JustJames

I do agreed with Daiwa LT at 100 price point especially 1000 and 2000 size reel. Once you go up to 2500-3000 the Zaion body plus spool support will give you more stable and less flex. I had Legalis LT 1000 and like it a lot before upgrade to Tatula, btw I don’t like magseal for freshwater reel, less thing to worry. Exceler LT is even cheaper, with screw in handle but cannot change the knob. (I also ordered Exceler LT 2000 as backup) For shimano, I used to have Symetre 2500, that reel made me hate using spinning for awhile until I got ci4 and it was night and day. I don’t get tired after an hour of fishing. It balance better on my rod. BTW, I only finesse fishing with spinning.

I was in the market as well and considered those 3 reels pretty hard. Ci4+ is good the most expensive of the brunch. Ci4+ is 4 years old and might due to upgrade soon. I also agreed with @cammanI feel the same with my old ci4 not +. stradic FL is also good, I like long stroke spool, aluminum body and thanks to MGL rotor the weight is pretty reasonable but still the heaviest. Tatula LT, is smooth, ATD drag is nice for light line fishing, drag sound is just so so and smoothness is feel dry, only come in XH gear. End up ordered Ballistic FW 2500S-C because I don’t need those Magseal, and since I orderes from Japan I got to choose Shallow spool and 5.2 gear.

I ordered a bunch of Bobby garland baby shad, let me know if you need some samples. The thin tail of baby shad always move with even slide movement of current/wave. To me, crappie don’t like too much or sudden movement. It either straight slow retrieve or on the drop for me. The only two type of plastic I like and pretty effective is baby shad and tube with exception of CB slider at night and under bobbers. Crappie magnet is good but not as effective unless I spread the two tail or jigging it, on the other hand trout magnet is pretty good with bluegill.

Are you buying spinning or baitcaster? I just got a shipment yesterday for Kuying Teton 632UL to replace my broken Tsurinoya Proflex ii. I don’t really like it and thinking of selling it. It a little bit too noodle-ish for me. It is good, light and pretty sensitive, perfect for paper thin mouth crappie.

Walmart? You can just walk there and grab one you like lol. To be serious I ordered mine from a lot of place, China, Japan, Amazon, FishUSA, tackle warehouse, etc. So far I got two broken tubes one from eBay and another from fellow member here but none damage to the rod. Amazon is the easiest for return, claim get refund, the customer service is super good.

Roadrunner I have good luck with baby shad type plastic. I like roadrunner more because I can just slow retrieve, pop and let it fall, rip it, or even fish under bobbers.

Those are made to use just they are. If you like you can add short trout worm, or you just replace the whole jig with your own design. Baby shad is good for that as well as grub or small paddle tail type. You fish like spinnerbait just cast and retrieve, slow if you target panfish, faster and bigger lure for bass. They are also known as beetle spin. I caught a lot of bass on that when paired with 2.5-3 Zman swimZ. I prefer 1/16 marabou roadrunner as my search bait for crappie (smaller profile, think underspin)and I caught a bunch or bass and crappie with those.

The brake system is different therefore you cannot just swap spool, especially on DC reel. I don’t think there is any after market spool available for DC reel either.

1/32oz trout magnet saved my day, A couple good size bluegill and a 2lb bass on Daiwa Presso 5’6 and my old trusty and rusty Sahara 750FB.

They do bite big lure especially bigger and more aggressive ones (spawning and Fall crappie). I will take 15” SLAB any day, that is a d**n good size.

Another reminder bigger spool you got more IPT even with same gear ratio, it help for those long cast to get the lure back quicker. The reel 1000 and 2000 these day are pretty much the same just different in spool (some interchangeable), same as 2500 and C3000. I think the most important is how the reel balance your rod. For distance if you pick the light line, and rod that match your lure or vise versa would be better off that way. I use both CI4 2500 and Tatula 1000 depends on rod and lure type.

Do you have Stradic FL? I was in the market for another reel and really considering the Stradic 2000S FL. I think that long stroke spool 13.5mm instead of typical 12mm would help a lot in casting distance for 1/32oz jig. End up ordered Ballistic FW C2500S for 45mm spool to use when crappie/bluegill fishing.

Which reel do you have in mind? It is all depend on spool size (width), spool lip design, and length of spool as well. YES if you compare same reel/model, the bigger size should cast further but might not be as big different as you might think. Most of 1000 size Daiwa are 40mm spool compare to 2000 size at 42mm. Shimano is almost the same but each model might be a little bit different. For me as Ultralight fishing and always from shore I want anything that would help me cast further, I would op for 2000 size. But for bass I think spool size play major roll in line management and drag capacity more than casting distance, ie mono/FC instead of braid. Line size is also important for casting distance, 10lb braid would cast further than 15-20lb braid. I think you should be more consider of line diameter than the size of reel. There are not a lot of 2000 size reel available is US market anyway. If you compare 1000 vs 3000, there you should see big different and WORTH CONSIDERATION. Anyway I use Daiwa Tatula 2000 for Ultralight but use 1000 for bass. They are in fact the same body only spool different.

I like 1/16oz roadrunner with BG baby shad for crappie. Bluegill I like 1-1.5” plastic on 1/32oz or 1 gram jig head with #6 hook. Trout magnet and tube is my favorite.

If you are sure it is not bearing, it might be spool vibration, pinion yoke, some rubbing etc. if you are sure it is gears then, you old gears is toad. Pinion yoke should lift pinion gear out of main gear completely when pressing thumb bar. Time for professional I believe. BTW why do you need to clean your reel every month?

Clean and oil those spool bearings to see if it helps. For cleaning there are many method, search is your friend. I prefer soak in nail polish remover on top off aquarium pump, then finish off in alcohol. I believe you have spool shaft bearing, you will need tool to remove shaft pin. If you are not sure, send to professional to clean check if any local tackle stores can service your reel.

Yes and I sold it after a few weeks. I didn’t say it is bad it just not fit my type of fishing.

Depends on fishing technique, I don’t like ark rod (invoker) 7’1 M/XF for finesse fishing. The tip is not soft and quite heavy. The blank is 1/2” thick and the weight is on a heavy side. The reel seat is a good quality and actually the same as Majorcraft speedstyle. That rod would make a good senko/fat Ika rod, pretty sensitive and super fast tip. I sold it since I don’t fish anything heavy with spinning.

Shimano curado 6’10 M with Stradic ci4 for all around Finesse Ned, Neko rig. Shimano Crucial 6’10ML with Tatula LT 2000, for Ultra Finesse and Crappie setup.

Thanks, that would help a lot. I normally just walk the line out about 100’ or so then reel back in with finger-pressure applied on the line. Another way that I always do when on water is when reel the lure back in, I’d let it hang about 3-4’ to spin the twisted out.

I would play until catfish get tired and stay on top of water and I can pull them in safely with my line (by pulling them in meaning walking back while hold the spool titght, just in case catfish decide to run again then I can lets go my hand for drag to work again). I don’t tighten drag when fighting with catfish but if catfish pull too much line out I just use my finger touching spool to act like drag assistant. If you can go in water and land them that way to be safe. DO NOT try to lift or pull them in with your rod, chance of your rod broken is super high. If you have nowhere to land them safely (beach type, dock, shallow water that you can stand in) I would just got them as close as possible and cut the line. A couple months back I land 5 catfish all on Ultralight rod/reel and line(10lb braid with 4-6lb leader) two of them pushing 7lb or more while fishing for crappie. BTW, I have 3 nets at home but never plan to use them while walking around banks looking for crappie, bluegill or bass. I believe in my ability to land them. If I cannot land them safely I wouldn’t fish that spot even I know there are ton of fish there.

Oh yeah rooter tail I remembered walking along the water wall with rooster tail and caught a bunch of bluegill. That was 10 years ago. I might have to try that or 1/16oz marabou roadrunner.

How long under bobbers? Where I fish is a drop off, 30’ out could be 10-15’ deep

Going after bluegill this morning. Not bad but not good only caught 8 bluegill and 1.5lb bass on Majorcraft Speedstyle S63UL. I still have to learn how to catch them more effectively. What type of plastic best for bluegill? I only have a few of 1-1.5” plastics, trout magnet, trout slayer, tube. Should I use bobbers on just drag along bottom?

Yeah you should compare line from same brand especially from Japan to get a close to realistic. The 6lb red rebel and 5.2lb finesse is about the same as 4lb line from other brands especially those one from USA or China made. 12lb Abrazx is a lot smaller than 12lb Yozuri Topknot, 12lb Berkley Vanish or 10lb FloroClear even though they are advertised the same diameter.