PhishLI

Fantastic news! What a day.

Yes. A 13 Omen Black 2 7'1" MF/Quantum Tour S3/12lb Sufix Advance copoly. It's my 1/4-3/8oz square bills/70mm cranks/ jerkbaits and WP 60-75 setup, but I also throw finesse jigs and any weedless or T-rigged plastics with it within its wheelhouse. Going on 5 years now and plenty of solid fish fought through the junk. That line is discontinued now, but the Meta line with an upgraded 36T blank replaced it. Powers and action seem to track well throughout the 13 line, so the 7' MF Meta should be close, plus it has a better downward-facing loop hookeeper which is a bonus for not having to un-skin hook plastics. 13 Fishing Meta Casting Rods | Tackle Warehouse MTGC7M 7' Medium Fast 10-17lb 1/4-5/8oz 9+Tip 13-3/4"

No. Again, it's the reel that's the issue. Put smaller diameter, lower test line on like 12lb mono instead of 14lb mono, and you'll ultimately end up with a heavier spool which, when combined with SVS Infinity braking, is your problem here. It's glorious with a 1/2-5/8 oz lipless crank, but with a 3/8oz square bill it's a total pain when you're trying to air it out for distance, even when dialed in. The heavy spool just wants to keep spinning which means you'll have to thumb it early to keep from over running which will kill the distance. So, you'll then "up" the brakes to fix that and the distance is gone again. It's the reel, dude. It's the wrong tool for the job you're asking it to do. Depending on your skill level, most any 70-150 sized reel out there will be better as an all arounder as you'd mentioned, and all will have enough line cap for bass fishing, although the 70s might be borderline if you're able to truly bomb cast consistently with the heaviest or most aerodynamic baits in your rotation. There are many underappreciated or underrated reels out there, but the Curado K is the most overrated reel I've ever bought, unfortunately, because I need most of my setups minus BFS or swimbait setups to be good all arounders. My brother hated his Ks and his Tranx 200 and sold them off. However, he loves his SLX MGLs. No problem zinging out light baits or heavier baits in the wheelhouse of a typical MH rod.

A 12" eel is a nice snack for any bass. You have them there, so throw it!

yes

I used to call this a skunk. Now I call it embarrassed but not skunked.

Only 3 weeks ago

This is what we have here already, shore to shore from 0'-4' deep, and it's only the middle of May. Just gotta work through it. Needles in haystacks but they're in there, somewhere.

Can't live without one. I tried. I use it constantly. I'll just buy up what I can which will carry me through until my end.

Daiwa Tatula XT Spinning Rods | Tackle Warehouse TATULAXT731MFS 7'3" Medium Extra Fast 6-14lb 1/8-3/8oz 7+Tip 15-1/4"

If you like an anti-reverse switch: EXELT3000D-C Right/Left 5.3:1 7.1 10/280, 12/220 5BB + 1RB Daiwa Exceler LT Spinning Reels | Tackle Warehouse

Same here. We try to hit new spots early in the season before weed growth occurs where we'll use a Striker 4 just to find the details. Haven't been to many new spots in a few years so the Striker has stayed home. It's otherwise useless in 2-6 feet of water once it's topped out with weeds and pads.

1/16" below the rim.

Why do you think you need more than it can hold? I spooled on a measured 220' of 6lb Trilene XL at .009". There isn't a chance of casting off even half of that.

The Hamptons lake I mentioned earlier is 62 acres. It's that bass paradise lake I sent you to look at some time back. The 4-6 hours we get to fish it during a typical outing barely scratches the surface while fishing out of an electric powered Sun Dolphin. There are just so many juicy spots that deserve full attention, and in doing so time gets eaten up very quickly and the day flies right by with so much left unfished.

Good idea. Add some jigs to the mix. My son in law grew up next to and has fished one of the best big bass lakes in the Hamptons for the past 35 years, but he didn't know that having never surpassed much past a 5 pounder. He hadn't even heard of big fish caught there. After 2 years of me torturing him to try a bait caster, he finally acquiesced. Next was persuading him to slow down a lot. He fished way too fast. Next was fishing a jig. Sent him vid after vid and links to jigs to keep the pressure campaign up. It all came together one year when he lost one of his spinning rigs overboard which was the trigger for him to finally go all in with the advice he'd been given. Taught him the bait caster in an afternoon, and he was off to the races. Not long afterward during that very year he broke his PB twice in one afternoon with a 6.1 and then a 7 1/2 lber throwing a half ounce bluegill finesse jig with a blue Christie craw trailer. So, throw the G2 and whichever bigger hard bait you have. Throw big worms. Give jigs a fair shot and slow down a bit when you do.

Bingo.

Eh, you're just warming up. 20 times is barely practice.

That's the clue that bigger fish are there, they're simply harder to find because as a rule, there's simply less of them up here. And that's another clue. Every single spot in my area where 2-3 pounders are the norm, big fish are caught occasionally. Where there are lots of 12"ers and the max norm is 2 pounds there's often an overstock issue leading to stunting.

Fixed that for you.😁

Don't mind the cold. Don't mind the stifling humidity. Don't even mind the tough fishing due to relentless pressure. I do mind: Poachers Crackheads MS13 The blue tarp shanty town that's taken over the best lake closest to my house where the "new arrivals" have turned the place into a disgusting garbage dump and have made it clear that we're unwelcome. Hung in the middle of a pathway in.

It's a SPRO Prime Snap Mini size 0, or 10lb. This isn't actually a snap but a clip similar to the design of the Tactical Angler clips but better as the line will remain centered and not creep around the bend due to the fashion in which it's made. SPRO Prime Snap | Tackle Warehouse Exactly. Efficiency in changing lures instantly and not burning up line by constantly retying. That said, we don't have zebra mussels, rocky bottoms, much wood or brush piles to speak of, or anything else terribly abrasive to deal with here. Just soft, mucky bottoms, endless milfoil, and pad fields. Here, I often have a clip tied to straight braid for months without retying, and just give it the pull test periodically to make sure all is well. However, when I use any type of clip/snap on fluoro, mono, or copoly I'll usually retie every third trip for peace of mind. Other than getting bitten off by Pickeral, I haven't broken off a bait in a bass's face ever using either the SPROs linked above or my favorite more typical snap for coming through weeds and algae cleanly, the VMC Touch-Lok snap: VMC Touch-Lok Snap | Tackle Warehouse I use size #1 rated to 68lbs on straight 30-40lb braid and most plastic lines from 12-15lbs. Above those line sizes, I use size #2 rated to 94lbs on 50lbs and up straight braid, or on plastic lines from 17-30lbs for heavier jigs and larger swimbaits. However, these clips like all spring-tension loaded clips have a lifespan due to metal fatigue which is induced by cycling. Eventually, one can feel it lose a tad of its springiness, and that's when it's time to retire it, but that's after many, many cycles. Additionally, these snaps will only work with certain hooks whose eye is slightly larger than usual, and there are plenty of those types out there.

What else do you own? What's your budget?

The Curado K is the problem in this equation, IMO. It's a true 200 sized reel where its fully loaded spool is heavy. Some heavier spools with particular braking systems don't like lighter baits, especially if you're not using thumb heavy presentations but instead trying to launch lighter baits for distance where you don't want to lean on the spool at all. With all of the gushing this reel received when it came out, I was surprised myself by its limitations. It's easily my least favorite reel as an all-arounder. However, used with baits weighted properly to its wheelhouse it's fine. But even then, it leans towards the somewhat touchy side compared to other reels I have, and I have a truckload for comparison.

The Daiwa Aird X 7'3MH is slightly slower than a fast and a very good rod for $54. Way better than the msrp would suggest. There's a 2 pc 7' MH version (AirX 702) which I have that's quite good too. My brother has a SLX MGL on one of his 7'3"s and a Daiwa Fuego on the other. No problem zinging out a 3/16oz Bitsy Bug and small trailer on either setup. On top of that they're very durable. I've been dragging fish out of slop and through pad fields for years with mine without a single issue. Daiwa Aird X Casting Rods | Tackle Warehouse AIRD-X RODS – Daiwa US AIRX701HFB Trigger Grip Casting Rods H F 7'0" 1 12-25 3/8-1 1/2 8 Aluminum Oxide $54.99 AIRX702MHFB Trigger Grip Casting Rods MH F 7' 2 10-20 1/4-1 8 Aluminum Oxide $54.99 AIRX731MHFB Trigger Grip Casting Rods MH F 7'3" 1 10-20 1/4-1 8 The Lew's LFS at $100 is often on sale and so is the Daiwa Fuego CT at $119. If you don't mind opening up a sideplate to fiddle with brake blocks, the regular SLX is another option at $100 which will also come up on sale during sales events. All have aluminum frames and will last many years if you maintain them.