redmeansdistortion

Better than walleye in my opinion. Those 24" to 30" fish are excellent eating.

I have very limited experience with their low profile reels, but I love the Ambassadeur. I don't use them nearly as much as I used to, but they are really nice reels.

Trout fisherman here, try an Albright. It's small and shouldn't cut through your leader. It's really easy to tie on the water as well.

I'm a relatively recent convert. Nothing against Shimano, I just haven't walked down that path yet, but fully intend to in the future. I used to be an Abu guy.

Daiwa Alphas CT SV 6.3 Alphas CT SV 7.2 w/ KTF spool Alphas Air Stream Custom 7.2 Millionaire CT SV 7.2 w/ RCS 700S spool Fuego CT 6.3 Fuego CT 8.1 SS Tournament 700 SS Tournament 1300 Abu Ambassadeur 4500 6.3 Ambassadeur 5500 5.3 Revo ALC-BF7 Black Max 1600 6.3 Black Max 3600 5.3

In the grand scheme of things, spinning is here to stay. Widespread adoption of BFS isn't going to be a thing until products under $100 hit the shelves. We are still a long ways off from that. While it is true that there are plenty of sub-$100 BFS reels out there, they don't have the brand recognition that Shimano, Daiwa, and Abu have. Once the Big 3 offer BFS-capable reels at that price point, we will see more willing to try it out since the price of admission will be far lower than it is currently. That said, the Curado BFS looks like a nice reel and carries a price tag more in line with what most are willing to pay for a reel in general. At under $190, it's a bargain compared to the JDM offerings, most of which run at least $250, and more commonly over $300. If the OP wants to try it out, go for it, but the spinning outfit he has in mind is no slouch either. Personally, I'd be happy with either one even though I thoroughly enjoy BFS.

Daiwa Millionaire CT SV, one of the Japanese shops had them for 50% off during the Christmas season. I ended up getting one for $270 shipped. MSRP is about $525 USD.

Oh man, ain't that the truth. I've had a few of what I call $50 days, my term for paying tribute to the logjam gods that inhabit the creeks. I have found a way to mitigate this, by swapping the trebles over to single hooks, but I still manage to lose at least one every outing. Better than 5 or more lol. When I got my wife fishing with me on the creeks, she would be overly apologetic any time she lost one. I told her no need to apologize, it's part of the game.

Spinnerbaits. I always end up catching pike on them. If I ever get a bass to hit on one, I'm buying a lottery ticket on the way home.

I catch mud puppies fishing smallies on Lake St Clair from time to time. They're ugly little suckers that look like something out of an alien invasion movie. They seemingly love tube jigs.

I'm a big fan of Maxima Ultragreen, the 5lb would work very well for your purposes. It's the same diameter as most competing 4lb mono. I've been using it for many years for trout and salmon and it always performs great. It's a little expensive for mono, but it's well worth it. I've tried other lines over the years, such as Yo Zuri, Trilene, and Sufix, but I keep going back to the Maxima.

I love the Fuji's. So handy and so cheap.

I love the Daiwa Alphas line of reels, seems to fill nearly every niche of my fishing needs from trout and panfish to bass and walleye.

I'm a J-braid X8 guy, previously was Power Pro and Sufix 832. I find J-braid to be very limp whereas the other two tend to be stiffer out of the box. I'm running the 8lb on a couple of finesse rigs and it has performed beyond my expectations.

I don't think many know they are still in production. On eBay they sell for used almost for what they are sold for brand new, and sometimes even more. Guido Hibdon won a couple of tournaments with the 1300 way back. It isn't a smooth reel compared to most of what we have now, but it is tough. It uses a worm drive instead of an oscillating gear, has a multidisc drag, and has a shallow spool with a 5 degree taper to facilitate longer casts. I also own a 700 size that I use for trout, bought it last year. I have that one spooled with 5lb Ultragreen.

Daiwa SS Tournament 1300. The most bulletproof spinner on the market. It has been in continuous production for over 30 years and the drag is impeccable. I've owned mine since about '92 and have had countless fish on it from bass and pike to walleye, salmon, and steelhead. She's ugly, but she can cook!

Like was said above, Simms. It's expensive but well worth it. While you're at it, get yourself a bottle of Nik Wax to treat it, the raindrops will bead right up and off they go. I use it on my waders, parka, tent, and hammock. If you get Nik Wax, make sure you wear gloves when you apply it, because it can be challenging to remove from your skin.

CD01 Countdown is my go to for brookies. The fire minnow and hot mustard muddler are the more productive colors for the areas I fish. The UV pink and UV orange work very well too.

Get a caliper and measure the washers, then email Smooth Drag and tell Dawn which sizes you need. They will make any size you want. They have made me washers for many reels that aren't mentioned in their pricing sheet. On a smaller reel like that, you may want to use Cal's purple low viscosity grease.

I use cafeteria trays lined with a terrycloth. They are like mobile work spaces letting me work on a few reels at a time. The terrycloth is great in the event a screw or small part drops, it keeps it from bouncing off into the far reaches of the shop. I can disassemble, throw parts in the ultrasonic cleaner, put that tray on the shelf, grab another tray and get going on another reel while the cleaner is running. Cafeteria trays are inexpensive and so is a bag of terrycloths.

Congrats! My wife and I welcomed our son into the world 7 weeks ago. The bait monkey won't be nearly as big of an influence as you think it will be. Your priorities are going to change really fast and bait monkey will be locked in a closet somewhere. He will occasionally make noise to get out, but it's much easier to let it go in one ear and out the other when you have a little one around. I haven't bought any gear since a couple of weeks before he was born. Prior to that, I was buying something every week; at least a bait or two and sometimes a new rod or reel.

A flushing of the bearings and a drop of good oil will go a long way and be much cheaper than upgrading the bearings while giving similar results.

Another Maxima fan here. I typically use 2lb through 5lb diameters depending on what I'm targeting. I like the 5lb if I'm fishing crappies in submerged brush piles, it's tough stuff and a similar diameter to competing 4lb mono.

The comfy lower limit of a 5500 is about 3/8.

It depends on your uses. For bass fishing, the Tatula is the better reel for sure. If you're wanting to throw heavy baits long distance, then the Ambassadeur is better suited.