PhishLI

Nope, and here's why. I usually comb an area pretty thoroughly with several presentations beginning with smaller soft entry baits, then progressing toward larger and louder entry baits. When I started if I was blanking I'd simply assume that I was just fishing dead water if nothing bit, but came to learn this often wasn't true. A correct for-the-moment-tweak in presentation has ended up catching me a good number of nice fish quickly exactly where I'd been blanking. This has happened many times wade fishing in my local shallow lakes. Livescope can be super frustrating when you're on top of fish in a negative mood and you blank all day, and great if they're active. I'm not sure if any of this can be boiled down to a meaningful number unless it was broken down by season and region. As most have said so far, it's usually a low percentage. Also, I doubt that any of us would actually like to know or keep track of what our ratio of casts to catches is. Yikes. By that metric there are probably far better ways to spend one's time. Regardless, we block out that truth, embrace the grind, and take our wins when we can get them.

I'm still sucking wind with the same colors as always.

My bud is a TW addict, but not a forum guy, so he was unaware of the situation. Gave him a heads up and sure enough he had to cancel his debit card recently, but didn't know exactly what was going on. He's checking his records again.

Congrats! Don't ban me, bro!

All of the above was enough for me to order my new Zillion elsewhere during elsewhere's 20% off BF sale. I used Paypal which is the norm for me. No whackyness so far.

I'm a righty that uses left handed reels. No hand switching for me. However, I bought a righty reel to teach myself to cast lefty and reel righty mostly for solving boat position issues. I figured it out and can use either type now and have plenty of righty reels, but I still prefer right handed casting and left handed reeling except for one technique. For whatever the reason it turns out that I prefer jerking a minner holding the rod in my left hand. I wouldn't have predicted this, but I'm glad I tried. Anything's worth a shot.

You're just a bit north of me, but close enough that the warm front starting Wednesday through Thursday might get them moving some. Weather wise it's nearly a duplication of this past Friday through Saturday. Overnight temps both days in the low 50s and a 11 mph southern wind with total cloud cover to blot out the moon should make Thursday afternoon until 11 pm a nice window for bites. Unless I get hit by a meteor beforehand I'll be wade fishing a lake Thursday night.

So in my opinion you'll gain nothing by spending on the SLX MGL. Certain posters on the web rave about product and inch up to nearly deifying brands and models. You've read that hyperbole and expect nirvana. Many of us have fallen for the noise at one point or the other. Spend your play money on something other than what at best might be considered a lateral move to some people, but not to me. If you just have to try a Shimano then the Curado 150 MGL might be a closer match for the TP Pro because of it's build, but it's not blowing it away at all, and you'd need to spend way more if casting performance and ease of use is your goal.

You have the 2020 model? If you have the cheese buy and try whatever you can and find out what's true for yourself and your casting mechanics. Never said it wasn't capable with light baits. 12-ish gram MGL spools aid in slinging light baits very, very nicely, but they're expert class reels. You'll hear nobody say that SVS Infinity is a forgiving system. You'd better be a sharp caster. I said that there are more capable reels for lighter baits near the same price range that are more easily adjustable to a range of baits, and more convenient to adjust. Also, once you've clicked the thumbar the capability of the spool to behave well with lighter baits comes right down to spool weight and your ability to manage the cast. The rest of the reel, including brand, is incidental apart from the braking system and line guide placement in relation to the spool's centerline. In general lighter spools have an advantage as bait weights go lower, so a 2 -2.5 grams lighter spool has real in-use meaning here if throwing lighter baits as well as a wide range of baits is your goal.

It's been frigid at night lately, but the temps jumped way up over the past two days. A super warm southern wind was really cranking yesterday, and with rain forecast over night we waded in hoping to catch an active bite. My buddy beat the skunk with one and I was able to hook a few myself. Felt good to find a little rally after a bit of a tough stretch.

Ignore reps. I've actually fished with one long term, so I know what it can do and how it behaves. It also holds quite a bit more line than the Pro SP. The SP's spool is super shallow, so it's not a great choice for long casting with much more than thinner lines. The SP's spool is 2.5 grams lighter than the MGL and it's actually BFS capable. The SLX isn't. In addition, SVS isn't great for very light weights or Shimano would use it in their BFS reels, but they don't. They use magnetic FTB instead. SVS is touchy here. The SLX MGL is the best reel in that series, but several in my orbit got geary feeling rather quickly. My 2020 Lew's Tournament Pro LFS also has a 10 gram spool, but it's 150 size, so you have all the line you'll ever need. Plus, you'll never have to open the side plate to adjust brake blocks. The Quantum Vapor PT shares the same spool weight and line cap as the TP Pro and also has externally adjustable Centrifugal brakes. Oops! I meant "friction brakes". Sorry @QED! Also, both of these reels have a fully supported pinion, and neither has gotten geary fishing tough waters with good fish. But hey, buy what you want and find out for yourself. I've already posted a pile of Shimano reel boxes in this thread, so I'm not against the SLX. I'm just kickin' it real, broski.

Different applications. If you're interested in any given model go to TW and read the product description.

Thanks. We heard a few branches cracking from those gusts, so getting bonked on the dome was on my mind. I should've added earlier that the baits which ended up working were the last thing I would've predicted before hand. Smaller or finesse-y baits have been the only thing getting bites recently, but they got no play when we started. We went the other way with far bigger baits and things got going.

We had the same oddly high temps for December here on Long Island too, but the south winds were screaming. This worked out well because they pushed warm water into the 3 foot deep shallow end on the north shore of my spot, Before today it has been a bit painful to wade due to the cold night time temps, but between yesterday's and today's warmth it was very easy to stay in there. We started at just the right time and in just the right place and the bite was hot. My buddy beat the skunk with one nice fish, and I hooked a few nice chunks thankfully. It's been tough lately, so a little rally felt good. We would've stayed much longer, but were soaked through and the wind and rain just got too wild. P.S. Baits that worked: Beast Coast Miyagi Swimmer in Pro Ghost Alewife. Black Dog Baits Shellcracker G2 in white and bluegill. DRT Tiny Clash 6" NorieS Spoon Tail Shad in Pink Ayu (Rainbow trout)

All I wanna know is who makes the bestest Cuban YoYo?

The Tatula 100 and CT are quite similar Magforce Z reels with the 100 having a slightly more compact frame. Absolute performance differences are negligible between the 2. The 150 has a larger frame, Magforce Z, but has a metal handle side side-plate. It holds a little bit more line than the CT in actuality, and has similar casting performance throwing the same range of common bass baits. The 200 has quite a deep spool which holds a lot of line. This increases its total spool weight making it less desirable for throwing common baits on the lower end of the spectrum. It has Magforce, not Magforce Z braking. This works fine with heavier baits, but not so much with lighter baits given its fully loaded heavier spool. Not really a do-all reel, but well suited for throwing baits between 1-3ozs. The 300 is really just a Tatula in name. It's sort of a hybrid that's built more like Daiwa's upper end reels. Closer to a Zillion than a Tatula with its fully supported pinion, only the long spool shaft gives it any commonality with the rest of the Tatula line. It's a big bait Magforce reel and not really well suited for much less.

What do you expect to be throwing on this combo? BTW, the 7'3" MHF XT is a good rod if you like crisp fast action sticks.

I dunno. he breaks down his new reels, cleans, then greases his gears with Shimano ACE(Cals). When it first started he did it again to no avail. However, they're not grinding, but have gotten that wynd-ee-geary feel. By no means unfishable, just annoying to him because he does several maintenance cycles per season and he expects that to be good enough to prevent it. The rest of his reels have remained as good as they were out of the package. I agree! Ordered mine during the BF sale. I'll have to wait until after the new year as my model's on backorder. Can't wait to sit on my couch and spin the handle. Weeeeee!

Tom, Doyo is their own brand and produces reels under that name in its home region. They're not sold here due to corporate agreements. They produce reels for other names including BPS, Lew's, and ABU, etc. You should listen to the many posters that have said time and time again that Lew's customer service is excellent. They bend over backwards to please their customers even when items are out of warranty. P.S. Both of my brother's SLXs went geary after a short time and several decent fish each. It bothers him. No X ship for the pinion on that model, so I guess he'll be purchasing new gears every year. Yes, man pontificates, but this thread has remained civil. That's all I'm saying, Bruv. No reason to wish it into the shiznit show it hasn't yet become.

I agree, and that's what I've done by buying multiple models from multiple brands then fished them as much as possible. What I didn't buy my gear nut buddy with endless money has, and he's happy to lend them to me as long as I like. My brother's nuts too. The fact that I've fished with a ton of current production reels and have formed my own opinion about them really only means something to me. My conclusions are personal and by no means add up to something universal. I don't care about rod/reel color scheme matching, only that they fit my casting style, or that I can comfortably adapt to the compromises chosen by the manufacturer in any given model. Another person's ability to adapt may be different than mine, therefore different opinions are commonplace. Even conclusions based on actual wide ranging experience aren't the end-all. It's no bigger than that, so there's never a reason for hurt feelings One thing I'll be happy to dispute is this. Mix up the internals of reels between $180-$300 on a table and try to identify the quality differences by eye. This talk of tight or loose tolerances without having the machine shop drawings with dimensions and a means to measure and confirm them is just silliness and talk. Yes, you can feel tight or loose, but many of the better offerings from makers right now, not years ago, are pretty tight. Even some of the stuff at $100-$180 is tightening up.

But this one hasn't at all. Don't wish it into being so.

Just checked his email and his is coming tomorrow too.

Have you received yours yet? My SIL ordered one on the 27th and hasn't heard a peep since.

CA80 CC80, CR80 baitcasters I get what you're saying. You've gotta go with your gut, but I've heard this sentiment expressed by others over time, and honestly some of it sounds/sounded like speculation and/or extrapolation to me. That's not to say that people don't have real experiences and valid preferences, but often those are expressed with the type of hyperbole that seems unrooted from reality, in my experience. Personally I was driven to see for myself, so I bought up a bunch of Banax and Doyo builds at the right prices and have pretty much abused them all. I won't suggest that any of them feel like a Met B, but at the same time they're not defective in any way, are reasonably tight to quite tight, and none have gear meshing issues or sticking thumb bars with the exception of the Pfluger Supreme XTs. On top of that many are very good to excellent casters with clever, user friendly braking schemes. My Quantum Tour S3 has been great since day one. The Icon PTs seem to be bulletproof. The Vapor PT with its 10 gram spool can cast just about anything within reason, and is eerily smooth even though it has an aluminum main gear. It's no surprise as the crankshaft is double bearing supported as is the pinion on all Quantums starting at the 100$ Accurist. All of this from Banax which is considered to be second rate to Doyo. The 2020 Lew's Tournament Pro LFS is about as versatile of a caster at the price point out there and beyond due to the excellent braking system and very free 10-ish gram spool. Sorry for anyone that may have gotten a dud from any brand, but I haven't yet with my off brand purchases. I don't find myself suffering at all with these reels, nor do I spend time comparing them to anything else other than to point out that the actual differences in real time fishing performance are marginal compared to what's considered to be better, and I have some "good stuff" too. I can live with a few nits if the actual casting performance, braking, and drag is on par. I'll keep buying Shimanos and Daiwas because I can, but I won't discount any brand's models unless I've fished with several of them and have standing to broadcast an opinion. Otherwise I'd simply be extrapolating, speculating, and just blowing smoke.