Goose52

Not as fancy as Maico1's...but I have a couple 50-size round reels as well... Anyway, I'm first on the pre-order list at Japan Tackle for a 2014 CQ100...and that will have to do until next year for a 50 ...

If you can only get one rod - get the CBR853 and you'll be set for shallow- and mid-depth cranking. Some folks also use cranking rods for spinnerbaits and other moving baits as well. AND, like Teal said...get the Calais too...

Good medium-power cranking rods - worth the price for sure if they're in good shape.

$275 is in the IMX price range - at least at today's prices. No telling how long he's had the rods and what the prices were then. Unfortunately, there are just too many Loomis product lines and models within the lines to be able to identify the rod just on the lengths. To know what kind of deal he is offering, you REALLY need to have him provide you with the exact model numbers, condition description, and preferably photos, of the rods...

If you already have it....use it. If you are still shopping - most folks, including me, will be recommending the "30" size Pflueger as the sweet spot for bass fishing.

Could be - doesn't really matter though. It's casting reasonably well at the moment and I have extra red collars that I can trim if I want to try to lighten the braking up a bit... ...AND, as you mentioned earlier, this 100XT may be put on the back-burner after the 2014 CQ100 gets here...

Hey .RM. - thanks for the info. I've seen that info on the brake collar colors before. Although it's near the limit of my scales sensitivity, I did weigh the collars I had on hand. The gray and green weighed the same - the reds were about 15% lighter. Then I measured the physical dimensions - the gray and green collars were dimensionally the same. The red collars were the same length as the gray/green collars, but were .008" smaller in diameter - hence the lighter weight. After doing all the above weighing and measuring, I Googled the topic and ended up at Shimano's FAQ page. This is what they say about the brake (they spell break!) collars: Why are there more than one color of break weights for my Baitcasting VBS system? Shimano makes two different break weights; Heavy (Black, Grey, or Green in color) and Light (Red, Blue, and Clear in color). Most of the new reels are shipped with the light break weights on the reel, and the heavy break weights in packaging in the box. If the light break weights don’t provide adequate spool stopping power, change them simply by pulling them off of the spool and replace them with the heavier weights. So, if I find any clear collars I'll give them a go...but according to Shimano they are the same as the reds I'm running now.

For those that were interested, finally got this reel on the water today. With a 5/8oz bait, the reel is overbraked in it's current configuration. The gray brake collars that came with the reel are Shimano's "heavy" collars - too much braking. Tried a single gray collar - JUST manageable but perhaps too much potential for professional overrun. Installed the Shimano "light" collars and got much better casting distance but still a tad overbraked; but a good conservative all-around set-up. At some point, I might fire up the Dremel and trim back a set of collars until I get just a BIT lighter than the stock Shimano collars and it should be about perfect. This is like the original two-pin Ambassadeur 5000 braking system - playing with different length/weight collars to get the desired braking...

Well, if you have open water and lots of time on your hands you can do it with lighter gear. I posted this photo earlier in this thread. This was a 47 inch long, 48 pounder caught with a 7' medium power BC rod and 10lb test. It took 53 minutes from hook-up to landing.

Same with me. I bought an NRX from THUT - it came in looking absolutely new. Got the wild card - no problem. A coincidence - just today I received another rep sample rod from Tackle Trap. Has the Loomis label on the cork, and the cork looks like it might have been handled just a tiny bit. The blank looks perfect. So far, so good...

As long as you can move the bait through the water at the correct speed for the presentation...I guess you can use any gear ratio that you want. However, for deep cranking, you are usually using a heavier, larger, higher drag bait and the mechanical advantage offered by the lower gear ratios is something to be considered. You generally don't burn these baits so the lower ratio also provides a more appropriate speed for the purpose. I personally don't like to have to remember to speed up or slow down the retrieve...I like to reel with a consistent rhythm and let the gear ratio of the reel provide the proper speed to the bait. Me? I use 19 to 21 IPT reels for deep-cranking. I prefer 21 to 23 IPT, sometimes up to 26 IPT for mid- to shallow-cranking. I generally use 26-30 IPT for lipless cranks. IMHO, deep cranking is one application where it pays to have a specialized combo for the purpose. If you can afford to have two cranking rods...you could have a ~26 IPT reel on one for general cranking...and something like a 7'6" MH-M rod with a 19-21 IPT reel for deep cranking, and you have your cranking needs pretty much covered.

Somebody really likes the color green...

I liked the green....

While there has been much discussion on this board, and every board on the planet, about the new Curado I - no one has reported any on-the-water experience with it yet. For speculative discussion, if you access the advanced search feature, and search in thread titles for "Curado", you will find 6 or 7 threads since the first of the year, totaling several hundred posts and thousands of views.... Sounds like a nice reel though...

I got a Crucial crankbait rod so we're covered on that...

From the St. Croix web site - their spin:

I don't think that either one is necessarily "better" than the other. They are different. Different braking systems, different line capacities. The PQ is available in more gear ratios, the Daiwa has more line capacity. Determine the features that are most important to the type of fishing that you do and pick the reel that best suits your needs. Then, go catch some fish....

I have five Crankin' Sticks - between 6' and 7'6" lengths with reels mounted between about 6.5 to 8.5 ounces. Since I palm the reel on retrieve, and cranking is basically a "tip-down" technique, I can't say I even notice the balance of the rigs. On reel selection, I think matching the reel capability (gear ratio, line capacity, etc.) to the rod application (shallow, mid, deep cranking) is more important than the balance issue.

That cracked me up...

Great explanation Ron - thanks for posting the link.

Yup - I am already "pre-budgeting" for that...

There's a lot of truth to that. My PB LMB was caught on a blue over chrome Academy H2O Express lipless crank !

Wow - that looks like something I'd use on my car! You sold me on the Bearing Blaster....but this gadget looks to be a bit more "industrial strength" than I need...

Hmmmmm - did you catch the BTD sale - at least for the Dobyns....

I'll just have to try to spread "the love" amongst the whole Calcutta squadron...but that CQ2014 might get a bit extra love at first...