CJV

Frog bite this time of year is always on. What are the conditions your fishing.

If this is your first casting reel then I would suggest you get better at using it. Chucking a square bill a mile should be the least of your concerns. Understand the entire reel cast control knobs, breaks, free spool, etc like the other OP said accuracy>distance especially with a square bill and targeting cover. You don't need to upgrade bearings because I have three curado I's all with stock bearings my actual square bill rod is on a jackall poison adrena 6'6" medium and I can bomb an LC 1.5 .... The rod your using has a lot to do with casting distance and the specific rod your using is so so and pretty tip heavy which may have something to do with your end result as it's a medium heavy rated for 3/8-1oz and you stated your primarily casting 5/16-3/8 Learn your reel, flush those bearings, try a different rod possibly and see if your results are similar. Tight lines

When you catch this so called giant I will believe it's 13lbs.

My local DSG sells cavitrons.

CI4+

Quantum's stuff isn't that great I had bought an EXO and Smoke bait casting reels when they were first released and after one season both of them sounded like old coffee grinders. However for $60 you don't have much to lose.

Friend just bought a brand new 1860 let me tell you they are very nice in terms of value for your dollar. The floor is a rhino lined material however I would recommend carpet to dampen the noise. They are bow mount trolling motor ready all you have to do is run your 8 gauge and install a plug and your good to go. We ran his 1860 with a 75HP mercury on the Potomac several times and I would say it does OK in big water for an aluminum boat once you get waves over a foot or two you will get the snot beat out of you. Do you plan on getting one with a console already installed or are you making one? Also the whole area under the deck is storage so you have a lot of storage and a recessed pedal would be no problem. Let me know if you have any other questions

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Do yourself a favor and get 7lb or 8lb Sunline sniper FC it's a fluorocarbon line with great sensitivity and it's super manageable for a fluorocarbon based line. Combine that with a few squirts of KVD line and lure and your good to go. Goodluck

My personal best of almost 8lbs was caught on a cavitron Buzzbait in the ghost minnow color.

Just buy some dirty jigs and go catch a big one.

CAVITRON!!!!

Friend of mine just bought a new 17' grizzly from bass pro shops I went and picked it up with him this weekend. He bought the boat brand new with the matching trailer. The grizzlies are all welded you don't want rivets. He probably spent close to $6k however I think he said the boat and trailer was a little over $4k he also bought a new 24v minn kota, 3 optima batteries, lowrance elite7, misc items. You can find these kind of boats used on CL but it's rare and like the other guy said you have to act extremely fast or there gone before you know it. Goodluck

Yeah I'm not sure what the OP is trying to say either. Spools out? You did the correct thing by using backing.

100% of all my jigs are dirty jigs now the owner Curt is a super nice guy. In my experience hands down the best swimming combination for me this year has been a 3/8 oz. cali swim jig bluegill color with a green pumpkin rage craw. I seem to get a lot of bites with craw style trailers however I get BIGGER bites with your bigger 4" swimbaits like the keitech and RI skinny dippers.