Lead Head

I like painted heads on my bass jigs because the paint (powder coat) is harder than plain lead. Exposed lead tends to bite in to sharp rocks worse than painted. If a jig lasts long enough to wear down the powder coat, I cover it with Sally Hansen hard as nails and it holds up pretty well. The fish haven't demonstrated any preference to me over the years... not yet anyway.

I have bought a lot of stuff from aliexpress the last couple of years, but never a reel. I almost grabbed a Salamandura as a gift and occasionally eyeball some spinning reels but that's it. Since the tariffs hit, shipping has been pretty wonky, some stuff is completely unavailable, and the cheap $10-$15 clicking drag sets I like to get that had free shipping now have a almost $50 shipping charge. On a whim I was looking at some reels and stumbled across this "deal". Watch out for those shipping costs!

I haven't checked in a while, but you should be able to buy a brass gear set from the tackle trap for a reasonable price if you're worried about the aluminum gears.

It's already been mentioned, but I'll say it again... be very careful and apply heat very slowly. It's easy to overheat the tip of a blank. Otherwise it should be easy, tip top adhesive is basically just high temp hot glue.

11... nice! I'm really late to the party. My two are a little rough on the outside, but very nice mechanically. I stripped them to the bare frame and completely cleaned and lubed them, replaced most of the bearings. The 6.3 currently has 7.1.1 gears in it and both have clicking drags.

T-rigs for me are usually 30lb braid to 14lb fc leader. Leader as long as possible while keeping the knot outside the rod tip when pitching, and outside the reel when casting/skipping. I typically replace it when it gets down around 3'. While I've never ran into any problems, I'm not a fan of big hooksets on short leaders.

It's not too bad after you have done it a few times. Just make sure you have a screwdriver that properly fits the death screw. If it starts to feel even a tiny bit sketchy heat it up a bit with a soldering iron. They usually have red loctight on them. Aside from that everything else is just attention to detail and not launching e-clips into alternate dimensions. It's a very good idea to buy this if you don't already have something very similar.

Judging by your other posts you are aware of how downsizing will affect your equipment. Just keep an eye on line diameter because comparing 832 to JDM braid in terms of lbs test is likely to be a significant downsize.

I would use clear nail polish before superglue, at least you have a chance to remove it if future repairs are needed.

@Bigbox99 I take those cheap handles and put the old Daiwa I-shaped knobs on them for all my reels. When I remove the knobs I smooth all the sharp edges with a file or dremmel.

If fishing braid from the bank (and not throwing topwater) I will always use a leader. I don't think anyone has mentioned the reason I use one, it's so I can cleanly break-off a snag.

Found another one. Just my second. I haven't decided yet if I'll swap in a Rays inductor on the spool and use it for cranking, or put 8.1.1 gears in it and put it on my second jig rod.

I knew some of the earlier Zillion reels (after t-wing was introduced) still had 36mm but couldn't remember when they switched.

Doesn't the 1016 use a 36mm spool?

I have never caught a double digit bass. I do catch multiple fish (gar, catfish, even occasionally a carp) in the 20-30lb+ range every year. 30lb 832 to a 14lb sniper leader. I can't remember my last line failure that wasn't me intentionally breaking the leader because I couldn't retrieve a snag. I did lose a nice bass last year (5lb neighborhood) because I forgot to adjust my drag after switching from a swim jig to a crankbait. After adjustments I managed to land 3 of the same quality in 4 casts. I always have to remind myself how different everything can be for people like us discussing fishing methods and preferences on the internet. Clear water for me is so stained and dirty some people would likely call it mud. Fishing rocks for me is basketball+ sized chunk with deep "potholes" and extremely sharp edges. I almost always have some level of current. All this and many other things led me to braid to leader for the most effective and economical option for me. I throw a 3/8oz jig with a 25lb fc leader because it holds up to the nasty chunk rock i like to fish. Any heavier on the jig and I stay stuck in the rocks, any lighter on the leader and I would be breaking or shredding it every 3 casts. Just as Tom would like to see me catch a giant bass on braid to leader, I would like to see him fish his jig in my rocks with 10 and 12lb mono. My guess is he would get tired of losing jigs and having to re-tie his line, adjust to the cover (likely in a better way than I have) and proceed to thoroughly out-fish me. All that rambling to say... mono is a great line and I could definitely catch plenty of fish if it was all I had. I just like my way better and it works for me. Oh yeah, I'll see if I can find a picture tonight of some of the carnivorous carp we have. I usually catch 1 or 2 a year in the mouth with plastics and cranks. Im not sure if they are actually feeding or if they are accidentally suckung up the baits but it can be pretty exciting on my end.

I'm going to suggest a 21 Zillion. It will almost definitely cast what you are describing very well. Best of all, it takes a 34mm spool so if you want it to cast super light stuff you can grab a aftermarket bfs spool for it. There are a lot of options. If you decide you don't like the bfs thing the worst case scenario is you have a Zillion for something else...

If your trying floro for the first time, I strongly suggest you go with seaguar invisix or sunline sniper. They aren't the cheapest, but will give you a good baseline for floro. If you can't get get along with those two, then floro probably isn't for you. If you do get along with them, you can start testing out some cheaper or more expensive options next time. Many people (not all) have negative opinions on floro that are based on experiences with cheaper lines and floro is one of the few things where you really do get what you pay for. Having said that, in your situation I would go braid to leader on both rigs. Probably 15lb spinning and 30lb casting suffix 832. When limited to 2 rods, I feel like being able to fish straight braid or tie on a mono/floro leader as needed just adds versatility to my setups.

2 years ago I bought a Scorpion DC, about 4 months later I bought a 21 Zillion. Scorpion got replaced by the Zillion and went unused until I eventually sold it. Of the 12 reels I currently have in service, the Zillion is the only one that isn't a pre-Twing Daiwa purchased used. I build my own rods.

I noticed a significant difference when adding hybrids to reels that have added aftermarket bfs spools. The majority of my reels are bought used from Japan. Most are pretty old so I replace bearings on principal.

This might sound a bit asinine, but it isn't intended that way. I'm not trolling. Shouldn't proper cast control knob adjustment eliminate line getting between the spool and frame on any reel? I don't typically use line that light so it's possible that is why I've never ran into this issue.

You are going to want to pull the batteries for sure. If you don't already have lithium, you might consider breaking down and paying the extra. It's nice that they don't add as much weight to the boat on the water, but it's super nice that they don't weigh as much when you need to pull them out of the boat every trip.

Because of where and how I fish, I didn't use spinning rods much. After getting a couple BFS spools, I don't use them at all. I'll give a generalized answer based on my personal opinion. Anything bottom contact- Point Blank (NFC X-ray is my second choice) Moving baits- NFC Delta (American Tackle Bushido is my second choice) @Logan S gave the correct answer

My current lineup of reels on rods getting regular use: 2 Alphas SV105 2 Steez 100h 1 Steez 100sh TDZ 103h TDX 105h 1 SV103 4 SS SV (all have Zillion or Steez gears with good drag) 1 21 Zillion All have carbontex and upgraded bearings, levelwind bearing add on the reels that didn't already have them.

Lol, I'm the opposite of most people. E series has all the color choices I need... black and gray. Everything I paint will be some combination of black and gray (MAYBE some silver). I'm one of those boring old farts that only wants dark neutral colors. I actually bought black line guides from the alphas ct for my sv105 reels because I couldn't stand the red. If I didn't have several magnesium reels that desperately need to be sealed up I wouldn't be so set on getting into cerakote. You talked me out of C, and since I only need black, gray, and maybe titanium, I might as well go E over H. I think I can rig up a oven that will hit 300 with a heat gun and temperature controller. If my redneck oven idea works, I'll have everything but the actual cerakote on hand. I'm hoping to have everything that needs to be sealed done in the next few weeks, then I can decide if I'm doing a good enough job cosmetically to justify doing the rest of my reels. Edit to add: My reels get direct sunlight 10-15 hours a week about 10 1/2 months of the year, sitting on the boat while I'm fishing.

I'm currently stuck trying to decide between C and E series. C is no bake, takes 7 days to fully cure, is UV stable, and is the least durable. E needs a 300 degree bake (plastic gets 150-180 for more time), is less UV stable, but is possibly the most durable paint/coating option available. The reels I paint will be used a lot. I'm trying to figure out if I'm better off with less durable, or less UV stable.