Shimano_1

I have a Triton 18tx which is virtually identical to the 188. Love it. Went from a Triton 20x2 20ft glass rig with a 250 to this boat last year. It has the 115 4 stroke with command thrust. Are there times I wish it would run a little faster? Absolutely. Do I regret my decision...absolutely not. I fish a lot of local and a few regional tournaments. The only down side period is speed. In every other aspect I love it. Only you can decide if the 198 is worth it to you but obviously to me it wasn't. I looked at them when I bought mine. I can put mine in places big glass boats simply can't go. Much easier on my truck to tow. Fuel economy is literally 5 times better than the 250 2 stroke was. It has actually surprised me in a lot of ways. As for the talons or power poles and ultrex...I could see benefit for sure in both but I plan on putting the ultrex on mine and being done with it. 98 percent of the time that's all I need and 2 percent isnt worth the cost of poles. Good luck

I'm with A-Jay up the braid size and throw some 25 or 30 lb mobo leader. Also make sure it's not your knot connecting the two that's breaking.

They're both great reels. Id guess that an slx getting rough after a cple months was either a lemon or abused. I've had both and the slx was a much more comfortable reel to fish with, the Fuego has a lil easier braking system and feels like a tank. Either one would serve u just fine for frogging or most anything else.

I agree with this morr every year. I've settled on most things I fish and have finally figured out that having 4 of everything I ever throw is over kill. I find I'm much more efficient when things are slimmed down and my options are a little more limited.

Basspro pro qualifier rod on sale now for 69. 13 fishing fate black can be had for same money and both have treated me well.

Maybe for full retail I'd get the bantam. For the 250 it can be had for I'd get the lews myself. I've fished a buddies and they are super nice reels. The over whelming majority is going to say get the shimano and they're great reels. I personally love everything about lews so admittedly my opinion may be biased. I'm sure either reel is a solid choice

I just picked up a 13 fate black spinning rod in the 6'10 med light for same purposes and so far it's been really nice. Got it on fleabay for 57 bucks shipped

Absolutely. They're nice for 99, steal for 69, no brainer for 50

When you need one now that's pretty irrelevant

Just picked one up yesterday. Hard to beat for 70 bucks

Black and blue is in my top 2 color choices. I dont throw anything junebug anymore so there's my opinion on the 2

I'd look up the book value on it. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Sounds like basically a new boat for 10k? If everything checked out I'd own it. Good luck

I'm with some of the above. When they decided they were choosing sides and were so public with their opinions I decided I wont ever spend another dime at dicks. Used to go quite a bit for everything from clothes to ammo and fishing stuff. They're welcome to make their business decisions how they sit fit. In my opinion they basically spit on probably half of their customers with the decisions they made. Kinda seems like a weird deal tho for a sporting goods store to do what they've done.

Go with the 55 no questions. Yes it will be faster and will last much longer.

Catch fish...win money. Plan on fishing a lot of tournaments this year so yeah that's the goal

Just a confidence thing. If you're looking for someone to give you a definitive answer you're not going to. Things change from lake to lake, day to day, hour to hour. Spend enough time on a lake to learn that lake and you'll start being able to determine the answer to your own questions. All you're gonna get on here is probably enough information to just confuse you even more. Can I determine if there are fish on riprap at your lake? Absolutely no way to do so. Use seasonal patterns and such to make the best educated guesses and remember nothing beats time on the water. If I'm on a new lake and feel like they should be on shallow timber, I'll likely try a few different approaches before moving spots. Edwin Evers always saying the wrong bait in the right place will get bit...the right bait in the wrong place will not

I do this all the time. Funny how a man can figure out ways to justify things to himself. I always think...someday I'm going to need them and I'll have to spend more etc. Lol

I've owned the lews mb and the daiwas mentioned. For me, the lews is the better reel. Feels much more comfortable in hand due to size and is pretty slick. I'd suggest a lews tournament pro lfs for 140 if u can swing the much $. Simply unbeatable at that price point. The slx is decent but I wasn't very impressed with it.

Good decision. 45 lb isnt nearly enough for that boat

Green pumpkin 3/8 finesse jig

I think most lews reels are the most underrated. Specifically the tournament pro lfs. Also the okuma helios reels are fantastic and never get much love. Rods, most store brands. Basspro carbonlite, cabelas tournament zx rods are wonderful sticks for the money. Honestly over rated to me, shimano slx reels, daiwa tatula sv. Neither of these reels did much for me. Just shows people's opinions vary because most of what I've said certainly isnt the popular opinion. Oh and Loomis rods have always seemed highly over rated in my opinion.

I dont agree at all that the resale on trackers is awful. Actually around here they seem to hold their value better than glass boats. Way too many of em on the water to believe the quality is bad or anything else negative about them. I dont care for how they sit front high in the water or I'd have looked at them when I bought my aluminum Triton. If I were in this situation, having owned both big glass rigs and now an aluminum rig, I'd go aluminum. The only benefit I see to a big glass rig is if you're fishing big water a lot or fish tournaments regularly. I fish tournaments from mine. It towes much easier, fishes as good, fuel economy is amazing, makes it much eaiser to launch and load when I go alone. All the very reasons I traded a 20ft Triton glass boat for a 19ft Triton aluminum one. As other have said tho its gonna boil down to personal preferences and what you're planning to do with it.

And Jeff Bezos just keeps getting richer....I'm glad you posted this. I used to buy a lot from Amazon but similar situations to what u describe are why I've gotten away from them. If the dude can build the most successful empire in the history of the world surely he can figure out a way to fix this bs. I'll stick to tacklewarehouse and other reputable places

Can't believe there have been this many posts without someone suggesting shimano or daiwa lol. Every company is putting out some awesome reels these days. I've switched over to mostly all lews for this season. This thread has me contemplating the custom lite for finesse jigs and lighter baits. If op tries one let us know how you like it!

There are too many high end reels with frames made from other materials. Yes everyone is always gonna say make sure its aluminum and I've always lived by this. However...lews customer service is fantastic so I would buy it worry free and should there be a problem they'll make it right.