then, if it's not for you, sell it or trade it for a citica.

i had the LP version (standard width) of the summit. meh, it was okay. very smooth but below average when it came to casting distance, especially the lighter the lure. i also found i didn't care for spin-on handles nor did i like the taper on the spool. as for 300-size reels, too big and heavy for most bassing fishing.

just a few more things others have not mentioned yet. 1. braid is great fishing in lily pads, weeds and timber. however, braid does not stand up to sharp rocks well and gets sliced easily. in those situations, you should tie on a fluorocarbon leader. 2. because braid is so limp, it can have a tendency to wrap around your rod guides. when that happens, take the time to carefully undo the tangle, otherwise you could end up tearing your guide(s) out. 3. regarding line digging, there are lots of causes. as hammer said, braid digging does have a lot to do with brand; the rounder the braid, the less digging you'll experience. but, i've found that the reel also has something to do with it as well...reels that have a wider spool and that lay the line down at broader angles will experience less line digging. i use 10, 15, 30, 50, 65, and 80 lb. braid and my overall favorite is 50. when spooling braid, make sure you do it under a lot of tension so that the line is tight (this will help prevent digging from even occurring in the first place). after bringing in a big or hard-fighting fish, strip out some line by hand to make sure there are no areas the line has dug in...if you don't and part way through the cast, the line gets caught onto itself, the momentum of the lure can snap the line while the lure continues sailing away. it's a sickening feeling watching a new $16 luckycraft going bye-bye.

for $50, i'd recommend the cabela's tournament ZX ( it's actually a daiwa). normally, $70 but on sale right now for $50: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0041922121428a&navCount=4&podId=0041922&parentId=cat601360&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat21404-cat21406-cat601360&catalogCode=9IS&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601360&hasJS=true however, for $10 more, i'd spring for the cabela's prodigy with the air bail: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0053213122486a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=prodigy+reel&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/search/search-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0 i've switched most of my spinning reels over daiwas and love 'em.

the sol is one of the sweetest reels but the stock handle is exceedingly lame. i put a swept zillion handle on mine but i personally do not like the ribbed knobs on any of my zillions (all kinds of hard-to-get-out gunk gets into those little ribs). most handles from BPS, quantum, abu-garcia and other daiwas reels will fit on the sol but you will have to bend back the arms on the drag star to accommodate a swept handle (easy to do but somewhat nerve-racking). if you want a carbonlite handle, good luck. those things have been backordered forever. you can order a 2010 premier handle from abu-garcia at (800) 228-4272. here are the parts you'll need and the part numbers and prices: handle 1196832 $37.00 handle nut 1132928 $4.50 handle nut retainer 1132929 $2.72 handle nut retainer screw 1132930 $2.50 shipping is $3.95-$8.95. i'd definitely recommend ordering more than $50 worth of stuff because that will take 20% off. keep in mind that the premier handle is short...i think it is only 80mm. given the choice, i'd opt for the handle from the pflueger patriarch XT which is longer and about the same price. believe it or not, if price is a concern, i'd actually recommend the bass pro shops replacement handles. i bought one to check out and ended up buying more for the rest of my abu round reels. the knobs are bushing-supported but they feel and spin as if they had ball bearings. comes in three colors and two lengths.

i had aa fuego spinning rod. very crisp feeling and a very pretty rod...the red matched my stradic Ci4 nicely. the handle was comfy but unnecessarily long. mine was 7'0" long and rated MH extra fast but it fished more like M fast which is not what i wanted. as for the reels, i dunno. are you talking about the fuego or fuego-A? i had a couple of the pre-A fuegos (the red ones) and loved 'em but have not fished the advantage so i can't say how they compare. personally, i would love one of the fuego-As. cabelas has them in their bargain cave for $30 off.

if you're fishing heavy cover, get the powell max squarebill crankbait rod from *** if you're not fishing heavy cover, get the dobyns 704CB glass an alternative to both is the luckycraft fat mini magic: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewluckycraft701mf.html

revo winch the downside of the extra line capacity of the winch is: more line=more spool weight=not as good with lighter lures. quantums if you palm your reels, you might not like the feel of the bulging sideplate in your palm. if you have large hands, thumb bar sits way low when depressed. the line guide is really small and not particularly connection knot-friendly (if you use leaders). curado the curados are one of those reels that aren't that impressive on paper or even to look at but it fishes better than the sum of its parts. it has the best knobs of the bunch too. however, my favorite cranking reel is the zillion crazy cranker...it's the only one where, each time i fish with it, i say to myself how much i like it more and more.

they are underpowered for their rating. if you think you want the 843, buy the 845. if you want the 845, buy the 847. i personally found them to be too sensitive for cranks or something. i loved it at first but then found that my hookup ratio with them was pathetic. i went back to glass rods for cranking and am much happier.

if it's a daiwa, get a 2000-size. if shimano, go for the 2500-size. if pflueger, get the 30-size. if abu, get the 20-size.

hmmm, i think i had one of those mag bantams. black graphite body AND spool, IIRC. about $50-$55 new back in the early 1990s and probably worth about $20 or so today.

it's just one of those things. about 1.5 years ago, this board talked pfluegers a lot. and, if you go back a few more years before the revo-series, no one was talking about abu garcia. in the past few years, i've owned three quantums and two pfluegers and there were good things about both, but nothing outstanding that separated them from anyone else, especially since both pflueger and quantum seem to charge a price premium compared to abu and shimano. the curious ergonomics on the recent quantums (sideplate bulge and low thumbbar) don't match me well at all and i hate the micro-sized line guides.

i will offer a dissenting opinion. regardless of price, it's not a good value if it doesn't meet your needs. 5'6"6'0" rods were the norm in the 1970s and 80s and are still good at close-in target casting with spinnerbaits but is otherwise considered very short by today's standards. JMHO but i think you could spend just a little more for a new setup but get a lot more in return. for example, a daiwa cielo rod (6'6" medium-heavy fast) for $125 paired with a shimano caenan reel for $90.