webertime

For her sake (IE your sake) look into the Canadian side. Take her to Ganonoque (like Cape Cod without the kitchy tourism and Heroin) and Kingston Ontario (it's like Boston after a good long hot shower and no "Southie Rules" attitude). Gorgeous places and incredibly nice people. Cheap too... Alexandria Bay and Clayton are nice, but kind of rugged compared to the Canadian side. A-Bay reminds me of some mythical town that the mob built in 1950 that hasn't really changed.

I've owned and fished a ton of mid-high end Daiwas (Alphas Type F, OG Zillions, TD Fuegos, TD Sol, Tatula, Tatula CT, Fuego CT, Aggrest, Exceller, Advantages and T-3's). Tatula SV/CT are the same frame as the Zillion SV. They should palm the same. With the Zillion, you gain the floating spool. Does that increase the performance? Marginally, it does however open the door for greater tuning options down the road if you want. The 103SV (the one at TW for $230) is an amazing reel that lacks the T-Wing. In my opinion that is not actually a bad thing as there are fewer moving parts to wear out and fewer issues with things like leader knots. I have noticed little to no increase in distance casting a T-wing reel over a "regular". Palming-wise the 103SV will be just fine. Look at all the variants that have been made off that frame/design (TD-Z's, TD Fuego, Zillion PE, 50th, BBS, Megabass...). If there were issues with palming do you think that they would make (and SELL) so many of the variants? Would models that haven't been made in 5-10 years still command a premium even used, if they didn't palm well? Personally I'd go with the 103SV over a Tatula or newer Zillion.

Recons have a moderate fast taper and tend to fish lighter than labeled. A 715 (7'1" Heavy) fishes like a 7' mh st croix, with a softer tip. A ml will be on the lighter end of the ml spectrum. Recons fish a lot... LOT like Champions. M1's are a bit faster in taper and in my opinion, aren't as nice (ugly af too).

Subtle as a hammer...

Lol, it's better in toules than Rye.

I've been fishing Teckel Frogs for a month and a half and have only found I need to squeeze water out frequently when I was ripping/trying to walk it. I've never ever had it dive. Bait companies do from time to time "improve" or change some baits, but it's not that often.

Daiwa BG is aluminum and direct drive. And $75.

Fuego for 75, is awesome!!!!! Solid feeling and a great caster.

Call Daiwa

I got a pair of Blokes in 580g green mirror. Hands down the best fishing glasses I have owned.

It's like the sketchy photographer offering "deals" to the ugly girl on modeling pictures.

Any of the companies wrapped up in National Pro Staff, I stay away from on principle. It hurts mom and pop shops as well as the guys who try to get legit sponsorship. Carrot Stix, eNigma, Denali. I know guys who get deals from these companies and know that all 3 have significant issues.

Algae blooms galore. Smallies are difficult there, good walleye there

Whoa, whoa, whoa... easy there. No need for crazy talk. lol

I typed a long and winding review of the Daiwa's BG2000 and Fuego CTs and how they performed this weekend over 16 hours of fishing in bad weather and a BFL tournament. My Dickens-esque tale over shadowed the Review soooo, Long story short... BG2000 (+) Weight, balanced great with a 6'8" MXF rod No hint of flex (used 20lb braid and skipped Ikas into trees in Ticonderoga during BFL) Smooth Drag was smooth as well. $75... (-) No spare spool (I'm whining) Weight, if you are a weight weenie. Daiwa Fuego CT 8.1:1 (+) No more flex than any Shimano E reel or any other Aluminum framed/Plastic sideplate reels. Fit in the hand (if you like a Tat CT, you'll like these). No strain in the reel with that high of a gearing. My previous 8:1 reel was a T3 and it felt squirmy when reeling in a bunch of weeds or large fish. Mag Z... I set the reels up within 3 casts during the BFL (because I am wicked responsible). $75... Smooth for a $75-100 reel, Smooth for a $150 reel. No T-wing... Guess what, I saw NO difference in casting between these and any Tatula I have ever used. (-) nothing yet I run TD-Z's, OG Zillions and Fuegos as well. And no the Fuego CT is NOT of the same class as those, they aren't as smooth or "together" as the $$$ reels. However they are 30% of the price of those and with that in mind they are amazing for the money. With the actual actions the reels perform (Zillions, etc. VS the CT's) I see no discernible difference between them (Casting, engaging, braking, drag). The $$$ reels just feel nicer. I'm not a fan boy or a hashtagger, but I am super impressed with these reels out of the box.

Works very well shallow in St. Lawrence. I imagine that the current helps.

BG2000 is awsome and readily available for 75.

They aren't the same blank, it's the same Graphite, but not all the other "ingredients" of the blank are the same. Are you looking at spinning rods? I didn't like Microguides on Spinning gear, I felt there was a lot more line slapping the blank on the cast (between the stripper guide and the reel). That was with braid, so maybe a stiffer line (mono/fouro) might not slap as much OR the guide placement on the St. Croix was smarter than on the rod I tried. But food for thought.

My buddy texts me today and tells me that he's out yesterday on one of his spots (spot on a spot on a spot). While he is out, his friend texts and says he is on the dock. My friend goes over picks him up and when they get back they get one cast in and A-Mart drops off plane and askes to fish it. My buddy says sure and backs off to watch. Boom, bang, smash... he crushes them off one of the few secrets left on the lake.

I did!!!!

7'2" Heavy Fast Daiwa Tatula for biffle/swing heads

Different shafts. Those 2 are round, Ultrex has flats sides and rounded sections.

Shaft snaps... Straight from BASS, flw and costa pros.

The shaft of the Ultrex does not like bumping into things. The Foretrex has a much more durable shaft. I only bring this up as you mentioned Cyprus swamps...

The 80lb spro is tiny and stroooooooooooong.