SirSnookalot

I have caught 3, never thought the fight was special. Just the other day while I was surfing I came across a post where the angler's opinion was opposite, thought they were better than peacocks.

Reading the title I thought you had hooked a goliath grouper.

I just bought a couple of bearings for a spinning over the counter at Boca, Larry came out to help me. Larry suggested ceramic instead of stainless, only a $2.00 price difference. He said ss bearings will corrode in saltwater and he sees it all the time, assuming much of their walk in trade is saltwater as they are only a few miles from the ocean. He also claimed the ceramic would be smoother, on both claims I can agree, not only is my reel very smooth now but I've had corrosion from ss in the past. Today I will be going back to Boca to replace a corroded line roller bearing on my stradic (2nd time it's happened), I'm going to go with the ceramic and buy 2, one for my other stradic to try and nip a problem in the bud, just a matter of time for that bearing.

Not that there is anything wrong with those reels but I wouldn't buy either one. For me a round knob is a total deal breaker and I couldn't justify the expense for the kind of fish I'd be targeting with them. If I were to stay in the Shimano family a stradic fj would be a consideration, but I'd be looking elsewhere too.

I have pretty much everything I want right now, but I could make a couple tweeks. Get a Penn torque to replace my conquer, and replace my Avet with a Fin Nor marquesta. I like all my rods, in fact there people I fish with that have replaced their more expensive rods for what I use. I am looking to make an addition, not a replacement as I have a reel in perfect shape not being used. One of my buddies bought a TFO inshore rod, knew he had but I saw it for the first time recently, I've never seen a rod cast further in my life and it's only a 7 footer, I gotta buy it.

^^There's a spillway there.^^ Don't know the name off hand but I believe there is a place off Sheridan @ the ICW. The El RIO canal in Boca, I'll give you 2 options that I know of and there may be others. On 4th just north of Glades @ 17 th are the Cynthianna apartments (something like that) a small cemented boat launch in the rear parking lot, I've never seen anyone hassled. there is a spillway there, one side fresh the launch side is brackish and tidal. In the same canal system a few miles away is Pioneer park on Dixie just north of Hillsboro, there is a public boat dock. I've caught snook, jacks, ladyfish, seen tarpon rolling but haven't caught one there, and getting closer to the spillway LMB. I would suggest high outgoing tide.

I fish with Bassn once in while, haven't heard from him, I ought to give him a call.

A yellowtail is a member of the jack family , similar to amberjack of which I'm very familiar with. Very tough fish that can easily go 50# and bigger with lots of strength and stamina. They can be caught using bait or casting lures like a sling or iron jig, Braid or Williamson makes nice ones. Use what you have if it's a one time outing, but for constant targeting I'd be looking at something else. Casting I'd be using spinning, nothing less than an 8000 reel with 30# of drag or more, 30-40# class rod. Bait fishing I'd be using a reel with a single power handle, a Trinidad or Torium may fit the bill, personally I really like a Fin Nor Marquesta ma 20 with 40# of drag. I'd do some internet research to see what the yellowtail fishermen are using.

I probably have at least double the number I really need. I fish for bass, peacocks and snakeheads, I fish saltwater from boats, jetties and beaches, I use different set ups for each venue. Freshwater I'll have 2 with, 1 stays in the car and I make a switch if I need to. I fish 1 rod on the beach, walking and casting with a 2-4000 reel and a medium rod most of the time. On the jettie I take 3, 1 set up is dedicated for a certain species, I'll have a light mh rod and and heavy mh rod (by that I mean max lure wts.) 4000 reels are pretty standard for me. Off shore I take 3, hvy inshore with a 60 size reel for casting, 40# rods both spinning and b/c for trolling and drifting with bait. I always have backups in the car in case of mechanical failure or getting spooled.

If it were me, I'd slash that $300 to about $150 and go with light action rod instead of ul and size 25 or 1000 reel. Different companies use a different numbering system.

I only had trouble at first until I figured out I needed to use parts from the old handle, then it was pretty easy, I am by far not the most mechanically inclined person. Shimano service can be anything but a smooth experience, I've had a few problems with them myself. Again I'm at the crossroad of decision, repair or replace. My 4 or 5 year old 4000 fi has a rusted out line roller bearing again. Last time Shimano didn't have the bearing in stock, after being played around a while by them they finally replaced the entire bail, glad to say at no charge, but my downtime was long. That bearing is not in stock now either, luckily I can buy a bearing at Boca right at the counter. The problem is I can't get the old bearing out, it's rusted bad, I'm going to try some PB blaster, if I'm successful it's an easy fix. Sending it back to Shimano is cost prohibitive in my opinion, with parts, labor and shipping I may as well buy a new reel. I still believe the stradic is at or near the top of it's class when it's performing, the problem is that it does go down from time to time, they really need to make this real more durable for saltwater. In the end I'll probably buy a new one, why I'm not using my spheros 4000 is real mystery, as smooth as the stradic, way more durable and probably has a better drag, but I like buying new stuff...........lol.

I agree about the special l effects today, but there are some really exceptional actors today who would have been great in era like John Malkovich or Meryl Streep, just to name 2. I really like TCM channel, epsecially when they air Gable, Bogart and Flynn, MGM HD channel airs some good ones too, but the nod goes TCM.

The handle is part # rd 8170 and lloks to be available for $17.72, shipping if I remember shipping was pretty nominal. The new handle does not come with parts # 5947, 11425, 8172, 8171, 13269 and 11465, you have to remove them from the old handle, you wont' get a proper fit otherwise. It's a pretty easy fix, getting the bushings out of the old reel ( 8172 and 11465 ) was a bit tricky at first.

I've yet to own a stradic that hasn't needed some kind of repair, but I still think it's about the best reel in it's class and I'm sure I'll buy another. The Daiwa lexa 3000 has got me thinking, it may fit my bill for my next purchase, the price is attractive I did see it on Amazon for $99 and my tierra is a nice reel. For some unexplanable reason both my tierra and stradics seem to develop a line stacking problem after the 2nd or 3 rd respool, nothing overly serious, I've shimmed the heck out of the stadics.

I don't think it's any different than a required dress code for types of employment.

Probably the best answer, in fact a 4000 reel on the right rod is suffcient, IMO I still think the rod is the most important component. I see no debate going on, what I see is a lot of technical information spewing about one type of reel against another when the bottom line is just casting and retrieving. The rod launces the lure and the reel brings it in, the lure is working the same way in the water. It's like asking someone what time it is and they tell you how to build a watch. A good fisherman can catch any kind of fish with kind of tackle in any kind of envrionment. I'm not in the least bit confused, I don't see anything too complicated. Getting back to the reel, the cardiff is more than eqaul to the task, 10# of max drag, not that I would ever set it that high, and plenty of line capacity for bass fishing, not unusal to see them being used for snook. I'll refrain from any saltwater comment except to say reels like an Avet sx or mx are very popular casting and retrieveing heavier lures on the right rod, using the thumb as a level wind is totally second nature and no thought is even given to it.

Don't know why you're confused, all I initially said was " the rod has to be heavy enough to handle the weight of a heavier lure, personally I'd be focusing more on the rod than the reel". Whether it's a swimbait or other heavier lure, bass or another species, the rod does the work of launching the lure. The cardiff isn't much different than my Avet except for line capacity and the drags are probably set about the same, a bass would pose no problem for it.

There was no mention what rod was being used, I should hope a rod heavy enough to handle swimbaits as heavy as I think they are, but I'm not familiar with those kinds of lures. I did read the post wrong, I thought it was 30 fish 5-8#, not 5- 8 am. Assuming the fish were 8# each, a reel that size is more than up to the task, especially if mounted on a mh rod. 30 fish in 3 hours is great.

Trying to remember off the top of my head as I checked this out once. The pay for Congress in 1789 was around $6.00 per day while in session and that's without many benefits they have now. Today Congress is in session around 130-190 days a year, inflation adjusted $6.00 would be about a $158 today, on the top side 190 days x $158 = $30,000. Even if they were paid for a full year at $158 it's still only $57,000.

I would not think about twice, I'd buy a new handle providing the reel is in good condition. I'm real fussy about my handles, I want a paddle or tee that's tacky and not slippery, no round and I don't like metal ones.

If it's a quality rod I would replace not repair, not that it wouldn't be usable but I want a rod working to it's full potenial. A question that needs to be answered is how the rod broke, without being there I can make a guess. You pulled with the rod and not the line. Putting your reel in free spool or opening the bail on a spinner takes all the pressure off the tip, I put my rod down and pull by handling the line only. I wrap the line around my shoulder and walk backwards, many boaters will wrap the line around a piece of wood and pull.

In this regard I would not compare bass and snook fishing, they are mainly caught in 2 different environments and more often than not with baits lighter than a heavy swimbait. IMO the size of the reel is for the line size and kind of fish you are targeting, whether or not more line capacity is needed. The rod has to be heavy enough to handle the weight of a heavier lure, personally I'd be focusing more on the rod than the reel.

Don't get mislead by the number of bearings. Some reels have less bearings and are as smooth or smoother than reels with more of them. Any bearing has the potential to go bad, having less in a reel means there is less of chance of one needeing to be replaced. I've yet to have a bad bearing in any $50-100 freshwater spinning reel, but it can happen. I may not repair a sub $ 75 reel unless I did the work myself with parts, labor and maybe shipping I'd just buy a new one.

You're not alone on this one. One of my 4000 fi had the handle gummed up and peeling off, doing an internet search I discovered this is not unusual. Reading some posts on other forums Shimano rep felt the culprit is certain brands of sunscreen. As some of the members having this problem do not use sunscreen like myself, I think it may be insect repellent. I did replace the handle and the cost was somewhere around 20-$25, IMO well worth it. Stradic fi's have another common problem occurring with saltwater use, not only have I read about it numerous times on the internet but Larry at Boca bearings told me they get people in all the time for this problem on that reel when I stopped in last week. The line roller bearing gets rusted and needs to be replaced, it's happening to me now for the second time on the same reel. First time around the bearing was on backorder, I did send the reel in to Shimano and they replaced the bail assembly, to my surprise no charge for an off warranty reel. I can't get this bearing out to replace it, don't want to force it in any way until I know the bail assembly is available, new one is $32 and the bearing itself is about $10. No question that I will repair this reel one way or the other, it's just too good a reel not to. I did replace my drag yesterday as the washers were nearly disintergrated.

Will BR members get discounts?