hwright38

I'm looking to upgrade my kayak (currently a Lifetime Weber 132, also known as the Emotion Stealth 11 Angler), and want to hear some opinions on them. How stable is the Pescador Pilot? Can you stand up in it and still fish (I am especially curious if you can turn around and grab stuff from the back storage, or get to the storage in the nose)? I'm already pretty sold on the pedal drive, even with the issue of the pin lock popping out (I'm never fishing in water mucky enough for that to be a problem), but if anyone absolutely hates it please chime in. Any other recommendations for under $2,000 (I think I may have found a Pescador Pilot for under $1,300)? Stability while standing is most important, with a pedal drive/rudder being a close second. I'd really like to buy a 12ft aluminum boat and trick that out for about the same price as a $2k yak, but I don't have anything to pull it with.

+1 for the Smoke. Most underrated reel of the decade.

In that price range I like the Abu Garcia Veritas. They run a little heavy (a MH is closer to H), but that's what I started my arsenal on and they never let me down. Pretty good sensitivity for the price, and I've caught a lot of fish off of jigs on them. I've played with the SLX, and they feel good, but I prefer the Veritas. Honestly you'd probably be fine either way. I also second the Fury recommendation. They're physically a bit heavy for me, but if you don't care about weight then they're a good bet. I've heard a LOT of positive reviews about these rods, and know some guys who swear by them. I'd give them a look too (no split grip, so they don't match my flat-brimmed hat or big lens sunglasses lol).

I bought a handful of Hard/One knockers on a whim because they looked good, but when I went out to the local pond to try them out, I found the one I tested didn't really swim like other crankbaits/lipless baits. when retrieving, it turned sideways or actually swam backwards. Is this normal? I was under the impression that half the time you're fishing a lipless it's burning it over grass, which this bait would be terrible at. Note, "yo-yoing" it back seemed to work ok. It had a nice side-to-side wobble on the fall. Did I get a lemon?

I use a 7' MH Abu Villain 2.0 almost exclusively for jigs in that range (it also handles 1/4oz jigs fairly well too). Anything in that 12-20lb line rating, or 3/8 to 1oz lure weight with a fast or extra fast (I prefer fast over x-fast for fighting the fish, but you can't really go wrong) will be excellent. I've seen the zodias already recommended, and I feel I have to pitch in the Villain 2.0 for consideration. I love those rods.

I've got some plans to try them out. I was just making a point to the other guy. I'd much rather have too big of tackle than too small.

Both the Ambassadeur and the Cardiff also come in a reel about the same size as a standard baitcaster anyways.

Thank you for getting back on track lol. I started a little more intense discussion than I intended, eh? Thank you @redmeansdistortion and @Catt for the information. I will have to check prices and availability again, but I think I can get the C4 for a little less than the Cardiff, and in the size/handedness that I need. It seems like for me either reel would be more than enough for the few times I need it (I live in Utah, a big bass here is 5lbs, and a big cat is maybe 15lbs; honestly I only need line capacity). Thank you all so much for the information. I thought I knew a thing or two about reels but this is a whole new planet that I've never even caught a glimpse of until now!

I don't know if I'd spend that much on a round reel the first time around. I only included the Beast as it was a low-profile (something I'm much more used to). I may just have to pony up the cash for it a Calcutta (though after a cursory glance at TW, they don't have the size I'd need in a left handed reel), but as it stands I can get a C4 or a Cardiff for under $100.

Eh, I don't really buy into that. Companies get bought out all the time, and heck, even Shimano has their hands in other cookie jars. I have multiple Abu products and they're all quality, especially for the price. I'm not interested in valuing a reel based off speculation because of who makes it, but from it's individual performance.

What's your reasoning there?

Do you have a problem casting since the level wind doesn't disengage? I've heard that can cut your distance quite a bit

I'm looking for a "big fish reel." I would like to try a round reel, but I don't know how well they cast compared to low-profile reels. Would you rather have a ~$140 round reel or a ~$280 bigger low profile?

I haven't used any of those rods, but for chatterbaits I prefer a fast action rod over a mod-fast. You don't need to worry about ripping trebles out with a chatterbait, and they have those big jig hooks to drive home. Hearing about how they fish, an Expride fishes pretty much exactly like most other MH rods. I have no idea if the glass one will fish with chatterbaits though.

Your original question has been answered already, but just to add Approximately is putting it lightly. For example, an abu garcia pro max 30 (spinning reel), says it will hold something like 150 yards of 8lb. I've filled up about 30 of those spools, and breaking 90 yards with a fairly tight wrapping machine is a quite a feat.

Just bend it back. If you're going to get it replaced anyways, might as well try bending it back first to save some money and downtime with it. I'm pretty sure they use either aluminum or steel guides, so they shouldn't snap off super easy (I've bent back some guides on pretty much all of my rods at one point or another. They usually don't go back exactly as they were, and you can sometimes crack the epoxy, but I've never had an issue fishing with them afterwards).

That's funny. I'm a lefty, and use left-hand retrieve reels, but also don't switch hands casting. I much prefer to work the rod with my right arm for some reason. Everyone seems to be a little different with this lol.

In that case I would take the Smoke over the SLX every day of the week.

I don't know the difference between the "KVD" edition, and the regular S3 PT, but the Smoke is one of my favorite reels. Honestly, in my opinion it's the most underrated reel that's come out in the last few years.

Cheap components is what I've heard as the main complaint, adding on to what else has been said here. The blanks are very nice, but the real seats (what I personally care about the most) are the exact same thing as on every other rod from $50 on up. Idk, just cheap feeling in the hand. The guides and tip-tops no one can really complain about because everyone uses cheap materials there. Imo if it has an insert it's probably up to snuff. Love those blanks though. I was tempted to buy an e6x and strip the components off of it and put on higher quality ones for my custom spinning rod, but it would've nearly doubled the price so I didn't follow through.

A loooong time. Multiple years for sure. I have a spool of 4lb trilene that I've had since I was a kid (I'm in my twenties now) that is exactly the same as a brand new spool. Store the line inside (like, in the house, not in the garage to be safe) to be sure, but essentially no sunlight or extreme temperatures and it should be good practically forever.

Stretched to it's failure point, yes, I agree with everything you've said. Blood knot is your friend. Try and match the diameters of your line (so if you're braid is .30mm, try and get as close to that as you can with the fluoro/mono/copoly leader), it makes the blood knot super easy.

Fluoro stretches the most out of all the lines.

After being stretched to failure (not necessarily breaking, just when the line is no longer reliable), fluoro doesn't return to shape, but it does rubber band before that point.

Why no braid? Braid is the most sensitive, and has basically 0 stretch (comparing the stretches from mono/fluoro/copoly to braid is like comparing speed of race cars to fighter jets. Completely different leagues). Fluorocarbon is the most invisible in the water, but it does stretch more than mono or co-polymer (it stretches more like a rubber band, that is it returns to shape and takes a lot more force to damage it from stretching than mono, but it DOES stretch more). Even though it stretches more, it is still more sensitive than mono. Mono < Fluoro ~= Copolymer in terms of sensitivity. The most sensitive set-up you'll get is a braid to a leader.