PhishLI

Do you have a confession to make, my son? ?

Nice. Flush the spool bearings, oil, and see how/if things change. My JDM Catalina's bearings were greased. Performance and brake settings changed more than I expected after oiling.

I just enjoy tear down vids of anything. I probably have some long term effects from when I disassembled my father's FM receiver when I was 8. Didn't learn my lesson afterward. I'll know if my opinion aligns with his after I've gotten mine. I'm holding out for the USDM brass geared version. Don't really care that it's assembled in Thailand instead of Japan. If there are any issues they'll be taken care of by TTT. I'll be glad to have it instead of scouring the web for OG Zillions and parts mules.

New Zillion tear down and low hours use and casting impressions. Hinted BFS capability vid in the future.

Here you go

That's one of my top 5 deadliest baits. At certain points in the season it's #1. I rig it on an Owner TwistLOCK Light 6/0 3/32 oz Model no. 5167W-706. Super weedless, and great hookup ratio with this hook.

It's nice to have a 5 or 6 power stick in the mix in addition to what you've listed. Lotsa fun heavier baits out there to play with.

The spool bearings are crbbs in the '17 Tats. I'd remove the handle, dragstar, spring and drag star nut, and washers, then smear some grease on the face of the outer driveshaft bearing to protect the race. Higher end Daiwas use Magseal in this spot. Grease will help keep water out. If you're more ambitious and are willing to remove the gear side cover, you can grease the frame and side cover edges where they meet to create a grease gasket. Don't block the weep holes. This entire exercise is a 10 minute job and will definitely help.

Rumor has it that he's working on an Antares DC pooper scooper. Can't wait!

The reverse snobbery thing pops up in any hobby that has a high end sector. It's amusing how some people who lack self awareness express their jealousy. In the end that's exactly what is. Those within that group that happen to have the means, yet constrain themselves due to some odd sense of austere piety, should also clam up. If I want a sermon I'll go to church.

With most hobbies, according to your means, you can play hard, or you can play easy, but you can play. Fishing is by far the least expensive big boy hobby I've had. It's not even close. When I'm fighting with myself over a spendy-er fishing purchase my wife is always amused. If only I could put into words the look on her face once she's heard the price. It's good for her because now my gifts are orders of magnitude less expensive. Enough is simply whatever you decide it's going to be. Unless you fish with a weird, judgmental clique, nobody gives a crap what anyone else fishes with. They're too busy fishing. I love fishing and I love cool gadgets. I overindulge in them, just like everything else I like. The day will come, as it always does, that I'll stare at it all and wonder what I was thinking. But in the meantime, Tally Ho!

If we're talking about the older Shimano E series VBS, then yes, Shimano is quite a bit more tolerant of a whip cast, or a cast that loads and unloads late in the stroke. That type of cast will blow up a Daiwa in an instant. But as far as I can tell, SVS Infinity can be somewhat touchy here too. It's my opinion that Shimano shot for a cast requiring less effort because of Daiwa's reputation for offering that very thing. Personally I think they went too far. They could've chosen a middle ground between blunt force centrifugals and what they ended up with. In my opinion Lew's/Doyo has also taken this approach with ACB, but has done it better. Quantum gets little love here, but the ACS 4.0 system allows me to really lay into the cast but get fantastic distance too. It's a more tolerant system that compensates for the added friction by using a taller 36 mm spool. It accomplishes the trick of applying braking that allows for an imperfect hard cast then backs off enough to let it fly. Where everything else is equal regarding rod, line, and lure, each system requires feathering at different points, especially during the descent when I'm looking for max distance. They're all manageable once you get a feel for each type, but what your preference will be is up to you in the end. If you're able to analyze what happens when things go wrong, then visualize your errors and make corrections to your casting mechanics, then you can fish with anything. Some people do this instinctively and some people need to think about it and have mental breakthroughs. It's a lot like swinging a golf club, but with an extra level of complication due to the calibration of the reel's overall behavior.

I use and appreciate shorter and longer rods, but I'd be pleased as punch if all of my rods of any action or power were 7'3" with full cork handles. Love full cork and that length feels just right to me. 7'3" is my Goldilocks stick. With that length I can drop a lure where I want it, most of the time, and I can get the distance I feel I need when I want it.

There's not a black or white answer to your question. Shimanos and Daiwas require a different casting stroke and thumb pressure at different points in either the ascent or descent when brake settings are tweaked for distance. It's an issue of feel and velocity during the beginning of the cast with Daiwas. Plenty of people can switch from one brand to the other while fishing, but they make adjustments whether consciously or not. Same goes for casting from a Kayak or sitting in a Jon boat. Repetition over time calibrates your stroke to the seated position which is different from casting while standing. So the answer is that they're different. One will be better to one person and vice versa. This doesn't make one better than the other, just more suited to one person or the other.

Even though one was enough for the longest time, now it's whatever fits or whatever I can carry comfortably. I'm good with 6 and sometimes 7 for wading or shore sessions. The two Phish brothers manage to fit 16 on a 12 ft Jon boat plus huge tackle bags for some of our skinny water spots. So yeah, as many as humanly possible.

Alde BFS type/ish mag brake. Clicky drag. Interesting

Here you go

#Inspiration!#DirtyDangle!

Differences between the two price points and particular details aside , the bottom line is this: If your max budget is $180-$200 msrp you'll be sitting pretty with many of the solid options available today, especially if you're diligent about lubrication and cleaning. If you're able to spend more then it's all gravy. Here most differences come down to subjective issues like ergonomics. Greater longevity due to ruggedized gear trains, less plastic and more metal where it counts, is typically what you get as you spend more.

Yup. Way off actually. Trickery. Originally I'd spooled my Catalina with .014 Sufix something or other copoly and mounted it on a 13 OB2 7'6" MHF. It's a heavy, not MH. Anyway, I was able to spool it down and stop it with two wraps remaining throwing a 1 oz Dark Sleeper. I've never casted anything so far, not even close. A moonshot. A sleeper at that weight is practically a lead casting plug. No billed bait with a huge air catching body to match will ever go as far. Unless you have a 9' crank bait rod perfectly matched to load with a specific crank bait and are a superhuman caster I doubt you'll have an issue with line cap. But, like SproDD79 said, the Curado is smaller. If you don't find the Tatula 150 comfy, you won't dig the Catalina as it has the same dimensions pretty much. I have both and it doesn't bother me in the least, but you're not me. Check it out first. Top to bottom: Curado K Lews Tournament Pro LFS Catalina TW Quantum Tour S3

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/quantum-vapor-pt-baitcasting-reel-20qutuvprrhbtcstrree/20qutuvprrhbtcstrree Worth a look. Mine's on a Dobyns FR733c, 30 LB braid to leader. No problem effortlessly firing out a 3/16oz Bitsy Bug/CrawZ or Ned due to the ultra light spool. Very well built. Externally adjustable centrifugal brakes, so no need to open a sideplate to adjust brake blocks.

Why not just fish with the Steez and blow into a kazoo when you cast. Good times.

Not if you have it shipped to a secret P.O. box, silly boy.?

My brother has the Z and the Z3. He really likes them, and he has everything under the sun. No quirks or QC issues at all. They're quite good casters. He does add a drop of oil to the spool bushings occasionally. A few of my buds have had As and Cs for several seasons. No issues at all, and I'm the one they turn to if there are reel issues. They share an interesting compact frame. For no reason in particular I own no 13 reels. I do have a nice pile of 13 OB2s including 3 of the 7'1" MHF 2 piece rods for travel. Due to where and how I fish they've all been abused. Not one issue. No lost inserts, guide wrap quirks, loose reel seats, or any other problems, and I've caught a ton of fish with them.

I know you're thinking about a custom build and potentially lighter power, but here's where I'm going for the baits you've described for my wade fishing. I'm hoping it'll work for jerks, small cranks, and light plastics when I'm out wading flats and don't wish to return to shore to swap rigs. If it straddles the line decently for that cross section of baits it'll be good enough for me. I'm hoping the length gives me a bit more distance than I'm getting with my 7'1"-7'3" MF sticks.