PhishLI

Yup. I don't see the point in comparing locals and local guides to out-of towners. There were a number of Elite and MLF pros who didn't make the cut. Recent Classic winner Jason Christie and recent Redcrest winner Booby Lane Jr both missed.

I dunno? This Utoober thing is almost dismissive. Nearly a slur on someone. Jake Paul is a youtuber who's trying to box by fighting washed up MMA retirees. Milliken is a fisherman who started a YT channel. It's not the same thing. He was on a college team and has been doing local derbs for years before YT. Scott Martin has the biggest YT channel of any pro. Does YT diminish him? Milliken isn't that far behind Martin's channel because he has hardcore fishing content where if you pay attention, you'll actually learn something. Unlike the beloved Shimano salesmen, he actually goes deep on tactics, and remarkably little on gear. Looks like YTer Rob Terkla from G Squad washed out at the NPFL, and YTer Oliver Ngy from Big Bass Dreams struggled mightily on tour, and he can catch them. I hope Milliken does well.

I have. Waits can be stupid long, like several months, for servicing/warranty except for executive services where they're offered.

As far as you know. None of us know for sure what goes on inter-industry. Toyotas and GMs built on parallel assembly lines, etc. Businesses do what they need to do or what makes sense financially. From the outside it's all just a guess regardless of what's claimed by "somebody".

I was frozen like a popsicle early Monday morning, and yesterday it was 90*. Go figure. When I got to the lake last night it was so slick-calm and breeze-less that it was hard to believe wind existed anywhere else on earth. I'd forgotten my neck gaiter, so I was in dread over the idea of being engulfed by huge plumes of gnats and huffing them in, but they were nowhere to be found. Consequently, not a single fish broke the surface once in 3 hours. Not even a swirl. Things seemed quite hopeless. The really odd thing was that I was getting lots of short strikes in the same locations, which felt precisely like bedding bass bumping me off their nests. Doesn't seem possible being this early, but perhaps the water temps in the shallows got supercharged just enough to fake them out? Who knows? Got the stuffed crappie on a Rapala Shallow Runner in Perch, and the basslings came on a Berkely The Champ Swimmer in crappie. Beat the skunk somehow and maintained my dignity, sort of.

Just read the site. Claims no drag #, and that the spool is locked.

Just checked the KK website where they do post schematics, but I can't find this one. BTW, scroll through and you'll find they're doing some FFS platforms. Huh.

They don't call me Cool Breeze for nuthin'.

You're probably correct here, especially if the name brand /rebrander dumped or never had an engineering team. That said, I guarantee OEM suppliers like Banax and Doyo would and do allow exclusive-spec reels to be ordered outside of the standard suite of options they offer as long as minimum orders can be met. This happens all the time in other industries where companies with real engineers make an economical choice not to tool-up completely. This benefits the OEM supplier in the long run as exclusives always have an expiration date and these often become part of their standard catalogue afterward, especially if the spec is clever. It's free engineering for them after all.

He was chirping about it during Takeout. Claimed to have had input during its design process if I remember correctly.

It's more about the slimy algae here. It just fouls up the blades lickity-split. So frustrating to the point that I question my sanity each time I get the notion to throw one, yet a chatterbait on braid with a fast MH can be snapped which will clear it most of the time.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm currently in therapy alongside @TnRiver46 for spinnerbait trauma.

Righty-O, Daddy-O. When the chatterbait bite is hot, fishing doesn't get much more fun than that, especially on straight braid. It's right up there with a hot larger swimbait bite. Ain't nothing subtle about either, but those straight-braid nighttime CB bites are usually violent.

Before Lew's put the P2 pinion setup in the LFS, Quantum was the only reel at the price point with a pinion extending into a bearing in the handle-sideplate. Tatulas below the 300 don't, and neither does the SLX. The short shoulder found on its pinion doesn't allow for that function. Tatulas and the SLX both have a single frame mounted pinion bearing, but that feature is no better at supporting the pinion on that particular side during cranking than a spool mounted bearing like most pre and non P2 Lew's reels do. Both the Tatulas and the SLX have the pinion lightly riding the spool shaft during the cast and rely on the shaft as a support mechanism for the opposite end of the pinion during cranking. There's enough clearance between the outside diameter of the Quantum's spool shaft and the inside diameter its pinion that it meets Quantum's claim of "Zero Friction" pinion. Lew's is doing the same thing with the P2 reels.

I'm not sure if that particular reel is a one for one clone of a current Lew's model. Otherwise, BPS reels are also Doyo builds for the most part, and while similar, don't *seem* to overlap precisely to anything currently offered from Lew's higher price-point metal framed models, and that would make sense. I'm not sure where the super cheap BPS reels come from. Whether or not Lew's acts as a broker here for BPS, who knows? But I imagine BPS has the pull to deal directly with Doyo for their own exclusive builds. No BPS reel I'm aware of has Lew's ACB braking AFAIK, or a P2 pinion setup yet, but they do offer MSB, and Magtrax types which exist in some current or recent Lew's and ABU reels. Nothing offered by Lew's at the price point has the full metal frame and sideplates build of the JM Platinum Signature, so there's at least an effort to differentiate between lines.

They will. Over and over again but will continue to just chuck it in a box and ship it.

Correct. You get the warranty and service from Lew's, which has been generally excellent, and a recognizable nameplate palatable for our market.

Doyo is a large South Korean builder/brand with agreements not to sell to the North American Market. They build reels for Lew's, ABU, and few Daiwas for our market, and also under different brand names in other markets. Many KDM models built by Doyo are simply rebranded/nameplated for Lew's and ABU. There are differences between the two, greater at higher price points, and many are not minor either.

Take a look at the 7'1" medium. 13 Fishing Muse Black Casting Rods - Tackle Warehouse

Is the drag clicking when drag is pulled by a fish, or when you pull it manually? This is a notorious issue with the new Zillion. If this is your problem, it's because it has a built-in drag clicker.

It's essentially a Smoke S3 PT with a brass crankshaft vs the Smoke S3's aluminum one, and the X has a heavier handle, hence the weight difference between the two. That's good because the Smoke S3 is an excellent reel that lasts through heavy duty fishing and is a very good caster.

So, Satan is a duck? That's crazy, man.

What a rally! Congrats on the win!

Yep. As you can see, I did. I have a pile of mediums and larges for Gammys and whichever other hooks come with a shyte spring lock keeper. Even the ones with the faux centering pin are lame compared to Owner's CPS.

Try this. Tighten down the drag star. Right against the back of the handle find a washer riding against it. This washer is keyed to the crankshaft on its through-hole and is spring loaded to keep it against the handle. Its face facing the handle has teeth matching the handle that also has teeth. They mate which keeps the handle from spinning free of the crankshaft. The gap you've created by tightening the dragstar will allow you to back this keyed/tooth washer away from the handle and towards the frame. Once you've done that, reverse the handle off which is threaded to the crankshaft.