FishTank

If still under warranty, St. Croix is generally great to deal with. As far as the rod goes, the Eyecon was never exactly their best effort and the Premier is not bad but the Avid is, to me, where their best foot forward begins. I have not had much of chance to look at the new Victory rods but they maybe a good option as well.

I have both and there are just two different tools. The DC I use for unique situations and the K for just everyday fishing. I plan on using them to catch enough fish to feed a small army. Exaggerated fishing stories are just hyperboles told in measurements.

I have the SD as well and the handle does get bothersome but that is my only gripe. I have fished it maybe a total of 8 hours so far and I've caught about 10 fish with it. It's a great rod but I like my NRX better for jigs. I do think it's great and maybe even better than the NRX at T-rig baits and is more versatile. Over 5/8oz it seems to change it's characteristics, which isn't a bad thing. It's just different from other rods and sort of special. I think the reel seat placement is a little higher up than other rods at the same length which would make skipping docks difficult. I have the 803C GLX and it's great for skipping docks but I wish, like you, that I picked up the 804C NRX.

If you are fishing over grass and structure, I have three options depending on how muddy or clear the water is.... for clear water I like the Berkley Power Worm 7in with a 1/8oz bullet weight and a 4/0 straight shank. For muddy water I like either the Rage Tail Anaconda or the Zoom O'l Monster with a 5/0 straight shank hook and depending on depth either weightless or with an 1/8oz bullet weight.

I have used Megastrike, Bang, and Smelly Jelly. Each has their place but I don't tend to use them unless the bite is slow and/or soft. I think the idea of these things is get the fish to hold on longer and increase how hard they bite.

I have an older 783C GLX and use it for mainly for senkos and jerkbaits but I have used it for jigs as well and it is great for skipping docks. It is still my favorite after 15+ years. The Conquest should be fantastic.

I would just use straight mono for what you are trying to do. I find, and this is just me and my equipment, that when I cast a big bait (glide baits and swimbaits above ~2.5oz) that I have to load the rod a certain way to get some decent casting distance which causes the line to bear a lot of the force and with a braid to mono set up, I would snap the leader connection knot on a cast. Also, I am going to guess that you have the Aird X Heavy. It's rated up to 1.5 oz and I don't think they are made to handle much more than that but are an excellent rod for the money.

There is the Abu Garcia Revo Elite Aurora.

Doyo is still cranking these out. The finish is cool looking but not my thing anymore. I tried 4 of the Quantum reels that had this finish years ago. I thought at that time that they were the coolest thing in the world. I think this is the same reel platform as the Lew's Team Lite.

Weightless soft plastic, lighter swim baits (Keitech Easy Shiner), tubes, and hair jigs and finesse jigs. Basically what J Francho said above.

One way I check the AR bearing is to picture the reel as a clock and the reel handle as the hour hand. I set the handle at 12. I back reel the handle every two hours to check the slop. If the bearing is bad, you will have more slop in the handle at two given points, for example at 4 and 10 o'clock. One other thing to try if the bearing is good, reposition the drag stack cover and/or the roller clutch sleeve. This worked on old reel of mine, Calcutta 251. Not sure why it worked but it did.

I just picked up two new Curados, one left and one right handed. I already had one and I also have one Curado DC, so a total of four. The right handed one has more back play but not as much as the Curado 201G or the Chronarch 51E I have. When I took the right handed one apart (I always clean and relube my reels when new) I noticed it had a slightly different AR bearing. I believe one was off white and the other gray. The right handed reel feels fine and performs well. If I hadn't just been toying with it, I would have never noticed the back play. On a side note, I did replace the AR Bearing in my Chronarch 51E, as it was pretty much shot, and the bearing made it feel like a brand new, yet different, reel and no back play. It some how way improved how this reel performs.

All the above. It just depends on the circumstances.

I thought about it but we were going about 30 mph and we had to go about 2-3 minutes past were it fell off. The wake from the boat we passed was over 2 feet high. It was a wakeboarding boat. It sort of looked like this one but bigger and deeper. The wake it gives off will totally hide the boarder behind the boat. There was no way we were going to be able to troll the area these guys were playing in.

Funny.... So I went a different direction after putting the Metanium in hand. It felt smooth but adjusting the breaks was difficult. The sales guy tricked me at first and handed me the Chronarch MGL. It was hard to tell the difference at first but its definitely there. The Metanium was smoother but for the price and the feel, I went with Chronarch. As far as the rod goes, I am getting the 873 but almost, again, came home with a Conquest. I just couldn't bring myself to drop $700 or so on just the rod.

The rod was terrible to loose but the Core was sort of like loosing an old friend. I have several other reels but this one was something special. I had super tuned it myself and upgraded the bearings and drag> even though it didn't need it. It never backlashed, it was smooth, could cast a mile and at the same time it was a simple, well made reel.

I am guessing this the G Loomis IMX Pro 903C. I would use it for T-Rigged soft plastic, light jigs, and maybe chatterbaits. Another thought, I might use it for drop shot with a 3/16 oz or 1/4 oz weight. It would depend on the rod tip though. It would need to soft with a strong middle and grip. On a side note, I have the 903C IMX Pro CBR and it loads a 3/8oz crank perfectly. It's well made and fun to fish. I like the length and the balance of this rod. I would hope that the same characteristics are in the 903C MBR.

So to start, I watched my new G.Loomis PR844C GLX and my Shimano Core 101MG go flying off the back of the boat yesterday and go down in to 40 feet of muddy water and darkness. Now I need a new set up. I am looking to get the Loomis 873C NRX or the 854 GLX. I am leaning more towards the 873C. Not exactly looking to replace the PR844C but I really did like it. So I am trying to decide between the Daiwa Steez A and the new Metanium. I can get them for about the same price. I will be using this set up for most of the usual stuff (everything except finesse and crankbaits). Thanks for the advice.

I purchased three reels with no problems. I was concerned with the warranty at first but the cost savings and the availability of parts made it a none issue. I will probably be ordering again in the future as I lost one (rod and reel) today.

My guess is a bird with talons but I have seen this with braid. I was using 20lb on spinning gear and no leader. The fish jumped and turned the line over. I pulled not knowing it had wrapped itself around my line and I sliced it> similar to the pic above.

Good read. I wish it would have held true for me today. We got skunked.

I have looked into the BFS stuff and decided it wasn't for me so the lightest set up I have is a Daiwa Steez SV TWS and a 6'8'' M St. Croix Legend Elite. Everything else gets done on spinning gear.

A little over the budget but ...... St. Croix avid 7' mh fast.

Spinning or casting? For spinning I like 6lb or 8lb Trilene XL 100% FC. For baitcasters (and it's a no-brainer for me) > Seaguar Tatsu 12lb.

I like Bang, Megastrike and Smelly Jelly. Do they help? I like to think so but I don't use them all the time. They seem to help more when the bite is slow. Maybe (and I mean maybe), it makes the bites harder and easier to detect during those tough days.