Darren.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Sure is puuuurty!

Welcome aboard! More info needed. "Best Bang for Buck" is relative. Could be a Steez for someone, or a $50 Walmart reel. For my casting reel I can't think of a better one than my Chronarch 50e. I've had cheaper models. I consider the 50e the best bang for my buck that I spent on casting reels. Take it FWIW...

Well, I can tell you it didn't seem to bother the fish last night. I was fishing a pond at a soccer complex while one of my boys was at tryouts. I used a Deep Woods bug wipe. My left hand was greasy with the residue and I couldn't get it off me very easily. I sprayed one of my soft plastics with Bang to kill the scent, caught a small bass around a pound give or take. Then I threw a 4" junebug senko w/o scent spray. Caught a 2 pounder...so make of it what you will.

Welcome aboard, Jeff!

Welcome aboard!

Good to know. But I guess I'm still wondering if - as a leader only - it is worth it over the other brands in so much as it is stronger for smaller diameter and more sensitive, etc., than the other brands. I can certainly appreciate it in terms of being better for spooling your reel as a mainline, but I use braid for that.

Nice writeup. My question would be, is Tatsu that much better than other lines to make it worth the extra $$? I saw the buy 2 get one deal last night on the web, but was wondering if I am better off using something like Red Label, or Gamma Touch for leader material. Have you tried either and is Tatsu *that* much better?

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, Adam! I take a good deal of soft plastics with me as that's what I fish the most. I have a separate box for my hooks and weights. You're off to a good start, though. Looks like your worms are mostly natural in color, which is what I would suggest as good to start with...

Welcome aboard! There are a number of guys here that live in NY who can probably chime in about the waters you're fishing. For me, a very successful presentation is the wacky rig thrown by laydowns, docks, bushes, and so on. The key is patience, and letting the worm fall and shimmy on its own. You can look up the "wacky rig" in our articles section, there is a lot there and here in the forums. Best of luck.

I love me some Tyrod. Love his style, love his game, but do agree he needs to take it to next level. Schwartz was a great coordinator. I missed his skills last year. Mario should have stepped up, but I think Rex should have continued what worked so well...

Oh there's no doubt the talent is there. We are loaded, question is, can we get LOCKED and loaded? I'm seeing the glass half full. I think we'll do well and make the playoffs. Or else...it'll be January as usual...

Welcome aboard, Jess!

But this time it's different!

For shame! cough... Greater powers prevented me from going to Bass Pro last night during one of my sons' soccer tryouts...I was destined for some fluorocarbon and hooks...but no. I need to shop for my wife....

Let's go Buffalo! Great draft, IMO. Hope the Ryan brothers can actually channel their star power into an awesome team... One can hope, right? Right? guys?....

Was just researching this line last night, looking forward to the opinions!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, jimmyjoe! I think you have your answer: yes you can, but a heavier rod may be more ideal, though yours is do-able, at the heavy end. The reel is fine.

Welcome aboard!

That sounds neat. I'll have to check it out.

I do see a difference between low and high end reels, and smoothness is one of the areas. The other, at least with Shimano is their X-Ship gearing which is just fantastic. I can really tell the difference. They're smoother, they really move a fish better than non-X-ship. I have Stradics with and without it, FWIW. The other is drag, as Choporoz also mentioned. Not that you can't find a good, inexpensive spinning reel. Plenty have them and use them. For me, I do not regret spending the money for my four Stradics. And lastly, though not always the case, weight. If say you were to opt for a CI4+ you'd see a significant reduction in weight, more like that of a bait caster.

Yes, can be absolutely brutal here. My back yard is probably the ground zero of mosquito breeding on the Peninsula, LOL...