Tim S.

I'm a sucker for an Alphas of any variant! Nice reel!

After some major indecisiveness on my part, I finally picked up my 2 rods this morning. I already broke them in at a little pond by the house, too. The red-trimmed one is built on a new Shikari blank(yes, new-but old-stock from a secret source ) It is 6'11 and is medium-hvy. power with a nice parabolic bend. It casts a 1/8 oz. Bitsy Bug with a plastic trailer well, but also will blast a 5/8 oz. squarebill with authority. It has Fuji Alconite microguides, an ECS reel seat with black hood and a Fuji weighted counterbalance butt. The cork grips are 2-tone and made by Batson, which look very nice, I think. The second is a Batson 7' RX-7 popping blank, model IP 843. A friend bought my spinning version of this rod and I kind of missed it, so I had one built for a casting reel It has Fuji Alconite microguides with a Fuji ACS reel seat and a Fuji weighted counterbalance butt. Silver aluminum winding checks make it look really nice, too. This rod casts a #11 Rapala floater so well that I actually got it hung up in a tree on the first cast (but the reel might have had something to do with that, too). It casts light stuff phenomenally, which is exactly what I wanted it for-yet it handled a 3/8 oz. spinnerbait well also. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy, because I'm certain that I will!

Got a few things I will post up shortly.....

You would do more than drool.....

I use high-end gear for one main reason-dependability. When I set the hook on a BIG fish, the last thought I would ever have is "I hope my rod/reel/line doesn't fail me". And yes, ALL my combos cost way more than $300 each. Heck, my Steez reels retail for twice that.

The real question is about resistance of the baits you will use. The Winch should handle most swimbaits up to that weight easily, but I wouldn't drag a 10XD with it. Maybe look at a Lexa 300 if the 10XD is on your radar. You can find them in nice used condition on the various fishing forums for $125-$140.

He means the blue TD-Z that I sold him. I posted pics of it back up this thread a little. Of course, he has added his own handle and knobs since then.

I went back and looked again... to correct my earlier statement, there are actually 8 Pixzillas in that pic. All of Trey's reels have been upgraded. Speaking of which, I need to make a purchase, Trey.....

He just won and then sold a brand new $30,000 boat. I don't think that liquid assets are a problem right now.... And anyone who doubts the durability of Daiwa reels should know that Trey uses a Pixy R as a frog reel-and it is still going strong after 2 seasons. It's amazing what regular maintenance will permit you to do. Uuuhhhhh, every Pixy in the picture is a Pixzilla. I count 7 of them. That includes the Presso near the middle left, which is the rarest iteration of the Pixy.

I was wondering when you were gonna post 'em up, Trey! If I were a lefty, that would almost be more than I could take!

Here are a few customs I have sold off over time.....I kind of miss a couple of them. The Alphas Finesse Custom in the last 2 pics is still with me. I might just be buried with that one! Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Thanks! It really is my favorite platform. So much so that I have sold 2 Steez recently and replaced them both with Alphas reels.

There's more here somewhere and more on the way from Santa.

My, how things have changed! Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I have been meaning to get a few pics up of these 3 that I recently acquired. Not finished with them quite yet, but here they are for now. I'll update when I get them all like I really want them. Curious to see what people think of the cosmetic mods on the Tatula, in particular. Here's a description on each of them: The Fuego has lots of upgrades. It has a Zillion drag star, a 4-bearing JDM Zillion handle with Steez knobs, Carbontex drag, Boca OS7's with shields removed, duralumin worm gear from a TD-Z with the bearing upgrade, silver aluminum pawl cap and TD-Z 100M spool. I have a Zillion R carbon fiber handle and Daiwa original corks to go on it, but just haven't yet found the time. It is mounted on a Falcon Cara 6'10" Finesse Jig rod. The Tatula has only had cosmetic mods so far. It has a silver aluminum closed nut and a black retainer from a Quantum Kinetic PT and the drag star is from a Zillion 50th Anniv. I had to put an extra spacer washer under it to get it to work, since the drive shaft is just a hair longer than most Daiwa reels. It sits on a Rainshadow custom built on the RX-7 8' heavy crankbait blank, built for 6-8" treble hook swimbaits. The Alphas R is my personal favorite. It has a 6.8 gearset, high-speed worm gear with bearing upgrade, drag star and cast control cap from a Aird 100R Red Tune, Carbontex drag washers, Boca OS7's with shields removed, gold anodized handle nut and a mirror-polished Steez handle with RCS clear corks. It sits on a 7' H 2-piece Del Sol. It's a JDM stick from TailWalk. -Tim Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Welcome aboard!

Here's my set-ups for this year: Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us First pic, top to bottom: -My black sheep, a Gen 3 Revo Winch with 6.4:1 gears added; paired with a (new)custom RX-7 ISB842 pushed out to 7'6", with Fuji K-frame Alconites(double-foot) transitioning to Alconite HD micros -Fuego with JDM Zillion 4 bearing handle and Zillion swept star w/Boca ABEC 5's and carbontex drag; paired with my last remaining factory rod, a Clark Wendlandt Falcon Cara T7 Finesse Jig rod, 6'10" -Steez 100HA (all-stock); paired with a custom RX-7 IP845 pushed out to 7'3", TiSiC concept guides -Capricorn 2000A; paired with a (new)custom RX-7 IP843 7' w/ TiSiC concept guides, reel seat trimmed and shaped to remove exposed threads(very comfortable to fish) -Alphas Type F w/ I'ze swept aluminum handle, AIRD 100R Swept star & cast control cap, carbontex and ABEC 9's; paired with a custom Lamiglas XMG50 LC862 blank, 7'2", carbon fiber handle and Alconite concept double-foot guides transitioning to HD Alconite micros -Steez 100HA with I'ze Factory 90mm carbon fiber handle and natural corks(all-stock internally); paired with a custom RX-7 IMB 844 pushed out to 7'3"(yes, even with the extension, it has a split grip!) w/ concept TiSiC guides -Alphas Finesse Custom with Megabass Zonda spool, PX68 drag star & cast control cap and PX-R line guide, also has R-Edition carbon fiber handle w/ red RCS knobs and ABEC 9's; paired with a (new)custom RX-7 IMB843 pushed out to 7'3" w/ K-frame Alconites transitioning to HD Alconite micros -Alphas R-Edition, I'ze Factory 90mm swept carbon fiber handle w/ natural corks; paired with a (new) custom RX-7 IP904, 7'6" with Alconite K-frame double-foot guides transitioning to HD Alconite micros. -Missing from the picture are 2 reels, a Steez 100HA and a TD-Z BBS, both of which are currently in the hands of e_bassfisher, along with a RX-7 8'H crankbait/swimbait rod and another RX-7 IP845, both of which are currently with my rodbuilder. Also have 3 or 4 other reels that I just can't locate at the present time and a 2-piece 6'10'' MH Compre casting rod. I am excited to get the 4 new rods out soon, as I haven't even had time to use them yet. Also looking at a nice 2-piece stick from the MajorCraft Over7 line.

Daiwa Alphas 105H Finesse Custom or Steez 100HA, can't decide.

The *** *** rods are around $100 and have been very highly reviewed on Tackle Warehouse and other sites. I haven't fished them, But they are really nice rods and feel light in the hand. The build quality is very good from what I could tell and the components seem to be high quality, too. Most reviews I have seen have been rave reviews, stating that they are as nice or nicer than many rods around the $200 mark. For your specified range, you could probably pick up 2 of them. But a word of advice-purchase one at a time, in case you don't like the rod.

Man, hard water....I would go insane!!!!! I'm sure glad I can wet a line all winter without knocking a hole in the ice!

Have you tried Lake Varner?( bout 25 miles east of Atlanta). A friend who fishes there all the time has caught 10 fish that went 10 lbs. or better, including one that went 13-4. It is a watershed lake, so electric motor only, no gas motors allowed at all, even if you don't use it.

That is a very nice diamond wrap for your second build! Keep 'em coming!

The TP is about 2 oz. lighter with aluminum vs. brass gears.

Sorry, I posted prematurely, got sidetracked w/ my daughter and never finished my train of thought. I was referring to the maintenance habits( or lack thereof) of many people who use less expensive reels such as the Abu's. I have both a Millionaire CV-Z 300 and a Quantum Cabo PT 30 that I use to throw and troll large lures for stripers and neither has given me any problems in 3 and 7 yrs. respectively. But I have a friend who recently brought me 3 6500's with that idler gear chewed to smithereens. The pawls and worm gears were damaged also. I told him the same thing: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. With proper maintenance, that should never happen, even to a round Abu. He has 3 5500's also, brought at the same time, that he asked me to go thru also. All 6 were in desperate need of lube. I only made the statement to illustrate the point that proper maintenance is key to reel longevity, as I'm sure you know firsthand.Thanks for the response and I welcome any further insights which might aid me in the future.