PhishLI

I.C. with 8 wraps.

I wade a ton at night and I'm not interested in retying in waist deep water where my rod needs to be tucked under my arm. Frozen fingers make re-tying worse. I remove my split rings for the most part, other than jerks, and use a #1 VMC Touch-Lok snap rated to 68lbs for cranks, jerks, and swimbaits up to 1oz. I use the # 2 rated to 94 lbs for bigger baits, including pricey swim baits. I also use that size for frogging in heavy pads and cheeze. I doubt they weigh much more than a split ring, and if they do it isn't significant. They do not open up, or haven't for me. The knot will fail first with 30 lb braid. Hooks will bend out with heavy braid or heavy mono. What's nice about this snap is there aren't any wire protrusions to snag weeds and grass. However, due to their design there's a lower limit on the hook eye size they'll pass through. I've had the same two snaps on two braid rigs for months.

Another vote for the Aird-X 7' Heavy. It's more like a Medium Heavy +, and it's a tough rod. My brother has 2, so I've fished with them. No problems dragging chunks through the thick stuff.

As long as these two companies keep pushing each other, the greater industry, and the envelope, it's good times for us. Regardless of preference, there will be be plenty of smiling Met B and Zillion owners out there. $350 street price for heirloom quality metal reels seems like a bargain these days, and is within reach. Not bad.

Your bases would be very well covered if you had both a Curado K 70 MGL and a Curado K 200. Personally, if I'm wading flats where I'll be going through baits from 5/8oz down to 1/4 oz I'd pick the K 70 all day. It's much more capable and far less touchy than the 200 with lighter baits. If you'll be working with baits a shade under a half ounce and up then the 200 is in a happier place. You can throw light baits with the 200, but it gets touchy, especially if wind is in the equation, and it's trickier to dial in than the 70 in that scenario.

OK, I get, but hold on a sec! Let's takes a peek into the future. Shall we? Come along! It's 2027 and the bean counters at Daiwa have been counting beans. The 2028 lineup's been released to both boos and mouths agape. With each new unveiling video the cryboys over at TT are weeping in their Cocoa Puffs. They pine away recalling the Halcyon days of 2021. Hoarders start hoarding. Stocks evaporate. Boat rash'd and fished in the salt "New OGs" are bidding war'd up to into stratosphere. One Zillion 1000 actually sells for a Zillion $, and the winner feels lucky! The losers fight for the scraps. It's a bloodbath. That won't be me! Not this time. No Siree.?

Some more options: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-SKRT.html?from=basres

Never ever listen to a fish, governor. They lie. Trust your monkey.

That's how things played out for me one night last January. It was wickedly cold for days, but then flipped on a dime for a few days after that. The north cove of this 20 acre pond is dirt shallow where I caught my fish. We started on the southern end and the water was nearly painful to wade in, but once we hit the north end it felt like bathwater. It was still quite cold of course, but the contrast in temps between the two exaggerated the relief it granted. Apparently the fish felt the same thing because they were there and biting. It was nice to stumble into an active bite window after things seemed utterly hopeless for hours.

You're right, but isn't that a good thing? Starting with the Tatula 300, they've decided to turn back the clock for these new models to mostly metal reels with uncompromised gearboxes. Some are made in Japan too. Remember when made in Japan would elicit a stink face, or yuck? Now it brings a sigh of relief or it's even a point of pride, just like made in Germany or Sweden is or used to be.

The bearing isn't part of the rotational mass of the spool. Without the bearing those spools come in at a shade under or over 12 grams. They're acceptably light spools for non BFS reels that are expected to be used with much heavier than BFS lures and line to match.

Spackling a wall that needs spackling is one way to pass the cold weather time. But why paint an entire wall when it can be covered with pegboard instead??

I haven't sprung for an Elite yet, so I can't attest. I have a '17 Tat SV. It isn't a distance caster with light wind catching baits, its just forgiving. My best 1/4-3/8oz jerk and crank bait reels are the SLX MGL, Curado 70 MGL, and the latest Lew's Tournament Pro LFS. Each is an effortless caster with light baits. Each requires a sharp thumb and attention paid if set for max distance with lighter baits. None are as forgiving as a Tat SV. Up front, I keep trying Shimanos and I appreciate what they are, but I don't love the SVS Infinity brakes when throwing lighter baits that are less than ideally aerodynamic. Regardless, they are very capable reels, if somewhat unpredictable in use, squirrely with light baits. The Lew's is also somewhat touchy, just like any reel with a free braking system and fast spool, but nothing I have will outcast it with those baits or behave as predictably, not even my Chronarch. It also happens to have the lightest spool of the bunch by a few grams. To me it's also less squirrely. They got something right here. I didn't expect it, but the Lew's has really surprised me. This model is pretty special and ticks many boxes: feel, ergonomics, etc. It's definitely worth a shot for the street price. If you intend to use it for baits like typical lipless cranks it's a bomber on the right stick. On the right rod I can chuck a weightless 5" SK Caffeine Shad remarkably far with low effort. It took me a minute to figure this reel out, but the more time that goes by the more it impresses me, and that's unusual. The honeymoon continues.

Target IPT?

What's your budget?

Cool.

Columbia Men's Silver Ridge Cargo Pants. Super thin. They dry out very quickly while walking or if there's a slight breeze when you get them wet or sweat in them. UPF 50 protection. They have plenty of pockets. I have the shorts, the convertible pant/short version, and the standard pants. I really like them. Plus they're very stain resistant. Cool Grey or Columbia Grey are the lightest colors followed by Fossil.

If you're like most people here you're just a fully grown big kid and you probably won't wait until the warm weather to try these reels out for the first time. Since you live in a cold weather state, and it's that time of the year, you'll probably be making your first casts in very cold weather. Cheap mono will cause you more problems than it's worth in this scenario. Call it nylon, copolymer, or whatever, it's plastic, and plastic hardens in the cold and will want to spring off the spool. That's not something you want to deal with when you're learning and might lead you to the wrong conclusions, skew your learning curve, or even make you quit for the wrong reason. Buy some cheap 40 lb braid from amazon in a 600 yard roll. Start casting gently for a while. No power casts, seriously. Forget about distance until you're coordinated. I learned using 20 lb braid without a mentor and never had one fatal backlash. I backlashed, but they were all salvageable. Those wouldn't have been with mono in cold weather, period. The last two guys I taught to use a BC both admitted they were either "terrified" or "scared to death" of them beforehand. I started them both on braid. After a 1 hour hands on tutorial they've both been mostly independent since, with one benefiting from a bit of polishing occasionally. Neither has had a fatal backlash while casting that caused them to scrap a spool of line. I recommend that you practice pitching immediately. You'll see and hear people incorrectly calling a flip a pitch. I'm not talking about flipping. Anyway, it's my opinion that pitching practice will accelerate your thumb coordination which will help your casting greatly. It'll also shorten your learning curve when/if you learn to skip.

New ride for the K 300. Dobyn's Bucca Bullshad 836SB.

Belligerent drunk posts are so much fun! Keep 'em coming?

These are different in that you can run them slower than the Baby using heavier mono to keep them at 1ft, and will dive up to 3ft with lighter line and a faster retrieve. Worth the sale price if you like these types of baits. I've done well with them. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Ima_Bill_Lowen_Squarebill_Crankbait/descpage-IBLSB.html

If I'm frogging I'll switch off and throw the Miyagi on that setup which is a Lew's Carbon Fire 7'3" HF with 50lb braid. While throwing the Miyagi last year I lost 2 chunks when I used a reel on that rod spooled with 17lb Sufix Siege. It stretched like a rubber band and I couldn't drive the hook. Both fish shook off right in front of me and were easily mid 6ers. The Tatula XT 7'3" H w/ 50 lb braid is the other rod I use most often with this bait, however I've been able to drive that hook home using braid on a OB2 6'7" MH and 7"1MH, but those particular MH's are stout and lean towards the heavy side. I wouldn't go with what I perceive to be lighter than that. The 6/0 beast hook is like a 6D finishing nail. The Pro Ghost Alewife has been good to me. Dope Gill has been dope, and if you come across any of the discontinued Deluxe Hitch grab some. Death Wish found at F&S or DSG are knock offs of this bait and offer several different colors.

I got crickets on my AA Clutch post from a few days ago. No love for 'em here,

Plus it has a crankshaft bearing on top of the ARB. Also, the bearings have circlip shield retainers, so they're easily serviceable. It's a poor man's Curado K and stupid good at this blowout price. You're a madman!

Many of my local spots are choked with Spatterdock Lily pad fields and Water Chestnut. Add dense grass everywhere in between that's glued together with filamentous algae just for fun. I've never, not once, been broken off using 50lb J-Braid J8 while throwing any type of lure, including frogs, while pulling in fish up to 8lbs. 65lb braid may be necessary somewhere, but not here. Also, it hurts casting distance enough to matter to me.