FishTank

Yes Jeffersonville is closer but.... In a strange manner, I use manage a store across the street at Green River in the 90s. It was brief, like only a few months and I traveled from Indy. We referred to it as our Louisville location. It has been stuck in my head ever since. I also have family that lived there. They think of it as Louisville because that is where they worked. Weird, I know.

Very cool idea. But to my point about adding parts, you shouldn't have to but as the years go by, I can see that it is a really good investment. For me I wished they had worked out. Outside the two Loomis GLX rods I had, the OG Steez was my biggest fishing gear investment at that time. Clarksville is Louisville if you live in Indiana. 😁 I miss the restaurant and the Nascar experience. The arcade hunting range was fun too.

I know several people that have owned the OG Steez and none of them have them any more but the OG Zillion is a different story. That platform seemed to be a winner. Also, I still see several Curado B's and BSF's reels that still operate like new. My fishing buddy has 6 of the B's. I gave him a new Curado K after a tournament win and he hates it. So to each their own. As far as working on the OG Steez, it was just probably my inexperience at the time. The new ones are far worse to work on but are pleasure to fish most of the time. They just require more patience and skill on the repair end of things. The first reels I was taught to repair were Curado B's. I can put one together in my sleep. To me, it is simplistic by design and that's why it lasts. I would say the same for the Core. If OG Steez lasted for you, it probably because it was well maintained.

I will also add that years later I worked on a few Steez reels and at that time I was pretty green at the whole thing and I remember them being the most difficult reels to work on. To put in car terms for that era.... The Steez was a Ferrari, a Curado was a Chevy Nova, and the flagship Shimano Calais was a Rolls-Royce. The Curado was the easiest to work on.

Tried two of them. One of the few reels I had to return. Both were rough, like the gears were grinding. I returned the first one to BPS in Louisville. It never even made it to the water. BPS either worked on it there or sent it back to Daiwa but it was still bad after repair so they exchanged it for another one. The replacement developed the same thing but it also had inconsistent casting. I returned it, went to a local shop and bought a Shimano Core. It unfortunately fell off the back of the boat a few years ago but I got lucky and found another one on ebay. Still fishing it today. My all time favorite reel. I will say all of the other Steez reels I have owned except one have been pretty good. I have had to put more parts in them than any other reels though but I fish them hard. So not really upset or discouraged.

I had a few different spools of 832 a few years back that were bad and I never went back. I started using PE braid from Japan. @DEPS_250 I would suggest another line but I'm not sure what you are going to use it for. Are you going straight braid or are you using a leader?

@Aguilab1 Still using the Ryugi Pierce Daggers but have also tried the BKK Spear 21-SS and both work ok. The Spear might be slightly heavier but works fine. I also took a gamble and bought a cheap no name hook on Amazon that is the correct size with the feather. They caught fish just fine. The feathers do fall apart after a while but it took several months of fishing before I needed to change them again.

I would say a spinnerbait, followed by a curly tail worm. I use to catch fish on regular basis with them but on my lakes they just don't get bit as often as they use to. It really hasn't stopped me from fishing them or buying them for that matter. I bet I have 3 big Plano boxes packed with spinnerbaits. I just bought some packs of big curly tail worms and a few spinnerbaits so I haven't totally given up yet.

There are a lot of good hooks out there. For me, I am not exactly brand loyal so I am all over the place when it comes which ones I use. I like Ryugi, Gamakatsu, Owner, Hayabusa, Zappu, BKK, Decoy and maybe Trokar. I also like Mustad's flipping hooks but have not been a fan of much else from them. My go to worm hook now is the Ryugi Infini. I had been ordering them from Japan and for the price, you can't beat them. They also make one of the most incredible little hooks out there, the Hobbit. I have brought in some big bass on these hooks and have yet to have one bend out. Just an amazing piece of tackle engineering.

I don't have FFS but most of the tournaments I fish are dominated by it. I would say about 75% or more of the boats have it. I fished a few tournaments where me and my fishing buddy were the only ones without it. Even when I am fun fishing you see a lot of guys using it, especially crappie fisherman. I would say it's around 50% or more depending on what day it is. My opinion is that years of bank beating by anglers like myself have driven fish off shore to rock and downed brush piles and with tools like FFS ,it's making those fish easier to find. After a few years of FFS being around, I'm starting to see those fish return to shallow cover and grass like they were before (at least at my lakes). There seems to be a gradual transition, like FFS is pushing them back. For me, I use side imaging, down imaging, and mapping to find fish off shore. I don't catch them like guys do with FFS but the fish will still hit a football jig being dragged in deep water. I'm just not mindlessly flipping it around a dock or lay downs all the time. I do like how there is this sort of mixture of both worlds starting to show up. I think anglers are learning that you can't be a one trick pony. You have to know both worlds in order be successful.

Any color of the Lucky Craft LV500. Another would be the original Xcalibur One Knocker. Honorable mention, Jackall TN60 in Ghost Minnow.

I just picked up two of them. We will see how they work out.

It depends on the square bill. I have baits that take from a size #12 up to a 1/0. My advice is to get a variety of sizes #8 to #2. That should cover most of them. I usually take a hook out of the package and try to match it as close in size and weight as I can to the original. Depending on the bait, I will change the split rings as well. Most mass produced baits have low quality hardware so I may swap out the hooks and split rings when they are new. It gives you an opportunity to give your baits a major upgrade. I tend to use either the Ryugi Pierce or Owner ST 36s. For some jerkbaits, I like the Gamakatsu G Finesse hooks.

I would wait until the new Megabass Levante comes out. For $200 or possibly less, it should be a killer rod series at that price.

I wish I had one, an original Wiggle Wart.

The finish is one thing that does set these lures apart. I feel like a bright finish or glossy coating sometimes just doesn't get bit. I also like Nishine's jerkbaits as well. Megabass has a few good colors with a dull finish, like matte shad but Great Lakes Finesse, to me, has the best matte finish of any soft plastic. It would be nice if they expanded into bigger baits.

I use TSI 321on the bearings, Cals grease on the drag, Daiwa grease on the gears and Shimano Bantam Oil on everything else. I like the Lucas Oil cleaner for getting the gunk off. The most important part is to get it clean and soaking the bearings or putting them in an ultrasonic cleaner. To clean the bearings I like Simple Orange. I have been waiting to post this. Looks like this is the right time...... I was going to order some pricey oil from Japan Tackle and asked about it. Here was thier response. I was kind of surprised. I believe Shimano ACE-0 grease and Shimano Bantam Oil B-100 are the best for bait casting reels. You may use them to both to shimano and Daiwa. The oil should be used at the ball bearings at spool shafts and knobs. The one-way clutch roller should be lubed with the oil as well. All other parts, like gears, other ball bearings and etc should be lubed with grease. These are the basic, but great enough for fishing reels. And, please do not much try expensive oil. They tend to damage whole reels. I have dealt with a few hundred used reels, and the most damages have come from salt and expensive thin lubrications. Dirty reels without "maintennce" tended to have the least damages at mechanicals. Shimano/Daiwa reels have enough grease to protect mechanicals, and you don't have to open it often. Enjoy maintaining your reels! Jun Sonoda

I have one in the ghost shad and a bone color both have caught fish. I haven't fished them as often as I should. I have the ones without the blade.

I have used 6, 10, 12, and 14lb LTD, all on baitcasting gear. It's great line. It's soft but strong. I might like it better than Tatsu. One thing to note, it is slightly thinner than some lines rated exactly the same. If you have fished Sunline Shooter Invisible, the 6lb R18 LTD is more like 5lb in Shooter. When comparing 6lb Shooter to R18 LTD, I like Shooter better for BFS. I just have more faith in it. Also, I have not fished the other versions of R18 but I have been told they all fish differently from one another. I would put LTD somewhere between Tatsu and Invizx when it comes to feel.

These are my favorites for each technique.... Shaky Head - 1/16oz Owner Shaky Head Drop shot - 1/8oz Woo Tungsten Closed Eye Cylinder Hair jig - I get my favorite made at a local fly shop 1/8oz Finesse jig - Raid Egu Dama Level Heavy Cover 1/8 or 3/16oz with Neko rig - 1/8oz nail weight Wacky Rig - a 5in Senko weighs about 3/8oz. I use an 1/8oz Berkley Fusion Weighted Wacky Jig With all that said, if you are fishing for smallmouth in current, I would not use any of this. A decent current with deep water and those weights won't reach the bottom. If that's the case, I would go 3/16 or 1/4oz.

I have for the most part one reel for each rod. I do keep one reel on the side as a back up in case something goes down. I do like to move a reel or two around from one rod to another just to see if it might be better. Sometimes a little different feel is just the right thing.

Bank, boat and kayak. Anytime I can.

If your in the US....Please let us know how this goes. I'm thinking of placing an order from them and want to know the extra costs that are involved.

I sell rods and reels from time to time. I may want to update something or just move on from something that may be collecting dust. I have also bought a few rods and reels that I either didn't like or weren't a good fit. I take those funds and invest in something new.

They look really good for the price. I have one the previous version, the Jerkbait Special and it's fun rod to fish. I think it will dominate this market area of rods just on looks alone.