Delaware Valley Tackle

I'd like to take apart a PQ and combo PQ side by side because I can't imagine a company like that intentionally undermining their own signature product so blatantly. I also don't believe that every clerk has insight into the manufacturing and marketing of the items they sell. Many can't even answer the simplest of questions. Every brand has a lemon sneak thru QC occasionally and I bet that's what happened here and the fact that it was on a combo is coincidental.

I think your description of the molecular differences between synthetic and crude based oils is accurate for the most part. When I say there is no "magic" I'm referring to the often over blown claims of the packagers relating to benefits. The purpose of a lubricant is to provide a barrier between parts, there by reducing friction and wear. I don't believe there is any molecular bonding per say by simply coating a part. An example of this would be if you remember Slick 50. It was an additive that supposedly claimed to teflon coat the inside of a motor. We were told by lube technicians that the heat required to bond teflon to the other parts would require so much heat that bearings etc would melt first. Fishing reels don't have anywhere near the tight tolerances, heat and chemical contamination etc that would require anything more than a simple light oil for spool bearings and quality water resistant grease for the gears. Good hydraulic oil has anti corrosion properties that will protect sliding parts. Synthetic vs Petrol is about like SS vs Ceramic. Is one better than the other? Sure. Is one going to catch you more fish or make anything last longer? Probably not. Whether you use sewing machine oil or Tsi321, a reel needs to be serviced just as regularly due to exposure to the elements. Neither will counteract dust, sand, water or whatever else we may expose a reel to. In a reel application, the biggest advantage to a synthetic would likely be temperature stability if a reel were to be used in a wide range of conditions, say for both FL bass and winter Steelhead for example. An oil's viscosity index is a curve that shows the viscosity at various temperatures. The straighter the curve, the more stabile it is. For example a synthetic 5w-50 motor oil will thicken less at 0* and thin less at engine operating temps. Sorry if my thoughts seem a little scattered here, it's been a while. lol

The synchronized level wind in the Ambassadeur reduces casting distance and minimum weight casted to some degree no matter how much tuning you do. Casting a 1/4 oz at all with one of them is pretty good. As for lubricants, I can vouch from first hand experience that there is no magic in any of it. A quality product in the proper application is all you need.

The only possible advantage might be in a constant salt water application for corrosion resistance. It depends on what the rest of the reel is whether it makes any sense or not.

Josh, Your experience is not uncommon at all. The easier casting resulting from Super Tuning results in fewer backlashes because it takes much less force to get the spool tuning initially. This counter to what many expect or even fear when considering tuning but it in fact how it works.

There are so many variables and specs are so subjective, it's impossible to have any hard and fast rule. Then, how are you defining "castability"? Accuracy trumps distance 99% of the time. A shorter, faster tip rod is more accurate in general and a longer, slower rod will cast further. All bets are off though if the rod is severely under or over loaded.

Stick to the pq and carbon lite for value with very good performance

This will work fine. The trick is to load casters off the top of the filler spool and spinners off the bottom. In this case the filler spool is the casting reel's spool. The biggest potential problem I see is some tight coils coming off the small dia. of the casting spool. Some line conditioner and a light stretch should take care of that.

A light casting rod like this is a good candidate for a spiral wrap.

A blank can be built in any configuration as long as the power and action serve the purpose. The St Croix blank is very nice but might push or exceed your budget in a custom build.

Ya, some are removable and others aren't. Open bearings are easier to service but shielded are serviceable. Soak and flush 5-10 minutes at a time in the preferred solvent repeating as necessary until solvent remains clear with no signs of contamination. Dry thoroughly, spin test, oil, reinstall.

The AR on those is all loose, small parts. If Abu cant replace it I'll service it if you'd like.

Thank you!

A Stradic 2500 picks up 34 IPT. That's as fast as most of the high speed casting reels. An E7 does 30 IPT. What situations are you looking for help in?

As suggested a dedicated frog rod needs some tip to load and cast well and lots of power to get fish back once hooked. A quality reel with a good drag is all you need. All around bait casting, a mh/ f is hard to beat.

The rod is a much more efficient tool for moving fish. We can only speculate as to what engineers had in mind as they worked. Practically speaking there is no huge advantage nor disadvantage either way. At least in bass fishing

It all depends on what features are important to you . One is no better or worse than the others quality wise

Switching hands is mostly just A learned habit for what ever reason. There is no right or wrong just right or left . I'm right handed and use almost all lefty bait cast reels

Denatured alcohol is not especially effective on heavy grease n oil. Perfect solution and hot water are the way to go

The cure for lost guide inserts is not using junk guides micro or not. A number of production rods and countless custom builders use Recoils. They are a good guide.

Right. Kinda like drawing back a bow to shoot an arrow.

A Drop Shot can be fished horizontally by lengthening the leader to counter the angle of the line. A drop shot can be stopped and the bait held up off the bottom where as a mojo rig's bait will fall (unless it has buoyancy).

That's right. Lure weight ratings are subjective so a little trial and error is in order. The sweet spot usually lies somewhere in the middle of the suggested range. A weight too light to load the rod properly will also negatively affect accuracy as the release point is incorrect. It can also lead to backlashes on a bait-caster as you'll find yourself forcing the cast. Extra weight usually has less negative affect but accuracy can fall off. A lob cast with heavy weight won't hurt anything but too much weight combined with a snap cast on a fast action blank is asking for trouble. How much is too much? The only way to tell for sure is after the fact so a little common sense and attention to what's going on is required. Overloading the rod to a point that there's not enough power for hook-sets is approaching the danger zone too as you might expect.

No, all micro guides don't do this. Cheap guides of any size do this.

I like the sound of the new SY. Used is used no matter how good of shape. If you can steal it for $35-$40 bucks that's one thing, but I won't usually pay more than 60% of new for pre-owned.