John G

The Conquest is more refined and it has the same spool as the CTE100GT. You are talking about the old model Conquest 100?

How big are your hands? Palmability translates into comfort. I have never seen a Tatula but I have owned a Curado I and the Curado I in my regular size hands is very comfortable. From what I have read, the Tatula is a big reel so that would be a deal breaker for me.

Ms. Vickie's Jalapeno flavored. Our local Subway's and Firehouse Subs have them.

Hope u have a speedy recovery!

Prayers sent!

What Chris said. I am a Fl Native and I have a tremendous amount of respect for large gators. If you are standing to close to the water, they do have the power to pull you in and there ain't a d**n thing that you can do about it. If you are in a kayak, canoe, Gheenoe or any of the other small craft out there, if they wanted to, they could get you out of it and there ain't a d**n thing that you could do about it. Go ahead, sit on a boat dock with your legs dangling down. The odds are nothing will happen but there is a chance that you will lose a leg or two. For the guy that said gators are more scared of us than we are of them, ask James Okkerse what he thinks about that. Well, you can't ask him because he is the latest person in Fl to be killed by a gator.

Shocking! I always enjoyed reading his posts. RIP

It will be as long as it's loose enough for it to be used.

I am not sure which is which but either the white or red will provide more or less braking than the other and if it were my reel and I were going to make my first cast, I would have two on and two off and my cast control maybe a little tighter than I normally cast. When the brakes are locked down, meaning no movement, all brakes are off.

You will probably save money by ordering from one of this Site's Sponsors, DVT. He is a Boca dealer and I think that you can get a member discount so hold off until he sees this Thread.

Getting skunked on sick gear is also satisfying. LOL I was fishing small cranks with it right after I got but I haven't used it in a while. The reason is because I am going to use it for drop shot with a Conquest 50 and I need a shallow spool. I plan on getting red parts for the Conquest 50 to match the gold and red on the rod.

Thank you for the nice words about my gear! I did not mind your question at all or take any offence. BFS is downright fun IMHO. Largemouth Bass do not have a reputation for being the strongest battlers but with BFS, even a little bass will put a real good bend in your rod and if you are not using braid and are using a light line like 7# Sniper, you have to be careful or you will break off.

Thank you! At the moment, I am only using BFS gear. I know that it's not practicle in every situation so that is why I am debating getting a combo to throw heavier T Rigs because before I got bit by the BFS bug, heavier T Rigs was how I caught the majority of my fish.

Thank you Matt! 7# Sniper FC on all three setups. It has everything that I look for in a FC. Affordable, easy to manage with no line treatment and sensitive.

. This is one of my weaknesses in life and that is why there is none in the house right now.

Shimano Poison Ultima 162L-S / Aldebaran Mg7 / 1/16oz Jackall Flick Shake Jig Head and Jackall Flick Shake Worm Shimano Poison Glorious 168L BFS68 Long Distance #1 / Aldebaran Mg7 / 5/32oz Keitech Finesse Jig w / Keitech Little Spider Trailer Shimano Poison Glorious 168L BFS68 Long Distance #2 / Aldebaran Mg7 / Light T Rigs

Shimano / Jackall

The lower gear ratio is a better all around gear ratio but the popular view nowadays is the higher gear ratio is better for bottom contact. Personally, if I were going to buy one reel and I knew that I would be throwing baits with resistance, like Spinnerbaits, I would get the lower gear ratio because the 6.3:1 is fine for bottom contact as well as spinnerbaits.

The reason why I asked, and I know it's just another thing to spend money on, is you might want to invest in a shallow spool. If you want to cast down to a true 1/8oz, a shallow spool takes all the headaches out of doing so and shallow spools are available for your Shimano's that have the ability to cast lighter weight but still have adequate line capacity for LMB.

What reel are you using?

To answer your question, Sunline Sniper FC in 6 or 7 # is cheap enough to try and it's a great line too.

The OP said big Red Drum. Little Red Drum and big Red Drum are not like little or big LMB. If he goes out there and he hooks into a 50# Red Drum with a medium powered bass rod, he is screwed.

I would use backing because I would not tie directly to the holes in my spool. All you need is a few handle turns of backing and then fill the rest with braid. Sure 200 yards is enough for a big Red Drum if you have a stout enough rod.