rippin-lips

Congrats on your new reel. 40 yards on a Veritas/Lexa combo seems like a stretch. I've owned that reel, and those rods are stout.

How so? The company is taking care of his defective rod. They're are sending him a replacement, but he's got to pay $20 shipping. Pretty dang good deal if you think about it.

There's nothing on there that you can really use. Unless you know how to build your own rods.

Pretty normal to have some in/out play on the driveshaft. Without having a PQ to use as a comparison I can't say if that's excessive or not. From the video it doesn't seem terrible. I have a handful of high $ Daiwas that do the same thing. Even my Megabass reel has a bit of play. Some people over on TT have used a thin piece of plastic cut into a small circle. They put it in the bottom of the hole that the driveshaft bearing goes in to. It takes up the bit of in/out play.

For $20 there's no reason you shouldn't.

3/4oz is at the top of the range for a MH rod. I'd use the heavy. Plus I like a longer rod for C rigs to help with the hookset since at times you'll be deep.

Put the nose of the yak into the front corner of your bed. Run your strap through the hook in your bed and through the handle and tighten it down. The back of the yak should be in the opposite corner of your bed. Do the same thing with the 2nd strap. I personally use ratchet straps instead of the cam buckle straps. I just have a bunch in the garage so I didn't have to buy any. I also like that they have hooks on the end and you can use the hook to hook back on the bottom of the other hook and secure the strap to itself. Sometimes you don't have 2 different points to anchor the ends to. Sorry if it's confusing to read.

Don't waste your money on a bed extender. It's not needed. Your 8ft bed becomes 9ft + with the tailgate down. We hauled 3 yaks on Sunday in the truck. A 10' 11.5' and a 13'. One strap through the handles on the front and the other overtop in the back. You have nothing to worry about.

What other realistic soft bluegill baits would you recommend for $20?

Sorry to hear that. Some people can't feel the difference between a Daiwa Jupiter and a G Loomis. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Duckett has a large following and makes a pretty nice rod. However for the price you have a lot of other very good choices. It's almost impossible to make a wrong choice in the $150-180 range. I'm not a fan of white rods, and super small micro guides. Not that either one is a bad thing it's just not for me. Also don't listen to anyone saying they're a white carrot stick. Very far from it to be honest. As with anything you'll have people that bash things they know nothing about. Sadly that's life these days.

If they have a kit put together then I wouldn't worry. They're great to deal with.

Japan Tackle is where I got my gearset from. It'll run you about $50. It's an easy upgrade. Not hard to do at all. I don't have my parts list on hand, but you need more than just the main gear and pinion gear. You'll need the metal drag washer and the fiber drag washer. I can't remember if the yoke is the same, but it's a cheap part, and not a bad idea to replace it when doing the gears. It's known to wear down over time.

Never used an irod, but none of my Powells have ever let me down. The balance is spot on with the 4 Endurances that I have owned. Not as light as my Dobyns overall but balanced better. I have two 723's and it will be a sad day if something happens to either one. They're two of my favorite rods. Sadly that series has been phased out for the new max 3d.

Why can't you? The Okuma is a $99 reel. Take a Lexa for example which is the same price basically. It offers none of Daiwas "technology" as far as materials or braking systems. Tear them down and I'll bet they are very similar inside. Mechanically they need the same parts to operate. You have pretty much said that you've never owned an Okuma, but are assuming it's not a quality reel in comparison.

I have one and like he mentioned it's not a finesse reel. My Px68 will do a way better job of throwing light baits. What is your definition of light too? Mine is paired with a Dobyns Dx 704 and #40 braid. Kind of an all purpose setup for me.

Why would you spread false information to someone? Thousands of people use the Palomar knot with braid and have zero issues. If it slips then that's USER error and not the knot. Op I've used it just to try but that was it. I don't experience any issues with a regular Palomar knot so I don't have a reason really. Generally doubling your line up makes for a stronger knot with other knot types like the Uni.

My old boat had a 40hp Evinrude with no power tilt or trim. My transom saver had 2 holes in the metal U that went around the rubber piece on the trailer. I ran a rubber strap around it. Same as the V piece that goes on the lower unit. The ratchet strap idea mentioned above wouldn't be a bad idea either. More secure than a strap.

You get a gold star for the day.

With braid I only ever use the palomar knot. I really don't see any reason not to. It's super quick to tie, and it hasn't failed me yet. Be sure to pull on the main line real good after you tie it. There usually is a small amount of slip but it's not much. However with 1/16" of tag it sounds like that was the issue. I cut my tag end after I fully tighten the knot down and leave about a 1/4" of tag. You can even hit it with a lighter for a bit of extra security if you feel the need to.

The tatula rod has a great balance with the tatula reel.

No nylon based line is going to be even close to braid as far as the stretch is concerned.

As mentioned Daiwa and Lews will fit. You can only use Daiwa knobs on their handles though. Lews I'm not sure what size bearing they use or the shaft length. Just some food for thought. You can get a 95mm swept carbon handle off the Lews website for like $50. Order over 4 and you get a discount.

The mind has been known to play tricks on people. Blindfolded you couldn't tell them apart. Op it's a great reel and you'll enjoy it. I think you are putting too much thought into the whole tws thing.

I'm just curious as to how one can work better than the other when it's the same reel basically. The TT breakdown showed a slight variation in thickness of the actual tws. How it works is still the same though.