Delaware Valley Tackle

Or was the Curado E an under priced Chronarch? The price was going up either way. My suspicion is that if they had kept the Curado E and marked it up to $199.99 then introduced the "all new" Condor, Cavalcade........ or whatever at $149.99 there wouldn't have been much if any blow back. Then without all the clamoring and hoopla we may not have gotten the Ci4+ Chronarch or maybe no Curadi I. Forgive me, my wife was watching the Butterfly Effect last night.

No problem. If you have any questions or get stuck, let me know and try to help.

The 50/51 Mg7 is the Core I'd grab anyway so... There are still lots of good reels to pick from whether they call it Core or something else. I never quite could wrap my head around the melt down surrounding the Curado/Chronarch relabeling fiasco.

Whatever builder you work with should be able to walk you through blank choices. If you haven't committed anywhere yet I'll be happy to discuss options and quote a build for you.

It's hard to say buy a Mh or Hvy etc. because of the subjective nature of the terms. The more I think about it, an In-shore rod might be just the ticket here. But again, the lure weight rating is more meaningful than any other spec. in this case.

You're probably looking at a swimbait rod of some sort to cast that kind of weight and work it back.

The problem you're having with mono vs. braid is the memory/stiffness. As suggested, treat the XL and spool it on tightly. Walk off a cast and a half worth of line (150 feet or so) and put a strip of electrical tape around the spool. This will keep any backlashes from going too deeply. Tie off the end of the line and put a good stretch into it. Wind it back onto the reel. Tie on a casting plug or a 3/4 oz bullet weight. Adjust the reel's spool tension appropriately and practice nice and easy roll casts. Developing a nice fluid casting stroke will make your life much easier. Trying to bomb casts out there is the surest way to make a birds nest. As you get more comfortable try casting other weights to get a feel for the differences. Lastly, don't over look the rod. It needs to load easily with the weight you are casting. Too stiff of a rod and you'll find yourself trying to whip the bait out.

As a kid I had a Zebco 404 reel and Zebco 5'6" pistol grip rod. One of my first artificial baits was a Creme worm on a harness / spinner. Caught a lot of creek bass and chubs with the occasional trout thrown in. Suckers and bullhead on night crawlers. Lost that combo when we tried carp fishing and I didn't leave the bail open. The rod bent over and before I could grab it out of the crotched stick, over the bank and down the river it went.

This is a great time of year for horizontal moving baits. Swim jigs, spinners and jerk/crank baits each shine in certain conditions.

Pull the plug out of the end. If there is a screw inside, the grips can be removed by removing the screw. Be careful as some are left hand threads. If the grip is riveted on then the whole handle must be replaced.

Yes. Keep an eye on it and swap it if the issue persists.

The fact that the garage is filled with fishing gear and not Mercedes and BMW's should tell you something.

I'd have a hard time leaving those quiet little ditches you fish to combat fish the community holes on the Salmon. I try to go mid week and nasty weather to have more water to myself.

That teal is the perfect color for a blend with that blank. I feel subtle designs like this are more elegant. Less is more in most cases IMO. Once in a while it's fun to go a little nuts with the bling though. lol

I like something like Crestliner's talking about. A little casting distance and hook setting length is nice for swimming grubs / spinners. An ultra-light doesn't have to be stubby.

That 15 footer must be a treat after about 6 hrs on the water. Unless of course you're hookin' up regularly.

Unless you're building some sort of super finesse casting reel, save the money a spool would cost. You won't save enough line to pay for it.

^^ Maybe add big colorado bladed spinners, basically anything with a lot of drag/ water resistance. Be sure to check IPT (Inches Per Turn of the handle) as the correlation between ratio and IPT isn't always a direct one.

A flat spot won't hurt anything in this case. Like the others said, as long as there's no sharp or rough edges it's just cosmetic.

Pulling the line down close to the rod bends that tip right over. There's nothing inherently wrong with the rod model.

Service the drag if you're still getting binding without the friction ring.

I use a 13' float rod but fish fairly wide, open rivers. I can see going 11' or even 9' for some tighter quarters.

There are valid arguments against micro guides in certain applications but fragility isn't one of them. I only mention this to encourage an openind while bolstering your tackle collection. A mh/mod rod will handle mid to deep cranks, a mh/f worm n jig rod will fish spinner baits well. For jerk baits I like a med power rod with a fast but softer tip.

The bait and presentation drive the tackle choice more so than the target species. Will you be vertical jigging or swimming grubs and spinners or something else?

The friction ring keeps the rotor from creeping forward or back with your hand off the handle. I think it adds to smoothness as well but the reel is fishable without it.