OnthePotomac

What is your river water like? The tidal Potomac is usually murky and I have BPS 8lb mono green on all three of my spinning reels and always have. Toxic posts on here and also fishes the Potomac and he is a far more experienced spinning reel angler than I so it would be interesting to get his take. With the exception of braid on my frog rod and mono on a couple of others for spinner baits, blade baits and top waters, the rest have 15lb Invizx flouro. I realize you are a bank angler and don't cart around a dozen rods.

Don't know if this will help, but I fish mostly 6'6" and 7' MH Carbonlites on the Potomac and have never had a problem landing Snakeheads, up to 10lb cats, or my best 6lb 8oz bass on those rods and one of my regular Shimano reels with either 15lb Invizx, or BPS 14 or 17 lb mono. It all seemed perfectly normal and no special equipment required.

Being an old retired dog when I took up bass fishing on the tidal Potomac I just stuck with BPS Extremes for a few years until the Carbonlites came along, except for a KVD 7' MH for my frog rod on sale for $80 at the time and a Rick Clune 6'6" top water he designed for BPS, which I also picked up for $80 on sale when he and BPS divorced. Both of the two later are really incredible rods.

17lb BPS Excel mono and for spinner baits and for other top waters.

Aways used ReelX on mine. No problems for the last 18 years at least.

Great review and I love Shimano, but the birthday this week will probably produce another Curado K. I agree with A-Jay in that you might want to stay away from tiny braid until you master that reel and even then stay at no less than 30lb. Better yet, use what he suggested and spend more time fishing and less time fussing with any braid.

Brass gears as well.

Shimano also recommends really heavy grease on those micro gears to hold down the "geary" feeling. Their ACT 2 drag grease, or Cal's drag grease will work. Could be all you need.

I bought a 2-pc 6'6"18 years ago from Cabelas to take to Florida and have fished the tar out of that rod to date and if there is a difference from that and my one piece rods I sure can't tell it. Surprising for that old it really, really light.

Some tout micro guides as contributing to more accurate casting, not distance, but accuracy.

I don't use braid on my spinning reels, but have had 8lb BPS mono in green on my three spinning reels for the last 15 years. Works great on the tidal Potomac, which can challenge fishing gear.

I have a 7'6" ultra lite my brother gave me years ago and it just sits in the rack with 1000 spinning reel on it. It is like a buggy whip and will only handle really, really light baits. I did land a small striper on it once using a shad dart (1/32oz) on the Potomac and that was a real thrill.

General rule is fill to 1/8" of the spool lip.

All around good size is 2500.

I can only say that my Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels are 2500 size and work very well for bass fishing. Usually, with these two brands, the only difference in a 3000 size pertains only to the size of the spool and not the reel body.

Wrap your cork handles with Rescue Tape and you will really like it. It is a pressure silicone tape you just stretch while wrapping. Makes for a very comfortable feel while fishing. If you don't like it just unwrap it....no sticky left. The stuff is also great to have around the house and it comes in clear, or colors. No I don't sell it, just use it.

Perhaps not enough grease on the gear assembly inside behind the handle. I don't have a Sedona, I do have a Sahara and every year I pull the handle side cover, clean and regrease the gears. It really is quite easy to do. At the same time I clean the drag stack under the spool and the handle bearing. Just a thought. Now, I do have a Daiwa 2500, which does have a faint "clicking" sound upon retrieve and always has even though I clean and regrease the gears each year.

And use a uni knot/fishing fool to tie on your lures and you will not lose them anymore. Braid, as you have learned can be tricky and the wrong knot under pressure will pop open.

I use 15lb Invizx on mine and it works just fine.

Been using Super Lube, or Yamaha Blue Marine in my reels for 15 years. Lots of good stuff out there, but I just started with them and no need to change. Lots of do it yourself anglers use drag grease on their gears. Shimano even recommends their ACE 2 drag grease for their micro gears. Probably the same as Cal's Drag Grease.

I have been getting along on mostly BPS Carbonlites for years and enjoy fishing with them. I believe they are not considered "high end" rods, but I have caught my share of bass ( and a few accidental cats and snakeheads) with them from the Tidal Potomac and none have broke, or fallen apart. Being a stingy retiree, two of my great finds were a Rick Clunn topwater 6'6" MH for $70 on a close out when he and BPS got divorced and a KVD 7' MH on sale for $80 on a close out. The Rick Clunn has an incredible top water action and the KVD is a brute I use for frog fishing rated at 1/4-1 1/2 oz and 10-25lb. All of my Carbonlites were on sale. I confess to using nice Shimano reels from gift cards.

Now is the time to become a bait caster and you will love it, especially looking at all the options available in reels. Hang on to your wallet. I eventually found myself hardly picking up a spinning reel and doing things with a baitcaster normally reserved for spinning reels. Loved the challenge.

Is the Winn Grip a sticky back, or a "pressure" hold like silicone tape. Even with a sticky back, I can't see where it would do any harm to the cork and if it should leave a little sticky residue on the cork, lighter fluid would sure take it off. Heck I clean my remaining cork handles with Dawn and a green scrubby sponge, which is pretty rough.

I Have two of the 8.5:1 K's and they are really sweet, smooth reels. Love those micro gears and all brass. Aluminum frames.

Green Power Pro from 15 years ago. Then the line ended up white.