ChiCityBasser

Pretty much done here but today its in the lower 60's and suppose to be in the mid 60's tomorrow so I might give it a try again. I did take all but one setup out of the car after a 0 yesterday and my favorite Forrest preserve lake being closed for a road repaving. Time to order some more DVD's for the long off season here

Cabelas will exchange it and you can see if you can get the guys in the Reel dept to change the line over for you. My Prodigy hasn't had any problems at all and got mine on sale a couple years ago. Take it back for an exchange and ask the guys if they can respool the New Reel with the line from the old reel Can't Hurt

Just got my NIB Quantum Catalyst PTI-B20 Spinning reel for $60 shipped.

I have the Shimano Sahara FD 1000 and i have it on a 6.5ft Cabelas XML ML with Spiderwire 20/6. The reel has worked great even with it being graphite. It is very smooth and the drag is equally as smooth with 3lb LM hitting the smaller baits I've been using with the setup and running for deeper water. I've been using mine primarily with 1/4oz spinnerbaits and smaller crankbaits. This is my first Shimano reel and I'm very pleased with how its worked after my first year of usage.

Nice writeup

Great info as always RW and for myself I have been fishing the last 2-3yrs with spinning gear mainly but have added 3 BC combos to my arsenal. I use them on occasion and take them out more and more often but prefer my spinning gear. I've learned to cast a weightless worm with my Quantum Energy without a problem on a Cabelas XMLTi rod and get pretty good distance out of it. I'm not as accurate with my baitcast setups but manage to get the job done with them. I use them both but right now just prefer my spinning setups

I would suggest either the New Quantum Kinetic PTI-B or the Shimano Sahara. I own both and since they shaved some off the weight of the Kinetic and tightened it up its a great performing reel and won't break the back and can be had on Ebay for less than the MSRP. I also own the Shimano Sahara 1000FD and even with it being a graphite frame its a great reel and haven't experienced any of the flex I've heard associated with graphite frame reels. Other suggestions would be the Shimano Saros which is still at Cabelas for $130 or the Quantum Catalyst for $139. I just picked up the Catalyst off ebay for $60 and will put it through it's paces til the end of the season on my crankbait rod. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those choices and all less then $150

I had the Megaforce and actually sold it here in the flea market and wished I had kept it. It was a very good reel at least to me. Never had any problems with it and the twiching bar (even though a little awkard) worked great with frogs and topwater popping baits for me. No its not as smooth as some other reels but for $40 (same price I think I paid for mine) its a great bargain reel. I also liked that fact that it was a 7:1 and even though being graphite it worked well.

I don't have the Quantum reel to comment on from personal usage but from reading some of the reviews and getting a feel for it in the store I will be picking up one next year. I have last years Energy PT and its a great reel and the new one is lighter which makes it even better. I don't have the Cabelas Prodigy but have picked them up in the store as well but can't really comment on them. Other members here have them and can better chime in on the rods. I do have 5-6 Cabelas XML rods in both 1 and 2 pc Spinning and Bait casting and love them. I have the the 6'6" 1 PC W&J MH bait casting rod and the 6'6" 2pc R&J M rod also and they care great. Very sensitive for both rods with the applications I have used them. I pretty much use crankbaits mostly but getting to use worms and jigs with these rods has opened me up to more techniques as well as using them with tubes and shakey heads. These 2 XML rods are paired with a Quantum Accurist PT BC with 30#-12Fireline Smoke for the Bait casting setup and a BM1000 Spinning reel with Power Pro 8# test. I also have a ML setup which is a 6'6" ML XML paired with a Shimano Sahara 1000 with Original Fireline 20#-6 that works great with smaller cranks and spinnerbaits. Not knocking the other rod choices but I would go with the XML's over any of them.

Great Review Islandbass

I don't have any experience with the Mag Touch Baitcasting rod but I do have the Mag Touch MGTS664-2 pc spinning rod and its a great rod and fishes well. The handle does take some getting used to after using cork handled rods but it does transmit everything to your hand and is very sensitive. I haven't hand any problems with it being slippery when its wet either. It's a great rod and even a better deal when it's on sale.

I admit I like what looks cool and if I could I would match my rod and reel colors to some extent, but I also like what works well for me also. I like form and function and quality and that's why I come here and read peoples post and opinions on products cause to some a $100 might not seem like a lot but I want to be able to catch fish with that pretty rod rather than have it sit in the corner cause it didn't work to my liking. I think we all like something a little different from the norm at times and hence the custom rod builders who will build a rod to not only suite your particular fishing application but make it in the colors you want as well. I'm willing now to pay that $100 or more for a custom rod and add my colors and know it works for ME rather than the masses.

Yeah according to something I saw in one of the magazines the Ugly Stick is the #1 selling rod

I'm interested in knowing how it fishes as well so keep us posted

I agree on the Cabelas XML rods and have several of them. I even have one of the XMLTi rods but haven't had any of the problems with the line and guides issues that some have had with the rods. I own 2 of the B/C models with the 6'6" C66WJ getting the most use of my B/C setups and it is very balanced and sensitive with my Quantum Accurist II mounted on it. I have several of the spinning models as well and for the price they are great rods and even better when you can catch them on sale.

Great looking Rods and great work

One of my goals was to start using the Baitcasters I have more often and to learn to use them better. Did that and actually caught some fish with 2 of the setups I use. I wanted to get the hang of using a frog and so far I've had hits but haven't managed to set the hook and put a fish on the board. I guess one of my other goals is to lighten my tackle box a bit and carry only what I think I will actually hit the water.

I've had some success over the weekend using a couple of shallow running crankbaits..Bandit Footloose and Strike King 1XS along with a 1/4 oz Strike King Spinnerbait with a larger Copper Colorado Blade. The water has been muddy in the one shallow area of the small lake I have fished and caught 10 over the weekend not including the ones that got off due to my own fault.

My last couple of times out fishing a small lake I caught all mine in a shallow cove with the water pretty much muddy using a spinnerbait with a bigger colorado blade and on both the Strike King 1XS and the Bandit Footloose. All of them were right around 1-2# including the ones that managed to get off due to my own fault. So far everything has been in less than 3 ft of water

I like the Strike King 1XS for super shallow water and also the Bandit Footloose. They have been working pretty good over the last couple of weeks over the weeds and in very skinny water.

I can't comment from personal use of one of the older ones made by Pinnacle but there was a thread going around a while back and just from that post the ones made by Daiwa are a big improvement over the Pinnacle models. It has held up well with no problems at all after a year of use I haven't tried to cast too light a crank on it since I have another B/C that is better suited for that purpose but sure I could do it now without a backlash. They are usually on sale so not that big of a investment if you decide a B/C is not for you..

I think the Cabelas Prodigy is a pretty good B/C for a beginner and its on sale now for I believe around $70. It's made by Daiwa and I pretty much learned with this one and still have it in my setups. It gets less use than my Quantum reels but is still a pretty good reel and backed by the Cabelas warranty.

I primarily use spinning rigs and at the suggestion of RW I also use Yo Zuri Ultrasoft but went to big on my setups also with 10# and had many of the memory issues. After he suggested 6-8# for the spinning I went with the 6# and haven't had those issues. I also use P-Line CXX in the 8# version with no problems on my spinning gear. I also now spray them with the KVD line & lure conditioner just as a bit of an insurance policy and no issues. My B/C pretty much all has braid on it with one setup having mono

I'd probably go with the 2500 or 3000 since they are very very close to one another with the 3000 being able to hold more line due to the larger spool. I got the 1000 cause it was all that was in stock at a Cabelas in store sale that allowed me to get a Cabelas XML for $50 instead of the regular $139

I went through the same type of problem when I got my Shimano Sahara. Cabelas had a buy the reel get a XML rod for 50% off but they only had the 1000FD in stock. I wanted the 2500FD but ended up getting the 1000FD and its been a great reel. The only drawback with the Sahara 1000 is that it's a Graphite frame but since its not a every time out reel its been fine for the year I have owned it. I have it spooled with Original Spiderwire 20# 6 on a 6'6" XML. If the MgFB is all aluminum I would say the 1000 size would be fine but sure others will chime in also