FishTank

I have tried several over the years, some in the $400 range. So far the best I have I used has the been the St. Croix Legend Glass. I would buy one of each in the line up, if I had the cash.

I had the same issue with a Zillion years ago. I cut a really thin rubber washer and placed it under the screw cap. It took a little trial and error and some luck but it worked for a at home fix.

Blue Mirror for bright daytime light and a pair of polychromatic/transition lens (sort of pink) for everything else.

I went through the same dilemma earlier this spring. After fishing a friends Metanium which did feel a little geary, I bought the Bantam. So far it has been awesome. I have said before, it has that round reel feel, power and smoothness built into a low profile reel. I get the sense that it will last forever.

My pick would be the St. Croix Mojo. Nice rod for the money.

I had the same issue with the original Zillion but it occurred several years after I purchased. I eventually sold it (I did let the buyer know just in case). I took the whole thing apart and rebuilt it and it still did the same thing. I believe the spring on the clutch was bad. The attached image shows what I thought it was at the time I took it apart. If you can, I would either return it or send it to Daiwa for service.

I use dislike split grip rods but I have gotten use them over the years. For me, I sort of prefer a full cork grip on jigs and soft plastic and a split grip on crankbaits but it's not a definite thing that bothers me. I do remember fishing with a split grip saltwater rod when I was a kid (early 80's) that had a wooden handle by the reel seat with a removable cork like ball at the end of the rod that you could attach counter weights to. I think the idea was to hold the rod on the edge of a dock or boat and bob the bait up and down by using the cork ball. First split grip rod I had ever seen.

No but I wish I did. The first reel I got, like most kids, was a Zebco 33. The first combo I got was a Daiwa Minicast with a rod that broke down and went into a traveling case. I later got a Daiwa Goldcast, followed by a Ryobi (SX-1 I think) spinning reel. None of these I still have but the Daiwa Minicast was something special.

As stated above.... This is the reason I don't store them in anything but the original packages. They can do all kinds of funky stuff.... Stick together, mix colors, mix scents, etc.

I have a smaller 2 sided plano box with hooks and leaders on one side and weights on the other> keeping it simple.

I have the Core 101 and would have to agree. It has been my favorite reel since I bought it. It's just the simple design of the reel and how well if functions that make it one the easiest baitcaster to use. It checks all the boxes when comes to the things I want in a baitcaster plus it's easy to work on. I wish I could just find a lot of them sitting new in the box on eBay or something.

I have the same rod and have not had an issue with my hand hurting but it awesome for weightless senkos and fat ikas. Hook sets are easy and almost effortless. I have to some times watch myself when setting the hook on this rod though. I typically use 6lb FC and if I set the hook too hard, I snap the line.

I have the older 844C IMX and it does pretty well for a general purpose rod when it comes to heavier applications. My personal favorite rod for general purpose use though, is the St. Croix Avid 7' MH fast. It is not as sensitive as the IMX but it gets the job done when I want to take one rod with me on my kayak or when I am bank fishing. I have used it for pretty much everything. As far as power goes, I would say the Heavy IMX is as equal to the MH Avid. The great thing about the Avid, it is about $100 less than the IMX.

I use a G. Loomis 844C IMX or GLX for this. Both have plenty of backbone to get the job done and will cast that heavy piece of plastic a country mile.

I will be dealing with a similar temp shift this weekend..... In years passed, we would fish deep and slow. Generally big rolling crankbaits, jerkbaits with a long pause and jigs were the ticket. Sometimes though, with big temp swings, fish seem avoid the bank at all costs.

I use 1/8 and 3/16oz for most applications. If I am fishing in less than 5 feet with a Senko I tend to weightless. I catch just as many fish on the fall with no weight as I do with weights on a slow retrieve.

15lb Seagur Invizx would work but if you are fishing around pike I would get some 25lb steel leaders.

I caught my personal best (10lb 2oz) on a Zoom Lizard black with blue flake. I don't tend to fish them as much as I use to. I am not sure what the deal is but the bass don't seem to bite on them as much as they use to> that won't stop me from using them though.

That's a good deal. I hear the BaitMonkey calling me......

I would agree. For me, jigs do produce bigger fish, most of the time, than senkos but I catch more fish with senkos. I caught five today on a senko, 2 on a jerk bait, and none on jigs and none on crank baits. The guy I fish with pretty much the same story.... 7 on a Berkley Powerworm and none on jigs. It just wasn't a jig day. Two weeks ago different story. The jig bite was on. I can't explain it. One thing with jigs that does drive me crazy (and it may be me).... I loose a ton of them in the rock piles when we do the pitchin' the jig routine.

I have fished Senkos for years. During most of the tournaments (any pretty much anytime) I have fished in, the Senko is the best producer. I watch guys moving quickly within a few feet of the bank pitching the same jig over and over again and all I do is chuckle because I know at the end of the day, I will smoke them. Sometime slower is better but not always. In the end, I think you have to know the conditions and understand what the bass are after. I also think of bass as cats playing with a toy.... Some chase it and others don't. Maybe it's the way the bait is presented and how much confidence you have in that particular bait.

I would say Tom nailed it. The the spools are too full. You need about +1/16" of spool with no line. I would also guess that the line on the Daiwa is loose at the bottom of the spool. It happened to me a few times. If you let the line out behind a boat and if it is loose on the spool most of the way down then you know it will need to be re-spooled. It should look something like this......(Hopefully this image is OK, you can tell where I got it)

I don't think you can go wrong with either one. It just depends on if you want a round reel or a large low profile bait caster. Either way, you are going to be tired if you fish one of these reels and a big bait all day. I took a hard look at the Lexa earlier this year. I ended up buying a Abu Garcia Revo Toro Beast for $200 (I couldn't pass it up at this price). This reel is more reel than I will ever need, even for big baits/fish. I have yet to hook into anything big enough to max out this reel potential. It's surprisingly super smooth for a big reel and definitely more powerful than the Shimano Calcutta I have.

The 6'8'' M Extra-Fast Avid would work a jig/worm rod. In most Loomis rods this would be a MH.

My fishing partner uses several and loves them but I just don't get it. I like all the Loomis rods I own but this model just falls short. I would suggest a St.Croix Avid over this rod anytime. The 7' MH fast or 7' M Fast would be great picks. You can do just about anything with either one of these rods.