mrpao

Looks like a regular creek club to me. They are probably about to go into spawning mode. The males have the knots on their heads. I caught one of those about 10" one time. When it first hit i thought it was a small trout until I saw it. They will regularly hit small trout lures. They also love earthworms. We use to catch them all the time with worms. Then we would use them as bass and catfish bait.

The stradic FK and Stradic CI4+ handles are the same style and will interchange. But the red on the stradic CI4+ probably won't match the FK. The 3000 and 2500 size handles are the same other than the knobs. Switching the knobs would be cheaper.

Probably not a bad reel for $20. I may be wrong, but I think they retailed for around $60 or so new. Unless, you just really needed another reel at this moment, I would probably save my money and get something a little better. A new Shimano SLX can be found for around $80 if you look around. I feel that you'd be happier in the long run.

Since the rod is a medium with moderate action, it would be best for crankbaits. But I feel that your reel with the faster gear ratio may not be suited for crankbaits. The rod with a moderate action, probably wouldn't be ideal for jigs or soft plastics. There isn't enough stiffness to get a good hook set. Maybe you could change your combos around a little.

I had one of the aldebaran bfs limited for a while, until it ended up at the bottom of the lake. It was a smooth reel. I never casted anything super light on it. Probably 1/8 oz was as low as I went. The reel was designed for smaller hands, with a more flat palming side plate than a regular 50 series. Not a bad reel though. Would probably still have it, if it didn't go for a swim.

Ah. The early days of the curado. I never had one of those red ones. I did have the citica and coriolis. Same frame style.

I never understood why most spool hold so much line either. Especially for bass. I understand for saltwater and bigger fish but bass reels hardly need more than 100 feet of line. I mainly bass fish, so big deep spools do me little good. Too me it's just a waste of line. If I need to fish for bigger species, I have bigger reels for those. Then again, I'm not into the super shallow JDM BFS spools either.

As much as I enjoy bass. There's nothing like a big old crappie on the end of your line. I really enjoy catching those big slabs this time of year. Especially on a small crankbait.

They are decent rods for the money. I have the 7'2" med hvy and 6'10" med casting. Comparing the SLX and the Exage, I feel the Exage is a little better quality. I was going to pick up a SLX but the rod handles felt cheap to me.

I believe it's a hex. I dont have a hex that small but was able to use a tiny flat head screw driver to unscrew and screw it back. Mine wasn't under a lot of tension.

I probably have around 80 combos. Maybe more. But I fish for everything, from small trout streams to saltwater. Usually on my bass tracker, I'll usually have 10 to 12 baitcasters and 2 spinning. I switch them out depending on what I'm throwing and time of year. On my starcraft, I have ten rod holders. Each rod holder gets a rod depending on what I'm fishing for. Crappie and small fish get ultralights. Catfish and stripers get baitrunner combos. Plus extras combos to throw lures incase they start chasing baitfish. My wife says my shed looks like a tackle shop.

I agree it looks like a hake. Walking catfish do not have scales. And there is no barbels or spine on the pectoral fin.

Is that saltwater or freshwater? It's not a walking catfish.

Most pros dont use expensive gear because to them it's just a tool. Its expendable to them. They are sponsored, so they get it for cheap or free. I would never throw my rods down like they do. I paid too much money for my stuff.

The daemos will balance out great with a light reel. I tried it with a aldebaran and it felt great. Light and balanced. I currently have a pixy spr on it. Also very balanced. I use the daemos for light to med T-rigs. Its pretty sensitive.

One thing that bothers me about the FMJ is the number of guides. 8 guides plus tip. The daemos has 9 plus tip. Not sure why they lessen the guides by one on the FMJ. The expride has 9 plus tip. As a genetal rule I think all rods above 7' should have 9 plus tip or more. Not a big deal but worth noting.

If i could only keep one, it would probably be the expride. I feel that it's a little more versatile. I feel like the FMJ is only a jig or worm rod due to its taper. I can use the expride for other techiques and it feels great as well. The expride is more of a all purpose rod. Not only that but to me the expride handle is a little more comfortable. In my opinion, the FMJ trigger could be just slightly longer. And more different reels balance better on the expride. I've had reels from the aldebaran up to a D7 on the expride and they all feel fairly balanced. The FMJ needs a reel on the "slightly heavier" side- 6.5 oz or above to balance good.

I have both the 7'2" mh expride and FMJ. If you fish mainly 1/4 jigs, go with the expride. If you throw a lot of 1/2 then go with the FMJ. They are both great rods and both pretty sensitive. The FMJ is a stouter rod and will probably be better at pulling fish from cover. But then, you could go with the 7'2" hvy expride also. Or get both rods. ?

Is it more of a moderate taper than a fast? I know the 6'10" expride is more of a moderate than a fast to me.

I am curious about the rod also.

Not really. But then again most of my combos are fairly light weight. I have several of the old model adrenas, and they are pretty light weight.

Have you tried Berkley XL? It is much easier to handle on spinning reels. On my spinning reels, I either have braid or berkley XL. Berkley XL is thinner and more limp than the XT that you are using.

Hopefully, they will have more models. Especially, in the spinning line up.

Sometimes when you take the handle off the pieces of the handle will loosen up. Not sure what it's called but the round piece that presses against the reel body will unscrew a little from the shaft. I had it happen a few times. Just take the handle off and make sure its screwed together tightly.

I have both Daemos and FMJ. The Daemos is great with lighter jigs and T-rigs. The FMJ handles 1/2 oz jigs nicely. Daemos paired with an Aldebaran HG. FMJ is topped with a Core 100MG7. Both are quite sensitive.