Nick S

The fk 2500 only weighs 8.3oz, that is extremely light for a 2500 size spinning reel.

That's how I felt after buying most of my shimano reels The supremes are definitely smooth, exchange it and make sure the reel you exchange it for feels smooth before you leave.

I use ... Super lube grease for gears and non spool bearings, sliding parts Super lube oil for worm gears, line rollers Cals drag grease for drag washers Yellow rocket fuel for spool bearings The red staining from hot sauce was enough to make me never consider using that garbage again. Don't care if it works well as a lubricant or not.

Lighter isn't necessarily a good thing imo, I like my ci4+ 4000 but the two ci4+ 2500's I had were too light to balance well on any of my spinning rods. I'd go with the fk or an fj if you can find one. Also take a look at the daiwa luvias spinning reels, I prefer them over any stradics I've owned.

I've never noticed the drag to be erratic on my ballistic ex. It's very smooth and even with hard pulling fish.

I've never had a problem with daiwas service department. They've fixed numerous reels for me free of charge parts and return shipping included. Can you service mag sealed reels?

I have both reels, a ci4+ 4000 and a ballistic ex 3000. I like the ballistic a better, feels smoother and doesn't have that clicking feeling most of my shimanos have when the spool oscillation changes from up to down. The bail opens and closes better than my stradics and overall it just feels more solid. The drags are both great but I'd favor the shimano in that area. You can still clean the mag sealed reels but it won't have the mag seal around the shaft anymore which isn't a big deal in freshwater. I'm not sure if there's a way to replace the magnetic fluid yourself or not, others may have more info on this. I also have two new daiwa luvias spinning reels that I like better than the ballistic and much better than any shimano spinning reel I've ever owned.

I'd go with the Luvias for that price, much better than the ci4+ imo and it's made in japan. https://japanlureshop.com/daiwa-15-luvias-3012h-10526.html

Why do you always post this in threads that have nothing to do with rods or casting reels?

I've never been lucky enough to have them send me guides or do repairs free of charge. If it's not under warranty don't bother sending it in just get it fixed locally, it will be much cheaper. Even if it is under warranty it would probably still be cheaper to get it fixed locally.

I'm pretty sure a smallmouth will eat a crankbait that's any color, especially river smallmouth. If you have confidence in the color it will catch fish.

Yeah I have rage and ltb rods. I wouldn't consider either of them to have micro guides, but I guess there's really no standards when it comes to what is considered a micro guide.

I have a few st. croix rods that have that guides close to the tip like that but they don't have micro guides. I wasn't even aware that st croix made any rods with micro guides.

Not sure about the battle 2 but I was satisfied with my battle reels for the price. You're going to get good and bad reviews about every reel. If there really was a truly bulletproof reel everyone one would be using it. The only spinning reels I've never had any mechanical problems with are my daiwa tournament 1300's. But they too have thier faults, and after using newer reels they can feel unrefined.

The "j" may stand for Johnson...they made a lot of spincast combos back then. Here ya go...

I guess it depends on where you live. Around here right now the air temps some days are getting into the 60s and the water temps in the high 40's low 50s. If I was wearing neoprene waders on a 65 degree sunny day it would be miserable but it's still too cold to wet wade. I wear my breathable waders all year, just layer up underneath and you'll be fine.

These maybe??

Sure you can get custom sizes made but they charge an outrageous fee to do it. I don’t mind paying for quality either, but imo it's just not there in the newer simms waders. Like I said my older 90s simms waders were the best waders I've owned and would gladly pay a premium price for them now. I can buy 5-7 pairs of redington crosswater waders for the price of g3 or G4 simms and I'll always have a backup pair. Redington will replace, not repair, them when they do start leaking. For the price of simms waders they should have a much better warranty imo.

You can definitely fish them like that. Check out the yum christie craws, cheaper, more durable, and better action than the rage baits imo.

Have you ever heard of pro discounts??? Just because guides use them doesn't mean a thing. Never said made in china was bad quality, I'm just saying simms loves to preech about how their waders are made in the usa yet 95 percent of their stuff is made in china. I'll say that simms waders are the best quality, BUT they are definitely not worth the huge price tags. Their sizing is one of the worst in my opinion. If you have size 11 feet or bigger and aren't huge you're out of luck unless you like super tight booties because they don't offer a larger bootie on all their medium or most of their large waders.

My 500 dollar g3 simms waders leaked after a month around the crotch, I sent them back and they "repaired" them. They started leaking bad again around the bootie seams and crotch a few months later, sent them in and they said they only cover the first repair and I would have to pay them to repair them this time. No thanks! I'm not paying simms to put aqua seal on my 500 dollar waders. And that's all they do to "repair" them is use aqua seal. My older simms guide waders from the late 90s were great and I would buy another pair in a heartbeat. Their newer stuff is seriously lacking in quality. You're just paying for the "cool" factor when you buy simms stuff now. FYI the simms freestone waders are made in china.

I've owned about every brand of breathable waders, from the cheapest Hodgman to g3 simms. In my opinion they are all junk now and will all start leaking. I've settled on Redington crosswater waders for 99 bucks. I have 2 pairs so I always have a backup when I send a pair in for warranty. Redington has the best customer service out there! I originally bought the two pairs a few years ago and they have replaced one pair once and the other pair twice and I didn't pay a dime. They even paid return shipping. When It comes to waders find a pair that fit good and forget about everything else. They WILL all leak if you use them regularly.

Yeah and they will charge you plenty to fix them too.

half the fun of fishing is discovering new areas and learning how to fish them. I'd add a jerkbait to your arsenal if the water temps are in the mid 40's.

I'd say 75% of the river smallmouth I catch are caught on a jig. I really like the 3/16 jewel finesse spider jigs with a craw papi trailer.