Toeshots

You're in luck - they are available in left-hand retrieve as well: http://tackletrap.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3321 I was hoping to try it out this weekend after the 60-degree weather and rain we had on Tuesday, however it's been about -20 with the windchill the past few days which froze up the waters again. That being said, I will say that it balances incredibly well with 7' M/F Avid. At first, I was pretty surprised by this as I've tried other, heavier reels with this rod and it felt a little tip heavy. Thinking more about it, it has to be due to the fact that the Sol is a small reel that sits closer to the butt of the rod which changes the balancing point and pushes it more weight towards the butt. Even though I couldn't actually fish with it, I was able to give the reel a test run in my basement, but only tried the M/F Avid because it balanced so well. I tied on a 1/4 oz jig without a trailer in order to keep the weight down. All I can say is this setup is absolutely awesome. I already talked about the balance, but I practiced some pitching and the jig seemed to slingshot out towards the target without any effort. Yes, the rod is a factor, but the reel spins so freely that it just keeps going. I've tried the same thing with 2 BPS baitcasters with the same rod and there is just no comparison. The Sol is sweet, especially with the M/F Avid and I can't wait to get it out on the water. As a bonus, the reel came spooled with 50LB Power Pro although I will probably transfer it over to a Lews TP once I buy one. Very happy so far!

Well it looks like this would do it: http://tackletrap.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2940 I'm guessing this would bring it up to the 26 IPT of the PX Type-R?

Anybody know if a gear swap can be done on the Sol? It would be pretty cool to have an IPT number in the upper 20's on this thing.

Looking forward to hopefully trying it out on Sunday if the waters don't freeze up again before then.

Thank you for the rod suggestions. I'm looking forward to trying out the reel on the Avid M/F to see how it performs. To me the Premier series almost seems to be the opposite of the Avid in terms of true power rating. I initially went in to BPS to buy the M/M Premier but it was very whippy throughout the rod length which is why I went MH.

What kind of topwater baits are you throwing? It seems as though the Moderate action may make it more difficult to work poppers and spooks, although I could be wrong. The MH/M I have if my first and only Moderate action rod and I've had it for less than a month so my experience is limited.

Yea I don't know that I'll be throwing stuff that is really, really light, but those size 5 Rapalas that I sometimes like to throw are 3/16 oz which would probably be about the lightest I'd be throwing, so for measurement's sake let's say the rod needs to be able to load up a bit with those size 5's. What does your standard 4-5" Senko weigh? If I threw one weightless, would it be less than 3/16 oz? I'm thinking no, but really don't know.

Can I ask why you sold your Sol? (pun intended)

I was researching what reels are best for lighter baits and the Sol seemed to be frontrunner across the board. It peaked my interest as I tend to throw a lot of lighter-weight Rapalas when fishing cranks and it seemed like it would be a good reel to have for lighter baits in general. I looked around the net and I started to realize that these aren't as easy to come by as I would have thought, but low and behold I look on craigslist and there's one for $150 in good shape, so I decided to buy it. Now I'm trying to figure out which rod to put it on. I hadn't really thought about it as this was an impulse by that I did not want to let pass. Here's what I have: 7' MH/F St. Croix Avid - in all honesty, I'm 99% a Lew's TP will go on this rod 7' M/F St. Croix Avid 6'6" MH/M St. Croix Premier Crankbait The Premier has a brand new BPS PQ 5.2:1 on it, but since I'm not doing much deep cranking, this may go up for sale. It's just a hair too slow for me. My first instinct was to put the Sol on the Premier, but the Moderate rod action makes me wonder if I'll really get the most out of the reel. The Sol has a 5.8:1 ratio and 23.6" IPT. Is the Moderate action rod versatile enough to handle various light-weight techniques? Would I be better off putting this on the M/F Avid or maybe buying a more "true" M/F rod (Avid is fairly stout) that will allow light baits to load up on a cast? What rod are you fellow Sol owners pairing up with this reel?

Yea I didn't expect them to say yes, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. If the answer was no, I would have completely understood.

BIG props to the guys at St. Croix. I had sent in my paperwork for the 7'1" M/F Rage ($150 retail) but before my rod came I figured I'd give them a buzz and see if I could do the trade-up from the Rage to the Avid and just receive the Avid instead. They said no problem as long as the rod hadn't shipped yet, which it hadn't. I thought that was pretty awesome of them as they were probably swamped with Rage offers, but it gets better. I wanted the 7' M/F Avid ($190) and figured I'd just pay the $40 difference and get the Avid. Well they actually bumped up me up to the highest value Rage ($170) which reduced the difference so I just paid $20 and got the Avid! Awesome guys and fantastic customer service!

I'm another guy who likes to look for deals. This winter I bought two St. Croixs - a 6'6" MH/M Premier Crankbait and a 7' MH/F Avid which qualified me for the free Rage Rod. Before they sent out my Rage, I called and did the Trade-Up on the Rage and for $20 extra they sent me a 7' M/F Avid instead. So I ended up with 2 Avids and a Premier for $340 which I thought was a great deal. There is a local guy that sells higher-end used stuff so I will probably look to him and/or ebay for the reels to pair up with the rods. I just don't like paying full retail when there are plenty of deals to be had out there, especially now since it's winter here in Chicago and there's no rush to get rigs ready to go.

Very interested to read the review. I have 2 brand new SC Avids that needs reels. I am going with a Lew's Tournament Pro on the 7' MH/F and was really thinking about the Helios on the 7' M/F.

True, but they are $150 NIB on ebay.

I have in interest in the Helios and the Komodo casting reels. It looks like the 2013 Helios has dropped $20 in price and is now the same as the Komodo. I was comparing the two and all that's different that I can tell (besides looks) is the Helios is a little lighter (6.3 oz vs 6.7) and has 2 fewer bearings (9 vs. 11) than the Komodo. I wish I could find a more detailed comparison, but they just aren't out there. I emailed Okuma and they basically repeated what I had already known. How much difference would two fewer bearings make? Do you take the lighter weight or more bearings?

PM sent

Thanks for the reply and the tip. I was thinking that bouncing a squarebill crank off the rocks then letting it pause might be a good tactic. I do have a few craw colored cranks that I will give a try next time out.

The creek is tied to the DuPage river, which is a decent size body of water. I also should have mentioned that the first thing you see is a sign stating that smallmouth must be at least 15". I will definitely Google Earth it to see if anything can be picked out and I do realize the fishing is going to be tough this time of year. I probably made less than 20 casts in the 45 min time I was fishing if that gives you an idea for the speed I was working the jig.

Found a stream to fish today that is about 50 yards across and has some current. Not a crazy amount, but enough to move my jig around. The bottom is all rocks/boulders and maybe 5 feet deep. Water is a little dirty but not super low-vis. Today I was throwing a black/blue 1/4 oz jig with craw trailer and was slowly dragging it over the rocks on the bottom. Was also pitching into the pockets with no current to see if something was sitting in there. I only had about 45 min to fish and didn't catch anything, which was not all that surprising. Anyways, what kind of tactics should I be using to fish this area? There is also a bridge with a few pilings in this area. I would have given those a shot today if I had more time. To give you an idea of climate/temps, I am in the SW suburbs of Chicago and this was the only body of water that was not frozen. This looks like a good area and I am looking forward to trying it again soon when I have more time. If you guys have any suggestions for me, I can take those with me on my next outing. Thanks!

Woops. Missed that in your post. Good luck.

Psssst: http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Abu-Garcia-REVO-SX-High-Speed-Baitcasting-Reel&i=401566&aID=504AA2&merchID=4006

It's more so about the IPT, don't get as hung up on the gear ratio. As already mentioned, you can take up line more quickly to set the hook or get your bait back in the strike zone more quickly. It also helps get fish to the surface quickly when you need to get them away from heavy cover. You don't NEED a burner, but they certainly have their benefits.

Forgot about Cabelas. They don't show any Okuma reels online, but they are obviously being stocked in some stores. I think they have a location in the NW burbs. I'll give them a buzz tomorrow. Thanks.

I'm interested in these reels - mostly the Helios - but it doesn't seem like any of the major retailers (BPS, Dick's, Gander Mountain) carry them. I am in the Chicagoland area - does anybody know any other shops that might carry these?