Tywithay

If the handle section is intact, they make really cool lamps. My grandpa made one out of an old Fenwick rod of his, with a Mitchell reel. It looks really neat in his man cave.

I believe some of the very early NRX models used Powerlux, because they did get liquidated at one time. I remember I bought an 852s for $256 from Kittery Trading Post. That could have also had something to do with the early models having issues with the handles and locking nuts as well. St Croix also had powerlux in their blanks for like a year. Believe Lamiglas did in a couple models. It never really made sense to me for Abu to buy the rights, because similar technology eventually made its way to other manufacturers and now it's all some form of nano-resin.

2020 Enox is right there with it, in my opinion. Performance is very similar. The price difference is probably due to the Torzite guides on the Legend and maybe just slightly better cork.

I would say this is an accurate assessment of the Zolo rods.

I had a 70MH Legend X. Couldn't really get on with the handle, but the blank was outstanding. I think the Enox Decoy is very similar action and sensitivity to that 70MH SCV. The newer Croix tapers don't seem to be as stiff as years past and the Decoy has a similar tip section. For the price, I think it's an excellent comparison to the GLX and Legends. Especially if you get it on sale and bump it down a few more shillings. The Enox is $271 at TW right now. Tough to beat at that price.

Aside from the balance, I liked the 894 better than the 854.

I think they're great. I wish the guide rings were smaller on the Tatula Elite rods but I'm guessing they did it with leader knots in mind. I've had zero issues with durability.

I haven't found rods, but we have like 5 Walmarts within 20 minutes and I have absolutely wore out my debit card on lures this month. Bought a crapton of Strike King jigs for $1.10.

NRX uses the same concept, with the recoil guides. GLX, Legend Xtreme, and a few others used recoil guides in the past. A lot of people didn't care for the feel, because they are a little noisy with braided lines. The other downside, despite the relatively simple build, they're quite expensive. REC guides can cost $6-$10 per guide depending on the size and model, whereas Fuji K-series alconite are $2-$4. Doesn't seem like much, but if you build a handful of rods with 8 or 9 guides a piece, you're talking about hundreds of dollars.

i use the Daiwa Tatula 701MRB and it works great for both. I think it's actually designed with topwaters in mind.

It can also offer slight weight savings. The amount saved depends on the material. Usually it's detrimental to the rod's balance, though that's not always the case.

The BG and the 2000 is felt drag to cater more to lighter lines. Fuego line lay is a non-issue. It's designed to taper a certain way and some people can't wrap their heads around that. I personally prefer the BG, but they're both excellent reels for the price. Unless you need to save a little weight, the BG feels superior, in my opinion.

I think from a weight and capacity standpoint, the 2000 feels a lot nicer for bass applications. The 2500 felt a little unwieldy on most rods for me. The 2000 drag is plenty if you're using 6lb-8lb diameter line, or less. I imagine you could pretty easily find carbon washers that fit for about $10, if you want to beef it up a little, but it hasn't been necessary in my experience.

I've seen little to no difference between the different insert materials. Some older aluminum oxide guides would groove with braid, but it doesn't seem to be an issue on more modern inserts. The harder, slicker guides like SiC and Torzite may marginally improve casting distance, due to less friction, but I don't think it'd be enough of an improvement to actually notice the results on the water. The biggest impact in guide choice has to do with weight. The Tatula Elite and Elite AGS rods are one of the few models that I know have the same blank with different guides. I can tell you from my own experience, and I imagine others will agree, the AGS rods have a different feel. The lighter graphite guides make the rod more crisp, balanced, and transmit vibrations more clearly. It's not a night and day difference, as the alconite Elite rods aren't exactly Ugly Sticks, but it's definitely a noticeable improvement with the AGS guides. A rod blank is like a guitar string, transmitting vibrations from one end to the other. Anything that is touching the blank will dampen the vibrations. The heavier and less rigid the materials, the more it will dampen them. This is why lightweight rigid materials like titanium and graphite have become popular in rod building, though there is extra cost involved. There's a good thread on another forum about a guy that modified his Loomis Conquest rod by making it a split grip and changing to smaller lighter guides. He managed to save several grams of weight and mentioned how much difference it made in the feel. That's a $600-$700 rod, so if saving a little weight can make a difference for that rod that already had premium components, it'd make an even bigger difference on a rod that has cheaper components.

The NRX rods are great and if you can find a used one, it might be the best option since you know you like it already. Personally, I think the best rod for the applications you mentioned is the Steez AGS 76MML. That rod is a bit of a unicorn. The Tatula Elite AGS version is special too, though it pales in comparison to the Steez and NRX in terms of sensitivity. The ZBone Xray blanks are NRX level as well, but I don't find the builds as refined as the Steez.

The SV spool was designed to be filled 1/2 full for bfs. They even list two separate capacities.

Tatula Elite 74MHRB. Pretty sure it was specifically designed for swim jigs and it handles them well.

I think it actually senses spool speed and applies intermittent braking to slow the spool to the optimal speed. As far as the settings, I imagine that 3 brakes a little more in the beginning of the cast since fluorocarbon is heavier and you want to avoid the initial blowup. After that, it should flow easier than lighter braid/mono becausethe weight will help carry it. Setting 2 likely has more braking midcast to adjust for the lighter line having to deal with wind and earlier deceleration. Spool tension is usually set a little tighter on these DC reels. It's not like a Daiwa where you just eliminate side to side movement. These work better with the slow drop setup and a meaningful cast. No need to lob it, because the module works best when the spool is really moving.

The IDC4 system doesn't really have settings for "more" brake, necessarily. 3 is the setting for fluorocarbon line. It's just a different braking profile because fluorocarbon is more dense than nylon and braid, which use setting 2.

All of the new rods I've seen won't be in stock until late in the year, save for a select few. There's likely warehouses full of current models, but building entirely new rods would take longer than normal.

Reckon it's hard to get a new product from overseas during a global pandemic.

I suppose it depends on your definition of finesse. A 5" senko weighs roughly 3/8oz and most reels can cast them relatively well, especially texas rigged. The MGL spools cast them with less effort than most other reels I've used. Wacky worms aren't too bad, but can be a little bit rough if it's windy. I live in Kansas and it's always extremely windy in the summer, so I prefer spinning for wacky most of the time.

MGL basically means lighter, ie. Magnumlite. In theory, it should handle lighter baits better than the DC reels due to less startup inertia. In my experience, they excel from 1/4-1/2oz. They're more than capable of throwing heavier as well, but line capacity can come into play at that point.

For senkos, I use 8lb Tatsu on my spinning and 12lb Sunline Assassin on my baitcaster. If I know I'll be fishing near decent cover, I'll bump up to 15-17lb fluorocarbon. I like to let them sink, leaving the line slacked at times, so I avoid braid.

I have a Bantam MGL in 6.2 and 7.1 on my spinnerbait/chatterbait rods.