Delaware Valley Tackle

The sound of ceramics that bothers so many is no worse to me than the DC whine that’s often enjoyed. Anyway, what did you experience that leads you to believe a bearing went bad? Shimano are among the best stock bearings.

Really I just checked my calendar to see if I’ve been in a coma.

I like a 7’ mod-fast or fast graphite for ripping off submerged grass. Glass, composite and blend rods work well over rip rap, gravel and around wood and light to medium cover.

Skeleton seats are horrible especially on spinning rods. Any weight savings is negligible and in the least impactful location.

While accurate, those numbers are of little use to the consumer because so much more goes into the finished product. They could in fact back fire if used disingenuously by marketing staff.

Do you personally prefer shorter rods, or has someone or something you’ve read make you think you need a shorter rod? Seems to me, being bank bound, the added casting distance of a 7’> Rod would be a benefit.

Is the optima a good choice for a cranking/electronics battery? My tracker cranking battery went dead one day on me and that’s without lights, live well etc.

Imo you’re wasting your time replacing guides without maximizing spacing. Being new, I recommend a set of American Tackle Microwave (not to be confused with micro guides) and look up static load guide placement for running guides. The set comes with spacing for reduction guides. Probably use 7 total on a 6’.

Braid doesn’t do anything to the rods power. A rod can cast a range of weights effectively and has a limited deadlift capacity. Line choice doesn’t change either. Outside of heavy cover fishing , the purpose of braid is improved sensitivity and line management/handling.

We can only speculate. Only a call to Daiwa can you your answer. It’s their proclamation, they’ll have to explain the meaning.

I use ML rods most of the time for my finesse fishing. Not to say Mediums don’t have their place.

Have you ever had them apart ?

Yes I’ve used JDL several times. They’re very good seller’s.

Who’s the seller you reference?

Interesting. I’ll make note. Glad you got it worked out. Those reels can last two lifetimes.

I haven’t found the need to alter rod choice when using braid. Just modify the hookset a little. No need to jack them every time in every circumstance. Probably no need for the leader 90% of the time either.

You’d have to try hard to work harden and brake a quality guide. You should be fine.

What king of distance are you getting and what’s your goal? You should expect spinners and chatters to not cast as well as others. Is your reel spooled fully and tightly? There’s things to look at before jumping to a rod switch.

ECS is classic I use a lot of them. The ACS is love it or hate it, never heard anyone ambivalent on them. I use some seats with carbon inserts from Fuji and AmTack too. Fuji makes this micro trigger seat I keep looking at but haven’t tried: https://mudhole.com/collections/casting-reel-seats/products/fuji-pmts-micro-trigger-casting-seat

I’ve seen tabs lost or broken and the spindle come loose from the spool but never seen wear on the tabs.

You have to use Pennies of a certain mint to get the weight right. They vary over the years. You want shiny pennies minted after 1996.

The stripper, reduction guides and choke guide should bullseye when you sight through them. Start at 19-20” from reel face.

Parts are hard to come by for those. There’s an eBay seller called Vintage treasures or something like that where I gotten parts no one else had. Sorry I can’t be of more definitive help.

Be careful during this adjustment to not bend the tip past 90* or you could snap it off

100% personal preference