k3bass

Who cares if a rod is balanced holding it with a bait tied on? That has nothing to do with a rod being balanced.

I think the reason Fenwick discontinued the et smallmouth is because it was so much better than their higher priced rods than they weren't selling any of them.

For 199 bucks on sale at tw the lews team gold speed spool would be hard to beat! Why would anyone choose the curado over the new citica if its basically the same reel? Can the curado still be found for less than the citica?

I use the Pfleuger 35 size for ml and m rods. What are the advantages of using a small spinning reel?

Well if they didn't have broken guides I would buy them. I don't understand your cheap metal guide and wet tree branch comments. Those smallmouth elite tech rods were awesome for the price! The new elite tech bass version doesn't compare.

Which elite tech rod do you have? I have 4 of the discontinued elite tech smallmouth rods and would buy as many as possible if Fenwick still made them.

I'll never understand why anyone would want to use a 1000 size reel for bass fishing. They usually don't balance well compared to a 2500 and you get a slower retrieve rate, less cranking power,less drag, shorter casting distance with the smaller diameter spool, and less line capacity. What's the point?

I'll stick with my lews and daiwa for now. I've had nothing but issues with every shimano reel I've owned since they switched to the e series. Shimanos customer service went from the best to total crap. My curado d's and old chronarchs are awesome though.

These rods may be built with sc3 material but they are not the same blanks as the avids. Avid blanks are made in the USA these are not. They also have different actions, power, length etc. Just like the differences between the avid and rage. I'll still be buying some though. I hated the handle and guides on the rage, but liked the blanks. Now you can get them cheaper with a normal handle and guides.

There are plenty of cheap rods out there clearly marked spincast on the blank.

There's a new thread on here every few days about screeching noise during the cast with the new curado. I've owned dozens of shimano casting reels in the past and never had to oil the brake drum on any of them. Never had to oil any of the brakes on my lews or daiwa reels either.

My lews are made in Korea.

I wouldn't consider having to oil the brakes every use or every three uses "maintenance". More like fixing a problem that shimano should have solved to begin with.

Can you imagine all the bashing by shimano fans that would be going on if it was a Lews reel that had to be oiled before each use? Lol.

So why buy a symetre then? Why not buy the 20 dollar shimano fx? It fuctions and operates the same as the symetre. I like reels that STAY smooth and have zero issues. The symetre had binding issues and got rough after little use. It also had too much flex in the stem since shimano decided to downgrade the symetre to a graphite frame.

Comparing a symetre to a certate is nonsense. I quickly sold my symmetry fl after using it a few times. On the other hand after using my certates, one for 2 years and the others for almost a year, I'd gladly pay retail price for them even though I bought them all at a discount.

I'd check it closely, feel with the tip of your figernail. I have 3 of them and they all have a groove, it's gold colored in the groove where the chrome plating(or whatever it is) wears through on the roller. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

The line roller on the newer trions get a groove worn in them after a few trips if you use them with braid. I liked my older trions and presidents with the wood handles. The new versions are junk in my opinion.

That's why I asked what model. The new friction rings like the one in this reel can't cause binding like the older models did. I knew someone would say it's the friction ring. Shimano spinning reels are notorious for binding problems. You can clean it and it will be good for a while, but it will eventually start binding again. My advice is to get rid of it.

What model sahara?

Daiwa ss1300

A larger diameter spool will definitely cast the same line diameter and lure weight farther than a smaller diameter spool.

Yep! And you don't even have to oil them before each trip.

Get the lews. The lews team reels are unbeatable for the price. Also Lews customer service is unmatched.

Hmmm I'm totally confused. You said bearing mounted carbon rotor. I understand what the bearing under the spool is for. I've caught a lot of big fish on my fjs and sustains(before I sold them) and the difference in drag smoothness is pretty much unnoticeable. Other than the drag, rotor material, and handle the two reels are Identical.