CrankFate

Unless your literally fishing the same spot, the other people catching don’t matter. Maybe the fish moved for some reason. Switch it up. Try a different spot. And since it’s summer, never use any sunblock other than Aveeno or Neutrogena. Anything else will kill the bite if it gets on your gear. Aveeno is the best, because it never kills the bite.

I believe you, because I did the exact same thing with a stripe bass that looked like it was as big as a person and nearly got hit with the rig when it slingshotted off of its mouth. It also broke the levelwind on my reel. It happens. You’ll get the next one.

I agree. I was just using a ML rod and I love the shallow spools. Used one today on my Tatula CT for the first time and my weightless rubber worm casts tripled in distance compared to yesterday with the stock spool. I have a few on other reels, too. IMO they work best with light braid. Line capacity is overrated for most fish. I got a nice one today that took a few hard runs, but there’s no way it was going to spool me. After that first JDM shallow spool reel around 9-10 years ago, I’m completely hooked on them.

Thanks all!

20” this morning breakin in new gear

Breaking in the new rig today using rubber worms. The new shallow spool did the trick. Finally got them far enough out to let them flutter down. This fish went for 20” and probably ~6lbs. Took a green pumpkin/chartreuse tail curly tail worm. YaY!

Finally. After a month, the shallow spool arrived for my Daiwa Tatula CT 7.3. It has ceramic bearings from Boca, Hawgtech and Smooth Drag. Carbontex from Smooth Drag, greased with Cals. Not necessary on this reel, the stock drag might actually be better. All bearings oiled with ReelX or CorrosionX. Color parts from Hedgehog Studios, Ray’s Studio, Daiwa. The spool is generic from Ali Express. This will be used for light baits. Had it casting great yesterday with 50lb braid that was just too heavy. It’s now spooled with purple .20mm 25lb braid. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll catch a monster, but I’ll probably be tying rigs for the kids the whole time. This is my present for busting my *** for the last year..... I thought it was going to be lighter with the new parts, oh well. But strangely, the generic spool works with the mag system about 5x better than the original Daiwa spool. Didn’t expect that. I call this reel why get a Steez when you can get one of these? It’s not going to feel complete until the preordered Daiwa black spool tension cap with tatula spider logo ? arrives in September.

Seaguar all the way.

I’d go with the reel. IMO, rods are more important than reels, like Greb said, especially in shallow water. BUT, if you ask me, there is little improvement between a $400 rod and a good $80-$150 rod. You will notice a tremendous difference between an $80 reel and a $400 reel. If you look hard enough you can almost always get a rod under $200 that is equal or better than one that is $400 or more.

Whelp. Let me say it’s a good thing I keep my feet clean. Because I said I never birdsnested a reel. So I went out to test a new rod and the reel I’m getting set up after changing the line on it, right after saying that, Sure enough after a few crappy casts I birdsnested it. So now that my foot is in my mouth. It took about 20 minutes to get out. I had too much line on it. Took about 100’ of line off and then everything was working as it should. No fish. Only 1 bite. Fish exploded on the lure the second it hit the water just as I took my thumb off the spool and the second before clicking the spool in gear. No fish.

If you get an early birds nest, IMO, that means the line is coiling off by itself because it isn’t limp enough and or the rod is too stiff for the weight. If you have the right rod for the weight it’s almost impossible to get a true birds nest. You’ll know you are using the right rod when it slingshots the bait and you feel the rod pop back somewhere around two inches down from your elbow and about an inch away from the bone on the outside of your casting arm. i know, I jokingly posted about birds nests. But in truth, I’ve never birdsnested a reel. But I have stood there cursing at line that was coiling off by itself because it’s not limp enough making it impossible to cast. But there’s no absolutes, because every rod/reel combo is different and everyone’s body mechanics are different. For me, this is the #1 way I wind up with rods that I shouldn’t have ever bought because I ordered them by the stats without ever seeing them in the store. Hardly anything casts as low as they say or as high as they say.

Hi all. New here. Don’t mind me and my opinions. I’m no great bass fisherman. Of all the fish I ever fished for, I somehow managed to catch more big largemouth bass than just about any other fish I ever fish for. Don’t ask how. It just happened. I do not catch anywhere near as many largemouths as the other fish I fish for. But I love fishing, mainly for smaller species fresh and saltwater fish where 10 or 15lbs would be a trophy. I usually spend way more time fishing than most people and way too much time messing with low profile baitcasting reels. Especially over the winter. Even though I caught a few very big bass most LMB’s I catch look almost exactly like this one from last time I was out: Besides fishing, I spend a lot of time reading through message boards like this without commenting to see what everyone else is thinking and doing. Thanks for all the tips all those times I didn’t post any comments.

They’re almost all good. If price is the main factor, your best bet is probably an abu black max or daiwa cc80. I Give the daiwa the edge because of weight. It’s $60. Add hawgtech bearings for $16. For $76 you have a great reel. A black max can be had for $30, add bearings for $16 you got a great reel for < $50. If you could find a low mass aftermarket shallow spool for it, you could knock a 1/2oz off of it and it would all cost about $85. I play with all kinds of reels, just for the hell of it. There is nothing like using an $18 plastic Chinese reel from Ali Express and being amazed at how it’s almost as good as a lot of $200 reels (as long as all of the metal isn’t green and pimpled after one season or the bearings don’t seize when exposed to salt and the plastic anodizing doesn’t peel off). I have some that lasted through several years of hard fishing. They are not good with light baits, though. IMO, all known brand $100 reels are good. It all comes down to which fits the hands and rod best.

I was joking. I’m actually good at casting. But I see no reason why rod makers can make perfectly soft spinning rods that no one has complaints about, but almost all casting rods are impossible to load up with less than 1/4 to 1/2 oz, when so many fishermen will fish below those weights. Throw a trigger seat and close guides on one of those spinning rods and people will be casting a single kernel of corn 150 feet to the carp foraging around under the water.

Whichever you like better. Some of the materials they used to use are too expensive to use these days. I like lighter reels, but there’s nothing like the feel of the modern engineered older reels.

I have a feeling they never lose any lures in tournaments on TV because they cull those parts from the broadcast and it just looks like 15 minutes and 10 fish.

I know I’m new to post here, but I’m calling rod maker conspiracy theory here. I say the veritas is too stiff to cast weightless senko type baits. The conspiracy is the rod companies all make inexpensive high quality spinning rods that can cast down to the size of anything heavier than flycasting. Like a tiny rap minnow. So to force us to buy more rods and reels they sell these too stiff casting rods so we think we need the best reels. Then we get those reels and realize we really need that “finesse” spinning set up. But really all we need is a $49-$99 bendy kiddy rod and any small casting reel and we’re casting senkos into the trees on the other side of the lake. But we don’t buy those set ups because we’re men who want fancy rigs, not kiddie rods. So there I am backlashing my $600 set up and then casting my kid’s spinning rod with nothing but a tiny bobber and 1/16th of a worm on it with one hand and getting hung up in the trees 50’ past the other side of the lake, while holding my birds nest in my left hand...... Rant over

So they claim. But they’re few and far between. You can get spinning rods that are thin as a pencil and bend almost tip to tip. The casting rods are all stiffer. And in the store (at least around where I am) they rarely have anything softer than a mojo bass or abu Veritas. I’m always afraid to order rods because they will either be too stiff or will arrive damaged even from reputable stores.

IMHO, that’s the problem. To cast without everything being a high pop fly ball the rod has to be soft and rubbery enough to slingshot the bait out there. There are hardly any rods available today that do this. I just got a bass pro brand rod for $79 for my new reel because the Tatula rod I bought is too stiff for weightless casting, just like every other rod in the $150-400 range.

I use softer, lighter rods than most recommend. I don’t like the fast tip rods that are all the rage these days. I use brighter artificial colors than people recommend. I fish braid with a 12” or shorter fluorocarbon leader. I adjust my bait a lot to find the right depth for the fish, so if I was drop shot fishing I might start 20” up from the sinker and keep lowering the hook down 2-4” until I get it in the strike zone where I get the most bites. And I agree with people that say line capacity is overrated, except for very large types of fish. I use a bass casting setup for just about all types of fish freshwater or saltwater.

14lbs 3oz on a guided tour in Disney World. Trolling with a live shiner. In the waters of what was the Disney Institute, which I think is now the Disney Springs area by the red X. Before Disney Springs was there in September 2001. There is no picture of the fish. But there was a scale on the boat.

Revos are great reels. They hold up to anything and still keep casting.

LoL, but it sounds better on paper than it smells in the car after a few weeks.

^ This + rubber and plastics will melt. But if you keep any gear in your car in the summer that old fishing smell will become permanent in the car forever.

I didnt even know that there was such a thing for pond vegetation, but all I keep thinking from this post is: https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/17/us/monsanto-roundup-dewayne-johnson-trial/index.html If I get lymphoma, it’s from all the spraying I did in my 20’s when I worked in landscaping..... I’d stay away from the stuff like agent orange now.