redmeansdistortion

Are those float flies a true 1/16 or will it be more fully rigged? The SV800 has a relatively "heavy" spool at 12g which will make it perform down to 1/8 at the very minimum, but 3/16 will be completely fine. The older Alphas SV105 had a lighter 11g spool and did very well throwing 1/8, and the Alphas CT SV came with an 8g spool that would go 1/16 no problem with a half spool of line. I feel with SV800 considering the spool weight, the Phenix 7'1" L would better help it get in that 1/8 range versus the ML.

The first time is the hardest time. The more you do it the easier it gets. The hardest parts on most low profile reels are re-seating the torsion springs for the clutch assembly. Once you figure it out, it's a piece of cake.

Plus the Japanese manufacturers have agreed upon standards for line diameter vs strength. The industry self regulates and diameters are very consistent across all brands manufactured for the Japanese market. American market lines are all over the map and tend to be severely underrated at their stated breaking points. Big Game is known to be strong because it is typically bigger in diameter than competitors but labeled as an equal strength. The Big Game 10lb is a similar diameter to Japanese 14lb mono at 0.3mm.

They're great for trolling. Most of the salmon, steelhead, and musky charters here in the Great Lakes use them. In that scenario, you aren't looking for sensitivity since the rod isn't in your hands. Before I got into BFS gear, I used a 4'6" Ugly Stik for a backpacking rod and it was perfect due to it being indestructible. In that scenario, I'd rather trade sensitivity for durability since a fall or tree branch can be the difference between eating good or being a temporary vegetarian.

That's not a valid comparison. A 4'5" rod will definitely be thinner in the butt section than a 6'8" unless you're looking at a halibut rod. My 6'L Finetail measures 0.3mm thicker in the butt than my 6'4" L Blazon and is a faster blank. Both are rated for a similar weight range. The Finetails with the straight grip are not for small stream trout, but for steelhead and cherry salmon which spawn in those mountain streams in Japan. Those rods in general are very stiff in the butt section and feature a limber tip to keep the fish pinned during runs and head shakes. My Finetail bends mostly in the top quarter of the blank with very little bend towards the handle.

The Major Craft rods are jerkbait rods, meant for throwing minnow style baits in the 4g and up range. They are unlike the noodly spoon/spinner rods we have on shelves here. The noodly trout rod reputation is due to what's sold here, but JDM trout rods are an entirely different kind of rod. On this side of the world, most soak bait or swing spoons and spinners which do work best on a more moderate action. In Japan, they fish jerkbaits which work best with a much faster blank.

Yep, probably the most popular carp reel on that side of the Atlantic. Most YouTube videos you see of the reel involve carp fishing in England and Germany. The actually offer newer SS reels but they run double to triple what the Whisker does.

They're the best workhorse reel since the ABU Cardinal. I'm of the belief that Shimano copied most of the design for the original Stradic back in '91. Looking at both schematics side by side they're nearly identical, down to the level wind and the way it's all put together. The only differences are the way the anti reverse is implemented and the internal bail trip. You can still find the 700 and 1300 sizes new on eBay for decent prices as of right now. It was the cheapest worm driven spinner in more modern times at half the cost of the Vanford.

I just had to get myself another Daiwa SS 700. Daiwa stopped making them this year and it was hard to find anywhere that wasn't eBay. Remaining stock sold quick once word was out that production was stopping. It's a true workhorse and will be perfect for my 10 day backpacking/canoe trip through Algonquin Provincial Park coming up in May. These things are bomb proof and I needed something that I know will withstand the wilderness since I will rely on it to eat. No doubt there are other newer and smoother reels, but I don't want a grain of sand to get in the way of me eating trout and walleye or becoming a temporary vegetarian having to live off of mushrooms, ramps, and asparagus. Between this and my 2500C, I'll be more than ready.

Trout rods are just as varied and technique specific as bass rods, they just aren't marketed here as such and as a result, most manufacturers tend to stick with the moderate spoon/spinner blanks. This is because they are the most widely used lures on this side of the world. A minnow/jig/jerkbait blank is much stiffer so those twitches are transferred immediately to the lure. It's a lot of fun fishing the rivers, streams, and creeks. If you're new to this type of fishing, my best advice is to take a run and gun approach. Trout are constantly on the move and seldom hold in the same place very long. If you aren't getting hits within the first few casts, move along to the next hole.

Fishing the wide open rivers in Utah, you will want something 6'+ with a stiff backbone and a limber tip, capable of handling the fast water. The Major Craft Finetail comes in a 6' L 2g-10g and a 7'2" 5g-21g, both of which would be ideal in that environment. These are JDM rods designed for fishing fast current and very fast action, so fast they make the American mainstays of Loomis and St Croix feel like wet noodles. The tips of these rods are very limber to keep the fish pinned during every surge and head shake and great for throwing things like jigs, jerkbaits, and heavy sinking minnows. Spoons and spinners can also be fished but they tend to perform best with a more moderate action. If you're fishing headwater streams where the current is slower and the environment brush-choked, a shorter rod in the 4'6" to 5'6" range is best, preferably light power over ultralight, even medium light would do well. With this you get one-handed casting which lets you maneuver around obstacles much easier and cast to targets that would otherwise be much more difficult to hit swinging a longer rod. I see a lot of would-be trout fishermen assuming they need to use UL to chase trout. UL does work, but the moment you hook into a 20"+ brown or rainbow, you need a stick that will help you keep them clear of the wood and boulders where they can and will break you off. A UL is under powered for trout over 12", and a L or ML would do you best. You aren't going to be able to cast the smallest baits, which shouldn't be a consideration in the first place. Yeah, it's nice to say you can cast a trout magnet, but very, very few people fish baits that light in general. Even a 6" brook trout will absolutely hammer a 3/16 Countdown. I feel the SLX BFS will do exactly what you want. It isn't over powered, nor is it under powered, it's the tool for the job. Spool it up with some 6lb or 8lb braid and set your drag for a pound or two and you'll be off and running. Remember, BFS isn't about casting the absolute lightest bait, that's what UL spinning is for. BFS is about casting baits you'd otherwise need to use a spinning reel for, and most of those happen to be in the 1/16 to 1/4 range, which every BFS reel should be able to do.

Coleman camp fuel, AKA white gas. A gallon runs about $16 at Walmart, very effective for degreasing and doesn't leave anything behind. That said, I wouldn't use it in an ultrasonic, for that I use aircraft instrument panel cleaner, Simple Green sells a variant of it that works great. It's non-caustic so you can use it on every reel part, even side plates and anti-reverse bearings.

Have you tried learning to cast with your left? I drive left handed since I've owned a lot of cars with a manual over the years, and it didn't take long to pick up casting left handed. I'm almost as accurate with my left as I am with my right, and I just started doing it a couple of months ago. It really only took me a couple of trips to get the hang of it.

I'm 95% casting and seldom use anything heavier than a ML. Light tackle is so much more fun to me, especially on a reel without a fixed spool.

One overlooked aspect of the synchronized level wind is that it functions as a brake. Yeah, you aren't going to get 10 minutes of free spool, but you will get a very controlled cast that will still go just as far as a disengaging level wind. Every one of my Abus casts further than my Millionaires and is about the same as my Calcutta Conquest on the same rod with the same lures and spooled with the same line. Best of all, no adjustments need to be made between lure weights and techniques, it's set and forget.

I think I'm set on round BFS reels for a bit. It wasn't the bait monkey that got me, but the bait gorilla.

Plus many of them reproduce naturally in the systems they are stocked, in the northern Great Lakes anyway. The spawn of the tank scrubbers have never seen a hatchery and would qualify as wild trout. As such, many of these tribs that were heavily stocked decades ago are now stocked a lot less and done so as a means to augment the now wild populations. With the southern Great Lakes, most of those are stockers since there are very few cold water streams due to urban runoff and the underground springs drying up as a result. As an example, my "home" stream is the Clinton River in Southeast Michigan. Up until the 1950s, it was classified a cold water stream, but now that it's way overdeveloped, most water comes in the form of urban runoff since most of its tributaries have been filled in. All of that water running off from roads and parking lots really heats it up. In the early 20th century, that river seldom exceeded 60 degrees, even in the dead of summer. Fast forward to now, and it flirts with 80 degrees every year, much too warm for trout.

They needn't worry. I got into the higher end stuff when my uncle passed away 20 years ago. He had a lot of nice gear and my cousin wanted none of it. The reels were all very well used, but I figured I'd at least try to take them apart and get them working correctly before anything else. It was then I taught myself reel service. The knowledge I acquired back then was worth far more than the gear itself.

I still use a Cardinal 3, another fantastic reel. It weighs 7oz, while not light by today's standards, it does balance well with more rods than other spinners I own of a similar size. For me, balance is better than lightness. It's also very smooth even though it comes from a time when rotors weren't computer balanced. This one has an Avail CD0490R spool, IOS Factory bail springs, carbon drag, and IOS Factory SiC line roller. It isn't often I use it as I use baitcasting gear the vast majority of the time, but it's my favorite spinning reel. The fulcrum drag is one of the best ever made in my opinion. It doesn't have a tendency to fade like reels that incorporate the spool into the drag stack.

This guy is better than both my Calcutta Conquest BFS and Millionaire CT. The braking system is as simple as it gets, and it's also zero fuss. Zero spool tension and ultralight brake blocks, it casts from 2g to 7g+, with very little thumb I might add. I don't need to make any adjustments when changing lure weights or techniques, it does whatever I ask of it every time. With my Conquest and Millionaire, I'm often making brake adjustments in those regards or else I risk fluffing the spool a little. I was out yesterday fishing the Detroit River for perch, even got a few smallies in the mix. Such a great reel well deserved of the hype around it.

I see you're a fellow Great Lakes area guy. I can guarantee that if you went hopping around estate sales and garage sales, you would find some really nice stuff. I've seen quite a bit over the years, and Ambassadeurs and Calcuttas come up very often for significantly less than you'd pay on eBay. That reel you saw on eBay for $100 could've very well come from a garage sale for $10 or $20. Parts and donor reels are abundant, they're simple to work on, and you can get them for dirt. Browsing online listings, while convenient, can also get expensive.

It's never too late to start. I used to be a big gear head in my teens and 20s and spent a lot of time wrenching on and modifying cars, reels are much simpler by comparison, and a heck of a lot cheaper too. What I spent modifying my cars back in the 90s and 00s, I could've bought my entire tackle collection many times over. That's not counting the tickets for driving like an idiot either lol

I'm using the centrifugal brake with the extra small blocks from Avail on my other 2500C, 2g to 7g+ with zero spool tension. It's the most controlled reel I've used and does exactly what I want with zero fuss. With some of my other newer reels like the Calcutta Conquest BFS and Millionaire CT, I often have to make slight braking adjustments depending on bait weight and technique. I don't have to do any of that with the 2500C, it's so simple yet so effective.

Heck yeah. It's now my lightest round reel. I also have another 2500C, a 1600C IAR, Millionaire CT SV, Millionaire Ringa SSS, and a Calcutta Conquest BFS.

Interesting. I was on the phone with Simon Shimomura for a couple of hours Wednesday evening, great guy and supremely knowledgeable on Ambassadeurs, he was contracted by Abu for a very long time to reproduce classic models and their parts. The head of Pure Fishing Japan is a personal friend of his and he has had a hand in most JDM Ambassadeurs made from the early 90s until a decade or so back. We talked about this very thing, and he says that the current Swedish made reels use parts mostly made in Sweden with the exception of the AR bearing and ball bearings, which are made by GRW in Germany. I was also told Abu will no longer make any reels built on the classic Ambassadeur platform due to lack of sales. In Japan, Ambassadeur sales only make up about $3 million worth of the profits, while the Revo does over $100 million. This is why most "special edition" Ambassadeurs are nothing more than a C3 in a different color. They are no longer using designs from before 1997.