PhishLI

I have a new Tournament Pro LFS mounted on a 7'1" M. I've only had it out for about 7 hrs throwing mostly 1/4 oz jerkbaits. So far it's been great throwing that weight for distance. I can sling 9 grams very far if I need or want to. It's easy to dial in and not quirky when braking is close to the redline. It's not brass gear micro module smooth but smooth enough. The Lite also has the P2 pinion and I'll guess that the spool is similar in weight to the TP LFS which is super light. If Tanso is anything like CI4+ or Zaion, which it probably is, I wouldn't worry much. My Tatula LT and Chronarch have been fished hard and are both still rock solid.

I have 20-50 lb Daiwa J8 on 7 bait casters. I thought everything was just fine with it, but now that I've found out it's horrible, sayonara!

Fish, What's your opinion on the ACS 3.0 brakes in this reel? Any quirks? I've had my eye on the Smoke S3 PT for a while. It uses a similar braking system. I'm more enthus'd about trying Quantum since my brother got his Monster 300 earlier this year. He's fished big baits hard with it and it's still smooth. He picked up a second one because he was happy with the first, and because it was 57$ on Walmart online. He also has a Tranx 400, 300, and a Lew's 300 super duty, so he has some good points of reference. I finally put in a good session with mine over the weekend. Solid as a rock with an aluminum frame and side plates. I was chucking baits, like the 8" Trash fish and 5" Bucca Bull Gill, a mile. Couldn't be happier, especially with the TW clearance price.

pink, No need to imagine cause I'll explain. I bought a reel, a Pflueger Supreme XT. I couldn't cast really light baits as well with it, regardless of brake settings, as I was able to with other reels. I wondered why. So I weighed the spool. It was 21 grams. I weighed my Chronarch and it was 13 grams. Startup inertia differences due to the weight difference was enough of an answer for me. There's a reason BFS reels have super lightweight spools. So I was encouraged once I weighed the Lew's spool especially because I'm looking for a reel that can do more regarding a range of baits. The external adjustment is an attractive idea too. I suppose it's cool that you fish baitcasters with no brakes. I completely understand what you're trying to get across. I can split a line made by a sharpened No.2 pencil freehand with a circular saw for as long of a distance as you can imagine. But why would I when I have a track saw or straight edges at my disposal? Get my drift? It's not a perfect analogy, but a good accessory to a tool isn't necessarily a crutch.

I tend to run my brakes on the hairy edge. Maybe not Mrpinkie's version of the hairy edge, but they're usually set very low. If it turns out that someday I'm that good, or even want to be, then great. So yeah, I'm on the lookout for a standard non BFS reel that will allow me to throw light weight baits too. When I night wade lakes I usually bring multiple rigs, but sometimes i'd rather have just one rod. If I can throw a broad range of baits, light and heavy-ish, I'm happy. My Chronarch does just fine actually, and honestly, my flushed and oiled Fuego CT isn't far behind if at all, in practice. My Curado K is really finicky with light baits, so I don't need another reel with that characteristic. Part of me thought I should just grab a Curado 70 and call it a day, but this Lew's was interesting. I'll give it a whirl anyway. I like a challenge. Maybe I can adapt to whatever it is or isn't, or maybe not. But I appreciate your detailed take on it.

The recent discounts on the 13 OB2s were too deep to pass up. Plus I like the ones I already have just fine. The Mach Crush was an unexpected gift. The Dobyns 795 gets me into the SB game for real. No more killing my elbow using a 7'4" HF. I think I'm good for a while.

I just picked up a Lew's Tournament Pro LFS. It's the one dodgeguy suggests often. By often I mean constantly. If someone here happened to inquire about a toaster oven there's no doubt he'd suggest this reel! "$139 at Sportsmens Outfitters, 27 position centrifi...It makes toast too". I kid dodgeguy. His marketing genius, belief, and PM testimonial worked on me. I bought the reel! First thing I did was weigh the spool. Its 11 grams with the bearing still installed, so it's crazy light. There shouldn't be much issue casting light lures paired with the right rod. I spooled it up with 10lb Trilene XL last night and slobbered it up with KVD. I'm heading out with some 1/4oz jerkbaits and Neds. We'll see if the brakes and my thumb are up to the task. A review or two out in the ether suggests that it's best used with lures a half ounce and up, but others say just the opposite. Fish Tank's new thread "Reviewing a Few Lew's Fishing Reels" rained on my parade as it casts doubt on the ACB system. Dang internets. I suppose I'll find out soon enough. Merry Christmas!

During reasonable weather above freezing I run straight braid on everything except big treble swimbait setups. Once I'm fishing near 32 degrees I switch to mono or copoly as it keeps the guides from freezing up for a bit longer because it doesn't hold water like braid does. I throw weedless wacky rigged stick baits on 30lb braid because my waters are super snaggy. I do just fine here. My son in law's home lake is super clear. He's only finesse fishes. He switched to braid last year and nothing changed with his numbers. Still has 15-20 bass days using regular PP 15lb green. I've had no problem catching there when fishing much heavier braid. Every now and then I'll spool up fluoro for it's feel with certain bottom baits, but that hasn't seemed to change much regarding outcome.

I'm doing my best to keep this swimbait jag I'm on in the dabble zone. My buddy who swore last week after he audited his garage full of stuff that "He's done" sent me a text last night. It was a picture of a pile of brand new Hudds and various other big baits he got yesterday. The included text said "Somebody shoot me". He really can't stop!

We're frozen over in lots of spots from the deep freeze on Wednesday night , Thursday, and Friday. My buddy just did 3 hours where he found some open water, but whiffed. Woke up to -2 on Thursday with wicked winds and it never broke 26 on Friday, so they must be seriously chilled. Christmas day will be the fourth day in a row that we're back in the 40's. It's supposed to kiss 50 tomorrow at one point. If I can sneak in a 10:00 am thru 1:00 pm on Xmas day that'll be great! Dyin' to throw my brand new jerkbait rig. Got a new Vision 110 tied on and ready to go. The IMA suspending lipless will be on deck. Gonna drag the new 8" Trash Fish slowly through some deep holes on the new swimbait rig. Hopefully the wind won't be blowing too hard.

I'm bumped into a fishing buddy at Field & Stream a while back. He was in one of the lure aisles and his wife was in Dick's looking at clothes. He was plucking baits off the racks and filling his basket as we talked. When she finally met up with us she took one look in his basket and said "why bother with those when you'll just end up catching most of your fish on a Fat IKA". He said that she was right, but bought the baits anyway. Before that story took place I'd spent lots of time throwing the IKA in every way possible. I haven't gotten a sniff, whiff, or a first or second look. I have another friend who also does very well with them. I just don't have that IKA mojo.

We have Walleye in 2 lakes in my area. I've caught 99% of mine on the Shirauo Dark Sleeper 3/4oz. Same as you, medium fast retrieve scraping and bumping along the bottom.

Yes, you'll lose an eye sometimes. I pluck them off when I open the package and gel superglue them on first thing. That bait was a monster for me this season. Worth every penny. I freak when I'm running low and buy more. I have a box full of them ready to go. BTW, that bait was the one thing that convinced me that bass do care more about baits with eyes, in my case anyway. I purposefully bought different paddletail baits with eyes and my catch rates went through the roof. Previously I couldn't catch a cold with a Keitech or any other paddle tail without eyes fishing the same waters in the same spots. Maybe it's the extra flash, Who knows? But I'm a believer now.

New swimbait and jerkbait rigs can mean only one thing: New swimbaits and jerkbaits too! WHaaaHooooo!

Ha! My brother found that page a few months ago. His goose was cooked once he caught his 1st 5 pounder on a Bull Wake. He now has 4 dedicated big bait setups. He's spent a staggering amount on baits. He can't stop.

If you were a bird in a tree at my lake you'd probably see me fishing with at least one Fuego, maybe two. Love that reel. It's still not what I recommend to new guys coming from spinning.

A Dobyns FR703C runs on the light side for a MH and would be a good start if you're stuck on a 7' stick. I prefer a stouter 7'3" MHF if I'm on a one-rod-only wade. I can throw lots of baits from 1/4oz to 3/4oz as it's length and added leverage can overcome some of the limitations of it's stiffness with lighter weights as will a longer lure drop before casting. Adjustments of drag can compensate here when throwing treble baits. If you're coming from a medium light spinning setup there's no doubt that you whip your casts. Everyone does, well except for the guy that might respond to this post saying that he never does. Putting him aside, this can make starting with a magnetic braking system more challenging during your transition to baitcasters. That said, if I was forced to live with only one reel it would be a Daiwa, however that's not where I'd recommend you should start. If the reel has to be one from your list, then I'd go with the SLX, but upgrade to the XT for 20$ more. The external fine adjustment is worth it. I'm not saying there's less of a learning curve, but it's definitely different. I just feel that the transition from light spinning to baitcasters is better served here. Centrifugals may over run and fluff up midcast, but you're less likely to get an instant backlash when you whip the rod. This will happen with a magnetic brake. I've seen too many guys coming from spinners who were afraid of a baitcaster to begin with give up because of linear mag brakes like the Lew's or even Daiwa's Magforce. In time you'll figure out that it's not necessary to whip casts with a baitcaster. Once your casting mechanics and thumb coordination are developed it may turn out that you'll prefer an advanced magnetic brake like Magforce Z like I do, or even a reel with hybrid brakes. Maybe you'll ultimately stick with centrifugally braked reels like Shimano, but I would start there for sure.

I ordered a Lew's TP1 Black back during spring from TW. On the day it was due to arrive I got a text update from UPS that it was re-routed back to the seller. I had a hunch that meant bad news. Oddly, it arrived the next day at my door. The tube had been guillotined just past the halfway point, then shoddily taped back together. It flopped when I picked it up and sure enough the rod was snapped in two. Naturally the rod was back ordered until late September, so that was that. They issued a refund and held the discount over for my next order. They also told me that they ship thousands of rods and a fair percentage get busted by the shipper. They weren't surprised or fazed. I ordered a rod during BF. It arrived safely and all is well.

There are a few kids at a local spot I fish that use baitcasters, mostly 13s and ABUs. A few weeks ago I was wading and one of them stopped to ask how I was doing. I happened to be fishing with a Curado K and could see he had one on his rod. I asked him how he liked it and he told me it was actually a Curado DC and that he loved it. It was mounted on a Mojo Bass 7'1" Medium and had a 1/4oz willow blade spinner bait tied on with 12lb flouro. He asked if I'd like to take a few throws, so I did. I took one cast to get the feel of it, then laid into it on the second. I'm pretty sure I've never sent a bait like that so far out there. Took a third swing and the same thing. I didn't run out and order a DC reel on BF. I'm fine with what I have. But it's legit in my mind. However, from the reports I've seen it's not foolproof. The real issue here may be that if one's mechanics are not developed around normally braked baitcasters, then a DC, like an SV, is not a panacea.

My brother got a new 300 earlier this year and had nothing but hate for it because of the clutch problem. He sent it packing.

I'm with you. I have two. I think they're great reels. A pleasure to fish with. They do nicely with light weights too. They do most of what any of the CT variants can do. Day to day, I think I like the Fuego more than any reel I own.

Earlier this year a great deal was posted by a member here: Flooger was offering up a number of reels at stupid low prices. I grabbed two Supreme XTs for something like 59$ each and my brother got two Patriarchs. The Supreme XT is not the best light bait reel. It has a heavy spool. Things get tricky/touchy under 3/8oz, but it's doable, sort of like the Curado K. However, the Supreme XT is a supreme long bomb caster. No reel I own with the same line on the same rod, including the Curado K or Chronarch, allows me to chuck a frog as far. I'm not talking a few feet either. I'm talking 10-15 yards farther. There are edges of pad fields way out there that I could never reach in the past but I can now with the Supreme XT. It's a freak in that regard. Otherwise it's a solid reel. It's light at 6.5 ozs. No quirks that come to mind. A tad geary on the retrieve after a season of lots of fishing and lots of catches, when compared to the big two, but not enough to bother me. My Tatula SV's gear and pinion are horrible after a year and a half and need to be replaced, so things happen. The camlock side plate is cool. The main gear lube port is handy. I've unscrewed the spool tension knob and oiled that bearing under it and the spool bearings a few times along with the brake drum and worm gear occasionally and it stays humming nicely. I couldn't be happier, especially for what I paid.

Newest members of the club: Tranx 400 and Monster 301.

MS Slammer time!

Clearance pricing plus 20% off at Tackle Warehouse. My brother has two. Mine's on the way. Good reels.