The Maestro

I currently have only 1 Bantam but it really ruined me. I was a bit skeptical that the all metal construction would really make a difference but I was wrong. The reel sets a new bar for quality and refinement in a low pro baitcaster. I thought my Curado E's were good but they don't compare to the Bantam. I believe one of the key differences is how they replaced the traditional side plate with the small screw-on hatch. The tolerances are very tight which allows the whole thing to stay rock solid with no play or slop whatsoever. It's nice and small. The MGL spool is a massive upgrade which makes pitching baits totally effortless. It looks, feels and sounds like pure quality. It's just an amazing reel and I plan on buying more of them for my best rods.

Thanks but that wasn't me that took the video. The video was making the rounds on social media a few years back and the thread reminded me of the ignoramuses that kill the musky in it.

This thread reminded me of this video. I'm a bass guy but I don't really "hate" any other species. And what kind of an angler hates smallmouth of all fish? They're freakin' awesome beautiful fish especially when they get big.

I did the smell knot thing for punching for a few years. Went back to a palomar and noticed no difference in hookup ratio. If anything I have more confidence in tying the line directly to the eye of the hook as it was intended. The whole idea of the hook "kicking" upwards on the hookset looks neat when you do it in your hands but I'm skeptical that it works exactly that way in a fish's mouth. Nice video though. I'm sure it will help anyone who wants to try it out.

Wow. Thanks. This is the type of real life first hand information that just isn't so readily available. I guess not too many fitness gurus will have as much experience or know how unbelievably draining full days of fishing can be. Pretty much everything you said I can relate to. The hardest thing for me is coming to terms with having to scale back the fishing. I feel like it's taken me 10 years of doing it pretty seriously before I was even able to fish the entire day and now that I can do it without my body or brain feeling completely demolished it's made see how good the fishing can be before it gets dark and the season is so short here. I'm going off topic but I'm sure you know what I mean. I'm going to check out your warmup video and re-read your post as there's a lot I'm sure I missed. Thanks again and good fishing and lifting!

The useable life of braid (or any line) totally depends on the type of cover you're fishing with it.

It looks like more work than it actually is. A 300 yard spool of 65lb Power Pro is probably about $60 after taxes here so it adds up to a lot of money being literally thrown in the trash when you're tossing away brand new line.

I HATE throwing away brand new line so I'm pretty OCD about maximizing it. I've come up with a system to minimize waste. It's a bit of a hassle but worth it to me. -I will first look at how many times a new spool of line should be able to fill my reels. I'll strip the reel down to the minimum amount of backing and then wind on the line with a line counter on the rod. If the reel will take 100 yards I know I can get 3 refills out of a 300 yard spool. If I have a 150 yard spool, I'll measure out 75 yards and add more backing to make up the difference. - Then as the line is consumed, I'll strip it off by hand winding it onto a spare spool and add more backing to keep it full and then wind the line back onto the reel. -When it gets too low I'll put on fresh line. There will always be some unused line getting thrown away but this is the best way I've found to minimize waste.

I've watched some of your videos A-Jay and have picked up some good info. Some not so commonly seen exercises that look really effective. The fishing season is a massive struggle for me to get in quality workouts. I pretty much spend my energy on the water on the weekends and need a few days just to feel normal again. It sucks losing strength and size but I'm not about to quit fishing for the gym. I switch from going to the gym to doing basic workouts at home (I have a pretty decent home gym) whenever I can muster up the energy. I think a full body routine 2-3x/week would be best to at least maintain. What does your full body routine look like and how long does it typically take you to finish? My biggest issue with full body workouts is just how long they take due to all the warmup sets needed for each muscle group.

I hate to be "that guy" but the MGL stands for Magnumlite spool. It has nothing to do with the frame material. You are right in that the Met MGL is not made out of aluminum but rather magnesium and the Chronarch MGL is made out of Ci4.

I'm currently using Bang Garlic spray. About the only thing I can say for sure is that it doesn't seem to hurt. I've caught fish on the first cast after spraying a bait so those fish at least weren't put off by it

I saw on TW that they've released a $450 rod. Who's buying these rods with so many options from established brands? Their gimmicky marketing seems to be aimed at a younger demographic who typically don't have that kind of money to spend on just a rod.

I noticed 13 Fishing has been trying to break into the high end rod market. I think it's going to take more than a few slick social media campaigns to convince anyone to drop $300+ on one of their rods.

If you're willing to venture into higher end reels I'd get a Bantam MGL. Be warned though. It will ruin your perception of what a quality reel feels like. It's just such a precise and refined reel that it makes even good quality reels feel like sloppy clunkers. Hard to explain with words but when you put one on a rod with a nice crisp action it gives the whole setup a super precise almost metallic feel. Clicking the thumb bar creates the most satisfying metallic "pinging" sound almost like a guitar string.

Get a Bantam. You won't be disappointed but you will want another one.

Pretty much this. After finally getting to use my Bantam MGL I don't think I'd want any of the older reels. I nearly pulled the trigger on a used Core 100mgfv during the off season and now I'm so glad the guy decided not to sell it as I can put the money towards another Bantam.

I'm borrowing this.

Even the real-time returns don't necessarily mean the fish is DIRECTLY under you. It only means the fish is SOMEWHERE within the footprint of the sonar's beam/cone and the deeper you go the bigger that footprint gets.

Show me where I said snagging fish is ok?

Cool. If you find proof of someone pulling this off, I'd love to see it.

Was he using his eyes or his electronics to do this? From what I can tell he was targeting fish he could actually see with his eyes as he was looking into the water and not at a screen. If you can't understand that there's a massive difference between these two methods than I don't know what to tell you. Maybe we have a different understanding of the principles behind how sonar actually works and why what you see on your (2D) screen isn't an exact representation of the 3D world underwater.

When you're watching a fish approach your bait on the screen there's no way of knowing from which direction it came. That's the difference between a fish (that appears to be directly under the boat) coming over to check out your bait and the precision you would need to put a hook basically right beside a fish (without spooking it) and snagging it. Short of using your eyes I'm going to say this would be approaching near impossibility to do with any type of sonar because they all work the same and the deeper the water the bigger the footprint of the solar beam/cone

It's possible I guess. I still say it would be extremely difficult to do with sonar. The fish might look like it's right below you on the screen but in reality it could be anywhere in the cone. Maybe slightly more possible if you were using an underwater camera. And then how desperate to catch a bass would a guy have to be to resort to trying this? I suppose a big money tournament might be enough motivation for some.

The difference is that you can't snag deep bass intentionally.

We might be talking about 2 different things here. Lifetime natural bodybuilder is one thing. Most of those guys don't bother competing or if they do it's in tested shows and even those are suspect. If you're talking about pro bodybuilding (IFBB) then there are exactly ZERO natural IFBB pros, men or women.