OnthePotomac

Ditto on the Stanley Double Take hook. The best thing ever for paddle feet frogs (Ribbit). In addition, if your frog is rolling you are reeling too fast.

Look at the Carbonlite rods at BPS. They are currently on sale for $20 off. I have five now and have found them to be excellent rods for the money. I have three 6'6" MH baitcasters, one MH 7' MH baitcaster and one Med 7' spinning rod. Three of the rods are two years old with no problems. The 6'6" weigh 3.9 oz, the 7' baitcaster weighs 4.3 oz and the 7' spinning rod weighs 4.1oz. I have a Citica 200E on one of the rods.

I picked up a BPS Carbonlite 6'6" MH and a 7'MH two years ago on sale for worming and love them. I have a Curado 50E on the 6'6" and a Curado 200E7 on the 7' and they are just great. I know the Carbonlite gets a lot of bad mouthing, but I talked to a couple of rod builders before hand and they kinda like the rod for the price. They are $20 off right now. They have really had a work out on the Potomac for two years now and no problems. The 6'6" is 3.9oz and the 7' weighs 4.3oz.

You misunderstood what I was talking about. Both large drag washers for the Core and Curado 50 are BNT2431. The point being that if both large washers have the same part number, the inside diameter of the drive gear has to be the same. I don't know if both key washers are the same with different part numbers, which is common with Shimano. By the way, Shimano is revising their part numbers so that if the same part fits more than one reel model, the part will now have the same number, no matter how many reels it is for. Thank goodness they are finally doing that. No more having three part numbers for the same pinion bearing (BNT2170=BNT3927=BNT2192).

It is interesting tha the Core 50MG and Curado 50E have the same large drag washer - BNT2431. Is the speed then obtained from more teeth in the drive gear and pinion gears and not a larger diameter? If so, then the key washer should also be the same size.

AvidAngler, if you are interested in learning how to strip and clean a reel, click on here, then you can go throught the whole Shimano videos on how to.

No problem, I do it all of the time.

I bought two 2-piece baitcasters from Cabelas 10 years ago to take to Florida when we visited my wife's aunt (now deceased) and I still use them and cannot tell the difference from my 1-piece rods.

I have two Sahara 2500's and a Sahara 3000, which are now in their fourth year of heavy use, so I am curious as to what problem you have with the bail on your Shimano and what model you have. I assume that you always close your bail by hand and not with the cranking handle, which is how spinning reels should be used.

Those interested in super tuning their reels should take a look at this. http://jdntackle.home.mindspring.com/index%20page.html

I left Power Pro and went to 50lb Sufix 832 for frog fishing and much prefer it. It casts great.

I bought two 2-piece Cabelas Tourney Trail bait casters 9 years ago ($60 each) and they have proven to be really nice rods. They only weigh 4.2oz, are IM7 MH, 1/4-1oz, 8-20lb rated. I am sure the new Tourney Trails are even better. I was surprised that the rods were that light that long ago. I still use the daylights out of them.

I have had my Curado 100B's for 9 years and they are like new. They easily outcast my newer Curados with a flik of the wrist. The 50E is the closest thing to it.

Shimano's number is 877-577-0600. Go on their site and look at the reel schematic, from which you can get the BNT part numbers you need before you call. They are very, very helpful. They may not have parts for older reels, but there are services out there who do have the older parts.

I have a 6'6" MH (1/4-1 oz, 10-20lb) baitcaster I bought on sale three years ago and other than being a little heavy (5.4oz), I have used the daylights out of it and never had a problem with the rod. The cork handle even still looks great. I even fished jigs with it for a while. I am not a rod expert, but it appears to be really well built.

I use a small diamond file on the shaft burrs. It removes the right amount.

Keep in mind that unless you are fishing really heavy cover you do not want to peg the slip sinker.

14 and 10lb BPS floro for me for three years now fishing the junk on the Tidal Potomac. They offer great sales on the line once a year. For instance, right now it is buy two and get one free. It works well for me.

I hit the BPS this morning to take advantage of the rod turn in and went away happy. I thought I would pick up a 6'6" MH Carbonlite to go with my other three and I did. I had also planned on getting a JM Signature Carbonlite in a 7' MH for $110 and could not believe how much heavier they are then the plain Carbonlite. In the end I went with the regular 7' Carbonlite, since I have the same rod and like it a great deal. I had thought about the Veritas, but a friend of mine who builds custom rods told me he replaces an unusually large number of line guides on them. No micro guides for now. I was impressed at how our BPS (Ashland, VA) had stocked up on rods for the program. I unloaded two 9-year old Extremes.

With regard to the Maylasia issue, the incredible work horse Citica 200D was made in Maylasia and how many years ago?

You have confused bearing count with performance. Instead, look at the manufacturer and the price of the reel. The Shimano Citica 200 E for instance, only has two spool bearings, a pinion bearing and an anti reverse bearing, but it is a dandy little reel and smooth as silk. Although discontinued, they are still available if you search the net and often for as low as $89.00. I also have a 10 bearing reel which performs on a par with my Citica 200E's. I do not understand how you have equated a high bearing count on a reel being harder to fish with. In many cases manufacturers will add a bearing at the base of the drive shaft (instead of a bushing) and either two, or four bearing in the handle. At least in the handle, this contributes to smoother cranking. My advise is don't get caught up in the bearing count.

Does your rod have #3, or #4 line guides? If it has #3 guides that is your problem.

I have read repeatedly on other forums that micro guides do not give you more distance, but do contribute to better accuracy. Delaware Valley's comment regarding #4 eye size is really important if you are going to be pitching with heavy line joined. If you go down to #3 guides you will not be happy.

Tackle Tour has their evaluation of the Curado G5 available now.

Our Gander Mountain still had 20 Citica 200E's available as of last week. The price is now $89.99. (Fredericksburg, VA)