fishnkamp

It is fine. Did you adjust the reel before you made that cast. Also did you put any mono or copolymer line on first? Braid can slip on a reel without either a piece of tape or mono line on it. I purposely purchase good quality but inexpensive mono or copoly line just for use as backing. Bass Pro Excel come in a big spool cheap. I also have used Suffix Elite ( I like the way it winds on under tension). Also make sure your arbor knot (knot around the spool) is tight. If it slips the reel will seem like it has a break or drag problem. Anyway I put about 1/2 spool of backing and the connect my braid with a uni to uni knot. Now spool up your braid. It works real well and a new spool of braid will fill 2 reels. Give that a try. Make sure you adjust the tension knob so the spool spins free but has no side to side play.

There are tons of great choices but since you have narrowed it down to those two I would probably go Duckett ghost.

Go find your closest tackle shop and ask who they know of in your area that does rod repairs. I helped hook a guy up with a shop in Tennessee last week. They charged $9.00 to fix it and it was done in a few days. He also found another rod he could not live without. That guide closest to the reel is really important to take the line and straighten it out in order to be pulled out without hitting the rod blank.

I made a call out to Powell Pods for you. At this minute they do not have a dealer up in Canada but the interesting thing is the person who answered the phone waqs Keith the owner of the company. I told him that his older model Max 683CEF is my most versatile rod I own. He said it was a mistake for them to eliminate it and it was about to be reintroduced . We spoke about my dealer and about a bunch of their product. Keith told me if you call Powell ask for him and he would work something out with the price and tariffs etc. to make it work for you. Now they regularly ship around the world but for him to say he would help with the costs blew me away! Not many companies are like that.

Nice bass. Looks like he wanted that lure bad!

It was just the way the camera and the way i was holding the fish. When I released her I held her for a second and she splashed me good then took off back to the grass she came out of.

Boy cypress trees are great as they grow you will have a nice large knee to fish around. A jib and a cypress tree just go together. Flip that puppy!

I would pull off all of your old line. Get some fresh mono like Trilene XL or Bass Pro Excel in like 12 or 14 pound test. I would fill your spool up 1/2 the way with that line. Then tie a uni to uni knot and fill your spool the rest of the way with Power Pro Spectra in 30 pound test. If the water there is really clear I would add a 3 to 6 foot leader made up of P Line CXX in 10 or 12 pound text and it would be in the moss green color. That line is really super tough. It breaks closer to 20 pound test. If you are not sure enough to tie that up just go to your local tackle shop and they will get you all done.

Why did you say the one in the picture is all screwed up It fought great and was in terrific condition when I released it.

I have been using backing to braid to leader for the last 4 or 5 years now. It is how I set up all of my reels it does not matter if the main line is braid or Floro or P Line FlorClear. I set them up the same. The only reel I setup differently is my topwater rod. It has a full spool of 17 pound mono. I use it mostly to throw spooks for stripers. i live on the Chesapeake Bay and have fish for bass but also catch BIG blue catfish, smaller channel cats and stripers up to about 15 pounds.. The blue cats are the meanest. My biggest cat hit a 7 foot Irod with 14 pound FloroClear and a XCalibur XR75 rattle trap. He almost spooled me before I finally got caught up to him. He weighed 18 pounds. I thought I hit a freight train. I was shown this setup by a Tennessee guide that also fishes the FLW. Since Craig Powers taught me how to make it all work I have not had a double uni break or come undone. So I would have confidence it will not let you down either. In Tennessee we regularly catch big smallies, a lot over the 5 pound category. Here is a pic from this past April. It was caught on Dale Hollow Lake. My wife says she want to break the world record which came from there. The world record is 30+ years old but it was 11.15 pounds

I make sure I really cinch it down tight after I do what you see him tell you to do. So when I am done, before I cut the tag ends, I pull on both main lines and then pull on all four line one extra time. I cut my tag ends fairly tight and realize your braid is a bit softer than the mono of floro leader so the softer tag end is going "out" though the guides. I use four rods with micro guides and have no trouble with any of them except my eyes are not 20 years old anymore so stringing micro guides is not the easiest anymore. On spinning gear I use a shorter leader so it is almost out the guides anyway ( maybe 3 foot) The nicest part about using the leader is when you re-tie a lure you are wasting leader not expensive braid. Also I make 5 turns on each side always no more no less.

Well you are qualified to handle if a bearing gives you trouble in the future so no problem. If sure you have seen a lot of my responses to other posters, If money were no object I would own all G Loomis $400 rods and really expensive reels but I am not interdependently wealthy and my rod locker contains about 12 to 15 rods right now. That means I like a reel like the Presidents that are smooth and last forever are real workhorses for $60. One of mine is on a G loomis IM6 that I have had for over 10 maybe even 15 years. That 40 series reel just works like a champ and I have never done anything but grease it once. I have had all sorts of baitcasters, but again 1 $400 reel is not my choice. I have used Lews, Shimano, BPS, and several others. For the last two years i have been replacing them all with Diawa Tatula and Tatula type Rs and find they are sorta the same thing. There not super flashy but the just cast great and work every time.

Learn the uni to uni knot I use it for the knot that connects the backing and braid or Floro and then the same knot to connect the braid or Floro to the leader, The double uni or uni to uni is an easy and quick knot to tie. check here

I have never had a problem with a President and between my wife and I we fish a bunch of these ranging from 1 to over 10 years old. I am glad you have it working, but why didn't you just exchanged it for another new one?

Installing an engine that has a horsepower above the rating on the boat is dangerous for you to do. You may have to accept the consequences at some time! Suggesting someone else do that here is not acceptable! We all freely give our opinions and things we have learned from experience, but should never encourage someone else to do something we know to be dangerous.

That Johnson was a reliable motor, but the only parts available are "new" old stock. Meaning no one, not even BRP and Suzuki make parts for those engines. There are tons of Johnson and Evinrude engines in use still today. The problem is the pipeline for those parts will get smaller and smaller. I would look at another boat or if you really like the boat and it is in great shape understand and accept that you may have to re-power it with a newer engine and it is expensive to do that. For myself I would not do it. i believe there are plenty of boats with other brand of engines on them. I would go look for one of those.

No BPS does not sell them, but there might be a dealer in your area. I sent an e-mail to Powell to see. I am not sure where in Canada you are. Since you said you like Lake Ontario, I guessed you might be somewhere near Toronto perhaps. Anyway, we will soon see if they have a Canadian dealer network. If they have a Canadian dealer maybe it is not too far to go look at them or order one from. They can be ordered directly from Powell Rods.

Great! Now go catch a fish bigger than mine in the picture

Okay I would want a bit of a soft tip but not too soft so if the 6'7"M has a fast tip then I would use it. If it is a medium action moderate taper then it would be a rod I would use for things like small to mid size cranks and traps. Let us know what the rods specs are on both. We know the length and action but what are they in taper, for example a moderate will bend evenly from the tip to maybe as far down as half way. A fast taper may bend from tip down a third of the way and a extra fast may only bend from the tip down to say the second or third guide. Consider it about 10 percent of the rod. Too stiff a rod like a extra fast may make it hard to get a good hook set you won't have the "give" needed for a fast moving fish. Too soft a taper like a moderate may not have enough backbone to get the hook set, these are great for lures with trebles though since they provide bit of a delay and help protect the hooks from pulling out. For line I use a lot of copolymer lines on some of my reels, Power Pro braid on others. For spinnerbaits I like a little softer braid and have settled happily on Berkley Fireline Original or now Fused (as they are the same) in 14 pound test. Just as with all braids, spool a 1/2 of a spool of decent mono on first. The braid will lay well on it and it will not allow the braid to slip on the spool. Also doing this means a spool of braid will fill two reels. If I want the benefits of Florocarbon line then I add a floro leader. In fact I use a leader of P Line CXX 10 pound moss green a lot. This Fireline/leader is how almostr all of my spinning reels are setup also. The Curado 50E would be on the 6'7"M.

This is not the way Diawa reels act normally. So you may just have that "one" with a problem. In fact some of the bearings only cost a few dollars each, so I would be tempted to let them replace them all then you know that the trouble is behind you. The upgrade of the bearings may make the reel feel even smother than when it was new. I fish a bunch of Diawa reels which include one Exceller and a bunch of Tatulas and Tatula R's. Your reel retails just a bit lower than my Exceller does, but not much. I have a friend that fishes HARD. He can wear out anything as he fishes literally 3 or 4 times a week. On the Potomac he regularly chases bass, but catches lots of big snakeheads and stripers. He fishes a lot of Excellers. I figure if he send them out to be serviced only once every year or two then they are pretty tough reels. Good luck and man if you have any blue cats or flatheads they are a bunch of fun. Here on the Chesapeake Bay we are running into more of these monsters. I had an 18 pound blue eat a rattletrap and nearly spool me before it came in the boat.

I would spool some decent mono on first then fill the spool with Power Pro Spectra in 30 pound test. If you are fishing really heavy Lilly pads and hard weeds then move up to 65 pound braid. otherwise 30 or 50 pound will work fine. The other lines I would consider is Suffix 832 or SpiderWire Stealth, again in the same tests. My frog rod has 65 pound Power Pro but I spooled my wife's with 30 pound and it is working fine.

Go to a local independent tackle shop ( not the BPS or Cabelas types) near you and ask if they have a reel repair place that can help you. To ship the reel out will get costly. Have them disassemble and inspect the internals. it sounds like a bearing may need to be replaced.

Now I would stay with the LXS68MXF that you are looking at. As for a reel I would be choosing between the 2500 and a 3000 and for my own preference I would go with the 3000. I also would consider the Sustain in a 3000 model as well. I have never held a Stella but have a hard time believing it is worth almost double the price. Just me. One thing I always do on my reels, especially when I run braid, is to add backing first. I would pick up some 10 pound quality mono like Suffix Elite. I would wind some of that on first, maybe 1/3 of the reels spool and then use a uni to uni knot and tie on your braid. Be sure to wind both of the lines on tightly. The backing gives the braid a smooth surface and it won't let the braid slip on the spool. Good luck and let us know how you like it when you get it.

Externally on the side

Powell sells two really nice rods for frogs. One is the Inferno 725CF Mag HVY which means it is a serious jig and frog rod 7'2" inch 5 power rod for $109.00 Next step up is a Max3D 736 CEF Frog Mag Hvy. That is a 7'3" rod with a quick tip and lots of backbone designed for frogging. Its price is $159. I like the Dobyns Champion rod but they are pricey. I like their Fury series and a FR 735C so it is the same rod in a slightly less expensive line. It still works and feels great and cost $109. The next rod I would look at in their line up is just below the Champion series and that would be the new Sierra line and it has the SA 735C which I held in my hand yesterday. That is a beautiful stick for $180. I know I offered a lot of rods there, but I gave you choices in a lot of different price ranges. I own one Powell rod, it is from the old Powell Max series, a 683 and it is my jig rod. . That is the most versatile rod I own. It will not be my last Powell rod either. As for a reel consider a workhorse of a reel and look at a Diawa Tatula or Tatula type R. My frog reel is a Tatula type R in a 8-1 ratio. That means if a fish blows up on it I can retrieve and fire back out quick. These reels regularly sell for almost $200. On amazon they sell for a lot less check here https://www.amazon.com/Daiwa-Tatula-Btcst-Reel-Reel-R100XSL/dp/B00F5EGPLE/ref=sr_1_1?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1467870857&sr=1-1&keywords=Diawa+tatula+typer