CrankFate

I don’t know all the new terminology, but the newer smaller guides definitely cast better than the old fashioned guides that were too big. And I don’t know what makes a guide “micro” but the tiny guides towards the top definitely work on softer parabolic rods, they just don’t make enough of these types of rods IMO.

Been doing baitcast only for 10 or 15 years because of a lifetime of fishing heavy solid metal spinning reels on rods that were way too heavy. Don’t miss em. I use what most people consider a finesse set up for everything. This way my left hand will last me.

Www.alantani.com Check out the tutorials section.

Spinning or baitcasting? For baitcasting, it all depends on the rod, reel, luck and the wind.

........must........take........it......... ........apart.......

Powerbait.

Whoa, complicated. You’re right, but for my reels almost every spool has more line than I need. When capacity is an issue on small reels, why not just ditch the backer, tie directly to the spool and then use only line with a public line diameter available? My kids use Spirex RD 100’s so I put the thinnest line I could find in rainbow color (they requested rainbow) and it gives about double the 95 yards of 10lb power pro the reels supposedly hold.

I do it with everything, thankfully, I’m usually behind a rock deep off the main path and surrounded by trees and bushes. I got a JDM Abu about 11 years ago, which I though had a great feel that I attribute to worm bearings, been hooked ever since. Got my worm bearings from SmoothDrag today. Just gave all the bearings a proper flush and CorrosionX and put everything back together, feels like fast butter now. $15 just made the reel feel at least $150 better ?

If the reel is rated for 150 yards of line that is .10 mm, if you use line that is .050 mm on it it will hold 300 yards of line. This is how I do my math with line capacity. But this only matters on an extremely limited shallow spool or if you are fishing something big that runs far an takes hundreds of feet of line. Otherwise you almost always have way more line than you will ever need. But you still need it because an underfilled reel will not cast as good and will (often) have inconsistent drag tension.

I have a spoiler, but use a rod reel and my hands.

But it’s practically the exact same reel! It just has better bearings a “floating spool” and weighs .30 ounces less!

Well, at least you've tried these. Most people just say whichever one costs more is better, because it costs more. I'd get another tat and add bearings and a shallow spool.

Why not try some braid?

? when want line capacity, go as thin as possible. Look for line diameter ratings for the reel. Usually you can double capacity with thinner line. Pound test is overrated. Nope. You’re not the only one. I fill until it’s as full as possible. No backer line, just lay a tail of braid across the spool. But if the spool has grooves in it or holes in it, it’s impossible for the line to slip. It does, but you have to start by spooling it on very tight. I know what you mean, though, but trial and error in spooling tightly and with which lines work better in holding the spool goes a long way. If it doesn’t hold good enough for you, try a different brand line.

When other little kids were drooling and eating dirt and paint chips, I was taking something apart with a screwdriver. It’s been a problem I’ve had my whole life. Probably not, but I do often slap the handle to spin it while fishing for bait motion, whether or not that makes any difference, I just can’t help not doing it. Something about a smooth fast, quiet spin on a low profile bait caster just makes me feel good.

Nah, it’s definitely the bearings. They are fast, way faster than the bushings, but noisier than ceramics on a high speed spin of the handle and just not refined like an abec bearing. And that’s after adding a drop of ReelX to them. In hindsight, no, I did not clean them as I usually do when I oil bearings. Nope. Fresh out of the box and never spooled with line.

So I opened my new Tatula up and found out it has 7 bearings, but 2 are in the handle. These are the same size as the plastic spacers on the worm gear. So I thought why are they in the handle and not the worm? So I swapped them. BIG MISTAKE! They are noisy and not smooth. Guess that’s why they are in the handle but cause no noticeable difference over swapping the plastic spacers into the handle. Bummer. Now I had to order two new bearings for the worm.

I usually use Shimano, Daiwa & abu, but I have others, even weird stuff like JDM Ryobi reels someone gave me.

I don’t know? Just got my first 8 and won’t use it til spring. Not sure I need it though, because a 7 already matches my natural reeling speed.

The trick is just throw as many rigs into the rocks as it takes to pull one big fish out. Sometimes it can be 100 rigs per fish. Yes, you can get smaller ones that aren’t disciplined enough to stay on their rock or who were already beat and didn’t get a good rock. But the big ones don’t chase far in these conditions. And for me when they blow it up, I’ll keep topwatering them with a crankbait zig zagging over the area until they eat it. You’d be surprised how good this can work at times.

Go lighter. The rock bass love them. Something about a little silver thing fluttering down, they can’t resist it.

I don’t really have a need for pitching, but I still love doing it with good bearings ?

Just buy something with half the weight of the mojo and you’ll be happier no matter what it is.

If I made five times as much money as I do now, I’d still buy rods around $200. They are better because that’s where the money is in terms of sales and profits. Everything else is specs on paper. There are no major technological advances available over $300. Needing a more expensive rod is purely psychology and good marketing. I can buy only $500 rods now. I still don’t. But most of my combos are about $550. And 99% of the time people are laughing at me using a $550 rod in a little pond. Especially while spending hours and hours donating $50 - $200 worth of rigs to the water God’s per outing, or more. Fishing rods are one item where price is not what determines utility. A pencil thin, light rod that bends 1/2” at the top 2 guides has no utility for me at any price.

Bocas are worth it. They are smoother and faster than anything else and quieter when reeling than anything else. But they are expensive. If you are going to buy them buy them now because there are coupon codes for 25 to 35% out for Christmas 25HOLIDAY18 will get you 25% off. 35THANKRC18 might still get you 35% off. But in terms of performance to price, Hawtech is probably best. But they make fewer sizes. Smoothdrag has top quality bearings, too. They have nearly every size, even if it’s not on their lists.