ghost

I use the Fuji hook keeper on my Cumara rods, works great. I don't like the hook keeper that's on the Cumara, the chances of me hooking myself when it's that close to the reel is big. I don't think it takes anything away from the Cumara rod using the Fuji hook keeper. I have the Fuji hook keeper on my Carrot Stix & Daiwa Zillion rods. No way am I going to put a hook on an guide or on the reel!

FINALLY a day that felt better than the past couple weeks...like no ICE on top of the water or on land! This part of the channel in the river the ice had melted off, so I did some shore fishing there. I first ran a BPS version of the Silver Buddy & felt it bump off on quite a few fish. Finally hooked up to what I was bumping into & there were huge shad. I figured there should be LM bass around, so I tried the new 1/2oz Rapala shallow X-rap in pearl color. I used it as twitch bait & got the bass going nuts! Caught a few on the new shallow X-raps & switched to Rapala Subwalks & caught a few more on the silver/black & pearl colors. Now this is getting really FUN, while I'm shivering in 39 deg weather in shorts! It was sunny today & being originally from Southern California, sun means warmth....I was soooo wrong! I braved it fishing & knees knocking for a couple hours just before it started getting dark, cuz the bass bite was so on! After using the Subwalk, I used some lipless crankbaits & caught a few more bass & snagged a bluegill...where did he come from??? I guess the bluegill didn't get out of the way of the lipless crankbait screaming by. The finale' for the best year end fishing came when I switched to the Chatterstick. I used this lure very differently than just reeling it in, I used it as a subtle jerkbait. I was using the Quantum Energy PT(2008) b/c reel w/ 12 lb P-line. The rod I used, which surprised me to the sensitivity of the rod, is the Kistler Helium LTA 6'9" MH APC. This is the previous, previous iteration of the LTA & today I felt vibrations from the Chatterstick that I've not felt from a b/c rod before. I let the Chatterstick drop down & I would jerk it so much. I felt the vibrations of the blade when it was shimmy-ing down. I felt the line twitched so I set the hook. The lure & line takes off, I'm thinking I've snagged another big shad...but the fight was totally different. It felt like a fight rather than a fish snagged on the dorsal fin. This fish was pulling some drag...crazy! I get it close to me & it jumped out of the water...a BIG bass....BOOYAH!!! Landed the bass, took a pic & let it go. The bass was around 3 1/2-4 lbs!!! I was so excited that this late in the year & being cold, I caught a very decent bass: I figured I caught over 12+ LM bass & snagged quite a few large shads. This has been the best day of fishing this whole year. I haven't pulled that many fish in a couple hours in a long time. The bass were in the channel hunting the shad...why the shad were in there, I don't know. But it sure made it one of the best days fishing I can remember! Now I need an excuse to sneak out of the house tomorrow & see if I can repeat the fun of today...How can I sneak out of the house w/o the wifey seeing the fishing rod & backpack through the house???? :-? Anyways...Happy New Year to Ya'll

I've been eyeing the 6'3" MH for topwater & Pointer use. Any of you guys still use this rod, if so how good is it? I tried the one I mentioned & put a Daiwa Fuego & a Shimano Curado 101D & Citica 201E on it & I like how low the reel sits on the reel seat. I can really palm the reel w/ the Daiwa S rod. Just not sure how well they handle & the sensitivity. I understand that not too long ago, they were a very popular rod used by the pro's.

Well, I keep my reel boxes in case I want to sell or trade them. I think it adds to the selling point of the reel. I keep all my reel boxes in a big box & just stack them up. Since they stack up nicely in a big box, I can just stash the box in a corner & then use that box as another place to put things...unless I need to get a reel box for oil/tools/manual, or to sell or trade.

I can't believe I'm actually going to say this....I'm w/ Burley on this one. TW has free shipping on orders over $50...while BPS will charge BIG $$$ for shipping cost. I paid like $14 to get my new Curado E left hand shipped a month or so ago. I'm glad I had a $20 email coupon from BPS that covered the shipping...so I bought the reel just very, very little under retail. Hard lesson learned, will shop at TW next time & much better CS.

I x3 the Zillion rod, I have both the Zillion rod(bought the 6'9" MH) & reel now...a pefect match! Next choice would be the new Kistler Argon or something cheaper the St Croix Mojo.

Still waiting for my new bathroom reading material to show up. There's no 2009 Cabelas catalog to order....yet.

Only gripe w/ the 2009 Symetre/Sahara/Sedona is now they don't come w/ a spare spool & the price jumped by $20. These were value dependable reel, now if you want a spare spool it'll run you $25-30 for the spare spool.

Tell you this much....those reels are sure not made in the U.S.

I use the 11/0 for 7-12" worms, have also used the 7/0 for 7" worms. Great hooks w/ a very sharp point. It bit expensive & you get only I think 3. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_100710____SearchResults?ordProd=Y&CMID=TOP_selectitems#itemDetail

Been looking at Bassmasters magazine & have noticed something about the poundage of line they are using, be it mono or flouro. The pro's seem to go w/ much heavier line ratings like 14 lbs-20 lbs. More I've noticed in the 17-20 lbs especially flouro. It seems they used the heavier lines for most of their fishing techniques. I guess since I don't fish tourney's that I find this interesting. Here I am thinking that using lines in 12 lbs or so is more desirable for less line visibility. So my question is, should I bump up my line ratings on my baitcast reels to 17-20 lbs? Does this give better sensitivity, strength & abrasion resistance than lower line ratings like 8-12 lbs?

I've tried it & didn't like the slightly thicker diameter in same poundage compared to Power Pro or Sufix. Sufix braid in same poundage is a slight thinner diameter(also costs a bit more) than Power Pro. Ripcord doesn't seem consistant w/ the line coloring. It seems that when you reel it on your spool, there are some spots on the line that is lighter in color. Also Ripcord sounds louder going through the guides than Power Pro or Sufix. I've tried Bass Pro Shops braid also & it's about as the same diameter thickness as Ripcord. But this line, the color on it fades much faster then previous said line.

I have both reels, I bought the Daiwa Sol a couple weeks ago, both are left hand. The Sol b/c reel is slightly smaller height wise than the Chronarch MG50/51. But the MG is lighter than the Sol close to 1 1/2 oz. The MG has centrifugal braking, while the Sol has Mag V braking. I have 20 lb(6 dia) Sufix braid on the MG & 10 lb P-Line CXX on the Sol. To me the MG casts lighter lures a little better than the Sol, but both can cast light lures better than a 200 sized b/c reel. But the MG seems to do a much better job at it. I think it's due to the centrifugal braking. I know I've gotten a couple birds nest (not that bad though) w/ the Sol using the same lure. The MG holds more line than the Sol. I've heard of some people who own either reel & use it for flipping w/ heavier line. They seem to like the smaller size of these reels for that type of technique & line capacity isn't all that important. But I've heard that the drags on both reels aren't that strong & these people tend to get stronger drags for them also. I think the Sol will cast slightly farther than the MG, haven't really put both to the test since it's winter & ice is on the water. :-/ I bought the MG this past summer & glad I did, since this model is being discontinued by Shimano. I would think that the Sol will soon be discontinued by Daiwa too, the reel is 3-4 yrs old & is old tech(does not have a clicking star drag & the handle knobs are hard plastic); compared to what is available now. They are not old school....yet, but they are very, very good finesse b/c reels. The MG is the lightest b/c reel I own in a low profile design. The Sol is such a good looking reel that I bought it to match w/ the Carrot Stix b/c rod(s) I have. I have the 6'9" MH & 6'9" parabolic Carrot Stix. I did pick up the Daiwa Fuego b/c reel also to go w/ the MH Carrot stix for my worm rod. I would use the Sol on the parabolic rod for my cranking setup. I don't really care for "slow" speed b/c reels, like ones that only get 21 IPT of line pick up. I prefer if I'm going to go "slow", to get a b/c reel that has a 24-25 IPT line pick up. I can bring the lure down to the depth I want & I have a slightly higher speed to reel in the fish. These 2 reels are for the U.S. market, there are Japanese counterparts to these reels, but why pay that much more for a b/c reel that is similar to these 2 finesse b/c reels? Both are smooth & efficient for what are intended for these reels. If you like to collect reels, by all means get the MG cuz it's being discontinued & it will be a working collectors item, like the Sol eventually. The Daiwa Fuego b/c reel seems to be the little brother of the Zillion, which I also have in 7.1:1. People are buying up the MG's quite fast now that a new model of the MG will not be available. Shimano wants you to jump to get the Core instead. Very nice reel & "almost" as light as the MG. But at $350 retail, I don't want it. I am now thinking of getting the Chronarch 101B, since the new Chronarch model is of a Core design & jumps to $300 retail. I like the look of the Chronarch B & its coloring. I'm not too impressed w/ the pearl white color of the 2009 Chronarch & it's a $50 less Core model IMO.

I like the look of this years Chronarchs. I'll probably buy the Chronarch 101B sometime next year.

Cumara 6/8" MH vs Magnesium 6'10" MH. There's a difference of 2" but which of these 2 have you tried? Does one have better sensitivity & is one more of an all around rod? Are the guides similar or different? Which of the 2 do you prefer?

E7 cuz they don't have an E5 for us left hand crankers. But I did get the Citica 201E also in left hand...should somehow make up for not having a left hand E5.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to go ahead & buy the Energy PT b/c reel in left hand. The place I'm buying it from said they'll take it back if it's not working correctly...squealing while casting. So I hope I don't run into that problem. I did in the past w/ my first Quantum b/c reel, after a few months of use it started that squeal sound. But from what most of you are saying it's a good reel. This will be my part-time light pike/musky reel. Will let you guys know how it is when I get to use it. Thanks again!

Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by tweeking the ACS braking? You had these reels, so you sold them? So no problems w/ how it performs? Casting & retrieving doesn't make any odd noises?

http://www.***.com/descpageRLCQUANTUM-QEPRC.html I'm talking about the one I put a link to. Any of you guys own this reel & is it any good? Any pro's/con's about it? How does it compare to the Curado D & Citica D Thanks for your help!

Trying to find a good low profile reeel in left hand for light pike & musky fishing. I've inquired about the Shimano Chronarch BPV & Curado DPV, which have lower gear ratios & come in left hand. The Revo Winch has 24 lbs of drag, that should be sufficient for pike & musky fishing? I am looking to spool w/ 50 lb braid, so a low profile reel w/ more line capacity. I don't think none of the Daiwa low profile b/c reels would work, since the drag on most of them is 8.8 lbs, & there is no low gear ratio. The Shimano's I've mentioned have a drag power of 12 lbs. I already have a big round reel & an 8' musky rod for the realy heavy stuff, just wanting something lighter.

SHIMANO CURADO E6????? Am I missing something here...that actually will BLOW if they come out w/ an E6 & they won't come out w/a left hand E5. Once again us left handed b/c reel users are left w/ "what the mfg's" think is all we need. We Got left behind when Shimano Came out w/ the D series in the Citicas...no 100DSV & 200DSV. Enough ranting, the green Curado & gray/silver Citica E's look good, no matter which of the rods I put them on. I go for performance first, then color combos....Zillion rod w/ Zillion Reel. Carrot Stix b/c rod w/ Daiwa Sol b/c ree. That's as far as I go w/ trying to match color w/ color. I know I have performance w/ those w/ the colors to boot!

Check your PM

I think that chrome guides are just a bit more sensitive than ceramic guides. The Carrot Stix rods I have, they have chrome guides....looks cheap on the rod, but have found that it made it more sensitive. Also the zirconia guides on Kistler Heliums are quite sensitive too.

Do you mean where I bought it? Local fishing store, day after Thanksgiving they had a 20% sale, I had the Zillion rod on layaway for a couple weeks till the sale started. So I saved some money buying it then. They do still have 3 6'6" med, 2 6'9"MH, & 3 of the 7'6" H.

That's a good one!!! Sure glad Nevada isn't close to where I live.... : From all those b/c rods, the new Daiwa Zillion 6'9" MH rod which I got last week is the only one I have not used. I may wait till Spring for it to make a debut. The eva grips on the Zillion is the same used on the Shimano Cumara's. Also the Zillion rod does not have a hook keeper, so I got a Fuji hook keeper for it. Daiwa really did a great job on this rod. But compared to the other MH rods I have w/ close to the same length, the Zillion is the stiffest.