Alpha Male

there is room for oil especially if its machined properly. keep in mind that during freespool the pinion doesnt turn so there is room in there and there will be contact. I put a drop of oil on my finger and lube the shaft that way to just put a coat on it.

listen...NO ADULT is going to sacrifice performance for looks. like roadwarrior said you dont have to sacrifice quality for looks. there are plenty of options in the "$300" dollar range and you would be hard pressed to find a dud.

its after the fact. for a rod I narrow it down to power and action then find the reel seat i like and then i find a couple of rods that match and see what they look like. and sometimes i end up thinking its beautiful after it have it. one example is my fenwick elitetech smallmouth rod. i thought it was ugly at first, then I went to cabelas with a reel and it has by far the most amazing reel seat on a spinning rod ever. now that I own it i like the greenish-gold color. BTW its paired with a white and red Quantum accurist.

are you talking about add ons or stock? because the ones on my revo's are the most comfortable reels ever.

Lets not kid everyone. looks are important to everyone. performance is first and foremost but looks matter too. I do have a St. Croix LTB rod and I have to tell you I never even considered looking for a blue reel. I think my Revo Premeir accents that rod quite nicely. I also have a little brand rocognition So put my tatula on my Daiwa S-class rod. thats just me though

Like most people I like a shakeyhead in sparse cover. My favorite lake has a shallow plateau bordered by ledges. just inside the ledges are a ring of sparse rushes with a rocky bottom. thats where I fish a shakeyhead. when I move inside the rushes the bottom is covered in weeds and lilypads thats when the T-rig comes to play.

I dont know what other states rules are but here in minnesota bass opener isnt until 2 weeks after the main species fishing opener and I agree with it. fish like crappie and sunnies are open all year. I dont feel the need to fish for bass until they are done spawning. as soon as the ice is out its time for pan fish until season opener, then its time for walleye and northern pike, until bass opener. I do not hesitate to eat any of those species, but aside from the sunnies and crappies I like to keep the fish on the smaller size. walleye and bass 1.5 lbs to 2.5ish and northerns from 6-12lbs. I guess it depends on location but up here in minnesota I feel that all bass fisherman should be a sunnie and crappie fisherman since they prey on bass eggs so much.

I have always liked the centrifugal brakes more than the mag brakes (except for daiwas system). I usually look for reels with both brakes like the BPS PQ, Revo STX, or lews Tournament Pro.

I just bought some hawgtech bearings for my lews. I havent received them yet, I was in the same boat as you

I know fenwick has replaced the eliteTech smallmouth rod with a bass rod but if you can find a eliteTech smallmouth rod it is far and away my favorite spinning rod. For reels I like daiwa and quantum. If your going to use a medium heavy spinning setup I would recommend braid, either 15-20# Power Pro or sufix 832. Hooks are a toolbox. use the right hook for the right bait. you should have, for a medium-heavy setup, i would have 3/0 thru 5/0 EWG and offset hooks and maybe some specialty hooks like tube jig hooks. swimbait hooks. You should have a variety of double blade, single blade, willow blade, colorado blade, silver blade, gold blade, chartreuse skirt, black and blue. I like strike king, booyah, and war eagle brands. I like the spinnerbaits with the jewel eyes instead of the painted on ones. I have had success with storm arashi, bandit, rat-l-trap, strike king, yo-zuri, and rapala scatterrap.

I like my tournament pro the most. I have a bb1, a tournament, and a pro.

In all honesty the Mike and Bob have hit it right on. I have a few rods that I consider tip-heavy. I don't find it anything to worry about unless it's really bad and most of my rods are 7'+. A quality rod from a quality manufacturer may be a little tip heavy but some of that is the reel makers fault for making reels so light. I use a 7'1" st Croix ltb med-fast that weighs 4.0ozs and that is paired with a revo premier that weighs 5.9ozs for a combo that weighs under 10ozs. I would say it's as close to balanced as possible but I'm with Mike. I want a light weight setup over one that is heavier but balanced. I just bought a daiwa s-class rod it's 6'6" med-hvy ex-fast and it's the most tip heavy rod I have besides my 7'11" flippin rod. With a revo std the balance point is a good 2" past the front of the reel. Swap the 6.3 oz revo for a 7.8 oz tatula type-r and the balance point is about a half an inch in front of the reel. So before you worry too much about it realize that its really a preference thing, some people can't stand it some don't care.

Thanks. I have just been using a small jewellery screwdriver to get under the shield and get it off. I have been using some silicon gun oil for the bearings. In all honesty I have not had any issues with casting (most of the time I can cast with 2 brakes on and the mag brakes off without the thumb) I just like to tinker. Gotta kill some time til ice out and I can go after some crappie.

No worries. I have done a complete cleaning and overhaul of 3 of my reels (revo stx, lews tournament ss, and a bps pq) I haven't noticed any change in free spool time. I haven't been able to test them as it's a whopping -4° here right now. After using a hammer and punch to to move the pin I was looking online for a tool and that's where I found the hedgehog website. Their tool looks a lot better than any of the pliers I have seen so that's why I was looking at their bearings. Also what to you guys use to get the shield off the bearings?

I use braid. I will add a fluoro leader if I'm not getting bit. A good medium action rod will offset the lack of stretch, and as long as you don't swing for the fences on a hookset you will be fine with braid. Also I have seen some tests and experienced it myself that most fluoro still has almost the same stretch as mono.

I do have a lucky charm...it's the lure on the end of my line. Bring it with me every time I hit the water.

all good information. I think i will go with some of the hawgtech bearing for now. out of curiousity has anyone used the hedgehog bearings? or their spool pin removal tool?

It a toolbox imo. You use the right hook for the right bait. I have 1/0 through 5/0 in both ewg and offset shank. I also twist lock, weighted hooks, and others. Use the biggest hook you can that won't affect the action of the bait. Use either a lightwire or heavywire hook depending on vegetation.

I have a Fenwick med-light spinning rod for walleye fishing. I like it but it is rather tip-heavy. I don't think I would like a casting version. I have ne experience with any *** rods mainly because they look ugly to my eyes.

I have a buddy who goes trout fishing with 2lb stren magnathin. He steps it up to 4lb magnathin for bass fishing and he lives by the stretch in the line.

Both would be fine but the diesel would be my choice. FWIW I use a 7'3" MH-F pinnacle perfect with 40lb braid for my frogging. I don't fish anything super thick either.

Well... Let's see... Since Christmas I have bought a revo premier, tatula type R, daiwa s-class 6'6" my-xf rod for jigs, 3 yo-zuri crayfish crankbaits,2 livetarget. Frogs, a live target mouse, 2 arashi wakebaits, 2 yo-zuri wakebaits, 2 yo-zuri squarebills, a couple spools of line, probably 30+ bags of soft plastics, 10+ bags of hooks, 5 more Plano stowaway boxes to put it all in. All in all I kept it under 600$ so far...but we have at least 10 week's til ice out so who knows... Can't wait to get after some crappie.

I am looking at trying out some upgraded bearings and wanted to hear some opinions on what you would get and why between boca, hawgtech, and hedgehog bearing. These would be put in a revo STX or premier. thanks

I have had good luck with owner shivertail worms, squirreltail worms, damiki, and kvd dream shots.

I have some of both and have caught fish with both. The bait I catch the most fish with is a kvd magnum dreamshot in Brown purple. But I always have both green pumpkin and watermelon red I many different types of worms.