LuckyHandsINC.

I think anyone driving around with buzzbaits stuck to their truck is a little deeper in than they think.LOL. I honestly don't do too much. Maybe cut pieces of of plastics trim skirts nothing major.

I couldn't find it in a brief search, but I feel I have read in their advertising something along the lines of "perfect nose down something blah blah blah" Point is I believe the nose down is intentional. I'm another one who loves megabass baits. Not only do they work great. Anyone who says they aren't buying them at least a little bit because they look cool is lying. I have no problem buying stuff because it looks cool. That's half the fun.

I have an orochi XX, 4X , poison adrena, Steez, expride, cumulus, cumura all made in China. All absolutely fantastic rods. Get over it and enjoy your zodias which I'm sure is also a great rod.

So true. I always argue with one of my friends about how ridiculous his hooksets are. I just use a quick lift of the rod. He literally leaves bruises on his belly from jamming it in and ripping so hard. Needless to say he breaks off more than he should.

That is an awesome combo. Where did you find the bantam rod? I haven't been able to.

I bought a team Lews pro when they first came out. It really did perform well but I just wasn't crazy about it. It also developed a bad/loud bearing after only a trip or two. Sold it after one season. I used to hate when I would see people describe abu,Pflueger, Lews etc as "cookie cutter" reels, but now I totally understand it. Only 5 or so years ago I was all in on my cookie cutters now after a couple bad experiences I'm over it. All shimano and daiwa for me. I still get a kick out of when when I hear someone say" I hate abu but man these Lews are the best thing ever". I don't usually call them out but I am always thinking to myself, they're basically the same reel. Anyway to the op's point. I won't say I hate Lews but I'm sure I will never own another.

My favorites are the finesse miki from damiki and the reactions innovations flirt worm

NSFW.

I would fish with my grandfather from my moms side. He was the one who started me fishing and died when I was real young.

Have had the chrome one for a while, but got the TN today. Felt like they both needed to be in the picture.

I use 12# mono for the 7 1/2" 1 oz rat with no problems.

Seems to me like it's the same reel, minus the red accents. With an MGL spool.

Like others have said the worm gear from one of the older zillions. I've never done it but the tackle trap has a kit in stock with all the parts you need.

Maybe the reason guys continually lose $20 dollar glasses, is because they're $20 glasses. Spending $200 or on glasses is pretty good incentive to take care of them. It shouldn't be hard for an adult to take care of a pricey possession. I love my costas and think they are well worth it.

I only do it for aesthetics. I can't imagine much of a performance upgrade, a little extra cranking power. Maybe also a small gain in IPT. I have also seen bantam(shimano product manager) from the other forum recommend not going too long. He said when reels are designed the handle length is not just chosen arbitrarily. There is actually some engineering that goes in to the choice of handles. Some guys will throw a 110mm on a reel that started with 80mm and the reel can't handle it. If a reel starts at 80mm maybe only go to 90mm.

My spinning reels are lefty and my casting reels are righty. Don't know how it happened, but it's working out ok. I'm left handed if that means anything.

For anyone interested. A store owner on another forum has said they will be $199. Seems to be more in line with what I was expecting.

My steez's are still my favorite reel in hand to use. There is something intangible about them they just feel right. However based solely on performance. I give the edge to the MGL as well. Without a doubt my best performing reel. That thing is amazing, effortless casts that fly right off the spool. Also has a very nice retrieve. I remember the first cast I made with it I was amazed, fished it all year and still amazed. Truly a great reel.

I'm actually a little surprised by the price, comes out to about $250. The way the dollar/yen is right now I would expect the us version to be significantly more than that. I love my sv reels but I won't be paying that much for a tutula. Not when buying dicrectly is an option.Reels like the mgl and aldebaran are going for $270. Daiwa has the ss sv, alphas sv and zillion sv all for under $250.

Thanks for the warning those problems have been dealt with though. All the t3's after the original have the little metal plates to prevent that.

Nothing new I'm focusing on just want to get back to a few things I've abandoned over the years. Number one being the spinnerbait. It was once one of my favorite baits. Now I can't even remember the last time I fished it.

Pop Max Sammy Hollow belly frog

My newest combo. Dobyn's extreme HP 745 and Daiwa T3 SV. Going to use it for frogs.

I personally like fluorocarbon, but honestly who cares what I like. Find out what you like. I'm quite sure by the end of the thread you will have recommendations for flouro, braid, braid with leader,mono. Who's right? Try what you want and like/use what you want.