aquaholik

Educated thumb is when you have not pick up a bait caster in 10 years and your reared back to cast and you snagged an object behind you but your thumb still remembers fishing with 4 people in a 10 ft inflatable Sevylor and snagging the other people's line and your thumb instinctively clamp down on the spool causing only a minor backlash instead of a massive backlash.

Treat the 24lbs Gliss like you would treat most 8lb braids when it comes to strength. It will be about the same. Don't let the label mislead you in to thinking that it will be twice as strong as 10 lbs braid. It's not. Actually far weaker but of course it's also thinner and will cast a mile.

That 10lb J braid FG knot to 25lb fluro leader is seriously strong. If it snags on the bottom, the 25lb fluro will break 9 out of 10 times. That is because the strength at the FG connection is 22-23 lbs, while the strength at the terminal end of the 25lb fluro depends on whether I tie a super strong Palomar knot or a much weaker loop knot.

Here's 10lb J braid to 25lb Fluro leader. You should tie 6-8 alternating half hitches on the braid and fluro AFTER glove tightening the first half hitch that locks the knot in. After 6-8 alternating half hitches, trim the fluro leader completely flush. It will not slip, and even if it did slip a mm or two, you've got more than that with 6-8 alternating half hitches. Now this will create a sharp angle when you reel line in back thru the first guide. To ease that transition, build a "ramp" by more half hitches on just the braid itself. This will double the thickness of the braid and serve as a ramp to ease the knot back thru the first guide. When you glove tightened the first half hitches, your braid will actually change color. Green to dark green, Nanofil to translucent.

That would probably be the thinnest braid you can get in the US market, probably thinner than Kanzen 10lbs which is already thinner than Power Pro 3lbs. Wouldn't surprise me if the knotted strength of Gliss 12 lbs is 5-8 lbs.

Here is a work in progress. Since line diameter is hard to measure, we weighted a 10ft section instead. For spinning reel, you can bet almost 100% that the lighter the line weight, the further it will cast. There will be a difference with new slick super smooth line VS coarse and wiry line of the same diameter but generally, all braids get softer with use including stiff and wiry fireline so line weight should give a good idea of it's castability in spinning reel where line diameter is almost everything. Line weight/ft will give you an idea of it's diameter, especially if you are have two line like Gliss 24lbs and Suffix 832 in 10lbs to compare. Yes, Gliss is indeed thinner, but it's also weaker. There's also FG knot test done for some of those line listed. Generally, FG knot is 80-90% depending on the braid. Softer braid like Gliss, Samurai Braid, J Braid, and Suffix 832 tends to do very well. As far as fishing with Gliss 24lbs, I have no trouble with it's handling or strength, but I do agree that long term durability is questionable since it's so thin and the coating does wear off quickly and with that, a 10 to 20% drop in knot strength. I don't see it being a problem in fresh water fishing where the Fluro leader will be less than 15 lbs. I spooled up a Stradic FK 4000 with it and went Pompano fishing with 25lbs Fluro leader and had no trouble landing 2 to 3 lbs Pompanos with drag set at 3lbs. Also no wind knot even in a fully spooled reel. I was casting 3/8 oz jig a good 60-65 yds and the line cuts thru the water/current well since it's so thin. It's sensitive like any super thin braid.

18 bearings for $40, that's a steal!

Very easy but you might not want to for freshwater fishing where you are not setting the drag more than 3-4lbs. Felt is smoother in the low range and you will have a wider range of drag in the low end, meaning it takes a lot of click to increase the drag when compare to carbon fiber. Felt is more micro adjustable basically while carbon fiber will grab quickly and gives you more drag on the high end.

There is also a very thorough review done by me in the TT forum section under Reels. Synopsis, fine for bass, upgrade the drag washers if you are using it in saltwater. And this is another good review: http://www.tacklenerd.com/stradic-fk-3000-review

IPT depends on how full the spool is. It's only going to work with a full spool of thin braid where the line level on the spool does not decrease much. It's not going to work when you are emptying out an Alpha SV spool or a Zillion SV TWS spool with 12 lbs mono. You would have to average out the IPT with empty spool and with full spool.

If you are servicing SPINNING reel, you would probably want to stay away from the ceramic bearings for the pinion gear and the roller bearing. Yes they will last longer, especially an all-ceramic bearing for the line roller but I like my spinning reel to sound quiet so after putting an orange seal Boca bearings, I promptly remove them. I also quit buying bearing from Boca bearings. Ebay for me. Cheaper and I've tested them. If they are quiet, that's all it matters to me for spinning reel. I don't dunk the reel but for accidental dunking, I remove the bearing shields and clean and re oil or grease them depending where on the reel the bearing sits. Daiwa and Shimano share lots of bearing sizes so that makes it easier to buy 10+ of each sizes.

Absolutely, by moving the reel seat up further resulting in an effective shorter rod, or add more butt material if the real seat is a reasonable distance. Or using lighter guides. Swapped my 7ft broken tip IMX MBR 842 C for the newer "lighter" IMX MBR 843 C. Couldn't even balance the d**n thing using my "old" nearly 9 ounces Calais DC. Forget about putting an Alpha on there. All the weight seems to be from the thick finish and the guides. First Loomis that disappointed me. Luckily they allowed me to swap for the IMX jig and worm series and I went with the 6ft 8 medium action just to stay on the safe side.

When people hold a "balance rod and reel", they don't hold it at the exact center of the reel seat. They palm it and the "balance" point now is just in front of the reel. This way, the weight of the reel matters. a 10 ounce combo is light, but not when the reel weighs 5 oz and the rod weighs 5 ounce. The balance point is going to be4 to 6 inches in front of the reel and you'll be fighting the tip all day if you are jigging light stuff.

Reel, anything under 7 oz. Rod, anything under 4 oz. I fish tip up most of the time so unless I step up to an NRX, most rods longer than 7ft is going to be tip heavy for me. Going lighter on the reel amplifies the problem. I normally fish with a 6'8 M or 7' M or ML Fast action Loomis.

Yep, still use this after the carbontex drag upgrade. Still and awesome caster. I might bring this back to circulation. Still the combo that caught the most fish and my first baitcast combo. Still works just fine with 8lb mono and 1/4 oz jig. It's 29 years old.

It could very well be the combination of the Nanofil and extreme angle of the line guide. Loose coil, stiff line, and the extreme angle prevents a proper line lay. If I keep my hand on the line and keep a tight tension, then I it lays it fine.

I don't think so. And even if it does initially, Nanofil does not absorb water whatsoever. Regular braid does absorb water so Nanofil will be lighter on the spool when you are fishing. Nanofil, loses it's slick coating after 20 or 30 trips. By then, FG knots will be easier to tie. I don't use super glue at all since I have no faith in it. I pull all FG knot after one half hitch glove tight. If it holds, it won't slip a millimeter. Nanofil will turn from white to translucent in an FG knot.

My very first baitcasting combo back in 1987. 8lb Trilene XL, 1/4 ounce oldham weedless jig head and three inch Kalin grubs murdered the San Diego spotted bay bass as well as the juvenile California Halibut to 8lbs. Too much sentimental value to give it up. Now this thread has given me a great idea. Going to resurrect the rod for Sheepshead duty.

I thought the longcast mode, which moves the magnet farther from the spool inductor, was to allow longer cast with heavier more aerodynamic lure. I played around with the long cast mode and with a zara spook jr, it was dangerous below a 3 setting on the magnetic dial. I thought it would be one hell of a backlash at zero setting unless my thumb is constantly on the spool. I bought a brand new T3 for under $150 shipped last week. Kind of glad I went into a cave the last 10 years and haven't bought anything since the Alpha Ito edition. It was a lot of reel for $150. Smooth drag, clicking drag and cast control, and generally a very smooth reel. The reel is fine when I spooled it. But I can not work a topwater or weightless Zoom flukes without the line bunching up to one side. If I reel it under tension, it's fine. Then I watched what happened when I twitch a topwater and reel. For some reason, even though the line was seated correctly in the T-wing guide, every other turn, the line guide would stop 1/4 inch from reaching the right side. I wasn't getting the long distance improvement with the T-wing and as much as I want to keep the reel at that price point, I couldn't put up with the defective line lay.

That's a great article. Oldies but goodies. Daiwa magnetic cast control have not improved much since the introduction of Magforce V in the TD-X. That reel was a casting machine well ahead of it's time. Now we have Magforce 3D which essentially moves the magnet closer or farther away from the inductor of the Magforce V or Z spool. Great idea but in reality, not much of an improvement to the overall casting distance, unless you are casting 2 oz lead all day long or need to cast a 1/16 oz jig into the wind.

Yeah, with the variable 3-10 mph wind, swapping rod won't do much with a weightless Zoom Fluke. With a longer rod, the spook might go another 10-15 ft. I purposely slightly under spooled the TD-Z for backyard fishing since it will be easier to control. Spooling it to the max will only means more magnetic cast control, especially with thinner Nanofil. On the other hand, I spooled the Alpha SV more than recommended since I need the capacity for saltwater fishing. That's the beauty of the baitcasting system. You can always compensate for line diameter and the amount of line on the spool using the cast control. Less line, thicker line, less brakes. More lines, thinner line, more brakes.

Went out and did a little "measured" casting behind the house. My property is 50 ft and the neighbor is 54 ft, and the other neighbor is 56 feet. All the fences were measured. Started throwing weight Zoom flukes with a Alphas SV on a 6 ft 8 GLX jig and worm, and a TDZ on a 7ft Medium Light Loomis Crankbait rod that is a little slower and loads the light lure a little better. Both reels have 14 lbs nanofil. Winds was light and SE at 5 mph and a bit gusty to 10 mph at times. Casting east to west, both setup manage a surprising 100 to 104 ft with the slight tail crosswind. Magnetic cast control was set at 4.5 to 5. Going back against W to E against the SE crosswind, magnetic cast was set at 6 to 6.5 and it was a struggle to get 80 ft. Then I tried my normal flick side arm cast. Distance was 70-80 ft. This is the normal cast for me since I don't employ those over the head catch the wind cast unless I'm throwing topwater for distance. Put on a Super Spook Jr which I believe weighs 1/2 oz according to Heddon, it was struggle with the tail crosswind to reach 150ft. That was surprising. I thought it would clear all three property line but it ended up about 10ft short of clearing my property line. Magnetic cast control was set at 4 for both reels. Since the Super Spook Jr is not as aerodynamic as a pure 1/2 oz weight, I would guess 170-180 ft with straight up 1/2 oz tear drop casting sinker. Just got the Alpha SV last week and I love casting a Zoom Flukes on it. So easy to palm and very comfortable for all day casting.

That's an impressive distance, with fishable lure, instead of just straight 1/2 oz weight. Although the bait setup is heavier than 1/2 oz, I'll bet it is a lot less aerodynamic than a 1/2 oz weight, making the 75yds cast even more impressive.

Nanofil has a terrible knot strength and knots are very finicky. And yes, it does fray very easily. Line to leader knots are horrible. Tie 8lbs Nanofil to 12 lbs mono leader and you can probably break it with 6lbs of force. Now add the fraying which weakens the line and "mysterious" breakoff are not so mysterious any more. BUT, Nanofil FG knot to mono or fluorocarbon leader and the line becomes dependable again. No mysterious breakoff on the hookset and no lost fish due to broken or snapped line. But the big problem is tying the FG knot with Nanofil. It's superslick and wiry and not soft like most braid. Soft braid grips and bites down on the mono or fluorocarbon very easily with the FG knot. To get Nanofil in the 6-14 lbs test to grip thin mono like 6-15 lbs mono is very difficult. In fact 12lbs Nanofil to 12lbs mono is almost impossible. I had a hard time getting 14lbs mono to bite down on 14lbs Suffix Siege. The only way it will work is if I run the length of Nanofil around a wooden chopstick a dozen time to strip it of it's slickness. Even then, it takes at least 14 turns on the FG and a very careful pulling of the knot to make sure it grips. Forget about 6lbs Nanofil to 6lbs mono. Virtually impossible with FG Knot and will snap in your hand if you use a uni knot. The only place Nanofil shines is in saltwater where the smallest leader use is 15lbs and the typical size leader is 20-25lbs. No problem getting the FG knot to form with larger diameter leader. So why use Nanofil? Got kids? Soft braid tip wraps easily unless you are careful with spooling and retrieving. Nanofil is kids proof. It's stiff and wiry so there is virtually no problem with windknots and tip wrap. It's like a super slick Fireline. I've personally tested the FG knots on Nanofil and it will break 50% higher than the labeled strength. No more 6lbs breaking at 4 lbs after you tie a knot. Now 6 breaks at about 9lbs when new and at least 6lbs when slightly frayed. 10-12 lbs Nanofil on saltwater fish? I can comfortably set the drag at 4lbs and not worried about breakoff. We typically can manhandle 20-25lbs black drum around bridge pilings with 12lbs Nanofil. Personally for bass fishing in the backyard pond, I love 12lbs Nanofil on the Alpha Ito throwing weightless zoom. Really great slack line sensitivity. For other saltwater application, I put the 14lbs line on a Sol and pitch shrimps on a jighead behind bridge pilings and lock the drag down to 5lbs and just pull the sheepshead from bridge pilings.

1/2 oz weight? Any decent baitcaster with a 7ft 6 rod should be able to reach 140-150 ft. Back off the mag control until it fuzzes up a bit and notice when it fuzzes up then on the next cast, slightly thumb it at that point and maybe you might get 150-165 ft. Good distance for genuine heavy senko is 90-100ft. For a Yum dinger, maybe 80-90 ft with a very light tail wind. Weightless zoom bait, anywhere from 60-75 ft and maybe 80-90 if there is a tailwind. Topwater like a spook jr, 140 ft should be doable.