freelancer27

HI guys, thinking of adding the 754 or the 755 to the arsenal with the crazy deals that are going on right now. I currently have a ZBONE 7'6 MH (1/4-1oz) and a Steez AGS 7'9XH that I use for my bottom contact techniques. The ZBONE I use mainly for worming and smaller (up to 3/8oz) Texas rigged plastics while the Steez is used for the heavier (3/4oz -1.5oz) Jigs and pegged plastics. So, I am looking for something in between. A dedicated jig rod for 1/2oz Jigs that I would use mostly in open water (with some medium cover pitching every now and there, for the heavy stuff I would use the AGS). So, wondering which of the two (754 / 755) would fit my needs best. Thanks for the feedback. Cheers, Seb.

My 2 cents. I had the Shimano Aldebaran BFS, the MGEXTreme 2 and I have basically all of the latest Steez: I would recommend to go with the Alpha CT. I have the Steez CT and from what I am hearing the Alpha's performance is VERY close to the Steez for less than half of the cost. It is a bit heavier but that might be a fair trade off. The Aldebaran BFS can cast a bit lighter lures (1/16th) but I am not sure I would buy it, when the CT platform provides more flexibility. I surely sold mine after having received the Steez CT. The MGEXTREME 2 is an interesting candidate. One can throw lures from 1/8 to 1oz on this reel. A buddy of mine uses the reel for almost every technique and it still performs after 4(!) years. I had mine paired with a 852 NRX and it performed reasonably well with lighter lures. I just thought that it was a bit too finicky in less than ideal situations. Also never got used to the knobs. Hence I sold it. Hope that helps a bit. Cheers.

For 250USD there are much better quality reels out there IMO. But everybody decides how they spend their hard earn money

Yeah, the Steez A's spool is not very good for lighter lures. It works with 3/8oz and up but with lighter lures, especially when one wants to pitch, I would not use it. In both of my Steez As I have SV spools. One I use for throwing 1/8oz poppers. If wanted I could just throw in the original spool and could throw up to 4oz baits. I have tried some of the high end Lews. And I just dont think they hold up quality wise with the top Shimano and Daiwa products. I think they have decent mid level reels (I still use my Lew's BB2 Inshore) for some medium sized swim and glide baits. Decent reel for the price.

I would agree with you that the Steez SV TW is not a good choice here. The Steez A is a different reel though.

So, this is where it becomes very subjective. A lot of people say that the Bantam MGL is super duper smooth. I do think that it is smooth but I would not put it in the top tier (tested one for a couple of hours before I sent it back). I currently have two of the top Shimano reels: a 401 Conquest and the Antares DC MD. So I have some sort of Shimano experience if you will. In terms of smoothness (and staying smooth, something that completely annoyed me with the Metanium MGL) I would put the following ranking together: 1. Daiwa Steez SV TW 2. New Daiwa Morethan 3. Steez A 4. Steez CT SV 5. Antares DC MD 6. Calcutta Conquest .... Bantam MGL Again, this is my own subjective opinion. Others, I am sure, will disagree with me. If I had to compare the Steez A with the Bantam MGL: Pros Steez: Lighter, More line capacity, frame is easier to palm (in my hands), the frame is 'warmer' in the cold, the Bantam's alu body will literally freeze your hands off in cold weather, lots of spool options. Buy an SV spool and you have a finesse baitcaster that you can use for skipping or throwing 1/8oz lures. Casting distance (I heard that the close placement of the line guide is hindering distance) Pros Bantam: The unibody is more robust I would think. It probably deals better with hits to it (not to say that the Steez is fragile), heavier weight might make it balance better with heavier rods (one has to test it), slightly cheaper than the Steez If you have never tried a Daiwa, I would definitely give it a shot. There are other Daiwa products out there that cost less money and also get great reviews (cant speak to them personally though). Let me know if you have any other questions!

I do not have the reel, but had the Metanium MGL, which has similar line capacity. If I was to put 20# fluro on the reel to use it for any technique but pitching and flipping, I would probably look for a different reel. Bomb casting swimbaits, I would think you would be at risk of unspooling. You could always go braid to leader though if that was an option. I know that you are not looking at Daiwa, but I would highly recommend you doing so. The Daiwa Steez A comes to mind or even the new Daiwa Costal TWS (that has a SV spool). Bigger spool, smoother retrieve. They are also lighter, which will have an impact when you really want to use it for jerk baits. Just some thoughts.

If the 12 inch unit was not too big and heavy for my kayak I would pull the trigger on it.. .

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MS5BWZS?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=NQ2NGMAJNEX2G8JTR6YP&th=1

On Amazon: Some crazy discount on the 12 inch Raymarine Element.

Do these have the Ultra Hi-Res transducer?

Interesting. Though 1800 USD is a bit too rich for my taste for a Fish finder on a Kayak, plus the transducer would not fit the Hobie either. Talked with a Lowrance guy about the new Hook Reveal. He said it does not have any significant features that the TI2 series would not have.

Which transducer are you using? Probably would not fit in the transducer slot of the Hobie..

Yeah, Garmin, Lowrance and Raymarine have very easy to understand user interfaces. If the Raymarine Element had the touchscreen it would be the ultimate one. But even without touchscreen it feels like it is a pretty d**n good deal. The moments where a touch screen would be particularly helpful are: * Quickly Setting a way point on a particular part of the screen * Quickly scrolling through the past graphs (down, side imaging) * Quickly zooming in Again, all of these can be done fairly well with other devices as well. Touch just makes it a bit easier and quicker.

Have you compared it to the Lowrance (touch) or Raymarine Element (non-touch)? What makes you favor the Garmin?

I would highly suggest to go into a WestMarine (or similar) and check out the units out in person. The Garmin is solid, but I feel that if one does not use the Panoptix, there are better options (for the same price) available.

Looked loong and strong at the Garmins, but I feel that they are last in terms of picture quality (at least what I have seen at the WestMarine demo units). I agree that touch screen is super helpful on the water when one wants to operate a unit very fast. My current ordered list is: 1. Raymarine Element 9HV (best combo of usability, picture quality, features and build quality) 2. Lowrance Elite Ti 9 (great usability, a bit behind in picture quality behind Hummingbird Helix and Raymarine Element) 3. Hummingbird Helix (best picture quality. Felt the usability was the worst and the build quality as well) 4. Garmin Echomap (good build quality, good usability and build. Poor picture quality) Waiting for some sales on the Raymarine or Lowrance and then will probably pull the trigger on one of the two.

Good to know! Thanks for the clarification!

Nice. Sounds like a good deal! The reasons why I am probably staying away from Garmin are: * No real down scan (they stich side scan together, which does not always give an accurate picture) * The overall picture quality was inferior in my opinion comparing to the others * I will most likely not upgrade to panoptic (so no motivation for me) Different horses for different courses I think

Have you played with the Helix 9 in store? I did and the user interface was super confusing to say the least. The build quality and the cable connectors in the back were also fairly poor for such an expensive unit. I think I am almost decided on the Raymarine 9. + Has almost as good side and down imaging as the Helix ++ Has 3D scan by default in the included transducer + is super robust build + Super bright display + I hear a lot of good things about the Raymarine customer service, compared to others (especially Lowrance) Only thing that I am not super happy about (not sure what impact this would have) is the missing touch screen. I found the Raymarine for 899 USD shipped.

Cool, that should come in handy! Thanks a lot for sharing! What are you going with and why?

Was at Westmarine today again and played with all their Fish Finder for about 1h. Here my latest take: * Hummingbird: + Slightly better side imaging than Lowrance - Completely confusing User Interface - Unit (Helix series) just felt and looked cheap * Raymarine Element + Great build quality + 3d scan included in base transducer - some limitations in setting up custom graph combinations - side and down imaging did not feel as detailed as Humming bird or Lowrance * Lowrance Elite + Decent build quality + Touch screen was good + UX is the best amongst all units + Decent side imaging (behind the Hummingbird) and great down imaging - Heard some stories that the Lowrance were prone to break * Garmin Echomaps + Good touch screen + Good UX - Graphs looked a bit less detailed than all the above The guy at WestMarine said that they were going to LA to get trained on the new Lowrance units that will come out in March. Right now I am torn between the Lowrance (because of the best UX) and the Raymarine (because it has the 3D scan). Will probably wait till I have more info on what Lowrance is coming out with soon. Cheers.

Thanks for taking the time to respond! Guess, I will have to go back to the store and play a bit more with the units. In the demos I have not seen too big of a difference between the units tbh. The touch screen of the Garmin is nice (not sure how that would behave with some water/ rain on it though). The Hummingbird's UIX is a bit more confusing to me at the start. The Garmin looks simpler, but also a bit less appealing.

The guy at Westmarine said that the imaging was more or less the same between all these units, since they were using the same kind of transducer (made by the same company). He also mentioned that the Hummingbird's connectors were a bit too wiggly and prone to let in water.

Was today at the Westmarin in Marin City (their flagship store) and talked with a very knowledgable and objective guy there. What I really did not understand before was that one needs a special transducer to get all of the special featues (mega side imaging, 3d scan, Live scope, etc.). And these transducers are quite big (unfit for a kayak) and cost another 1.5k USD on top of the fishfinder itself. With all my research, I did not understand that. So was very happy to learn that. He also walked me a bit through the different modesl (Hummingbird Helix, Lowrance Elite, Garmin Echomap and Raymarine Element). He said that for his money he would go with the ECHOMAP™ UHD 93sv and the GT54UHD-TM Transducer which I could get for 999 USD (+ tax) or the Ray Marine Element with HV-100 Transom-Mount Transducer for 1050USD. Would power it with this: NOCQUA Pro Power Kit Battery Pack 10.0 Ah What do you guys think on the guy's input and the options? Leaning towards the Garmin as of now. Thanks all and Happy 2020!!!