Fishwhittler

Oh. My. Gosh. That's my new favorite Curado right there. Are you trying to make me go broke? I just bought a Citica 100D, and while I was planning on upgrading to a Hawg Handle sometime, that pic makes me think I'll be doing a bit more to it than that. Question: Could you anodize a spool? Or would that create problems with the steel shaft and/or the plastic brake assembly? For those who haven't tried the Hawg Handles yet, they're really great quality. I've only got one so far, but I'll be getting more. It's light, rigid, and it looks really good. I've heard a few people say they're more bulky than other aftermarket CF handles, but I can't say anything about that as I've never tried any other CF handle. Hawgtech makes their handles in the USA, not overseas, and their prices are very competitive. I'll be sticking with Hawgtech for handle upgrades.

My guess is the new Duckett reels are more of the same OEM reels as are currently sold under the Abu Garcia, BPS, Browning, Lew's, and Pflueger brands. Spy shots: Certainly looks like a Revo.

I think the answer to that is both yes and no; yes, because three contact points are more secure than two and so you'd have better spool alignment at all times; no, because that's a third friction point that would hurt casting performance. Plus the bearing as it currently is means the tolerances don't have to be perfect. I think that's the biggest reason right there.

That bearing comes into play only when the spool is under heavy load, when the spool shaft flexes just enough to make contact with the bearing race. If you run your drags set loosely, you'll probably never notice the difference with the bearing gone. If you ever use more than 8# of drag or heavier than 20# line, I'd leave the bearing in place just to be on the safe side. It doesn't hurt anything, and it may save you from a warped spool shaft. For example, if you get snagged and hold your spool rigid to pull your lure free, there can easily be enough pressure to damage the shaft. No, it's not a truly critical location to have a bearing, but it does do a little more than just driving up the bearing count (and the price).

I have two, a 7'11" cranking rod and a 7'2" spinner. I don't use the spinning rod much since I prefer baitcast gear, but it's a decent rod. I don't have any other spinning rods to compare it with. The cranker is my trap rod and also sees some use with lipped cranks, and it does a very good job casting cranks a long way (at 7'11" long, it had better cast well ). Build quality is good. There was some epoxy on one of the guides on the cranker, but nothing serious. The only component on the rods that I dislike is the hook keeper. It's flimsy and feels cheap, and even though it folds it's not any smaller or more streamlined than a non-folding keeper. Otherwise I have no complaints. The cranking rod is tip-heavy, but it's a cranking rod so that's not even an issue. For the sale price the Ballistic is a really great deal. Edit: My rods seem to be fairly normally sized for their power ratings. Neither one is particularly thick or thin.

Is it a Curado 200B, 200D, 200E, or 200G? If it's a B, D or E you got a really great reel. The B and D are a bit bulky compared with more modern reels, but they're some of the most bombproof low-profile reels out there. I used to have a Citica 200D, and the only reason I got rid of it was to trade for a smaller Citica 201E—the D was too large for me to comfortably palm with my left hand. I'm not a fan of the Curado G; it's a decent reel, but for my money I'd rather buy a Citica E and upgrade it to Curado E standards. The G's build quality is noticeably cheaper than the E-series. They're solid reels, don't get me wrong, they're just built cheaper than the E-series and it shows in the construction.

I have the 7'11" Ballistic with a "Regular" action. I'd call it a moderate-fast rather than a true moderate.

What Ardent should have done is take a different route than what other companies are doing, especially the OEM reel brands. Instead of packing their reels with features like flipping switches, drag-tracking technology (which is pointless on a narrow-spool reel anyway), etc., they should have gone for ruggedness and reliability, and smoothness through close tolerances and good machining rather than high bearing counts. Build a metal-frame reel with three or four bearings, keep it simple and tough. Instead they wound up with the Edge, which has built for itself a questionable track record. I haven't tried one, nor am I likely to. There are too many reports of bad Edge reels out there for me to want to buy one and risk getting a lemon. American-made companies can't compete with overseas companies because in the US, nobody's going to work for what they pay workers in China or Taiwan or Korea or wherever. Any US company should focus on the US-made aspect and go from there—NOT on packing the reel with gimmicks that drive up the cost and don't really improve the reel. In the past, what separated US-made from "Made in China"? Domestic products were generally considered more durable and better engineered. Well, that idea would still work. The Swedish-built Abu Garcia C3 has stuck around for years in spite of being a dated design (albeit with updates and improvements), because it's designed to do one thing: Last forever. It hasn't got many bearings, no flipping switch, only one gear speed option, no clickies in the drag adjustment or CC knob, and it's big and bulky. In spite of that it's popular because it's tough as a tank, reliable, and affordable. Ardent bit off more than they could chew with the Edge. They're seeing that now, which is why the Apex series is built overseas—they can sell them for cheap while offering features similar to competing reels. I hope they revamp the Edge lineup for 2014 and simplify things while ironing out the reel's problems, which appear to be chiefly in the quality-control. BTW, I'm 99.9% positive the Apex reels are the same as the Gander Mountain GSX Elite, GSX Tournament Pro, and the Rapala Shift. The drag stars are the same, the handles are shaped the same, the level-wind looks to be the same, and the frame is pretty much the same other than the porting or lack of same. Haven't heard much about either of the GSX's or the Shift, though Tackle Tour gave the Shift a nice write-up. Guess we'll see.

Procaster = metal frame, Megaforce = graphite frame. Completely different animals. Had one of the old Megaforces (a gift), nice reel except the clutch went kaput in less than a year. I'll never buy a graphite baitcaster.

Don't see any reason why she won't. Heck, I'd fish that rig if I had it (regardless of the funny stares I might get ).

Yep. Added a bearing to the level-wind to bring the count up to 10+1 bearings; carbontex drag, polished spool shaft and brake race, paint and custom porting. Can't remember if I upgraded the spool bearings or not; I'll have to check.

Yes, but if you buy a used reel to upgrade you can spend the same $$ and get a better reel. Example: Used Citica E in good shape - $80 ABEC-7 SS spool bearings - $14 for two Crankshaft bearing - +/- $7 Carbontex drag - $8 Power knobs - $10 for a set Super-tuning - +/- $20 Total = $131 Used Curado E = $125 or so. The upgraded Citica will have a better drag, better casting, the same knobs, and it won't be too easy to tell a difference in smoothness. If you get a new Chronarch E it costs at least $150, and the drag is still only partially carbon-fiber. It still boils down to personal preference, but a tuned/upgraded reel often performs as well as a reel several price brackets up instead just of the next bracket up. I also like personalizing my reels so they have exactly the features I want. Like this: Still need to get EVA power knobs for the handle, and someday I might go in and rip out the brass guts to be replaced with aluminum. Gears, crankshaft, etc., and then I'll also be able to swap in a carbon-fiber handle and a new drag star.

It does. Your wife's rig? That's still one of my favorite reels I've ever seen.

#1: Flushing and re-lubing the spool bearings. Labor is free if you do it yourself. If you have someone else do it expect to pay at least $18 for a complete reel cleaning. #2: Adding a carbon-fiber drag washer under the drive gear (there are four drag washers in all; only three are carbon-fiber). The washer should run you $3 plus $1 shipping from smoothdrag.com. #3: Polishing the ends of the spool shaft as well as the brake race in centrifugal-brake reels. This can be done by any good reel tuner, and it's done in conjunction with a cleaning. It adds $8 - $10 to the cost. Or you can do it yourself. After that you can add bearings, replace handles and knobs, add custom paint, etc., but very little that actually increases your reel's performance. I don't know if there are any aftermarket spools that fit the Revo G3's, though there are spools that fit other Abu Garcia reels. It all depends on what you want to do with your reel and how much you're willing to spend. Now, that's for Abu's low-profile reels. Their round reels are a different breed of cat, and they have even more upgrade options. In addition to those listed above, you have this: Brakes & level-wind upgrades Handles & knobs Spools

Okay, I just hope you're not suggesting that others do what you did. I've also dealt with BPS's reel-repair department, and I got the parts I needed with no trouble. They even looked through their stockpile of parts reels and found the exact parts I needed; otherwise I'd have had to order a parts assembly that cost considerably more. Academy doesn't carry parts for their reels, but their return policy is very good. Plus, parts for the clutch can be bought from Daiwa; the Lexa 100 uses the same clutch as the H2O Xpress baitcasters. The spool, brakes, and frame are a different story. Cabela's also gets their reels from Daiwa, so if you can't order parts from Cabela's you can at least get them from the manufacturer.

Some spectacular reels there. I'm a HUGE fan of customized reels.

That's technically fraud, though I doubt if you'd be sued for it if BPS knew. I'll never understand the people who can do that sort of thing without turning a hair. It's dishonest, it takes advantage of a system designed to help people—hey, the companies don't have to provide a warranty—and it's illegal. Yes, I've broken rods. Two Team Daiwa T rods, to be specific, which are covered by a five-year warranty. Both times the rod was less than two years old. One got closed in a window, the other had a ladder leaned against it. I didn't send either one back. I kept 'em until I figured out how to fix them.

Dartanium is a graphite-based material that's not remotely like carbon-fiber. Having seen what Dartanium will do to reels given time, the first thing I'll do in any future Shimano reels I purchase will be to upgrade the drag to Carbontex. This is a mild case of what Dartanium can do to gears: Gear from a Curado 50E. Most of that residue is on the surface and came off fairly easily, but there were a few places where the Dartanium left minor pitting in the brass, as you can see in this pic: The copper-colored spots are what I'm talking about. They're slightly below the rest of the gear surface, though they're not deep enough to affect drag performance. Like I said, this was a fairly mild case that left little damage. The worst case I've seen I had to scrape part of the drag washer off of the gear, and then it left considerable pitting in the brass. Dartanium is very smooth, but I'm not a fan. Here's what Dartanium looks like compared with carbon-fiber. The Dartanium washers are the two on top. Those washers came out of a Citica E. You can get them from Tackle Trap, and they do also increase drag power by a significant margin. I figure they bump drag power to at least 15#, probably more; all I know is I can't budge the spool when I've got the carbontex drag locked down.

I'll buy either one, whichever suits my needs. Much more important to me than the brand is a certain reel's track record. For example, the BPS Pro Qualifier has a positive track record a mile long; the old Daiwa Exceler's had an iffy reputation. Given my choice I'd take the PQ. Or, the H2O Xpress Mettle over any brand-name reel at the same price. Funny thing, most if not all house-brand reels are rebranded and/or slightly changed products from one of the big companies. The Mettle, Manic, Menace and Mystic reels from Academy are based on the Laguna/Aird/Exceler EXE/Lexa 100 design; the older Cabela's Prodigy reels were rebranded Daiwa Advantage HSTA reels; and the BPS Pro Qualifier and Johnny Morris Signature Series reels are built by the same company as builds reels for Pflueger, Abu Garcia, and Lew's. So long as a reel has the specs and features I'm looking for, AND has no known quality/durability issues, I'm not picky as to the brand.

Pay little attention to reviews like this: "i got this reel the othr day its great, caught a 11 pound largmouth on it works great would definitly recomend" Too many guys who write reviews on TW, BPS, Cabela's, etc., do basically the following: Get the reel, spool it up, mount it on a rod, go fishing a couple times and find nothing wrong with the reel, so they give a rave review of the reel. The only review I'd trust is when the reviewer has used the reel for at least a couple months. You'll generally find the most reliable product reviews on forums. Tackle Tour is one of if not the best for reel reviews, though the TT forums have become aimed more towards high-end enthusiast and import tackle. If you're curious about a certain reel or reels, there are plenty of guys on this forum right here that should be able to help you out.

Agree, though they need to lose at least Freese, probably Kozma as well. Regardless of David Freese's past play, he's slipping and there are better options to be had for cheaper. Simplest way would be to put Carpenter back at 3B and play Wong at 2B. That won't fix the shortstop hole, so the Cards need to sign or trade for a decent shortstop. There's also Ryan Jackson in their farm system—he's a good fielder though he might not hit any better than Kozma, but he's young and he might learn to hit. Kozma's bat is probably never going to get any better, so let the younger player have a shot. Hopefully Oscar Taveras will be healthy in 2014 and will be able to start taking over in CF. Jay's fielding is fine, but his arm is terrible and his bat is gone. Hard to believe he was the Cardinal's leadoff hitter at one time and had a .300 average. Don't know if Taveras is a true CF, but he's worth a shot. If Beltran comes back for 2014, I'd think it might be a good idea to give him more rest days. Same with Allen Craig, though for different reasons; Craig seems to break easily and Beltran's not getting any younger. Splitting time between Craig and Beltran in RF and Craig and Adams at 1B would provide rest for Beltran and Craig and would get Adams' bat into the lineup a fair amount as well. If Beltran signs elsewhere this is a moot point.

True. On the other hand, it's Wacha's turn to pitch, and he won his last game at Fenway. With the exception of a few shaky innings in WS game two, he's been as shutdown as they come. He's going to have to do it again to extend the series to seven games. The way the Cardinals have been hitting, Wacha's just about going to have to throw a shutout in order for the Cards to have any chance at all.

My point was that the game ended on a base-running mistake. Agree that there have been tons of other missed opportunities for the Cards.

Unless you're a Cardinals or Red Sox fan. The quality of play has been generally abysmal. I like baseball, but I like seeing Major League players play like Major Leaguers. The Cardinals lost last night on a base-running error, the Red Sox blew game three with bad throwing, and the Cardinals' defense in game one was hardly there at all. I hope the quality of play is better in the remaining games.

Three errors in one night aren't conducive to winning. Wainwright also made a bad play: Called for a popup and then backed off when he though Molina was going to catch it, so the ball dropped. Doesn't count as an error, but it's the nearest thing to one. Ouch.