JustJames

I used to be 100% baitcaster doesn’t matter what weight. Now spinning on some applications like Neko Rig, Jika Rig, shakey head or wacky rig (I don’t like casting too heavy more than 3/8 on spinning). Baitcaster for the rest.

I think I’m happy with Magic Plus for now, my lake is not that big only 4-500 acres and I have a lot of locations to get the kayak on water depends on spot I wanna fish mostly isolated from wind and not very far. I understand you guys point exactly, when I upgraded my float tube fins to Force Fin, it was night and day, easier to kick, faster and I can manage in calm wind, yet I hardly use the tube. If you don’t know by now I’m a lazy type lol. The next upgrade for me would be pedal drive kayak but that is up to my lovely wife lol.

I’m using Majorcraft rod along with couple of my friends. I have Mebaru which is nice bend to the bank why both my friends went with Ajing (solid tip) a lot more backbone and faster tip. Majorcraft is pretty reasonable price. If you want a shorter rod 6’6 or shorter, you might have to get bass series in UL with even more backbone and will handle down to 2 grams lure easily. For the reels, whatever you like but I love Daiwa LT 2000 series in any price range. I like lighter reel that match the super light weight Majorcraft rods. If you like shimano, I would go with Stradic FL 2000 series at least.

Are you in USA? But I assume from .07oz you converted grams to oz, you are in Europe. If you are looking for a rod that capable of 2-10 grams lure, @bulldog1935is about right. You have to look for JDM Light Game jigging Saltwater rod. Another word Ajing rod with tubular tip (solid tip, is risky if you cast all the way to 10 grams.) you are in luck there since Europe got a lot more of UL selection than USA. I normally don’t mixed up my 1-2 grams rod to 8-12 grams rod. The one I use the most between 2-8 grams is CRUCIAL dropshot ML 1/16-1/4oz lure later. You could get away with Light rod to cover all the base you want.

I mostly sell off really unused reels. Just like everyone here that buy too many rods and reels. I only sell the reels but not the rod because it is cheaper and easier to ship. There are some reels (my collection) that will not be sold as easy as other but if I want somethingnew too bad, those might have to go too, (conquest 50, Daiwa pixy airy red, Daiwa alphas purple). I don’t upgrade reel very often, though if I like it I’ll stick to it. I only have a few reels in each category medium heavy lure, jig and general only Finesse and Ultra Finesse that I have almost 10 setups altogether.

These are good recommendations, but@A-Jay is spot on. Wind knot is the after affect of line twisted. It is gonna be hard to prevent line twisted with spinning reel. There are type lures that I won’t fish with spinning reel, kastmaster, lipless crank, fluke and of course dropshot. Those are the most that created line twisted for me. @bulldog1935is also right to not start retrieving with slack line. Another thing i want to add, when cast, if you whip cast too hard and too fast, your lure gonna spin like no tomorrow and that also create line twist. Also as @a-jay mentioned retrieving crooked lure creat line twisted but even straight but reel in too fast, line twisted can happen as well. Learn how to deal with line twisted up front is another way to go. Cast the lure out and reel in slowly with tension every once awhile, I also let the lure spin off about 4-5’ from rod tip when I reel in too fast. The braid I like is not too soft and too stiff, Sufix 832 is the one, Finns I tried it but not long enough to confirm, original power pro is not bad either. Stay away from Jbraid x8 for spinning, it is super soft harder to deal with windknot when happen and a lot of tip wrap as well.

Check spool tension, loosen it until you got a little side to side play on spool.

It is hard to tell which is mono or copolymer line. Tackle warehouse list them depends on what Manufacturer called it. Look at Trilene XL is under copolymer category while Trilene XT is mono. To me it is hard to tell the difference, stretch, abrasion resistance or even memory of different brand mono/copolymer line (less than 10lb test) giving the line with same diameter. Once you go above 10-12lb or 0.012” in diameter then the softness of the line become more obvious, still some question mark on stretch and abrasion resistance. Most of my line these days are Izorline 4, 6, 8 12 and 15lb because it widely available here locally and price can’t be beat.

I don’t mind fishing S L O W (dead sticking) but not really prefer it. All the bottom contact, I keep moving bait sometimes fast sometimes slow. My theory as bank fisherman is, I fish for roaming bass not stationary or suspended school. On the other hand fishing fast moving lure is not really my confidence thing. I tried with some success but still cannot get a hang of it. Just yesterday as my usual outing “Neko Rig” with just one setup and just one hook and one plastic. Turned out I forgot to add nail weight before I left the house. As lazy as I am, I continue to fish wacky style 6” Roboworm. I cannot target deeper water as I wanted, so I stay around 10-15’. I have to slow down my presentation by a lot and cannot cover a lot of water. Luckily I caught 3 small bass in about 1.5 hour before I call it early quit. Went home and still have enough light to hit about 50 golf balls.

Why not? If one can handle line dig in. There are many ways to fish and also prevent line dig in. Lighter drag, easy cast, enough line to not creat soft spot for line to dig in. Not all fishing is about horsing the fish in with tight drag or whip the lure out there. I’m just saying, you fish the way you fish and so are they. If OP is deem to still using 4 or 6lb braid, it his choice. He will learn sooner which line is suitable for the way he fish.

Thanks but I’m done with those BFS or BSF stuffs. That 2lb gonna go on my spinning rig for sure. I don’t care much for invisibility but I want a line that is super light in weight and can cut thru water well enough where I can feel the bite when jigging or slow retrieve 1/32oz jig head.

I can’t wait my new line is coming 2lb Nanobraid. I’m in love with 4-8lb Nanofil already and using it on more and more reels even baitcaster. Will see what this 2lb would bring to the table but I have to find a reel for it first.

To me “master techniques” is to learn how to present the lure more effectively in different circumstances and how to detect different type bite on each individual lures. Then apply those techniques where it is more suitable. If all the fish you caught are “tab” bites, you missed other 30-40% different bite. If you only drag anything bottom contact, you might miss some chances to get the more bites. Now to apply the techniques, you learn the techniques you learn the spot, now apply the techniques to where it most effective. Oh btw I’m a dinks master, if you don’t know me.

Sometimes BS things lead to a great discussion. I know sometimes ppl trend to overthinking but that happens to all of us a one point. I’m still overthinking of what lure I’m gonna use today, why? I don’t like to catch fish day in and day out with just one type lure.

The reel might not be big a deal but rod is in question if you only have one rod for both lure weight. The rod that can handle 1/16oz lure but not be suitable for 3/8oz lure. I broke one of my UL rod once whippy too hard on 1/4oz weight. Also the rod that handle 3/8 lure mostly in MH range might not cast 1/16oz far enough even with shallow spool reel. The reel to be able to handle both weight well, you might have to get the reel that have option for aftermarket shallow spool.

This ^^^^^ he is pretty sum it up my ideals. I own both Plastic (exceler) and Zaion (Kage) body Daiwa plus another with Zaion rotor(Ballistic FW). I only use 2000 size reels so the different is even less 5.8oz vs 6.5oz and most of the fish up to 4-5lb bass I don’t feel any flex at all. The smoothness and inertia are pretty much comparable. The only hope I have is Kage is remain smoothness after a long hard many years of abused but I don’t mind owning another Exceler even I have to replace in 4-5 years. Once you upgrade to Zaion rotor, the different become more noticeable, smoother and lower inertia. For 2500/3000 size and up, I would consider Zaion body just for the piece of mind and those aluminum main gear. In fact I’m shopping for another reels for the new line I just ordered and consider lower grade Daiwa.

@The Bassmanactually 2000 got bigger spool than 1000. My Vanford 2000 is 43mm while 1000 got 40mm spool, they body are the same. I checked this with the guy that own 1000. The 2500/3000 size got bigger frame/gear and of course spool size. @Dave_AKA_Frafif you plan on 8lb mono line, I think 2500/3000 size should handle that better. As @The Bassmanmentioned 2500/3000 size is 6.3oz while 1000/2000 about 5.5oz so not much different there. I spool my 2000 with 4lb Nanofil for light work.

@Jonas Staggsyou should try Santa Ana river lake. It is a pay lake so you don’t need license and allow 2 rods. One with dough bait on bubble float (tiny trebles hook) and one with split shot trout worm with super long 2lb leader no FC. I think you can float tube in that lake too but don’t go on weekend, it is pretty crowded. The line at the gate started at 5:00AM. I wouldn’t wasted time on any public lake, by the time they stock, the fish is gone. One lake that public but not well know is Huntington Park Lake. I was lucky once over there and caught my limit in 30 mins on trout worm.

Crappie rod - For 1/16 jig head plus plastic (total weight 2.5 grams), I use Shimano Crucial ML (dropshot) very fast tip and sensitivity is super good but very hard to find now. Another one is Shimano Sensilite UL or Light, pretty nice bend on the bank, the tip is not fast but sensitivity is exceptional. Crappie rod - Between 1/32-1/16oz jig head plus plastic (1.5-2 grams), this is become my favorite crappie rod the first day I use it. Majorcraft Crostage 7’3 Mebaru rod. Super light weight (less than 3oz I believe) and balance really well. The handle on 7’3 shorter than my 6’6 so you get a full length of casting. I can cast 1/32oz jig head about 70’ easily. The soft mebaru bank is very good for paper thin crappie mouth. (Bluegill rod) For trout magnet (1/64oz plus 1” plastic total weight 1-1.5 grams) Daiwa Presso is good a little bit whippy on longer rod but 5’6 to 6’ is stiff enough. I got 4 pieces models to add more rigidity on the bank. The tip is fast good for jigging light weight jig head but not 1/16oz. If you want fancy and super fast tip, you might have to get Solid tip UL rod from Japan. I love my Majorcraft speedstyle 6’3 Solid tip lure rated 1/64-3/16oz for bluegill. The tip is fast and sensitive but the bank is considered as bass rod with plenty of backbone. I love this rod when target 8-10” bluegill.

Totally different here in SoCal. Stocked trout gone in a day or most two. You’d better know someone in the area since a lot of ppl will show up wit a huge cooler.

Majorcraft is pretty good and reasonable for its price point. I like them for both UL and for Bass. They are pretty light weight and balance well compare to others in the same price range or higher.

@BassNJake @Crankin4Bass @Sphynx Thanks, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind. I’m still suck at swinging a golf balls, started about a month ago. I don’t want to complete just good enough to not hold up the line or in the group, but I do take it seriously, paid for lessons and bought golf net to practice at home. My first couple weeks was pretty bad because I went driving range with two of my 10 handicap friends. Now I settled and tried to get used to with all the irons at my own place. I’m trying to get the right impact point at this moment and after this I’m gonna start practicing pitching, chipping and putting. Im only follow Danny Maude, since I like the way he teaches, easy to understand and easy to follow for beginners like me. I started to like golfing more and more, this might be only way for me to spend less time fishing lol.

Yes it slow float, all my HJ08 do that too. You can see that I add a little bit of copper to front hook to get it suspended right. I wanna add more spinning rod, especially Zodias series, but afraid it will not get use as much. I only use spinning when Neko Rig or dropshot.

This is my kind of guy, love the rig too bad I don’t have Zodias in spinning (2 baitcaster) and that husky might be the same as my favorite color.

I sold mine used but in excellent shape for about 150-160. Even though Aldebaran MG7 is the same reel as Core MG7 but price is way different, much more on the core compare to aldebaran JDM. I still like that reel and missed it from time to time. I used it for finesse, the weight is perfect for that technique. Will I pay for 245? Maybe not, not even for core. I’d add some more and get JDM 2020 Metanium. I only have one left Scorpion 1000XT (same platform) equipped with Yumeya for even more finesse techniques.