FrnkNsteen

Thanks Ghost..... Here's a picture with the reel removed.

Sure,... I can take one when I get home from work tonight.

Here are some pics Thanks. Ghost, Is the older generation you were talking about?

Too cold here to do much with this. I've been trying different reels on it today and think I found a match. An SLX MGL 71 balances the rod very nicely and palms very comfortably! As I said before, the rod weighs in at 3.1oz and the SLX MGL weighs in at about 7.3 with line on it. At 10.4oz, the rod feels very nice and nimble. Thinking of leaving the light flouro flouro on that is on it (10lb) and trying it out as a small light Fluke setup. Still open for opinions if someone comes along that has used one. Thanks for the feedback so far!

I mostly use them for smallies up in Ontario, but use them occasionally here in Indiana as well. Favorites are #3 or #4 fire tiger Blue Fox Vibrax or Mepps Black Fury with yellow or orange dots.

Personally,... I don't like that long of a rod for jerkbaits. My dedicated jerkbait rods are 6'6" - 6'10" so I don't slap the water with them while working the bait. As for which would work better for bottom contact,.... Are they both moderate actions like mentioned above? If that is the case,... Neither would be my first choice but guessing there wouldn't be a ton of difference between the two.

Hi everyone! Went to the fishing expo at the local shop, (Honey Creek Tackle by us south of Indianapolis) to check out the swap meet they had going on all of Friday. There weren't a LOT of sellers there, but I did pick up a pretty nice Phenix Ultra MBX in 6'6" M for just $40. The thing felt really light and nicely balanced. I had seen new Ultra MBX rods in stores before and thought they were nice looking rods, but I have never fished any of them. Brought it home and the cork was pretty dirty so I hit it with the magic eraser and it cleaned up nicely. Pulled out my little scale and it weighed in at 3.1oz. I think that's the lightest rod I have. Figured I couldn't go wrong at $40 but curious of opinions of those of you that have used this series of Phenix rods. Thanks! Mark

I don't know if it's rod design or just that my spinning rods are just so much better balanced, but I believe I can feel more with my spinning rods. My casting rods are pretty well balanced and work well, but the majority of my spinning rods are perfectly balanced on my middle finger and I can feel the lightest of pickups if fishing a weightless plastic like a wacky Senko. Experience and knowing what you are feeling play a HUGE role though,.... Probably more so than the rod type as mentioned above. But just looking at spinning vs casting... I think I am more sensitive on my spinning rods

Couple of other things I would suggest..... Clean the shaft of the spool real well. Also take a q-tip and pull most of the cotton off if. Wet it with cleaner and run it through the inside of the pinion. Sometimes junk can get in there and cause issues. I've only replaced bearings in one of my reels. I had a Tatula CT Type R that got damaged. Had to order some parts to fix it from Tackle Trap. While I was at it I added a set of HedgeHog Air bearings. I wouldn't say it necessarily gave much extra distance, but the cast was smoother and required less effort. Can't really say if it was worth the cost or not. Worst case,... You could get replacement bearings instead of upgrades.

You're right. I just knew I had pulled them out when replacing bearings on my CT Type R and flushing /oiling bearings on the Tat SVs. I knew there was one of each on mine, but had them backwards.

Don't all the Tatulas have the spring clip on the handle side? I know one side has the star shape retainer and the other has the square spring clip. Thought the spring clip one was on the handle side and star shaped one on the spool cover side on all of them that I have opened up..

I have the Elite Pitch and Flip model and I really like it. I can't give you all the specs. I think the biggest advantage I had heard is that I believe it has aluminum side plates, which is supposed to keep things better aligned for smoother and durable construction. i believe the P/F model I have has a shallower spool than the regular Tatula Elite and has a large handle with large foam knobs that allow for increased handle torque. I dont think the regular Elite gets the same handle, but I don't know that for sure. All I know is that I picked one up on sale and put it on a St Croix Legend series rod I had picked up. It's light and well balanced, yet feels bulletproof! I really like it for pitching skipping jigs in and around cover

My thought was that they were trying to combine a bit of spinnerbait into a swim jig. I like the concept, which is why I bought one. I'll have to play around with it a bit this spring. It's 0 degrees here right now, so even the farm ponds are experiencing hard water issues! 😊

Kind of goes against the concept of a Swim Jig then huh?! Well, that's disappointing. Did you try it with a paddletail or something on it to see if that helps stabilize it? Baby Rage Menace rigged vertical maybe?

I was at the local shop yesterday and was looking through all the new stock they got in while prepping for their fishing expo next weekend. This caught my eye. Anyone have any experience with these 1stGEN FlashX swim jigs. I kind of like the look of the titanium wire overspin swimjig so thought I'd try one. Just hope the wire isn't too stiff and affects hookups. No worse than a bluegill spine I would imagine. Curious if anyone has tried them?

I kind of went down a bit of a rabbit hole with older used reels recently. I've got a pair of old Calcutta 101 5.7:1 reels on vibrating jig rods. They are bullet proof and smooth as can be. My main buzzbait rod currently has an older Metanium Scorpion MG7 on it, and Ive got a handful of TD Z and TD X 103 and 105, 103HL and 105HL (pitching reels) and a few TD Fuego reels on various setups. Just something kind of fun about those older Team Daiwa reels, plus they are relatively light and palm great! Sadly. Most of these are now falling into that 20-30 year old window!!

Not much stretch in a short little leader! My personal opinion is I want some give there if running reactuon baits. I don't use braid on anything with trebles, but if I did,.... Even with a leader, it wouldn't be on a fast rod. If no give in the braid, there should be some in the rod at least. If running braid,... I would suggest running a moderate to moderate fast rod.

Everyone perceives things differently, but I have both Stradic 2500, 3000, and a BG 2500 and I think the BG feels heavier. Don't get me wrong,... Mu BG is incredibly smooth, but feels heavy. I put it on a tip heavy Falcon Lowrider to help balance it out while I put the Stradic 2500s on a couple 6'9" Fenwick Elite Tech Bass models and they balance out perfectly.

I looked it up saw that. Sounds like the new location will be quite the sight!! Scheduled to open Feb 21st with lots of celebrities there. I think they mentioned Roland Martin, Jimmy Houston, KVD and others

I have both. Really like my Vanfords. Got the Stradics last fall and haven't had a chance to fish them yet, but like how smooth they seem. Never been a fan of double handles on the older reels I tried (Spirex), but may be nice with a better, smoother reel!

Last time we were there, the workers mentioned they were closing both the Bass Pro and the Ca elas and opening a new location. Any idea where? Or how soon it will be open?

Depending how it will be used the JDM Alphas 800 is a pretty good option for even cheaper than the Zillion. Ive got one of each and have a hard time telling much difference. Both are very smooth and perform well.

It seems to be getting harder to find 6'6" casting rods. Most I have seen lately are 6'8" or 6'10". Don't know what you intend to use it for, but the Dobyns mentioned above is a good option. Dobyns Fury are a pretty decent option at that price point. Other options might include looking for sales on Daiwa Tatula rods, or close out St Croix Mojo rods. Since the new version came out, I have seen the old generation selling for $120. Another option is the Falcon Bucco rods at around $100 or the Lowrider rods at around $129

Very good question because I am not a big fan of either. I have a couple of the lower end DCs (SLX DC and Curado DC) and am not a fan. The noise gets on my nerves after a while. Getting ready to put both mine on the flea market right now. I assume you are talking about the newer Curado 200 that replaced the K? Haven't held them, but was not a fan of the Curado K. I assume you like Shimano? Personally, I like the Curado MGL better than the K, unless you want the extra capacity of the 200.

There are lots of good rods, but I agree with LCG above in that everyone has a different opinion on what they like for a reel seat. For instance,... I like Dobyns rods, but I don't like their spinning rod handles that have the reel nut at the front of the handle grip. I fish with three fingers in front of the stem and hate gripping the reel nut, .... Especially if there are exposed threads. Personally I like spinning rods that have some sort of foregrip and the reel seat nut at the back. Most Fenwicks have this (HMG & Elite), a lot of Daiwas have it. I have Falcon Lowrider and Expert rods that have it. My suggestion is to try find a store that has some options so you can get them in your hand. Bring your reel and see what feels right. My spinning rods consist of mostly Fenwick (HMG, ET Smallmouth, ET Bass, and Elites) with some Falcon (Lowrider & Expert), Phenix Feather, Daiwa (Tatula and RG), and a couple older St Croix Premieres mixed in.