Fishingmickey

I have no experience with that reel but what your saying makes perfect sense to me. The reel ticks all the boxes for a frog or heavy cover pitching/flipping reel, high speed, serious drag heavy duty reel that will handle the abuse of frog fishing. FM p.s. West side HS grad and go Big Red!

6'10" Kistler mag2 MH fast and a 7' Kistler Argon MH fast. I use 12# Invisx on the Argon and 16# Tatsu on the mag2. FM

Yes, I had one (1.5 yrs) till a someone else decided to permanently borrow it. Performed excellent. Worked great for throwing lighter baits. Had such a sexy "zinnngg" noise when you cast. I ran my cast control pretty loose and if I "forked" up a cast I could nest it. It was definitely more forgiving then non-DC in that aspect. The "nest" wouldn't be as deep or as bad. Good for skipping but don't try to drive dock nails back in at four feet with your 1/2 oz jig. FM

X2 on the L'il N and DD22.

I remember back in the day a 5:1 ratio was about as fast as they made (35-40 years ago). If your planning on throwing larger double willow leaf spinnerbaits a 6:1 will perform very well. FM

Dennis you can compare retrieve (gear ratio) to a transmission on a vehicle. In low gear you have much more torque (pulling power) and less speed. In high gear your have much more speed and less torque or pulling power. Removing line from your reel does change the IPT as you noted but doesn't change the torque. With crank baits if your throwing a large (big billed) deep diving crank bait you would want the lower ratio to keep from wearing your arm out if your throwing say a 8XD or 10XD. Throwing mid sized to small crank baits probably wouldn't make much of a noticeable difference. FM

I'll keep my fingers crossed. FM

Whatever ya do WPC... Don't try the Scorpion 150XG MGL. I haven't fished mine yet. Came in yesterday. Took it out of the box, spun it, played with the cast control and brakes. I was very impressed. It was a "Wow" moment. FM

Thank you Big Angus! Serious score! The "extra" did apply for me. $131 for a Champion XP....Schweet! FM

I was up on vacation from Texas and had a two day and a half day window to fish. It's my third year going to the Belgrade lakes area. China lake was by far superior to Great pond (1st year) and Long pond last year. I would have loved to spend more time on Belgrade stream. I got in a hour and a half on the stream my last morning. One largmouth about 5lb, a good smallie that went 3.5 or so and seven pike. The bass and half of the pike came on topwater. FM

Spent the first week of September in Maine (Belgrade lakes are). I got to fish China lake Tuesday and Wednesday. Hit Belgrade Stream Thursday morning for a couple of hours and fishing was excellent. Caught both Smallmouth and Largemouth bass. Everything else was biting too (Chain pickerel, Pike and White Perch)! Fishingmickey

To whom it may or may not concern: I have had the line get caught in the "gap" of the hook eye and had to re-tie after pulling it out. I felt pretty sure it damaged the line. This is on modern hooks and yes I like the VMC's that have the epoxied gap. Fishingmickey

Well Bama, Get the (size) numbers off of your tire. Google trailer tires and or tire places in your vicinity (which you have already said you've done). Get on the phone and see if you can find one that handles trailer tires. Match the number of lugs (5) and tire size. Go buy two if you want them to match and save the non-ruined one as your spare. You probably won't be able to find a exact match for what's on there but you should be able to find one that fits. Good luck! FM p.s. Sure are pretty chrome rims and bearing buddy.

Here is my old set-up.

eightydee, 8# dumb bell and 50' of 1/4" braided rope works great to about 25' depth. Deeper then that you need to go to 75' of line. Paracord for anchor rope is just too thin, Dog leashes rust out and are too short. FM

The Curado 200E7 "greenie" is one of the highly sought after time tested classic (or soon to be) reels. The 7:1 ratio is good all round ratio. If it were me. I'd go ahead and get the reel then send it to Delaware tackle for a complete rebuild/bearings/tune up and you'll have a great reel that will last you many many years. Fishingmickey

Looking forward to hearing/seeing your reports A-jay! FM

I can only speak for the Kistler Helium3's. Love mine. I suspect the other two rods you named from what I have read on here are no slouches either. FM

Oh oh I thought you were referring to bait casting. Spinning reels I switch hands. FM

Hi Wizzlebiz, I am also a lefty that uses a righty reel and... I do not change hands when casting. I really like not having to change hands. It allows me to start my retrieve the instant the lure hit the water. Think casting into a foot or slightly less of water with three inches of algae growing up from the bottom and being able to retrieve my spinner bait without getting fouled by a wad of algae. Fishingmickey

One reason I use a leader on a bait caster. I use a mono leader for is top water. The mono leader is stiffer then the braid and I find that I foul the line in the front hooks on the bait much less especially when using a "walk the dog" retrieve. On a spinning rod is for breaking off and much less stretch then straight fluoro or mono. FM

I am a Kistler fan also, I own about eight of them. Since you said your leaning to St. Croix. Maybe check out the 7' MH/F mojo bass. It's a excellent all around rod and doesn't have the micro guides. The Kistler's are better built lighter rod but you pay 80-100 more for them. The Kistler Magnesium II's 6'10" is what Trey reccommends for spinner baits. It's a tad less expensive then the KLX's or Helium 3's. FM

Luck-E-Strike ring worm. TW is only showing five colors though. Purple w/yellow tail and Black w/Chartreuse tail are a couple of my old favorites. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-LKESTRK.html?from=basres https://truenorthoutfitters.com/products/ringworm?variant=44800934739 FM

Is carrying fifteen rods and reels on my kayak too much? I also have to decide which ones get to come fishing or stay home. FM

You might try these links or find your own using google. Not sure where in northern Minnersoota yer located at. http://graphicsguyswraps.com/our-galleries-for-the-graphics-guys-custom-vehicle-wraps-ham-lake-mn-55304/boats http://www.digitalinkdesign.net/boats-digital-ink.htm https://www.ultimateboatwraps.com/ My initial thought is maybe you should use the kayak for a few months. Then think about getting it wrapped or painted if your still so inclined. FM