reason162

I've slowly upgraded my Zodias rods to Expride A's, and they are exceptional rods. Sensitivity, esp slack line sensitivity, is in a different class from the Zodias line. Lighter, better balanced...those are what you'd expect when you move up in price range, but being able to feel bites when your jig is freefalling on slack line, reliably feel them through the blank, even when the wind is howling...that was a pleasant surprise. Having said that, I would strongly recommend the 6'10 and 7'2M Zodias rods for chatter/spinnerbaiting duty. They have the perfect med-fast (leaning towards fast) action, and for those applications sensitivity isn't paramount. But def check out the 7'2 mh Expride A for bottom contact!

Lol that is indeed a blackfish jig, can't wait til the season opens again...

Kreh's loop is the best loop knot I've tried. Similar to the Rapala loop, but the tag end points down...imo a stronger, neater knot all around.

The blank and hardware on the Zodias is top notch.

Spent some time at the fishing show checking out the Exage line, the 7'2 Heavy is a pool cue, the M and MH seem nice and crisp. Full suite of Alconite guides is impressive at this price point, but none of the rods I played with were dead nuts perfect: one or two guides would be slightly misaligned, and a couple of rods had very small warps in the blank. Then again, I have severe fishing OCD...this is a beater rod I'd have to pick out in a store and not order online.

Is this your opinion or can you provide a source from Daiwa?

I think you'll be much happier with either the Zodias or Cronos. Definitely skip the e6x, and the Levante as well...

Not sure how you service your Shimano bearings, but if you flush/re-oil a magsealed bearing it will no longer be "magsealed."

Way too far, but any store called the Wacky Worm might be worth the trip. Thanks! Yeah Davis might be the closest to me with a decent selection. Thanks! I plan on checking out the show for sure!

Probably because there's a new iteration Curado coming out. Shimano competes with Daiwa and vice versa...I don't think they're too concerned about Lews.

Looking for a well stocked tackle store in north jersey/NY that carries mid to high-range rods...Shimano zodias/daiwa zillion and up. Bonus points if they carry dobyns!

These are questions: "The brand spanking new Tatula SV is a A7075 SV spool?" "So basically what I'm getting at is the new model is a type r shallow spool with a SV logo?" These are conclusions: "Seems to me as a pure marketing thing." "Just seems to me it's more marketing than anything else at this point." See the difference?

YGK G-Soul SS112 Sinking Braided Line.

This is from your opening post: And here's what you wrote in another forum re the Tat SV: "Just seems to me it's more marketing than anything else at this point." You drew conclusions based on erroneous information before you even received answers to your question.

I've followed his uninformed conclusions on more than one forum, and this is gold.

quality > quantity. Go fish one of those Chinese reels with 15 bearings for 60 bucks and report back.

So I just weighed my 3/4 oz + trailer...the package came out to 1.6 oz! I had no idea the trailer weighed so much... Back to the drawing board I guess. Hard to find that 7' - 7'4 med-fast taper w/o going JDM...I just picked up a MB Hyuga 72H, rated to 3 oz, thought it was overkill for this application but maybe not!

Sounds perfect for my intended use. Will it launch (not lob cast, but launch) 1 oz total payload? In my experience mod-fast tapers are a little more forgiving in the lure rating department...hard to find that 3/4 - 1.25oz launcher in that "japanese mod-fast" action w/o going too heavy!

Uni to uni tests horribly for any line class, both braid and mono/floro. It's a knot that cuts into itself and has terrible shock absorption. If your knot is getting reeled into the guides...FG is the way to go. Tied correctly, the braid "traps" the leader material in a series of weaves, by far a superior braid-to-leader connection and is the thinnest profile knot to boot.

You would think line-through, sans guides, would make a rod more sensitive, but who knows? I recall the casting wasn't all that great with the interline rods, but I'm talking about some sort of hybrid where only the last 3 inches or so of the rod tip is line-through.

I've lost fish/broke rod tips bc of this...and yes, I do "stroke" the crap out of my jigs , pop them as hard as I can on slack line. Wonder if spiral wrapping would help on casting rods, or some kind of hybrid, guide-less tip (remember those inter-line rods daiwa put out years ago? no guides at all!)

Thanks! Yeah I'm having entirely too much fun with the kayak + freshwater bass gear... Thanks!

PB tautog with my Zodias 610ML/Scorpion 70. Very lucky to have landed this fish, no big rocks/structure at that spot! big fish @11:45

Anyone with the 6'10 M Zodias...feel free to chime in!

Used my 610ML all season for fluke/flounder, paired with Scorpion 70HG...what an EXCELLENT combo to fish with all day. Looking at the Zodias 610M: it's listed as "moderate fast," but is it a crankbait rod mod-fast or is it just slightly slower than the 610ML? Slightly slower is good, crankbait taper is not. Here's a few short clips of my main saltwater tackle in 2016, really couldn't be happier with what Shimano's offering: https://www.instagram.com/p/BH2e3yojZ27/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BLVP7OvDAqg/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BL6TRjqjc6u/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BKzlOZQgDJI/