John G

Major Craft has it going on. The styling and the build quality at a very affordable price is hard to beat IMHO.

Thank you.

Major Craft MLC-67/BFS 6'7" 1/16 TO 1/4OZ 4-12lb line The only shipping charge was the original $50.00 from Shimreels and there was no customs fees do at signing. I went to my local FedEx yesterday to inquire about the shipping fees that I may incur upon delievery and the lady could not tell me that info but she did say the package was valued at $85.00. That would really suck if the rod got damaged cause I may only get $85 instead of the $260.00 that I paid. I ordered this rod from Shimreels in Viet Nam on ebay June 16 and it arrived today, July 24. It was shipped using economy shipping and it was scheduled to get here July 14 and on July 16 I sent Shimreels a message asking about my rod. They said that their shipping dept says that it was shipped back to them the previous week and they will resend it via FedEx International Express. Well, they sent it FedEx International Economy. The first time around, I did not get any tracking info. The second time around, I did. I am shocked that this rod arrived in one piece. It was shipped in those semi long boxes with three boxes taped together and inside the boxes was a fair amount of newspaper and bubble wrap along with an extendable aluminum pole that was extended to the length of the rod. LOL It is definitely by far the prettiest rod that I have ever owned and the attention to detail appears to be flawless and to my surprise, it isn't whippy at all. I will be throwing Strike King Bitsy Minnows (2.4 grams) with it tomorrow and hopefully catch a decent size Bass or Bluegill. I do not know where it was made as it does not say Made in Japan or China and anywhere else.

I have actually planned on trying my own testing with 50 size Shimano's using factory spools and shallow spools just to see if I am wasting my money on shallow spools. I know that you know that some lures just flat out cast better than others. For example, the Rapala Floater that is listed as 3/16 seems to just float in the air vs an 1/8oz Rebel Wee R casts great as does the Bitsy Minnow.

Easily with a factory spool?

IMHO, anything much over 3/16oz is out of BFS territory. Just to give you an idea of what my BFS fishing consists of, the majority of my BFS hardbaits are around 3/16oz and under. Lately, I have been having a lot of fun throwing Strike King Bitsy Minnows - 2.4 grams, and the lightest plastic that I have thrown is an unweighted Zoom Finesse Worm. My jigs are the 5/32oz Keitech Finesse Jigs with Keitech Little Spiders as trailers. Lately, I have only been using hardbaits and I have been using 6# Floroclear.

I would ditch the Curado G and use the two 50's.

I didn't think that Loomis ever made the MBR842 in the IMX version and the MBR842GLX is no longer in production. Do you have a pic if your rod?

I get used to the length of handle that comes with the reel. Like when I am using the Calcutta/Conquest 50's, I am content with the 70mm handle that comes with them. After after a while, you get use to it and it isn't even noticeable. Cal over at TT said the same thing during his test of the Conquest 50DC. Now if I was using a reel with a short handle to reel in a lure with a lot of drag, I would add a longer handle.

It is when you want to fish this weekend. LOL

A long time. I started when I was a dumb kid back in the early eighties and there was no internet forums or YouTube or adults to give me guidance. I just went out their and flung it and picked out backlashes. The key to mastering a baitcaster IMHO is you have to know why it backlashes. It backlashes because the spool is spinning faster than your lure is taking out line and it doesn't get any simpler than that. Use your brakes and your cast control knob to your advantage and you will get it soon enough.

Lighter jigs and T -Rigs is what I used mine for when I had it. Bronzefly over at TT says that he uses his for 1/2oz Silver Buddies. It really is a great rod a darn shame that they quit making it. Used ones in excellent condition go for a premium on eBay and it seems that nowadays most people are hanging on to theirs (except me) and there is not an exact replacement from Loomis should yours break so be careful with it.

I don't doubt that. I read about guys going down to 1/8oz with no problems with their 50 size Shimano's and factory spools but I can't do it effectively and definitely not to my satisfaction. Now put a shallow spool in there and it's a game changer. Don't feel bad about your memory. I am only 45 and I amaze myself at the simple things that I forget.

I have had the Hedgehog ZR's and they were very free spinning. I guess that's the term I am looking for. I had to apply more brakes than normal to keep the spool under control when I installed them. I still think if your reel came with a quality set of bearings, they are all that is needed if they are maintained properly.

I bought some old Shimano Bantams a while back, the 10xSG was my favorite, and while they were very nice reels in their day, they don't hold a candle to the reels that are available now and with parts availability a problem, I would consider any vintage Shimano that I own to be a shelf queen.

Dale, if I am not mistaken, I sold you the ceramics that you are referring too. That was Jan 2014. Glad to see that you are still using them.

Since you are asking the question, you must not be happy with the performance that you are getting out of your reel now. The first question that needs to be asked is......have you been studious about maintaining your factory bearings? If not, there is a chance that they are ruined and then the answer is yes, a new set of quality bearings will be a definite improvement over your trashed bearings. I know the one time that I replaced factory bearings with ceramics I noticed a big improvement in how easy it was to get my lure out there. I chalked the improvement up to ceramics being great and not realizing at the time that my factory bearings were trashed because of a lack of maintenance on my part. BTW, I sold the ceramics to a member here because as Ghoti says, I like for my reels to be seen and not heard. The ceramics were annoyingly loud IMHO.

....

BPM, congrats on your NRX/Stella combo! It looks sweet! If you are going to get a Calais DC, spend the extra few bucks and get the JDM Antares DC7-LV. It has a different finish, a longer handle, some other cosmetic differences and IMHO, and this is just my opinion, it is one of the must have Shimaos for the true enthusiast. It falls into the Ultimate Enthusiist category. I say that because before the Yen lost value, it was a $750.00 reel. I don't have one......yet but I will eventually. Another must have and plenty of people will agree with me, is a Conquest 50. BTW, there is a guy using a DC7-LV to catch Barramundi on YouTube.

This will be the last time that I ever buy an item that is shipped with economy shipping. For some reason I assumed that it was being shipped via FedEx cause that is what I have read but I guess I was wrong.

Be prepared to wait if you buy a one piece. I bought a Major Craft MS-X Limited MLC-67L/BF BFS Rod from Shimreels on eBay on June 16 and it's not here yet. Here is Florida. I am desperately waiting its arrival and I have no detailed tracking info to ease my pain and suffering. LOL eBay says that it should be delivered by July 14. I have bought from Plat. I received my first order from them last week and it consisted of parts for a JDM Calcutta 50 that they had to order from Shimano and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with my first experience with Plat.

Did you mean SBR751? I just added the SBR751 to my list of saved searches on ebay and if I get one, pairing it with a newly acquired Calcutta 50. I think that it would make a great 1/4oz Beetle Spin / 1/4oz Spinnerbait rod. It might even work out for some BFS jig work with it's xtra fast action.

It's been awhile so how did your Avail spool work out for you?

Buy another one.

Lowry, first off, welcome to BR. Second, What is your budget?