Eric 26

Is that a picture of your personal reel? If so that’s in beautiful shape, although I know reels are tools I really don’t like scratching something I worked hard to purchase even though the tools I use for work definitely look the part.

@PhishLI I have added a Daiwa BG 1500 to my collection and although heavy I absolutely love this freaking reel😃

I have a similar vintage Daiwa I believe. These 2 reels were given to me by my older brother quite a few years ago after I helped him put together a wooden swing set/slide/monkey bar set and told him I wanted to get back into fishing. That was over 30 years ago and I’m pretty sure he had the reels for some time even then, if anyone knows more please feel free to chime in. As a side note I still fish with the Ryobi currently.

All right so maybe I’m an idiot and I’m reading this wrong but where is everyone coming up with this $80.00 addition? If I buy a $300.00 reel the 15% tariff costs me an extra $45.00 which correct my math is almost 1/2 of $80.00. And I’m reading this directly from my e-mail from Asian Portal who said “may be subject to a 15% tariff even if it’s less than $800.00” that to me reads even they aren’t sure what’s going to happen. I mean the world isn’t going to end because we can no longer take advantage of buying overseas. Oh and by the way I’m a Union truck driver and I am in no way shape or form getting rich doing it but I’ll still find a way to fish even if the tariff’s go through albeit maybe not buying higher end gear but I think there have been plenty of threads discussing how you can still catch fish with budget gear on this site.

Although I’m in no position to talk about the nuances of fluorocarbon I believe the general consensus on here is Tatsu is the best although @bulldog1935, @redmeansdistortion and @FishTank can probably tell you about Japanese versions that are just as good if not better but I digress and much like yourself I was looking to cheaply try the whole flourcarbon deal and I picked up Seaguar Basix available at Wal Mart in 10 pound and spooled it on my Tatula 80 and again with nothing else to compare it to I actually like it and still have it on that reel for what it’s worth.

I tried a filler spool of Suffix Advance Monofilament in 10 pound test right around the time it came out, I wound up liking it so much I purchased a 1200 yard spool in lo vis green. I’m pretty content with it and Big Game monofilament for both casting and 1 spinning reel and I’m planning on picking up a few 1200 yard spools this winter in various pound tests. Let us know what you think of it after using it.

After recently recommending Piscifun products to another member on here I noticed Piscifun was having a flash sale including their Viper X for $29.99 with taxes and shipping it was $37.51 so I decided to take a chance on one.

@FloridaFishinFool I for one am really enjoying the history you’ve been sharing and I hope you continue to do so. I’ll never forget I was probably 10 maybe 11 years old as my brother (RIP) was 5 years older than me and went into the Air Force right after high school when we were on a week long guys only fishing trip in the woods of Minnesota and I was completely wrapped up into Kiss and had been for awhile when my older brothers friend handed me a cassette of “One More From The Road”, that cassette completely blew my mind and forever changed my music tastes for the better. Through the years my brothers friends and I became close friends ourselves as I was the younger brother they never had especially when my brother went into the Air Force and they helped shape my musical tastes with everything from Albert Brooks, The Cars, King Crimson and so forth making me realize the music world is vast and awesome 😃 Although I can’t figure out how to copy and paste anything one of my favorite bands that I still feel could hold their own today is Concrete Blonde, especially the albums “Free” and even more so “Bloodletting” where they were in there prime. Just kick butt from start to finish in my humble opinion and my all time favorite singer.

It reminds me of Vodka and Red Bull, a depressant mixed with a stimulant 🤔 I don’t drink them and I won’t drink this either.

So first off I’m going to echo @PhishLI and suggest the Lews Carbon Fire which I own as a frogging rod even though I don’t frog fish a whole lot. Secondly as someone who also owns that exact reel I will say I personally wouldn’t use it as frog/slop reel as I feel that is something that really needs an aluminum frame as I can feel the flex just playing with the reel although I’m sure you can find plenty of people who will disagree with me. Also and again just my opinion but the spool on the KK seems a bit weak for such stout line. As a example of a decently priced combo I would get the Lews rod for $56.00 from DSG’s and a Daiwa Tatula CT for $99.00 from Scheels currently or a variety of similarly priced options for the reel.

I received my last shirt almost a year after they cashed my check. I don’t know if it was on their end or my post office’s end but it just showed up one day after I gave up on receiving it.

Although I don’t know the book you’re referencing I’ll never forget being a teenager when my father spoke of Lee Iacocca running Dodge or was it Chrysler or was it both into the ground. There were many discussions between my father, grandfather and a few neighbors that I still remember. I can say with somewhat certainty it was around the time my father had a Dodge K-Car as a work vehicle and it was the only car out of 3 he refused to sell to my grandfather when it was time for his company to replace said vehicle. Sorry @bulldog1935 I’m out of reactions for the day but even though I know most of the reels back story I don’t want to screw up the details which is why I was and still am happy you jumped in😉

@FloridaFishinFool That is an older 5’-6” ultralight BPS Bionic Blade rod, I can’t remember the year I bought it but I have the BPS catalog at home and will edit the year in later on. I also won the same rod in 6’-6” medium power and still have that one as well. I use the Tica reel on that rod with a slip bobber and a 1/32-1/64 ounce jig head with approiately sized Berkley gulp products and I have a blast doing so 😃

@AmericanMade Piscifun is having a flash sale currently that I looked at a 1/2 hour ago and clicking now the price was reduced even more.

I was waiting for you to add this to the conversation 😉 As a kind gesture that was and is still appreciated I’m the proud second hand owner of @bulldog1935’s Tica Cetus SS500 and I have to add it’s an incredible little reel that is smooth and fun to use and at its current e-bay price also quite affordable.

@AmericanMade If you’re not opposed to a 6’-9” 1 piece rod this in my opinion is an absolute steal. It also has the green highlights for him😉

I forgot to add to my list my Daiwa CA 80 which I believe is manufactured by Doyo and bought online for $65.00 and although it is not as nice as my Alphas my personal highest end reel it’s still a pretty darn nice reel to me.

Myself I’m more of a monofilament or co polymer guy and as such I’ve used good old Trilene XL on a multitude of spinning reels along with McCoy mean green that a tackle shop owner turned me onto when he spooled a few reels for me years ago. Most recently on my casting reels it’s been split mainly between Big Game monofilament thank you Catt (RIP) for pushing it so hard and Suffix advance monofilament both in 10 pound test. As far as braid goes I have 50 pound Suffix Performance braid on a reel that doesn’t see much time on the water, 8 pound Daiwa J-Braid Grand X 8 on a spinning reel and 6 pound Suffix 832 on a shallow spool Miravel. I also tried Yo Zuri hybrid 6 pound on a spinning reel this year and although I wasn’t a fan while spooling it on after about 4 outings it turned nice and limp and I’m really enjoying it and I’m looking forward to trying the 8 pound I purchased at the same time.

Scheels sorry 😬