mrpao

All the years I've bought new reels, I only had two that were bad. Both from US sellers. One was a Daiwa Exist and recently a new Stella. Imagine that- two high end reels with issues right out of the box. The Exist sounded very rough, like bad bone dry bearings and the Stella felt like something inside was catching the gears. It would click with every handle turn. The Exist got repaired under warranty and exchanged the Stella for another one. So far, all of my reels from over seas has been without any issues. Perfect out of the box.

Thats not that many rods. You need to triple that number.

I could be wrong but i think the new engetsu is just for jigging. Hence the gaint lever for the spool tension. I have two of the old model as well. Pretty much a fancier curado 70.

I still use Mann's augertail and jelly worms on T-rigs and shakey heads. Another favorite is bomber flat a. Also throw shad raps quite a bit. They've been around for quite awhile too. I still throw the regular size pop r and spook jr on cloudy days.

It's never enough. You need to double that number.

I know everyone likes something different and everyone fishes different waters. From my personal experience, my catfish rods consist of Quantum bluerunner inshore, falcon coastal xg, falcon hd rods, hurricane calico jack, BPS inshore rods. I prefer the inshore style rods because they are moderate action without being heavy in weight. I dont know why but most rods geared towards catfishing seem to be fiberglass and as sensitive as a pool stick. The moderate action of most of these rods makes casting soft baits easier and fighting the fish more fun.

Two or more combos would be better. It will make you more versatile. Fishing rods are tools. You usually need more than one tool for a job. I mean, you dont just have one size screw driver to try to remove many different sized screws. The more rod and reels you have the better you can handle a situation.

That's really up to the user. Everyone likes different sizes. I think that the 100 and 200 size can usually be interchangeable for most regular bass lures. Myself personally, I like a smaller reel because I have more of a medium hand size. Of course the 100 will hold less line than the 200, but in bass fishing line capacity usually isn't a big issue.

I run daiwa knobs and handles on most of my shimano casting reels. I prefer the daiwa cork style I knobs to most other knobs. Like mentioned, you can use the handle sleeve spacer to reduce the gap from 8x5mm to 7x4mm to fit the shimano handle post. They can be purchased on a certain Chinese shopping site for a few dollars for a set.

I dont have the BFS but I have several 14 Conquest 100 which I believe are the same size. The 200 size is slightly bigger. I have heard the new Conquest 100 is a hair bit smaller. But not for certain since I don't have the new model. If you're going to put it on a 7' med hvy then the 100 or 200 size would be fine. I use my 14 Conquest's on different 6'8 to 7'2" rods. Med light to med hvy. I have 8# to 15# line on them. I like them for moving baits like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and crankbaits. I assume the new model is probably alittle easier to cast than the old model that I have.

What kind of negative things have you read about the Luvius? I've usually only heard good things.

For finesse fishing I would choose the Vanford. I had two of the stradic FL 1000 with the 5 gear ratio. While they were nice, they were a little on the heavy side. They're really not that heavy but they felt heavy in the hand. Got rid of them and went with two Vanford 1000 size instead. Never looked back. The Vanfords are lighter and seems like less inertia to spin the handle. They pair up with most lightweight rods great. Other options from shimano would be the Complex XR and Soare XR. Pretty much a Vanford in a different package. I dont have a Soare but I do have three Complex XR's. I prefer their color over the Vanford. The Daiwa LT reels are also great reels. Can't really go wrong with them either. I own several in the 1000 to 2000 size. Very comparable to the shimano's.

^^^^That's some good channel catfish bait. That's what I use when I'm targeting channels. I also catch a bunch of channel cats on berkley gulp minnows. Either drop shot or under a float on a jighead.

I have probably the same amount of combos in both spinning and casting. I enjoy them both. But catching a decent fish on light spinning gear is way more fun than just winching them in on casting gear. Since I only fish for fun, it's more challenging to use light line and smaller gear. Plus i never understood why some say that spinning gear is less accurate. I'm about the same with both but find skipping with spinning gear is way easier. I dont have to worry about backlashes if I hit a dock or pontoon. To each their own. But I like both casting and spinning. It's a tool for a job at hand.

I have multiple ultralight and light rods from different manufacturers. I have pretty much just been finesse and ultralight fishing for the past two years. I hardly pick up my casting setups anymore. For the money i would suggest the kuying teton. There are several different models to choose from and probably one to match what u are looking for. I have the 6'4" ultralight and the 6'6" light model. Both are great rods. The 6'4" ul model is a little whippy but not too bad. The 6'6" is a nice fast action rod. My other rods i can compare the kuying teton to are Daiwa procyon 7' light, daiwa presso 6', 6'6, 7'. 13 fishing omen panfish 6'9, okuma celilo 6', 6'6". Daiwa spinmatic 6' ultralight, rapala 6'6" extreme ultralight. Shimano PA 6'10 ULM, Shakespeare micro light 5'. Plus probably more. For the money i feel the kuying's are a great rod. Plus you can buy them with an extra tip, in case one breaks.

I have the PA 6'10 ULM and to me it wouldn't be a good drop shot rod. Its a little too light on power to throw any slightly bigger baits. To me the tip is ultralight and the rest of the rod blank is med light. I use it to throw 1/32 to 1/8 jigheads with small plastics. I would opt for the 6'10 med light expride instead of the PA.

Original Power Pro is still decent line. Not as thin or supple as some of the newer lines but sometimes that's a good thing. I find I get less wind knots and less wrapping around the rod tips with it than the thinner lines like Daiwa J-braid. Don't get me wrong, I really like J-braid but I feel Power Pro still has a time a place where it could be better. For instance, I use it to throw smaller spinnerbaits on spinning combos. Since its stiffer it doesn't wrap around the wires and blade as easily as J-braid. And it seems more abrasion resistant due to being a 4 carrier line so I dont always have to check my line or retie as often.

I have both the old and current model PA. The current model in both spinning and casting. So far, no issues with any of them. Like mentioned, take care of your gear and there usually isn't a problem. The only rods I ever broke were caused by human error.

They are different formulations. KVD works much better on fluorocarbon than Reel magic. Fished side by side, I can tell a big difference.

I must confess, i have an addiction to buying fishing gear. It varies from month to month. Depends on the sales going on or if i find a good deal on something my brain thinks i need. Its a bad habit.

To me it depends on the application I'm using it for. Vanford for bottom contact, topwater, small crappie style jigs or other lighter stuff. The lighter weight makes it easier to work the rod tip. Stradic for cast and retrieve lures like spinners, smaller paddletail swimbaits, crankbaits. The aluminum body makes the strait line retrieve feel smoother.

I have a shimano spirex that did that. Not all the time but every once in a while. I never did investigate to see what the issue was. It didn't do enough to make me want to check it out. I would assume it has something to do with a weak bail spring or the friction ring not seated properly.

I would go with the curado 150 mgl. Its a nice reel. The chronarch mgl is a nice reel too, but I didn't like the way it palmed. The curado 150 does palm better. Plus the chronarch is several years old. A new model will probably come out soon, I bet.

I'm going to bet, it wasn't U40 that was use on the rod. It was probably a different brand of sealer. I did a test one time using different cork sealers. One brand, which I dont remember the brand, took two years to dry. Yes, two years. It was on an old crucial rod, that I didn't use so it just sat on the rod rack. I would check it ever so often, and after two years it finally dried and wasn't sticky. I was amazed it took so long.

I have the 18 bantam in the PG model. I had one in HG. Only kept the PG models. The 22 Bantam doesn't have the PG version. If the 22 model comes out with a PG version, I may pick one or two up. I have 2020 USDM, JDM and the new shallow spool version metaniums. Like others say, the two reels are different and used for different techniques. Bantam for heavier duties and metanium for all other techniques. And Aldebaran for the lighter stuff. I dont think one is better than the other. Just different tools for different jobs.