PhishLI

I'm on year 4 with Frogg Toggs Canyon II stocking foot waders. I never fold them. They're cleaned after each trip and hung by their suspenders and fan dried every time. $99. Went through two much more expensive pairs of Simms that both leaked in the crotch within a year. Go figure. Just replaced a pair of $99 Frogg Toggs Pilot II wading boots that I got in '17 which were also washed and fan dried after each trip. The sides began to crack, but they owed me nothing. I wade a lot.

Have you tried spooling it with about 120' of light braid to leader? It'll lighten the spool a bit. More importantly, it'll perform better on its useful lower end. I really don't know why they consider this a BFS reel. MY Alphas 800s spooled up with 120' of braid to leader somehow performs as well with a 12 gram spool while being less touchy, and the ARK BFS spooled with braid to leader smokes it, especially with plastic baits down to 3 grams. It just might be that FTB is not a great system when mated to an unladened 9 gram spool. Anyway, I wanted to use straight light fluoro or mono on my SLX BFS, but it was simply too tedious with those mainlines. This was also true with the ARK and true BFS baits below 3 grams. #0.8 Varivas braid to leader made it a pleasure. X2

No disassembly required to check the magnet alignment. Just take off the side plate and see what's what. The black marks on the rings should align with the cast-in match marks on the set plate assembly.

Have you checked to see if the ring magnets are still aligned to their match marks?

I've easily cut every hook I've needed to including beast hooks with these: Channellock Diagonal Cutters, 7 In., Blue, Gray (337) - Garage Storage And Organization Systems - Amazon.com There's an 8" version if you feel you lack grip strength and need more leverage: Channellock E338 8-Inch Diagonal Cutting Pliers with Xtreme Leverage Technology (XLT) Requires Less Force to Cut than Other High-Leverage Models | Laser Heat-Treated Cutting Edge for Extended Life | Forged from High Carbon Steel | Made in USA - Amazon.com

I recall mine weighing something like 12.5 grams unloaded. Whichever AI you asked is dumb. Horse hockey.

No "might", man. Don't mess around. I took a bait right to a wide open eye one night, and whether it was the grace of God or just dumb luck I somehow didn't get the hook. Ever since then I always have something covering my eyes every moment. These are great at night or on cloudy days. Amazon.com: 3M Tekk 11329 Virtua Anti-Fog Safety Glasses, Clear Frame, Clear Lens, 5-COUNT : Tools & Home Improvement Yup.

@FloridaFishinFool Seriously, what's funny? Think I'm making it up? @bulldog1935 liked my post because he's obviously noticed the same thing, and he isn't a rookie. Is he hilarious too?

Yet somehow every brand-new bait caster I crack open has visible grease swiped onto the roller bearings.

This is what I said about it earlier in this thread: "Side by side, and while it's still a fast, it's definitely a bit more moderate than my Tatula XT 7' MF which has been my finesse trd on a 1/16oz ned head rod. Just taking a few casts in the yard it loads fine with that weight. I got the ABU specifically to get a bit more distance with that bait or others in the 5 gram range." Don't take this to mean it would be a good hair jig rod. It isn't a "Light" powered rod. Just a slightly slower fast, IMO. Plenty of backbone though. @Dog described it as a ML+. Perhaps that's close enough depending on what you're comparing it to.

The previous gen 150/200 are built on the older HD metal handle-side side plate platform with 28mm wide spool and cannot be compared to the CTs, especially types with plastic side plates. Different animal.

Meaning reasonably smooth, and not much different than how they came out of the box. Same for my 150. Still quite smooth after several years of hard use.

The previous version without hyperdrive digigear has held up just fine. My brother has 3 and pretty much all he throws anymore are bigger baits.

Close enough:

Size 0

The majority of what I fish around here are pretty shallow millponds, so no flooded timber, and practically no laydowns, so I can't say how well the project zed comes through wood. I can say that you can fish them right through lily pad fields, crisp milfoil, and coontail. For some reason or the other, my brother resisted trying mine out for the longest time. One night I was whacking them good, so he finally capitulated. He was shocked at what he was able to fish it through. Additionally, they sound different than typical VJs because the blade doesn't strike the head due to its shape. This has been a real plus in places where they're uninterested in the chaos of types with a heavy "click". Supposedly the EVO is good in wood, but I have no firsthand experience fishing wood with mine. It isn't good in weeds, IMO. JHs? Meh. Paint chips off the blade.

I've gone down this road and would recommend against it. They're unwieldy. Go to someplace like J&H and put your hands on a few 8' Light and ML inshore rods. They're more like a M-M+ freshwater rod and should give you what you're looking for.

I'm just a regular schmuck, not a pro-staffer for anyone. A crisp, fast, MH, straight braid, and this: Z-Man Project Z Weedless bladed jig - Tackle Warehouse About the only thing that'll stop it is if filamentous algae is draped on the weeds.

It also has an aluminum handle-side side plate and is new-zillion-smooth.

I break down 150 m spools into 3 runs of 165'. Aside from casting a 3.5" Yamatanuki that you'd probably be throwing on a BC anyway, you're very unlikely to get down to the backer with typical, lighter spinning rod baits.

Side by side, and while it's still a fast, it's definitely a bit more moderate than my Tatula XT 7' MF which has been my finesse trd on a1/16oz ned head rod. Just taking a few casts in the yard it loads fine with that weight. I got the ABU specifically to get a bit more distance with that bait or others in the 5 gram range.

Missed the past several weeks due to a fractured rib. Happened at PT while they were working on my back. My ex-cousin-in law through marriage who's a chiropractor said he's popped a few ribs in his time working on clients, so it happens. Is what it is, which was Moo-Cho sucky I must say. The locals who I've spoken to have been bombing spectacularly since the last week in August, so I haven't missed much I suppose. The water's been desperately low around here for quite some time, and the voluminous algae bloom coupled with explosive weed growth has made it doubly miserable to try to fish through. My brother and I headed out east to a dammed spot with decent flow and hoped to find it somewhat fishable, and it was in certain areas. Things started off fast. I hooked a big Pickeral on a wake bait and shook it off thankfully, and my brother hooked a really nice bass on the wooden Shellcracker. Just like the Pickeral, this fish went nuts, so there was no way either of us would chance scooping it up by hand with those huge trebles flying around. Took about 30 seconds to unfurl the net stuck under my tackle bag and rods and to go for it. Just like that, the fish threw the bait as I dipped the net in. His bad luck continued with several more lost fish, but at least he was getting bites and fights. We made a ruling that while it didn't make it into the boat, the first fish counted. I ended up with several lost myself and several boated. Temp was 53 when we left, and with the cooler weather they all fought like crazy. I was a little daffy from painkillers, but it felt good to get some action again. Berkley Grass Pig in Swamp gas. Project Zed weedless CB in Bluegill. Strike King Sim-E-Stick in Black/Blue w/blue Tip. Livingston Bullnose in Perch.

Interesting that you told this story. Last night my brother described seeing this on his trip down to TX. He was watching what he thought were dolphins jumping very close to some surfers. When one of them paddled in for a break my brother remarked that it must've been so cool to be so close to them. The surfer looked perplexed and told him they were spinner sharks, not dolphins. My brother had never heard of them before. After googling them he swore to never be in the water when they're around. Lots of calves and arms with bites marks, etc. Surfers are nuts.

I have mine on a softer 7'3" MHF spooled with 30lb J braid Grand. Throwing mostly flukes and 5" soft stick baits in the junk. Small frogs too. This reel has really grown on me lately. These have been listed for several months now. Might still be around for a while.

Last night I received a change of status message which said something about them holding the item. Sounded bad. This morning that changed to a projected delivery window. Well, it showed up earlier than expected with zero damage to the tube thankfully. It might be the best packed rod I've ever received. So, all's well.