jbsoonerfan

If only I could get my wants and needs all straightened out.

We are talking about high end reels that you are not going to find from a retailer for less. You will not find a retailer selling that Antares for less than $406

Here is some advice from someone who has bought WAY too many reels in the last year or so. Always, and I mean always check the auction site before you buy. I see it all the time in the classifieds here and on other sites where guys are selling a new reel for less than retail but more than you can get them on the bay. Example: Guy is selling a NIB JDM Met for $350. Most guys think, wow that's a good deal. But, you can get that same reel on the bay for $306. I see it ALL the time and sometimes they even sell them for their asking price. It blows my mind. As long as you are buying from a reputable seller and using Paypal, you are covered.

Tough one. I am not much of a talker when I fish so I don't know if I would get much out of it as far as conversation goes. Now, if it were just to be someone to learn from, I would say Ott because I feel like I fish a similar style as him and maybe trying to learn the when's, where's and how's from him would help me tremendously. Other than that, maybe a few local guys like Bradley Hallman, Luke Palmer or Zack Birge just so I could get a feel for how they fish different lakes in the area. I have seen Bradley and Zack a few times on the water at different lakes that I have been fishing at but I certainly wasn't going to bother them.

That would be the only one that I would re-purchase.

I have owned a number of DC reels (Scorpion, Curado, Antares) and they are great reels, no doubt about that. In my opinion, they really excel at those "oh no" moments where a bait catches wind, or helicopters, or even the occasional brain fart by the user. I don't think they are worth the extra money for the return you get on usage. I can fine tune my K to outcast my Curado DC and have it pitching just as well. I don't do a lot of skipping as most of the lakes I fish don't have docks so I can't speak to the validity of how well they perform in that area. They are fine reels and certainly can save your bacon at times, but I don't see them as a fix for a trained thumb.

Mine will go out tomorrow, finally got the last couple items today. Sorry to my recipient if you don't get it by Christmas, I tried, just didn't expect it to take so long to get to me first.

GASP!!!! Some will tell you that you are crazy, but I pretty well agree with everything you said. I am guilty, guilty, guilty, of paying a premium price for the Core knowing good and well there were reels available at half the cost that could perform as well or better.

I didn't use it before I installed it, but as I was reading the replies and thinking of possible issues and it came to mind that I could have an issue with those wires being too tight.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try a couple things before I call them, I want to make sure I have tried everything that they could possibly suggest before I bother them. I would almost think that there is something a miss like you guys have mentioned. Looks like the weather is going to get better next weekend so I will go out and try to re-calibrate and make sure nothing is in the way. One other thing I failed to mention, because I am forgetful. I installed my Mega 360 and routed the wires through the "coiled" part of the Ultrex. I wonder if those are too tight and causing some resistance that is forcing the head to stop turning sensing there is a problem? I just thought of that. That will be something else I can look into. Appreciate all the replies.

I have ordered a bunch of reels (probably 20-30) from Japan and never had to pay an import fee. I am not saying you won't have to, just that I never have.

Okay, I really hesitated to post this as I thought maybe there was some sort of user error going on and I was just dumb, but after the last two outings, it can't just be me. For those of you who remember, I had a Terrova on my boat and there were a few things about it that I wasn't crazy about so I was going to make a change. I ended up going with an Ultrex and I was very happy with the change I made. I am not one who uses spot-lock often as I mainly use my poles to anchor and fish. That being said, I rarely, if ever had any issues with the spot-lock on my Terrova. Once I was in a spot I could hit the button and it would hold me there for as long as I wanted. That is not the case at all with my Ultrex. I can find a spot and lock in and my boat may move as much as 15 - 20 ft in any direction. Not only that but the spot-lock turns itself off at least 2 -3 times every few minutes and I have to hit the button again. It is almost like the head is working against it self so much that it is getting confused and it just turns off. I know the head on the Terrova would spin all the way around to correct itself but the Ultrex doesn't do that, it spins so far and shuts off. I am not sure what to do. I have used the spot-lock more the last couple times because I am fishing a little bit deeper and this has really ticked me off. Like I said, I almost didn't mention it because I assumed it was me. I am pointing the nose into the wind and everything like I did before and I never had this many problems with my Terrova. So, is it me, or is the Ultrex just not as good at spot-lock as the Terrova?

I have been thinking about exactly what Shimano reels I have owned and used in the last 20 years or so. I will "try" to list them, I am sure I will leave a few out. Curado D, DSV Curado E 200, 50 Curado G Curado I Curado K 200, 50 MGL (on order) Curado DC Citica E Citica G Citica I Chronarch D Chronarch e6, e7, 50e Chronarch 50 Mg Chronarch G Chronarch MGL Chronarch ci4 Core 50 Mg, 100 Caius Casitas Caenan Scorpion 200 Scorpion MGL Scorpion DC Metanium 13 Metanium MGL Metanium B Antares 12 Bantam MGL Aldebaran 50 SLX MGL 70 Tranx I think that is it. Now, here is my honest opinion. I like the newer reels way better than the Shimanos of years past. Mainly because of the handles and knobs. All of my older reels I switched the handles and knobs out for newer ones. I would put the Met 20 up against any reel Shimano has ever made. If you will notice the Antares 19 is missing from my list so I can't compare that reel as I am sure it is amazing and the reason I have yet to buy one is because I am afraid of how much I would like it. I still use a Met 13 and the new Bantams make me not want to pick it up as often. The older shimanos are great reels, I just think the newer ones have a little bit more to offer. Now, the newer ones may not last 30 years, but that is o be determined.

It is so much smoother than the 16 and the Chronarch it isn't funny. Out casts the 13 and pitches better than all 3. The solid body has such a better feel to it it is hard to describe. I might be pretty hard on my review though because I wasn't impressed with the 16 Met or the Chronarch MGL. Like I said, I prefer the Bantam MGL to them. In fact, I like the Scorpion MGL better than those two.

The 2020 Met is far superior to the 16 Met, 13 Met, & Chronarch MGL. I have owned just about every reel Shimano has made in the past 15 years outside of the 19 Antares. I would put the Bantam MGL ahead of the 16 & 13 Met and the Chronarch MGL. The 2020 Met has it all.

I just assume everything I see is NOT a bass, makes me feel better about NOT catching them.

I haven't been out much at all the last few weeks, seems the only days worth fishing I am at work. Tomorrow and Sunday look like junk as well so I was bound to hit the lake today after work even if for just an hour or so. Fished about 10 min and hooked into a good one, got it up to the boat and couldn't get it landed. After re-playing it in my head I realized it was just a poor hookset by me. About 15 min later I felt a tap and swung for the fences, came back with nothing, I mean nothing. I knew I should have either tied a fluoro leader on or checked my braid more often. Finally about 10 minutes before I was going to head in I was watching my line and it started to move sideways, swung hard and stuck this one. Only weighed 4-8 but he was a fat one.

My initials are JB and I am a fan of people who entered the unassigned lands of present day Oklahoma before the official start of the land run of 1889. Nothing to do with the University of Oklahoma, bunch of losers

I don't know if any pro's do or don't frequent the forum, but if they ever need to know what the best $100 baitcaster is they should look no further. J/K, I am sure some of them visit, but I certainly wouldn't announce it if I were one.

Those are M and they might be a lil snug or it could just be the palm material makes them harder to get off as opposed to a normal glove. I don't really notice them being a little bit small till I take them off though. It could be my hands get a clamy or whatever as well.

I thought I had updated this thread, but I must have just dreamed I did. Anyway, I went with the Frabill i3 jacket and bibs. I was able to get both for $220 so I went with them after reading some reviews. I have only had them out twice and both times they were great. The second time out I had to shed the jacket after about 30 min as it had warmed up to about 40 degrees and I was getting warm. I love that the jacket has a stretchy neoprene like material around the cuffs so there is no velcro to try to keep tight to keep the sleeves from falling down. The bibs are kind of tight, but I could stand to lose a few pounds so maybe that is my fault for being fat lol. Overall, very happy with them so far.

I received mine yesterday. I went out today but I didn't throw one. I like the way the sound when you shake them though. Going to be something a little different.

I fished today, sorry guys.

I just bought the Accu-Cull and so far I really like it. It replaced a Rapala High Contrast that finally got to where I could barely read the display and that was just after about 6 months of use. I tried new batteries and that didn't help. I prefer to weigh in oz as opposed to tenths so I just convert them now since the Accu-Cull doesn't do oz.

I have black ones and they are hard as heck to keep clean. They water spot very quickly. *Disclaimer....I don't take a break at lunch and wax my boat and then wax it again when I pull it out and wax it again when I get home, so I am not one of those guys.