21farms

um, i think that what these forums are for? i'd rather hear about one specific issue with a reel than twenty "i love my curado!!" or "quantums rock!!!" or "revos are the best!!" or "daiwas are da bomb!!!"

eric, swimbait rods have such long handles because the lures are so heavy that you really need two hands spaced far apart to cast them properly and without wrecking your shoulder. i have cranking rods from lamiglas, loomis, shimano and powell and none of them have long handles. when i got my first crankin' rod, i wanted a longer handle too but, after a few years fishing them, i think i understand the thinking that went into them. i think the reason for that is that most fisherman will work the retrieve of cranks with the tip down, maybe in the water, and a long handle would be sticking up into your chest and face with your wrist at a weird angle because the handle would have to clear your gut. btw, almost every rod i've ever handled that was 7'6" or longer felt tip heavy to me. also, i've been around the block on the longer rods too. i thought that, if 7'0" feet was good, 8'0" was even better so bought 3 more cranking rods in 7'5", 7'6" and 7'10" and discovered that i liked 7'0" the best. but, that's just me.

i agree with the others that the 2500-size is the best all-around size for bass fishing. regarding the sahara, i had a sahara FD (the current sahara) and it was smooth as butter...in fact, it was smoother than my symetre FI (the previous generation symetre) and my daiwa fuego and my daiwa tierra (plus all my cheaper daiwas). if you go the daiwa-route, pick a model with the air bail...i notice a nice reduction in line twist on my daiwa spinning reels equipped with air bails compared to the ones without. so, here's how i would decide: if you plan to fish mainly bottom-contact baits, i'd choose a shimano (either the sahara FD or the symetre FJ). if you plan to fish mainly moving baits, i'd go for a daiwa with the air bail. why? because the shimanos pick up about 35 inches of line per turn of the handle which is great for taking out the slack on the line when bouncing lures on the bottom but which is too fast for most cranks, swimbaits and swimming jigs. daiwa's slower 28 inches per turn makes it easier to keep a nice, consistent cranking pace when working without having to constantly remind yourself to slow down. by the way, another one to consider is the cabela's prodigy spinning reel. it is essentially a reworked daiwa tierra and it is on sale for $70 right now.

actually, the new fuegos (fuego-As) are made of zaion (not magnesium), have a completely washable design, and are saltwater-approved. personally, unless i got a really good deal on the sol, i'd go with one of the new fuegos. it is 0.8 oz. lighter and has a more steez-like body than than sol/advantage (which means nothing really...i'm just the type that has to have the newest and best i can afford). also, if i had to guess, i'd say that the daiwa will soon update the sol and places might start clearancing them out whereas the fuego-As are brand new. i also noticed that daiwa rates the sol for ML/L use and the fuego-A as M/ML.

basically because there is no easy way to do it. on a spinning reel, the spool doesn't spin during the cast or the retrieve, making it easy to put a clicker mechanism for when the spool does turn like when the drag is being pulled. on baitcasting reels, the spool spins during both the cast and the retrieve. a clicker mechanism would have to be designed in such a way as to be completely disengaged during the cast otherwise it would impede casting distance. the clicker would also have to be engineered in such a way as to only click on the retrieve when the line is going out and not in.

odd? i'll say. i'm glad i'm not the only one who has noticed this. i can literally spool the black max on almost every cast (using 50 lb. braid which has the equivalent diameter as 12 lb. mono and a super spook). then, there's the time i was fishing a pro/am on the california delta...i had birdnested so badly on my SX that i had to turn to my emergency backup reelthe pro maxand it was flat out amazing. we were fan-casting luckycraft LVR D7s as far as we could in open water and i was getting about 20 feet more than the pro and we were both chuckling about it. the pro max was squeaking and making noises but i landed every fish i hooked and even outcaught the pro that day.

OUCH!!! on the other hand, there are people who very much want to love their revos because they were so fond of their ABU garcia round reels yet they found the "linear magnetic braking" still didn't work out for them. in fact, that would describe me perfectly. now, interestingly enough, i really like the mag brakes on ABU garcia's max reels. i have the black max and the pro max that i bought for my kids and guests to use and my experience with them in terms of casting performance has been superb. easy to use, not fussy, and great casting distance. go figure, eh?

amazing stories! just two months ago, i took in a BPS prolite finesse rod that the trigger on the grip cracked and came off. it was 1.5 years old and the manteca store said i was SOL. i even asked to speak to the manager but he told me there was absolutely nothing they could do.

paul, "open face" usually refers to spinning reels...is this what you're talking about? i bought matching daiwa spincast outfits for my two kids when they were very young. the good thing about them is how easy they are to learn on and use. the bad, of course, is the line twist, tangles, etc. i tried teaching my daughter how to baitcast 2 years ago when she was 10 but she doesn't like it very much. i also realized that she isn't likely to fish like me (power plugging) and would more likely be splitshotting or soaking bait. so, this year, i got her a spinning outfit and she picked it up really fast...she even caught two crappies within the first half and hour and really likes it. i'd say a spinning outfit is a good idea here and start with one in the 1500 to 2000 size.

x2

pantera61, i think the key to the wide disparity in how people feel about the revo SX/STX is due to the differences in the way people cast. if you "sweep" cast, the magnetic revos are fine. on the other hand, if you "snap" cast with the mag revos, the mag brake doesn't seem to kick in fast enough. what's worse is for someone like me who alternates between sweeping and snapping my casts and often forgets to make appropriate adjustments to the settings

bird dog, if you sign up for their email newsletter, occasionally the newsletter will contain a discount code. it was 15% off during memorial day weekend!

i like some implementations of magnetic brakes (daiwa's magforce) and really dislike others (revos). to me, mag brakes tend to be fussier, need more frequent adjustment, and are less-forgiving. for the most part, i prefer centrifugal brakes as i find them extremely easy to use, very reliable and very consistent. once i adjust the brakes to 2 on/4 off, i never touch them again. i still have both types in my collection.

if your primary concern is with backlashing, i'd recommend going to a reel with centrifugal brakes (e.g., shimano citica E). excelers are fine (i had one) but can be fussy and are harder to cast well for those who don't have a trained thumb.

i had some Ds and was not a fan. the Es, however, rock. however, i've been finding the citica to be too much of a "tweener" and have been instead reaching for my curado E5s and E7s.

that will depend. for example, some daiwa spinning reels instruct you to spool the line from the bottom of the spool in order for it to work best with their twistbuster roller bearing.

micheal, some in the flea market forum here is looking to trade the newer model spirex for the older model spirex that you have. anyway, if you have been out of the fishing equipment market for awhile, one of the first things you'll notice is that rods have gotten longer. whereas 5'6" used to be the norm, nowadays, most are closer to 6'6". the extra length really aids in setting the hook and getting extra distance on your casts. i agree with raul about the clarus rods...best bang for the buck in the category.

willzx225, thanks for the info on the custom quantum rods...very interesting. is your 6'10" spinnerbait rod made out of glass or graphite? here's the link for anyone who might be interested:http://www.quantumfishing.com/CustomShop/TourRods.htm

i've never heard of this rod, only the tour KVD crankbait rods. can you point me to where i can find out more information? thanks.

it is made by pinnacle. the dead giveaways are the push-button logo sideplate release, the padded thumb bar and the profile. here's a pic of the cabela's salt striker and the pinnacle peak side-by-side. even the knobs are the same.

a 6'6" medium-heavy rod with a fast action would work well in this situation. my choice would be the g.loomis MBR783C in IMX or GLX flavors.

i believe that it is correctly spelled BuCoo and pronounced "boo-koo" (which is urban slang for much, a lot)

spinnerbait rods run a little on the short side because accuracy is much more important than distance with spinnerbaits. the shorter the rod, the more accurately you can place the spinnerbait. shorter rods are also easier to work under overhanging limbs and such. as for my favorite, i've discovered a lot of rods will work decently with spinnerbaits BUT the g.loomis SBR-713C is the best.

i've kluged around with different ways but finally settled on these: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0036834120770a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=0&_D:hasJS=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&No=0&Ntt=advanced+anglers&N=0&_D:sort=+&_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/search/search-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1 they conveniently keep the all together, padded and protected from scratches and are compact and portable. i have three of them that sit on a shelf in the closet of my fishing room (it's actually a guest bedroom that i've commandeered ;D).

RW, the symetre FI had many of those features as well. the biggest noticeable difference for me is the propulsion line management system...i do notice a slight increase in casting distance and a reduction in line twist. i agree with the other poster that the symetre FI is closer to the sahara FD than the symetre FJ.