FrnkNsteen

Ive got three of them from different price levels. I first saw the cheaper Catalyzer and liked the grip of the handle. I put an old TDZ HL reel with the topside pitching clutch on it at fishes well. Pretty nice stick for the price. I followed that with an Ark Tharp series Hammer model (7'MH) that I like alot too. I was initially using that with 20lb flouro for a chatterbait over rocks in Canada. The heavy flouro helped protect against the northern. I honestly don't remember what's on it now. Maybe the same setup still. Last one I bought was a used 7'3" MH Invoker LE with the full cork handle. I've got 40lb braid on it and use it with belly weighted screwlock ewg hooks working chigger craws and rage craws around laydowns and other cover. I've been pretty happy with it too. The grip on all three of those has an extra open area that allows my finger to wrap around the blank and really feel the bait.

I have WAY more than I would ever need or use and have been selling a few here and there or giving them away to family and friends. I guess I have just become a bit of a rod and reel geek. Lately I prefer clean older used stuff. In fact I have another old LH TD Fuego on its way to the house that had popped up on the auction site. Another recent pickup was a clean old Chronarch 51mg If I HAD to estimate, I'd say I'm around 50 casting setups and 24 or more spinning setups plus an additional 12-15 loose casting reels and a handful of spinning reels. Sitting on or around the work bench.

As usual,... @bulldog1935 nailed it! The only thing I would add is to consider the weight difference betwen the Stradic and Vanford in parallel with the weight of the rod you are going to put it on to assess which will balance better. For instance, I have both Vanford and Stradics. On my Fenwick rods that have a more substantial, full handle, I don't need as much reel weight to balance the setup on my fingers, so the Vanford balances very nicely. My absolute favorite is my Fenwick ET Smallmouth 6'9"ML with a Vanford 2500 I use for wacky rigging smallies!! I have other rods that are a split grip, or completly open like the Phenix Feather that don't have as much handle weight. The heavier Stradic balances them out a little better.

I use mine for pitching jigs and worrms, as well as topwater poppers and jerkbaits.

I bought an SLX DC and a Curado DC when they came out and didn't care for them, plus the WEEEEE sound wore on me after a while. I would not buy another

Sometimes you can get pretty good deals on bulk spools of Suffix 832 on Amazon. I bought 600yd spools of 10lb for spinning reels in dark green and hi viz green for a relatively good price, but you have to watch because those deals come and go.

Except they want nearly full price on everything I saw. For instance,... 8/10 Shimano Zodias was $199. I can buy the new for $ 199-209

Allow them to do this? People can try to sell anything they want. Have you seen late night TV?? 😁 That doesn't mean we need to buy it, and in my opinion, it hurts my view of them. Makes me question their quality intent or if they are just trying to gouge the market. For instance,... I saw a Spro scale at the local tackle shop. It looked like a cheap plastic piece of junk and they were wanting over $60. You can get cheap Berkley or Rapala ones that are the same cheap quality for half that price. Makes me question why their baits are so expensive compared to Rapala, SK, or others

I wish you would have said this a month or so ago. American Legacy was clearing out all the old model GLX to make room for the new models. I think they sold them all out though, but you might check.

Well,... I've never thrown a frog on either of mine because my 2 Curado MGLs and my Zillion are all 6spd reels. I can say they both have about the same line capacity. My MGLs seem to cast a bit farther than the Zillion but the Zillion is smoother. I have my Zillion on a St Croix Legend Glass and the Curados on Dobyns Champion 705cb rods. My Zillion is smoother for reeling the crankbaits so I like it best for that, but if you are frogging, smoothness may not be as important and you may like the slightly longer casting. You honestly can't go wrong with either though!!

Great price on some of them, but not so much on my lefties. Looks like I may need to go check Digitaka! (I really don't, but there goes @bulldog1935 tempting me again!! 😁) As for the original question,... I really like the Curado MGL. My Zillion is smoother, but at least in my case, it doesn't cast quite as far as my MGL, and I still keep bumping the brake dial on the Zillion. The Zillion IS smoother though!!!

So you were swimming it like a swim jig or spinnerbait? Is the new rod more sensitive and/or faster than the old one? I'm wondering if you are feeling them inhale the jig, but if it's a faster rod,,.... could be allowing you to pull it out of their mouth before they fully close down on it. Sounds like that is a possibility if they are hooked in the lips. I like a little bit slower rod for my moving baits, including swim jigs, for just that reason.

I have mixed feelings on the Zillion. Mine is incredibly smooth and palms pretty comfortably. I WILL say that it doesn't cast as well as some of my other reels though. My biggest issue with it is the brake dial location and tightness. No matter what I do, I consistently bump it with my finger and accidentally change it. My Alphas has it in the same location, but for whatever reason, I don't have issues with that reel. Maybe it's the slightly different shape, or maybe it's just more stiff. I don't know... That being said,... It is hard to argue against the bang for the buck you get on Daiwa JDM Zillions and Alphas pricing. A Zillion for not much more than a U.S. Tatula SV or an Alphas for around the same as a U.S. Tatula 100?? Don't have to think twice about that!!

Found this if this is the right rod,... Phenix Rods M1 MX72MH Specifications Material 36-Ton Toray Carbon Fiber w/ K-woven Scrim & Nanolite Resin Power Rating Medium Heavy Taper Fast Rod Weight 4.2oz

Sure you can... I pull the spool control cap off mine any time I tear mine down to clean it. It's not like it's illegal! 😁 You just have to readjust it back so the there is the smallest amount of side to side movement (no tension on the spool). "Zero Adjust" just means that once it is set, you shouldn't need to adjust it.

If you aren't against ordering JDM, the Daiwa Alphas 800 has the same smaller frame, but has a free floating spool, is smoother, and can probably be bought for cheaper right now.

Either would work fine for chatterbaits. I've got both models and there isn't a lot of difference between them. I have two of the 736cb glass and one of the 735cb glass. I have a Jackhammer and a Sieberts Fogy on the 736's, and a 5XD crankbait on the 735 currently. I read on another forum thread where Gary Dobyns was saying they were developing the rod and they tried a couple different things and came out with slight differences between the two. Apparently Gary liked the slightly heavier one and his son liked the slightly lighter one, so they kept them both and named them the 735cb glass and 736cb glass. I could try to find that thread and share here, but don't know if that is allowed.

Wow! That's pretty cool. I expect someone figured it was better to give them out to people who could use them than scrap them out if they are going to stop supporting them. Pretty cool! Rebuilds a bit of my opinion on them, which has been lacking lately! Good for them!

@bulldog1935,... That's awesome, Always blown away by the cool stuff you have!

I use all of my rods and reels. Don't get me wrong.... I take care of all of my gear, but I DO use it. Now,... That being said, there is someone selling two brand new in box Daiwa TDZ lefty models that I would LOVE to have. My issue though is that they are only new once and I would have have a hard time using a 20 year old reel that has never been used. I mean how many are there out there like that?!?! But,... I also have a hard time spending that kind of money for something that will sit on a shelf to look at!!

1. MH-MF... I don't use mine for bottom contact like the worm rig you described. I use Medium Fast or Medium Heavy Fast for those, depending on the cover. I use my MH-MF mostly for single hook moving baits like Spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits, or Swimjigs. Occasionally for the bigger 110 and 130 whopper ploppers. People can say what they want about whether they work well, or if it's possible to set the hook too quick. All I know is I have lost less fish and got better hook-ups since switching to a slower, more moderate rod for those techniques. 2. ML rods,... I like lighter spinning rigs, so everything I have for spinning rigs is ML or M. I don't own a single MH. If I need a MH for something, I use my baitcasters. I will say most of my fishing is either canadian glacial lakes with mostly rock, or Indiana flood control reservoirs, so not a lot of heavy vegetation in either. I've caught some awful nice smallies ranging up to 5-6lbs with a wacky rigged senko on a ML spinning rigs, and haven't ever lost enough to see a need to switch.

Is the 7' Mojo MHMF labeled as the "Spinnerbait" rod? If so, that really is the only Mojo rod I really like. I have two of them and I love them for what I use them for. Caught a 50" Musky on one of them witha Zillion SV and craw colored OG Slim a couple years ago! Took a while, but it did it fine! They DO have a soft tip and seem a little light to me for a spinnerbait or chatterbaits over 3/8oz. I've used them for lighter chatterbaits with some success. I actually think they work really nice for medium depth crankbaits and whopperploppers. I have thrown a lot of Rapala OG6 Slim and Roccos, and currently have both of mine set up with old school Team Daiwa Fuegos throwing whopper Plopper/Choppo 90's with 15lb Big Game. I love them!! I would try a different reel, I bought one of those Curado K's and hated it. Seemed way to touchy and only worked well in certain instances. I have been happy wit a Gen3 Revo S , a SLX MGL, and most recently the TD Fuegos on those rods.

Agreed^^ I had Dobyns Fury in 733 and 734, but after trying other options, the 734 started to feel heavy. I weighed it and weighed nearly 6oz. Not horrible, but you can feel the difference when compared to other offerings like Sierra series, Daiwa Tatula, or others around that range. I have since gotten rid of most of my Fury rods othervthan the 705cb or 703c

^^Agreed^^ I had the same results. I saw someone on a video explain it in a way that finally clicked and made sense to me. To me, fishing a swim jig is a little different to me than a regular jig because it is typically moving, so when a fish inhales it, you can feel them inhal it and set the hook before they even close their mouth and end up ripping it out of their mouth A slower more moderate rod allows them to get ahold of it before your line loads up from setting the hook,.. Which has improved hookup ratio for me. I haven't lost near as many fish since switching to a slower rod. Same goes for spinnerbaits and chatterbaits.

In my opinion,..... Daiwa TDZ