Hulkster

I have the curado 200i, and I almost never backlash unless I hit a tree. what I do is this: set the internals to 50% on, 50% off. in the case of your reel, 2 on 2 off. set the external dial to 3 (I can go down to 2 if its a spoon or crankbait that casts like a bullet). some baits have a lot of wind resistance might need to go to 4. set the cast control tension knob so that the lure slowly falls when you press the thumb bar. I don't side arm, I overhand cast. wait for the rod to load before moving forward. this should work for you, as it works like a charm with my curado 200i

Ive been using 10 pound test Sufix Siege for my spinning and baitcasting reels and really love it as an all around all purpose mono line.

and no hook keeper. Come on Shimano

based on your pic it looks like that mono is around the 17 to 20 pound test strength. its pretty thick for spinning gear. if you keep it to 10 and under things will be much better for you.

I use 10 pound test Sufix Siege on a 3000 size shimano and love it. casts well and is very strong. the Sufix Elite is even more limp but not as tough. The Siege won't cast quite as far but you gain the extra strength and abrasion resistance. I think the compromise is worth it. I use 10 pound test on casting gear too. I used to be a diehard XL user but discovered Sufix mono and never looked back.

Actually, Shimano purchased G. Loomis way back in 1997.

The E6X is definitely a step above the Bass X line The E6X is very similar to the avid blank (SC III graphite from St. Croix) and the Bass X line is only their SC II graphite.

JWR 852S would be awesome. I have one and like it a lot, although I use mine for just about everything lol

When I learned to baitcast in the late 90s, lefties were just starting to come out and not widely available. so I learned the old school way: Cast and switch so I reel with my right hand. its all I know. to me, lefties don't look right

the shimano website lists the weight difference for the 3000 Stradic FK vs ultegra as 0.2 oz. I don't think that well help. that being said, I have stradic 3000FK on an 7'1" Loomis E6X which is a very similar rod to the Avid and it is slightly tip heavy, but when you put line on it and take it out on the water it somehow works. it feels awesome. That slight tip heaviness allows you to really get a 'whip' on the casts and you end up casting like a rocket. I love it. You may find that out on the water, the 3000 size FK stradic feels quite nice.

G. Loomis SJR700 GL3. its a 5'10" gem of a rod. Mag Light power, extra fast tip, 4-8 pound line. 1/32 to 1/4oz lures. its amazing.

My Babies:

in 8 and 10 pound tests I find the Siege to be probably 90% as limp as comparable XL. However it seems to be much stronger and holds up much better. in higher pound 14 pound test the Siege has more memory than say 14 pound XL but you can't break the stuff. its stronger than XL by a lot it seems. so far Siege has the best overall blend of characteristics I have found in a mono. I used to use nothing but XL but switched because I was getting break offs and weak knots after it sat on the reel for a bit. I was looking for something stronger that would hold up better. Tried Big Game, but found it to be too stiff. Tried Sufix Elite, very limp but ran into similar problems as XL - needed to be tougher. Settled on Siege as being the best compromise.

I'm totally old school and now use Sufix Siege 10 pound test mono on both my spinning rigs (3000 size reels) and my baitcasting setup. I love the stuff. Former XL user here but Siege blows it away.

Stradic 3000FK

up locking is the only way to go for me also. I HATE down locking ones and will never buy a rod with that style again.

the last generation of the IMX (not the pro ones) and the new E6X rods sometimes feel tip heavy or bottom heavy. But once you put a reel on them and cast it all seems to work. I believe this is because Loomis intentionally had balance points (depending on the technique eg. jig and worm rods vs crankbait rods etc) different than the old school rods which were balanced completely neutral. Loomis mentions something about this on their website about swing weight if I recall.

I currently own several different Loomis rods (E6Xs, GL3s, Escape Travel series and Trout series rods) and have yet to find one that I thought wasn't worth the money. they have all been fantastic although each are different. They have all been very good at what their intended technique or target fish was. Even the three piece travel rods have been great. some don't like the introductory E6X rod, others do. I own two (one spinning and one baitcasting) and like them both.

I was under the impression that by design, spin cast reels had greatly reduced casting distance compared to baitcasting reels and spinning reels. that and at 13+ oz which is heavier than almost all bass spinning reels (with not much line capacity) even the 5000 size ones, makes this sort of a head scratcher unless its for kids etc who haven't yet mastered the art of spinning or baitcasting reels. nothing really wrong per say (other than the casting distance) but for the money spent there are way better options out there that weight much much less.

putting a shimano reel on a daiwa rod is like farting in an elevator. its wrong on so many levels

I own both an Avid M power spinning rod and an E6X M power spinning rod and I too prefer the E6X. for all purpose casting the MBR series tapers are hard to beat. I find I prefer the taper on the Loomis rods over the Avid that I own. both are really great blanks though.

one thing to be aware of is none of the Loomis drop shot rods have hook keepers. I have read some reviews that love the DS E6X rod but wish it had a built in hook keeper.

Curado 200i or Curado K

even though its a jig and worm rod, I use my E6X 852s for everything, and find it makes a great spinnerbait rod for 1/4 to 3/8 oz. spinnerbaits.

im in the minority here but I have a 5.5:1 ratio Curado 200i PG and use it for everything. obviously, its great for big lipped cranks and blade baits, but I find its perfect for fast moving baits too. I think in general we fishermen tend to fish too fast most of the time, the 5.5 is perfect.