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CFDoc

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Everything posted by CFDoc

  1. Jun at Japan Tackle. Part Description: Shimano 20Metanium #90 spool assembly. SKU: po2005291 Ive now swapped all my Mets to JDM spools. They’re that much better IMO.
  2. I had that exact setup except I was throwing 832 braid instead of PP. At first I also thought it was a great setup until I did some side by side casting comparisons with other reels. That’s when I realized the USDM spool size on the 20 Metanium creates a ton of friction on braid. I was able to outcast the Met with almost every other reel I tried including Tats, hyper mags, and patriarchs. The first fix was I swapped the USDM spool with the JDM spool. This got a good bit of the distance back; however, I’m still just not convinced the Mets really have a wheel house casting braid long distances compared to other spool geometries. Ultimately, I ended with the poison adrena rod being a wacky worm rod with flouro and kept the JDM spool. It absolutely bombs that bait further than any other reel I’ve tried by far!
  3. If you can swing the Bantam, go for it. Heads and shoulders above the other two IMO.
  4. Seems like they are trying to manage the product offering clash between the Expert and the Cara. The Cara is better, but not always. So still buy the Experts where they are better, but buy the Cara, because it's better too.
  5. Megabass destroyer P5 for $475 or a Poison Adrena for $375 would be my choices. Although I'm not a fan of NRX's, or really any Loomis offering, for that matter.
  6. My starting lineup is 5 2020 Metaniums, 5 hyper mags, and 2 pflueger patriarchs. These reels are all on rods like Poison Adrenas, Exprides, Experts, and Destroyers. I’ll freely admit that there’s a slew of applications where the hyper mags and pfluegers on destroyers and Poisons hands down outperform the Mets. For example, a hyper mag on the 6’ 11” MH Adrena is the finest jig/chatterbait skipping combo I’ve ever held. The met isn’t even in the ballpark performance wise.
  7. The other 467 rod companies using overseas manufacturing are still delivering product...
  8. It is perplexing. Falcon has seemed to remove any and all information related to the Cara release. Instead of trying to drum up interest in a new product release, they seem to be working to make the product disappear...
  9. Those are my Zodias rods lol. Hate to be the bearer of bad news here but one reason I sold all those Zodias rods was because I never could get a chatter bait to work right on them for me. The 7’5”H was way too heavy/stiff even for 1/2 ounce. I don’t recommend it at all. The 7’2” was ok for the 3/8 ounce, but I found the tip to be inconsistent for precise applications such as skipping. IMO the 6’10” varieties are better but they weren’t my favorite. My current setup for chatter baits is Falcon expert swim jig models and a 7’ Poison adrena M.
  10. So did falcon change their mind? All their links to Cara information are dead. And there’s nothing about pre orders or anything like that at the online tackle shops. Wonder what’s going on?!?
  11. http://delawarevalleytackle.com He’s pretty responsive.
  12. He’s definitely still around. Talked to him last week as he has a few of my reels in his shop right now that got dropped in deep mud.
  13. 100% agree. I enjoy a lot of reels from all the major companies. I’ve yet to find that Shimano reel that’s going to make me sell all my other ones. Maybe next years model...
  14. The level of amnesia from the mid-late 2000's "you will buy junk and like it" Shimano era is quite impressive. Well the OP was referring to "high end" reels. The super duty is a ~$150 reel. Brass geared, micro-cut, tank frame Shimanos are ~$400. The super duty is a capable deep cranker for its price.
  15. I have several 2020 Shimano Metaniums and a good many Lews of various types. The Lews/Shimano reels are very different; however, I like them both once you find the sweet spot for each. Do you like to cast braid as far as the eye can see with a frog? Get a HyperMag or Custom Lite SLP. The Metanium was a disappointment here. I can cast the spool empty with a SPRO frog on the Lews. Do you like to skip jigs, flukes, senkos? Again, get a HyperMag or Pro-Ti. Do you like to throw light lines, baits, rods? Stick with the Shimano and it's not even close. Deep cranking? Shimano Flipping/Pitching? Anything will work. It doesn't require much reel technology to flip baits 30 ft. And finally, if you're a "sound snob" stick with upper end Shimano's. I personally don't get into the sound of the reel unless it's squealing because it needs work. But I know a lot of folks do. Very few reels out there are going to be as quiet as the top of the line Shimanos.
  16. No! The JDM spool is shallower and casts BFS baits much better than the USDM spool. The USDM handles knobs are a good bit larger than JDM. The USDM handle length is longer than the JDM. More information here
  17. I always think about the figure skater analogy to figure it out. When figure skaters pull their arms in, they spin faster. When they stick their arms out, it slows them down...like a brake. So on your reel, the more of those ‘arms’ you have toward the outside of the spool, the slower it will spin.
  18. Favorite reels that I feel perform above their price: pflueger Favorite all purpose: lews Favorite high end/technique specific: Shimano
  19. Wonder when they'll actually be available here... They were supposed to be available back in March before the wuflu
  20. For the most part, no. The shaft that houses the bearings on most Shimano knobs is not the same diameter as those on the Lews knobs.
  21. Put me in the "slower is better" camp for chatter baits. I have never had the problem of a fish out swimming my reel speed and I fish with 6:4 or slower. With those faster ratios, I feel like it's just so hard to slow that bait down. Do you skip your chatter bait? I ask because I have several metaniums and they are not my reel of choice for chatter baits these days. Especially for skipping.
  22. I have a gen 1 cumara, several exprides, one poison Adrena, and several experts. I find myself wanting to tie every bait on either the Adrena or experts these days.
  23. Agreed. Never again will I own a hammer rod. I also see the noble stance of trying to buy USA; however, I truly don't see how that's possible in today's society. Every single poster on here that is not buying rods made in the USA is posting about it using electronic equipment that is 90% or more made in China.
  24. Looks like they're coming back. Check the ICAST product pictures on bass-master. I'm a huge fan of the expert series. Hopefully these 2020 Cara's are just as good or better.
  25. My sentiments as well. I own 4 2020 model metaniums. 2 JDM's and 2 USDM's. Have been using them heavily for about a month now. I wouldn't (and didn't) pay $420 for these reels.

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