JustJames

Yeah I wouldn’t use leader either, if you have problem trying one knot why add one more knot to be a cumbersome. Bass doesn’t mind a little bit of color here and there and if you don’t have confidence just sharpie a few feet. I caught fish in yellow braid and chartreuse mono.

Also make sure the knob going in straight not cross over the thread.

Fluke is one lure that I have confidence in and will guarantee to catch fish 80% of a time. A few years back, the last fish I caught on December was fluke and the first fish I caught in January was also Fluke. There are many way to fish fluke, fast on top of water or slow like Senko. You can also dance them like jerkbait between water column. My prefer plastic is Yamamoto D-Shad on Gama 4/0 hook, the heaviest of the bunch with same Senko Material. I can fish D-Shad in 15 FOW unweighted no problem. If you need weight VMC drop dead 1/16oz 3/0 with either Zoom Super Fluke or Bass assassin is the way to go. don’t be afraid to experiment, just pop it off bottom and let it glide back like Senko, or twist twist pause like jerkbait. I normally use 8lb Copolymer for Fluke, no braid no swivel (unless donkey rig). Patient is also the big key with fluke, if I see activity on top I will just keep twisting right on surface. Rod I prefer ML or Medium with softer tip to get the most action (you don’t wanna pull fluke with stiff rod).

Yes it can be done, all you have to do is hang on to your rod, let the drag work while praying and hopefully fish doesn’t pull line into any cover and get tired.???

d**n it feels good to set hook and the fish set it back. I’ve been finesse fishing for too long, I guess. This type of satisfactory is why everyone love jig fishing.

I have no doubt any fishing gear would catch fish big and small. This is direct to him because he is getting my stream trout rod. I just wanna make sure he got the right tool for right job.

What do you plan to use BFS for, stream trout, farm pond bass or just small panfish?

No you don’t because you ordered with Amazon.com (US base). A lot of ppl here either order from Japan website like digitaka, Asians portal or even Amazon Japan (.co.jp not .com) you still can cancel, because that take 4-5 days to ship plus a week or so to arrive at your door. If total is about the same price as digitaka I would order from those guys ship faster.

Please don’t think like that. I made a mistake once with my Alphas SV105. I considered it as finesse reel only from that small brass gear. In the meantime, I used Curado 70 for everything from Ned to Frog. I never be able to get that out of my head every time I was using it. I plan to use Alphas SV TW and I believe that big teeth brass Digigear can handle everything or better than Curado 70.

Weightless worm both wacky rig or Texas rig, like roboworm, zoom finesse or trick worm and 3 and 4 Roboworm Ned worm.

If you search on 2016 Metanium MM aluminum gear, you will see a lot of complaints about buzzing gear. For Daiwa Zillion with bigger gear teeth, it harder to say yes and no. if regular fishing, I would believe aluminum gear should handle just fine, for frog, pulling deep crank or big Colorado spinnerbait, you would put a lot of stain on gear. IMHO though, opinion always that opinion.

What I mentioned earlier on this post about gliding/swimming and jigging Ned Rig with spinning way better than baitcaster. I did just that this evening and have so much fun with it. My bad wrist prevents me from using spinning this year. I figured a little bit popping/jigging wouldn’t hurt. 3 bass and 1 catfish on ML spinning, good time.

I fish 1/8oz dropshot weight with finesse worm all day with Curado 70, 50e series or alphas SV105 with just regular medium or medium light rod. No need to get fancy with those BSF gears. 1/8oz weight + 1/8oz plastic that 1/4oz kind of aerodynamic enough to cast with regular gear. I really think a lot of ppl here always jump the gun, recommend thing that might not even benefit OP as much. They just go by what the feel right without any fact support from OP. @Tatulatardis right if OP doesn’t even know about what rod power to use with 1/16-1/8oz, and we already started giving him BFS. How about if this only his setup? If he wanna use 10-12lb line?

Same here for intermediate service, I first clean old grease with tooth brush, slightly brush the same direction of the gear teeth into paper towels. (I’ve heard using tooth brush can damage gear teeth, don’t remember where but I have no problem with it so far). I just simply dip paint brush into tub (or using syringe, different grease for my heavy duty reel) then slightly poke brush into gear teeth slot. Hardly have any mess.

Just like @newapti5mention I quite often automatically using thumb when set hook (depends on techniques). I use thumb as drag very often too when fish (often time catfish) pull harder than usual but just for a quick pressure. I rely most on smooth properly setup drag. The only time I release drag and use thumb just to protect my whimpy rod where my line is exceed the rod limit. My believe is most tournament anglers set their drag pretty high and using thumb instead of drag to give some room for bass to run. Damage the spool not in this case but if you thumb the spool hard to pull from snagged, that different story.

I always believe in “luck” especially for myself that happened to be there at right time and right spots very oftentimes ???. All I need are, one setup, a bag of plastic/hook and pure luck. Some of this year’s luck for me all from different spots though.

It is hot and humid for the last few days or week here. Suck, haven’t play golf for the past two weeks but at least I can do some fishing in the evening.

For the techniques you listed, I would feel more comfortable with brass gear, but that is just me. No matter you pick, tackle trap has Zillion brass gear in stock for only 70 bucks.

In a way yes, Daiwa handle is 8x5mm hole, you need adapter to fit into Shimano 7x4mm. “Nobody gonna know????” You might find some problem though depend on which reel and handle, Daiwa handle normally more swept than Shimano, so drag star might be in a way of short handle. Again there is shim available at tackle trap.

Blue, if you plan to get 100’ with baitcaster, absolutely you can but accuracy and condition are really questionable. In the wind you gonna have a very hard time getting the distance and accuracy together. I think you always swim and glide you Ned, I believe spinning is better.

Zero Adjust, yes after your first initial adjustment. All my 5 zero adjuster came with different setting, some a little loose some perfect. It doesn’t really matter much though unless it is too tight. Don’t be afraid to set it where you are comfortable with and you will find that you don’t need to touch it again. In my case, I have different spools for my reels so I check it every time I switch. For me, SV reel is perfect for hard whip cast. I need to adjust the brake higher when lob cast short 20-30 yds to target. That skipping video the guy set spool tension just no side to side play and brake dial at 11-12 try to whip it away don’t be afraid of backlash, the harder you whip the SV brake activated faster, IMHO.

There is a guy skipping with alphas SV thumb free. Let me check for you. I think if you set spool tension just like and adjust brake dial high enough you can skip very well with this reel. I want more but want to see if Daiwa gonna come up with new color scheme with this reel. I might just order Tatula TW 80 for a change lol. I’m going to Thailand next year and I plan to bring with me only one alphas SV TW plus 4 spools with different line on it. Already ordered Daiwa bbb 6’6” ML. Gonna fish a lot like these guys for some snakes head and barramundi.

So I might have obligations to tell you my rigs. First of all, Canada got Amazon? You might be able to order those direct from Amazon. In US Amazon or even Walmart started to let oversea vendors sell stuffs thru their site. Amazon as prime member I always get free shipping but get hit with high percent California tax rate. My 3 alphas, I have 10lb FC, 8lb Copolymer, 10lb braid. All my reels got at least 1/4 braid backing. Alphas SV TW with narrow but deep arbor not gonna do you any good when line get that low. I use these reels normally for medium task. Spool tension little to no side to side play, brake dial around 4-6 for normal condition, a little more when windy. When compare with Magforce I think I set it a little less since SV have stronger profile brake. If you plan to add clicking drag, now tackle trap carry Zillion gear set but you will need some more parts like metal washer(3 parts) and main shaft sleeve. https://tackletrap.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=898_660_656&products_id=18792

Tatula feel smoother and less inertia than Vanford for me (2000 size). Just to give you pieces of mind, Shimano long stroke spool is nothing, they are about the same length as Daiwa (compare 2000 size). My Tatula (Kage) went into water about 30 seconds, I cleaned it way later and no sign of water damage. The grease inside still clear and crystal.

What lure or weight do you plan for bluegill and how big are crappies in your area? Now affordable some of nice UL JDM are under 100, you will have to know which one and where to buy. I love my 4 pieces Daiwa Presso 5’6 UL for both spices. It cast 1/64oz trout magnet and can handle 12” crappie with lot of fun.