kickerfish1

Good to hear fellas! Between the cross tail shad and I-shad you should be able to get bit.

Probably some beauty pagant gal that will never use it! Sorry to hear of this. I only had one close call. Fortunately was able to reroute the package. They said it was mistakenly put on the wrong truck.

Jackall I-shad and cross tail shad are far and away my best. Next would be roboworms and FX sculpins. I have tried over 50 different dropshot baits over the last 3 years. These are the 4 that I have the most of on hand. If I could only pick one it would be the I-shad

The quality of the bearings, bearing placement, quality of gears used, and other machined parts contribute to how smooth a reel feels. If you are talking about casting distance there alot more factors than bearings to consider.

The Zayta fell victim to that proprietary resin I believe that another company owned the rights to. Perhaps it was Pure Fishing but the name escapes me. The guys at Dobyns were near the final phase of the release when they hit that hurdle. Guessing it was back to the drawing board of perhaps they had second thoughts and scrapped the idea. Maybe they will draft up another design and put a top flight rod out within the next 2 years. The higher end market segment ($400-$800) is quite small. From a profitability standpoint the Champion line is probably there "cash cow". I realize the $500+ NRX has done very well but for a good while there were lots of rep samples and dealer demos that were under $400. The Archangel is $650 putting it $250 above a NRX rep sample price. It will likely compete with higher end Megabass rods from a visual and performance standpoint. Still some what baffled how *** chose to jump from a rod that was $250ish in the *** to $650. A $400 jump is huge but they obviously feel like they will sell enough to warrant their investment. Sorry for the ramblings. I may just call Gary or Rich and ask them what will become of the Zayta concept...

I have both. I think you will like the 1000 XT. A few differences between the two but nothing over bearing.

Good catch, I checked probably a day or two ago and didn't see it. Must have just added it. Sharp looking rods but they carry an NRX/Megabass type of price tag. I am sure they will be stellar rods among the folks that treat themselves to a rod or 2.

Daiwa TDZ 100M fully tricked out or a Shimano Core 50mg7. Casting distance, lightweight, and smooth retrieves are what I enjoy most.

As mentioned above when you are talking Stella money you are talking the ultimate spinning reel. There isn't a better freshwater spinning reel made for bass. Part of what you are buying is the prestige and the other part is in the intricate fine tuning, attention to detail. and high quality parts/machinery. Once you get past the Stradic model the amount of "additional benefits" to be felt diminish. What I look for in a spinning reel is a reliable drag, smooth retrieve under load, reliability, and something that feels comfortable to fish. Frankly I would slap a Stradic on it or better yet wait for the NEW Stradic FK model which should hit around I-Cast. This reel is $200ish and will probably have a few new bells and whistles that no other Shimano spinning reel in production has. Color wise it would match nicely with a blue NRX for the most part. I would highly consider this option and save the $ for another NRX rod or something else you may need/want.

If the water surface is still I would use a walk the dog type of bait like a spook or Sammy. If there is chop on the water I like a popper type like the popmax. The LC gunfish is a nice compromise as it does both walk and pop. If there are weeds around the surface a buzz frog or hollow body frog would be a nice choice. Wind and weeds usually dictate what I will try.

Possibly the production Phenix K2 and the high end *** Archangel. Don't think we all see the Dobyns Zayta

Very nice fish!

May also want to look at JDM rods or a custom build if money isn't a concern. Once you start talking about $300 rods I would say your options are going to be good and you should be able to find the exact rod you want.

A lot of folks like braid or braid with a leader. However when fishing weightless plastics I prefer and do better personally with strait floro in 12#. The added slack line sensitivity and density of the line allows for better feel and fall rate. Your rod with 20# may be a bit stiff on the line size. I would try that or the spinning rod to start with.

Stellar gear Yumeya and welcome!

The Siebert Outdoors banner was accidentally removed for some odd reason. I sent Mike a message the other day asking if we still a sponsor. He confirmed he was and the banner has been added back. Going to be getting a 5th order from Siebert Outdoors soon. Mike is a top notch guy with great products.

Interesting, I will give them a second chance.

Brad, how do you like the LF shad on the back of chatterbaits over say a paddle tail swimbait type like a 3.8 inch Keitech? I struggle with getting hit on the LF shads when used a trailer for a swim jig or chatterbait

I am guessing by new you mean new to you and not NIB. Some reels you have listed would be nearly impossible to find for that price. To answer your ? I would get the Alphas SV or the TDZ Type R or R+. I would substitute the T3 MX over the 1016. Not sure what you want the reel for? Plastics, jigs, hardbaits, resistance blade baits, etc. Also not sure how you value reel weight, physical size of reel, casting distance, gear ratio, smoothness, frame material, and tuning options. Lots of good choices with only minor differences separating them.

X2 on the Elite Tech 6'9 ML fast. It is the ONLY spinning rod I have two of, as I believe it is really that good.

Very nice fish! And a deserving shout out to an often overlooked bait the "smok'n" rooster! Love em on swimjigs too!

Excellent! From my understanding there were only about 200 of those made. Sounds like you locked in a rare gem. Two questions if I may: 1. What did you purchase the reel for? (seemed to recall these being over $500 new) 2. Do you have an exquisite rod planned for the reel and since it is based off the Zillion platform what do you invision using it for? 3. How do you feel it performs over the stock zillion when casting?

Man that is the holy grail of reels, even with a few dings!

Nice choices on the rods MB!

Odd, but whatever works. Suspended fish that are deep are challenging to get to know matter what.