Delaware Valley Tackle

In the grand scheme of things a plastic gear in this application wouldn't be noticed unless you opened it up and looked. Technology and materials have come a long way and plastic isn't necessarily the dirty word it used to be. That gear is not a weak link as far as I've seen in the shop. You still have a nice fishing instrument there to enjoy.

The better the fit between the pawl and worm gear the longer they'll last. In some reels they are optional depending on the fit. If they were in there I'd replace them at some point but it's likely not catastrophic to fish them as they are.

I prefer the 4'' and 3" senko type worms so I fish them on M or ML spinning tackle. Larger worms I usually T-rig with weight on a Casting rod, but a 5" senko is plenty heavy enough to fish on casting tackle. IMO the attraction of senkos is the horizontal fall so I don't see an advantage in T-rigging them with weight. In bigger worms I usually go with a ribbed and/or curl tail or a creature of some sort.

Just remember fluoro is stiff as a rule. Too stiff and the pick up may slip off. Either way go as light as you can get away with. One of the copolymer lines might be an option especially if abrasion resistance is a goal.

Spin cast reels are not braid suitable due to the way they work. The pick up pin will tangle and fray braid. I like a soft mono like trireme xl for spin cast reels . Use line conditioner, the lightest line you can get away with and swivels where appropriate. Don't over or under fill the spool.

A pitch is just a casting style like overhead, sidearm, back cast or roll cast. Bait and cover should dictate Rod choice for the most part.

Yes I used a commercial heat gun but the abalone either burned or cracked. If I want that look now I'll use the Rod Skinz decal. Some of the new abalone is thinner and softer from what I hear. The glue on the one that failed for made a mess. I ended up wrapping over it.

Do a test on the abalone. It didn't go on well for me. Nothing like their video that's for sure.

Not a bad choice. The finish on the white blanks is nice. Pack your wraps really tight though or the white will show through. You may want to practice on a dark blank for your first.

Welcome to the Dark Side!

Hope she knows that's really Pandora's Box. Next thing you know it'll be "No we don't have money for 12 blanks because they're on clearance" or "Out to the rod shop again? We don't spend any time together any more" or my favorite of all time: "How many poles do you need?" Enjoy!

Ya, it's the super easy tail action of the Keitech that got my attention. Anything else is just a grub, which by the way catches as them too if they're chewing.

Remember, an UL doesn't have to be 5'-6' long. A longer rod will help protect the light line and will cast better.

IMO the Core is the best bang for the buck among the "high end" reels.

Lews are built in the same factory as, and share tooling with Pure Fishing brands (Pflueger/Revo etc). The Lews and Citica are only similar to the extent that all/most modern baitcast reels are similar in the basic design theory. Any similarity between these two reels ends there.

The examples of Lenz' Law are pretty interesting, thanks for posting about it. I'm still not convinced though that traditional mag brakes (Revo, Lews etc) in practical application have anywhere near the same affect on casting as cent. brakes.

If we're talking about Daiwa's design, they are unique.

The physics are probably more complex but in context of this conversation I stand by my comment. I keep an open mind though. Please expound.

"Constant setting" is poor wording on my part. Obviously the dial allows settings to be adjusted. As I should have said, mag brakes exert a constant braking force throughout the cast based on the setting at the time. Hence, the setting is constant during that particular cast.

The E series reels are popular for good reason. I did however recently have the chance to test cast a Tatula and found myself really enjoying it. Granted it was just testing, but I spent a fair amount of time with it and will probably pick one up for myself at some point.

Generally speaking, yes. It depends on the rod and what swimbait you'll throw. The fish don't know whether the rod is marked "Musky" or "Mackerel" etc.

A Pro Cleaning and maybe Super Tune and a Carbontex Drag and you good to go.

Centrifugal brakes are efficient because they exert greater/less braking depending on the speed the spool is spinning. Mag brakes are a constant setting. Daiwa's system is a sort of hybrid and works well imo. I prefer cent. braking personally, especially bombing long casts. Mag brakes are ok for flipping , pitching etc. It's all in the thumb either way though.

Haven't seen the rod but the only functional reason I can guess at would be some sort of hook keeper. Graphite seats are pretty light as they come and positioned in the least critical area as far as weight is concerned.

Holes in the reel seat not the rod right?