redmeansdistortion

Great setup. I've been wanting a KTF spool for my CT but they've been out of stock for a bit now. On that end, how do you like the KTF? I have a SV700S in mine and love it, but from my understanding the KTF is one heck of a spool.

I hear you loud and clear. I tried lefties for a season and never got the hang of it, just didn't feel right.

I have a couple reels with them and grew so accustomed to doing it the traditional way, that using the switch never crosses my mind. Now one thing I find them great for, jigging for walleyes. A charter friend of mine only buys reels with a flippin' switch, easier to get to the desired depth and adjust as necessary. Put some multicolored braid on there for a visual queue, and off you go.

The Calcutta Conquest is probably my favorite line of reels. I'm a sucker for a nice round reel and feel like I'm fishing with a Rolex. The build quality is out of this world good, and it feels so dang refined and precise. I've been eyeballing the 100HG for a bit now, it's only a matter of time.

Keep your stick on the ice.

I feel you brother. Having a 9 to 5, plus my own business, and a 9 month old on top it gives me very little time to fish. I go any chance I get, doesn't matter if it's a puddle in the road or not.

Even though I live 10 minutes away from it, Lake St Clair. It's probably the best smallmouth fishery in the country. If you're going to spend 4 days here, you'll definitely land some 5lb+ fish.

Still waiting on a few parts; Steez SV TW handle, PX68 star wheel, TD-Z Type R+ inductor spring, and Roro bearings. It's going to be paired with a 5'6" 1/8-3/8 Lamiglas G1000 blank, most likely with a short grip and micro guides.

I don't usually bother with local sales on FB, not much I'm interested in. I recently bought a near mint Daiwa Sol for $50 from some guy out in Missouri, great transaction. While scammers on FB do abound, I pay with PayPal tied to a credit card so I have two avenues of resolution in the event of trouble.

Check on FB, I've been seeing them for anywhere from $25 on up depending on condition, and even the $25 reel I saw wasn't in that horrible of shape. I only passed on it because I have a healthy stable of Ambassadeurs.

Tie up a small brown yarn fly, and C-rig it with a 1/8 to 1/4 sinker. Those stocked trout lived on feed pellets all of their lives, match the hatch.

My Major Craft trout rods (Finetail and Troutino) have something like pistol grips on them, but they are under 5' long. The longer models use a longer straight grip like any other modern rod. Even when bass fishing with BFS, I tend towards rods of 6' or less as I like the range of motion that comes with one-handed casting. Using two hands feels much more restrictive to me.

The Alphas CT has a 30mm spool that starts up lightning fast, probably one of the best pitching reels out there, great for baits in the 1/8-3/8 range. It's essentially the poor man's Steez CT in a sense, as both use the same spool. The SV105 uses a 33mm spool, and while it's no slouch, I find it better for baits in the 3/16 to 1/2 range. I do find the CT a bit over braked for distance casting, but that can be mitigated with a TD-Z Type R inductor spring.

No longer in production. That model was discontinued in 2017, replaced by the Alphas CT SV. Used ones abound on eBay, plus you can search the used sections of the JDM tackle shops.

Hopefully you're somewhere the water doesn't freeze over, that'll make for a long winter!

Consider the 6'6"L over the UL. It does 1/16 just fine and will have more backbone in the event you need it. I've wrangled some big Lake St Clair smallies with mine when fishing for perch and gills. Even some of the rock bass around here put a nice bend in it.

The OG Alphas platform is one of the best IMO. So many possibilities with those reels and the platform was around long enough that there's an extensive aftermarket. The new platform used by the newer Alphas SV TW and Alphas Air TW is different, and time will tell how beloved they become in the future. The 2019 and under models were made in Japan, while the 2020+ models are made in Thailand.

I took in these 7000 C3s on trade, refurbed and sold them to a customer of mine that fishes sturgeon in the St Clair River. He was pretty hyped and invited me along. We spooled them with 80lb Power Pro and went and soaked bait in the St. Clair River until about midnight. We boated 11 fish last night, the largest at 69.5". We had a lot of fun out there and the fishing was excellent.

I wonder what's different between this and the '19 CT SV. I couldn't locate a schematic for the new one yet so I haven't been able to look and see.

Rod length makes all the difference. I fish with a 4'10" and even that can be a bit much for some situations I get into, but it's definitely workable all around.

Here's a great video that shows the underhanded cast beautifully executed. Granted, he is using a glass rod but a more moderate action graphite or carbon rod should be able to achieve similar results. https://youtu.be/ujmub9cW4tQ?t=119

I cast like this often since I'm usually fishing way back in the spinach like the Japanese do. Michigan trout streams and in general those in the northeastern portion of the US can be very overgrown, making rods over 6' a bit of a chore to use in many circumstances. It isn't an overly difficult technique to learn, but you'll be better served using a rod under 5'6". The most important thing is adjusting your brake. I use a higher brake setting than I would for side, backhand, and overhead casts. You're trying to get the rod to load in a shorter motion which means more force on your part. Secondly is the timing, which is the harder part of it. You want to release the spool as you're initiating the forward motion of the cast. After practicing a bit you'll get a feel for when to release the spool just as you would any other technique.

Lightest I use on a 100 size is 30lb, but most often 40lb and 50lb. They're similar diameters of 8lb, 10lb, and 12lb mono. The problem with thinner braid is a potential backlash can work its way deep into the spool, and thinner lines make them a royal pain to fix.

I was just about to post this, very good video and invoked quite a bit of nostalgia in me. I grew up watching Bill every Saturday morning in the 80s and the early 90s, what a great fisherman and a great person in general.

Not mine, but my father-in-law's. This is his favorite reel, bought it back in the 80s and he said it bound up on him about 20 years ago. I wish I took some before pictures of the inside, it was pretty nasty in there, the original grease had turned to wax. Nothing was damaged on the inside, just needed a really good cleaning. I also replaced the bail spring just in case. He's going to fish steelhead with me pretty soon, he already bought a Lamiglas G1000 8'6" 8-12lb that's due to be delivered tomorrow. I'll be giving this back to him when I see him later on in the week, and hopefully get on the water next weekend.