Deplorable Fisherman

It definitely has it's moments. ?

Greatest horror film of all time...John Carpenter's The Thing Not sure if you've seen Cut and Run. Definitely a hard to find movie with Willie Aimes from 8 is Enough ? and Michael Barryman of The Hills Have Eyes fame. This is me in New York at a Fangoria con in maybe 1991

You know what they say...pics or it didn't happen! ?

These were caught on tubes. I have plenty others. Nothing bland about the action you can get on a tube.

You guys are killing me!

Worst part is when your friend of 30 years doesn't let you hear the end of it...and we grew up in the 80's so being PC isn't a thing. ?

Megabass in IL, IN, MI, WI, MN, etc equals a very expensive fishing trip when a pike or musky bites off your bait. Threw a Pop Max once...and I literally mean once! LOL. First freakin' cast and a little pike made my $20 go bye bye!

Probably not going to notice much of a difference between the two, honestly. I have two Bass X and they're fine rods for the money and never expected much out of them as they're my 'beater' rods, never owned a Dobyns so I can't give any opinions on them.

Well I've not been to Cali fishing, but I did look at images of your favorite lakes...didn't find Castiac but I did find Castaic ? and I didn't see a single piece of wood in those lakes...didn't see much for vegetation at all really. Spend 30 years on the upper Mississippi river with massive laydowns surrounded by grass in current and you'll find a need for a high speed reel, I assure you.

His voice is what drew me to it back in the day and as I grew older I actually appreciate the tenor/countertenor vocals more. Hank Shermann and Michael Denner were quite a pair, but Denner and LaRoque are fantastic as well and Mikkey Dee is an exceptionally better drummer than Kim Ruzz. I also like that King went to telling whole spooky stories through the albums and strayed from the devil stuff. Helps that I've always been a fan of horror films.

Snap! Zing! ?

Typical 125 yard cast? What? ???

Yet it was Takahiro Omori who begged Daiwa to make high speed reels...I guess he's spent too much time in Merica! Handle length/size means nothing. It's more for leverage. You're still only making a single rotation no matter how long or short the handle is. If you really want speed, a shorter handle is easiest because you have less of a circumference to make that rotation. This o has less linear length in circumference than this O That said, I have a Zillion 10 that I use for heavy cover so I can get the lure in and out quickly to make another cast or get a fish out of that mess quickly. Other than that, most of my reels are in that 6 or 7 speed range.

Lemme show my age....and stir things up a bit.

I will challenge this statement as just because they are made by the same manufacturer does not equal same quality level. Not saying specifically for the reel mentioned by the OP, but they can easily be made with different quality standards. Many companies have different factories across the globe and depending on how much you want to spend will determine which factory it came out of and the quality of the product. You can also get products made in the same factory but to lower standards. As an engineer in the sales market, I can tell you that products that come out of the same factory with different brand names have different standards. If you know what you're looking for an do some research, you can, however, find a lower priced product built exactly the same as a higher priced one, simply with a different name.

What day is it?

Alphas SV TW or Alphas CT SV would be my vote as well. Great reels!

My friend is still using the Pinnacle Deadbolt I gave him. What a great spinning reel.

While I've been back and forth with fluoro on that application, I still keep Trilene XL spooled up just as I have for a very long time. If it isn't broke, don't fix it as they say.

Bingo...saw some guys going goofy at a bayou standing on a bridge over a hydro dam and they just couldn't understand why all those big bass they could see weren't biting. I got a bit cocky and would have looked stupid if the fish didn't bite but gave it a shot and said I would catch some if they stepped off the bridge and watched me. I walked into the grassy area about 15 yards from the hydro dam and knelt in the grass and tossed a tube into the current...first cast was about a 2.5 lber and the third cast was about a 4 lber. If the fish can see you, they're probably not going to bite.

I try not to be "that guy" who is one sided like Ford vs. Chevy, but I've had my reasons for being a Daiwa guy. When I was moving away from Abu after a few disappointments several years ago, I was giving both Daiwa and Shimano a go. Had picked up a Shimano and honestly don't remember which model but the first trip using it there was a horrible grinding when reeling and it would actually feel like it wanted to lock up. I immediately returned it and decided since the Daiwa's I had purchased ran like a Swiss watch, I would stick with them. Two years ago I picked up a Curado DC and again, first trip out I had problems. The thumb release simply wouldn't engage until I turned the handle a time or two. I had thought to just get it replaced but to be honest, and it might be minor, I just did not like that whining noise the DC brake system produced. For me, I'll only buy Daiwa reels from now on. Call it bad luck, but that's just the way I roll. I will also never buy a Lew's again. It was probably 15+ years ago but I had bought a Lew's spinning reel and about the second trip out the bail literally blew apart. I had gone back to the store and they said they were unable to honor any warranty and that I had to ship it to China for repair or replacement and I would be lucky to see it in 3-4 months if at all. I'm sure things have improved since then, but that just left a bad taste in my mouth with that brand enough to never buy another.

The Daiwa vs Shimano Pandora's Box has been opened....

The Steez A is probably my favorite reel. I think of it like a Bentley Continental . . . luxury and a beast all wrapped up in one package. Only minor disappointment was no reel cover with that model, but that was hardly a deal breaker.

Sorry....I didn't actually get the Steez CT SV. I was just using that as an example of pricing between the JDM market and US. I have an older Steez SV that I use for BFS/Light line and lure application as well as a Alphas CT SV and Alphas SV TW. Didn't see a need to get a Steez CT SV. I have three Steez...as mentioned, the 2014 Steez SV, a 2016 Steez SV TW and a 2018 Steez A.