Stephen B

You hit the nail on the head! Everyone always preaches the increase in sensitivity but I fish nothing but high end rods and it's almost undetectable to me in most scenarios. Tungsten is great and I appreciate the decrease in size (I buy it for that only) but there isn't a significant difference to me.

Daiwa Exceler LT or Fuego LT 2500 spinning reel with a 7'1 Medium FateChrome rod

I don't recommend anything Ardent sales. Haven't felt the newest reels but the ones I felt I wouldn't hand to my worst enemy.

I've broken 1 rod in the last 10 years. While most breakages are user error, defects do happen which all the large rod manufactures have on occassion.

While I am not a Gator fan, Florida will return to its former dominance in a few years. Dan Mullen is a great coach/recruiter. It also helps that Florida is in one of the best states regarding recruiting.

Mojo bass rods and St Croix rods are very dependable and have a very low number of breakages. If the rod wasn't damaged in shipment or bruised from a drop,etc then it was likely due to user error. Since multiple nice fish were caught on it the same day then randomly snapped I will guess high sticking.

That's interesting. I would rather spend more on the rod. The performance difference from a rod around $200-$300 such as an Expride or Dobyns Champion to a Conquest, NRX, GLX, Destroyer, K2 is significant. I always recommend spending more on the rods. There are a lot of great reels that are phenomenal in the $179.99-$299.99 range that provide great value whereas I can't say the same about rods but there are a few.

Kistler's Zbone is a good rod but not in the class of an NRX, Conquest, or K2 in my opinion. I own all and sold my Zbones. I would likely get an NRX and Metanium DC or Steez, whichever you prefer.

Interesting. I have had similar experience to yours in that I have never seen impressed even the slightest with Abu Garcia's rod build quality.

No need to be brand loyal in my eyes unless you are extremely happy with what you use. It's best to try a bunch of different rods and find what you like. Rods: G Loomis, Megabass, St Croix, Dobyns (May try Phenix K2s soon) Reels: Shimano and Daiwa

Everyone is different in there preferences. IMO I prefer Shimano casting reels by a long shot over Daiwa. I was not impressed with the Tatula SV TWS or Steez SV TWS at all. However, I really enjoy Daiwa's spinning reels. The Fuego LT, Tatula LT, Ballistic LT, and Exist are extremely nice. I'd personally take the Daiwa spinning reels over Shimano's current spinning reel offerings.

Very well said! Gnarly is right for Red Label haha. I can't stand Seaguar Red Label. But that's definitely awesome that you get to test and share your opinions on the gear.

I know exactly what you mean. Agreed. Goodluck fishing!

Nope. I had no idea what you were intending to say. No problem though.

Absolutely not! Steel is not steel. There are a ton of different steels such as stainless steel, tool steel, carbon steel, etc. These categories all vary based on there compositions. For example, stainless steel is a classification of steel so there are a multitude of different stainless steels that will have much differing performance in corrosion resistance that are all "stainless steel".

Always send back to Shimano when the reel is realtively new. I hope you didn't have to pay for the repair.

Handles well, but overall not that impressed especially with the lack of sensitivity.

Always support your local shops when you can because if they go out of business, you may not have access to quality gear except through online.

Unlikely an issue with the reel. More than likely its the way you are spooling the line.

Curado K. Not even close for me.

I definitely agree with you. Dan Isaac at Reelex, and DVT are great reel techs that I recommend. I tried to take an old Curado 200E7 apart for a deep cleaning back in the day apart and learned my lesson haha. I leave that to the professionals.

I tried the HH Airs but hated them. They were so noisy (Not in an amusing way like a DC) and gave my Curado 70 a gritty feeling compared to the stock bearings. I replaced them immediately. The jury is still out on the ZPIs which I will install tomorrow.

Its all personal preference. If you do buy aftermarket parts, buy direct if possible or through whichever reel tech you go with. I just regularly maintain them through a quality reel tech and upgrade as needed. Go to a good reel tech and let them do there magic before buying spools. I have some ZPI Office bearings and they are quality bearings but no way would I pay for the ZPI spools, but that just me. DVT could add more information but I've been told by many people that it's recommended to use the bearing manufacturers oil as the oil was specifically designed for there bearings. I assume it has something to do with the matching of the viscosity of the oil in relation to the tolerances.

Was the spool ever taken out of the reel? Do you notice anything unusual regarding the spool shaft? I'd call Daiwa directly to resolve this issue. They should definitely fix you up with the parts needed or a new reel directly from Daiwa.

Were your HH bearings louder than stock? They also didn't seem as smooth as the factory bearings even after oiling. I installed HH Air Bearings and snatched them out within 10 mins. I have heard a lot of people who like them but just not my cup of tea. I am going to try ZPIs soon though. Just need to install them and they seem to be very nice.