PhishLI

By the middle of June, or possibly earlier, through late November I'll be back to having braid on 95% of my reels. Lakes nearest to me get completely choked, so treble hook baits are pretty much out of the equation. I'm perfectly fine throwing straight braid and have nothing against it. I simply despise leader knots clunking through my guides, so I don't bother. Bottom contact fishing is not happening here, so there's no need. Besides, I'm confident braid is not a deterrent to fish buried in grass or pads. Once the veg dies down I'll be back to mono and fluoro. I was warned off of using it as mainline because of what you've described, but I've adapted and do not suffer with it. Mishaps occur, but i'm mostly OK, and I'm constantly bombing. Regardless, I've come to appreciate plastic lines even after I was sure I'd hate them. Anyway, there really aren't any rules for personal use of gear in fishing. One man's right is another man's wrong it seems. That's illustrated in technicolor every day on these pages. It's whatever makes you happy. It's all good.

Stick to deeper water. I have yet to see a bed up in these parts deeper than 3 ft. If you get a fat female out in deeper water treat her nice and get her back in as fast as possible to reduce stress,

Berkley The Champ Swimmer rigged on an Owner 5167W-705. It's 4.75". Comes through weeds and muck great due to it's nose's shape and that hook. I have lots of colors but the best producers have been perch and green pumpkin. This bait has been dynamite since last season. This seller has them on sale and shipped several colors that everyone else listed as out of stock. https://www.sportsmansoutfitters.com/products/berkley-powerbait-the-champ-swimmer

Shirauo and Dark Shad. 3/8-1 oz, depending.

I think finding a booger on a Krispy Kreme that I've already taken a bite out of would be disgusting and awful, but fluoro and mono? Ah, brother. It's not bad once you've figured it out. It just takes some figuring. Anything I throw with trebles is connected to mainline mono. Wakes, glides, WPs, etc. I lose far fewer fish due to shake offs compared to braid. I understand your frustration, but adjustments are possible with a little patience. It has it's uses once you've got it together.

What you described isn't necessarily due to the braid digging in. Where plastic lines may slightly fluff and often correct midcast, braid will often wrap around the spool with a head wind or a sling shotted cast that gets the spool paying out line faster than the lure is pulling it causing a bird's nest. It can happen with any size braid. Plastic lines are stiffer and braid is limp. A touch of spool tension or a bit more on the mag brake will help.

Not being a wise guy at all, but can you read the schematic? Check to see if everything starting with the click ratchet on up to the top of the driveshaft is seated properly. The sections are keyed to the shaft or washers/plates. If they're not seated properly the problem with the side plate you're describing will occur. Don't grease the sleeve/bearing. https://www.lews.com/themes/lews_theme/assets/media/manuals/casting/TournamentMBLFS.pdf

I throw the Megabass Hazedong Shad 4.2 and Spark Shad 4 a lot, both rigged on an Owner TwistLok Light 5/0 3/32oz. Tatula SV on a 7'1 MF. Right now it's spooled with 8lb Sufix Advance as the water is still somewhat open. Once the veg gets a bit heavier I'll kick it up to 10-12lb line. If I'm working those baits through pads or when the grass is really heavy I'll kick it up to 30lb J8 braid.

My brother put some time on it, but he has 21 other rigs, so it wasn't anything like full time. And no, he did nothing stupid with it regarding giant baits. He has an assortment of Tranx models up to the 400 for that, plus several other big bait reels. It just started showing up progressively after pulling in maybe 20 hard fighting freshwater fish. It's been broken down and greased several times since new, so lube isn't the issue. It lacks a bearing on top of the ARB and X-ship which doesn't help. Those particulars might not have mattered much once upon a time, but in this case perhaps it does. Both of my Fuego CTs have remained unusually smooth with heavy use, including frogging duty. I caught 39 Walleye last week on one of them. About 15 were between 4-5 pounds and fought hard. The Walleye guys say that they're not particularly hard fighters, but in the shallow flats where I go they fight like crazy for every inch. Anyway, the reel is just as smooth afterward. I didn't recommend it in this thread because I can just throw frogs significantly farther with the Icon PT, and it ticks all the boxes for sturdy construction https://fishshop.shimano.com/collections/slx150hg https://contentw.zebcobrands.com/zebco/product/schematics/ic100hpt..bx3.pdf My Fuego CT has stood up to it without any loss of it's initial smoothness. I've beaten it like a dog.

Yes, except for the reel going geary way too quickly. Yukking a bass out of lily pads or grass will only speed that up. My brother's has gone to poop in just over a year. It's not an isolated thing either.

Lew's Carbon Fire Speed Stick 7'3"H casting Rod. $49 on sale at DSG. Great frog rod and doubles as a good medium swimbait stick. I have and use one alot. https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/lews-carbon-fire-speed-stick-casting-rod-19lewu7crbnfrspdsrod/19lewu7crbnfrspdsrod?sku=20270001&camp=CSE:DSG_92700048924971584_pla_aud-878140242411:pla-362413401277&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-_j1BRDkARIsAJcfmTFdwBNqmj6D9L8P0i-UQeM404U1uWfTbmjvpVUivY3WPrMlTROMB4UaAv0wEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Quantum ICON PT. I have one and so does my brother. On that rod it'll bomb a frog into the next county. Rock solid gear train. Double bearing supported pinion. Double bearing driveshaft plus the ARB. Brass gears. Externally adjustable centrifugal brakes. No opening a side plate to adjust brake blocks. Aluminum frame. On sale at DSG for $69, but brick and mortar stores like Simmons have them up on the auction site. We won ours for $39. $53 tax and shipping. They close between that price and $50 typically. MSRP $159 before it was discontinued and replaced by the Vapor.. I have a few more on the way. An excellent rock solid sleeper workhorse reel for that price. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2386202.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.A0.H1.TRS2&_nkw=QUANTUM+PT+ICON&_sacat=0

I have a TP LFS 6.8. It's very good all around and you can throw very light baits with it due to it's unusually light spool.

If you're ok with disassembling the reel you can do something about this. After you've removed the gear side sideplate apply grease to the entire edge of it minus the drainage ports. reassemble, then wipe off the excess grease that squeezes out. Some water will make it's way in through the pinion, so you don't want it sealed completely. This will help.

I used to do all day training seminars. It taught me what not to eat beforehand in order to avoid a digestive calamity and an embarrassing mad dash to a public terlit. My number one goal is no prarie doggin' when I'm on a hot bite. Three protein bars and a small water and I'm good for however long. One of the dudes showed up to the boat one trip with a bag of sausages to snack on. An odd choice. He ate 'em all himself and paid dearly. Four beachings. He had to take care of business in a panic while wearing shorts and flip flops in a woods full of deer ticks and chiggers. That won't be me. No siree.

I'd stay away from plastic reels for heavier jigs and baits. I use mine for lighter stuff only.

Why not just use it and find out for yourself? If I listened to reviews or opinions I wouldn't have half the reels I now own and like quite a bit. People tend to be hyperbolic. I'm cautious regarding recent products that have particular known parts failures, but subjective opinions? Fooey. I've had different and opposite opinions once I've actually fished with something myself. You have no idea what the preferences of other people even mean or add up to by reading what they say, including myself. There're just too many variables ranging from the ancillary equipment they used in conjunction with a reel to their casting style. Try it, you might like it.

I feel so dirty now.

It depends on how much material would be left after boring and if all other clearances, thumbar, etc, allowed for a larger spool. If they do then it's totally doable. No need for a CNC here. Single point boring of the casting would be the easy part on a standard milling machine. Determining where the casting's square and it's relationship to the spool shaft's alignment through to the sideplate would have to be doped out. Making a fixture in order to firmly secure the frame in order to bore it could be the most time consuming part. Light skeletal castings tend to ring like a bell when cut. The fixture might be be easy, or it could be tricky. There 's no way to know without inspecting the entire show. Ultimately, unless you have an uncle in the business, I doubt the juice would be worth the squeeze. It wouldn't be inexpensive.

You can use a Tat SV for just about anything you like. It's excellent with light lures, and very good in windy conditions with light lures and light line. I only use mine in both extremes though. Right now it's spooled with 8lb Sufix Advance on a 7'1" MF. I'm throwing light plastics like worms and flukes, and small cranks like a Mann's 1-Minus or light jerkbaits like a Duel 90F at 6 grams. It's really great with baits in that range. After the spawn it'll go on a heavy rod with 50lb braid for pitching, skipping, and punching. Basically shorter range work. I prefer other reels for chuck 'n wind baits at 3/8oz+ and up. The DC or any upper end Shimano will be just fine here.

Nice chunk! Tell your friends it's a 9 pounder?

I have a Chronarch E7. Rock solid user friendly reel. My K is a 6 speed, so I probably won't see much in the way of gear issues. However, mine was a lemon. Major clutch issues. When I called to explain what was happening they rattled off a list of which components needed to be changed like they were well aware of the issue, so off it went. Early adopter blues? Who knows? I wouldn't let the local seller service it while still under warranty because I've watched their reel tech in action. Oy. The thumb bar pad also popped off and flew into the lake. Yet none of that stopped me from buying more Shimanos, mostly Tranx models. That said I find it interesting how people reflexively defend, or recommend, any model of Shimano automatically with the long list of issues they've had since the E series. AND IT IS LONG, but they'll happily/reflexively bash other brands. Some of that bashing has mertit I'm sure. I'd bet much of it is 2nd hand smoke and herd think.

It's an inshore reel built for fighting fish much stronger than LM bass. I wasn't struck by the knobs one way or the other when I used my friend's. I'm not a giant like you, but I don't have small hands. Get the reel and try it before giving yourself a case over the knobs. The Tackle Trap has all sorts of factory Daiwa handles for sale. There was a Zillion 100mm handle for 24$ listed a while back. Check it out.

Fluoro is less well behaved in cold weather, especially on your first few casts. Here it may slightly fluff as soon as you release your thumb after the lure has landed. If you wind in over that it'll feel lumpy. If you try to pull out the fluff even bigger coils will jump off the arbor unless you back down the drag and use it to maintain tension. The coils are much tighter and more more springy the closer they are to the spool's arbor. In order to slightly combat this I use braid as a backing and fill the spool a heavy 1/3rd of the way in order to create a larger arbor. This lessens the problem on 12-15 line. A little bit more spool tension than usual in the beginning of a session until the line settles will also help, but not so much with slack line techniques. It wouldn't hurt to throw a chuck 'n wind bait with some resistance first to calm down the line.

Just start off with all four brake blocks engaged and the external dial in the middle of it's adjustment. Minimize side to side play of the spool with the tension knob, then add a tad. Get comfortable then start backing off settings. The reel will cast fine with four blocks engaged, but you'll end up with just 2 on eventually.

26 MPH NW winds and a real feel temp of 29 degrees right now. Nuts!