rippin-lips

There are a handful of different companies that offer a swept carbon handle. There are also a few stock options as well. It just depends on the length you want. As for drag stars there are a few choices. The sol is a small reel and the tatula star is kinda large. A pxr or steez drag star is smaller and would look good on it. The tackle trap is great to deal with. For the gear swap you'll need the main and pinion gear as a set. If you post a pic I can tell you what drag star is on it and maybe the handle too. Any questions let me know.

Yozuri Hybrid #12 is not expensive and works well.

You can also check out the Dobyns Fury line of rods. They're right in your price range. Their medium heavy is a 3 power. It would be more like a medium power rod when compared to the others. I bought a 703 for a friend a few months ago. It's definitely softer than any of my other mh rods. Another to consider.

Your best bet is buying a used $250 rod. They can easily be had for $150 and 90% of the time will be better than a new $150 rod. If only buying new is your preference then they're a handful of rods in that price range to suite you.

Thats not true at all about Daiwa. Take the tatula series for example. The medium is rated to 3/4oz and the ml is rated to 5/8. Both fish a power heavier than labeled.

I use the Ish frogs. They don't fill up with water.

That is correct,sir. The Steez and Zillion use a larger spool bearing. So that one should be pretty simple to figure out. If I remember correctly they use a 3x10x4 sideplate bearing which is what the pxr uses on the spool shaft. So you should have 3 that are the same size there. I'm not familiar with Shimano bearing sizes since I'm a Daiwa guy. I think my CH51E used 2 3x10x4 bearings. Don't worry about it. Pick 2 that fit the o.d. of the places they're going.

#1 - No, not really. All the stock bearings will be of equal quality. Just pick 2 bearings that fit into the sideplate and the metal cup on the spool shaft. Both bearings are the same inner diameter and thickness. Just the outside diameter is different. Side - 3x8x4 Spool - 3x10x4 #2 - oil your hedgehog bearings. Ceramics are loud when ran dry. Adding oil will quiet them down a good bit.

The handle used on the Prodigy was the same handle from the U.S. Zillion. So they didn't go and make a handle just for that reel. Just like the Lexa and the Exceler Exe. Both have the same handle and knobs. Same retainer cap and nut, but the Lexa handle has removable knobs.

You know what they say about opinions... The bearings Daiwa uses are already cheap. They pay less than 20 cents for them. It's not a hard concept to grasp. I don't know why you keep insisting they cut a corner.

Get a type r off the auction site. It'll run you about $140 The arachnid is a type r with 4 more bearings. 1 in each knob and 2 in the level wind. You can add those yourself for about $6.

That sounds more like a weekend adventure in the woods then going fishing from the bank.

Professional anglers do just fine with green braid. Ish doesn't seem to have any issues.

I stand corrected.

The majority of the 2015 season was spent using Megabass/Daiwa gear. Doesn't exactly mean a whole lot. It's the Indian not the arrow. He left Megabass/Daiwa to work with Enigma fishing. He now has his own line of rods out. He's using Jdm Shimanos for reels now. They offered him more $ and a signature rod. He gone!

Yes, because it's a Cabelas house brand reel and not a Tatula type R. It's the same exact reel with 4 more bearings and blue accents. Just like the Cabelas Prodigy reel. It was a Daiwa Hsta for $100. Doesn't mean corners were cut anywhere. Only difference was it had a handle with rivited knobs that couldn't be removed.

Why does there have to be something up with them? Daiwa has been rebranding reels for chain stores for quite some time. If you ever saw how much a reel costs at wholesale you'd see the profit margin. That wholesale price is even better when you're getting 1,000's of them. Both companies are making plenty of money off each one.

Plano makes a 3700 sized box specifically for spinnerbaits. 1 of them plus 6 regular 3700's I plenty. Put some of your plastics in a couple 3700 boxes. You're all set.

x2

8lbs of drag is plenty for bass fishing. Don't get caught up in the marketing.

My wing span is what I use for measurement + 12" to tie my joining knot with. I end up with the knot between the 1st and 2nd guide when my bait is hanging where it would be for a cast.

I take my ml casting setup on every trip. It's a lot of fun to fish. I don't use spinning combos.

I just get all 3 sizes poured with a #2 hook.

So $400 for the combo or $200? Either will give you a lot different choices. A good shimano spinning reel is hard to beat. Rods take your pick.

Exactly we all don't think alike. My main gripe is the reel seat. That's not their fault. I didn't like it before and I'm not sure why I thought I could convince myself to this time. Second was balance. It balanced ok with a heavy reel but that's not what I wanted. I think part of it is how they decorated the rod 2ft up the blank with wraps and epoxy. The guide train is all double foot guides and the first couple are kinda big. The bfs models use micro guides though so it's not an issue. The blank itself was ok. Sensitivity was just ok. Wasn't as sensitive as I was hoping but it's also a $150 rod. Was just hoping for more I guess. It was also a heavy rod compared to others I own. Part of that could be from things I already mentioned. It's why I haven't pulled the trigger on a megabass rod yet.