Eric 26

It seems your fishing partner approves?

I want to say thank you to everyone who has responded so far and to anyone who responds in the future. As you all probably know I’m limited as to how many likes/laughs I can hand out in a day. When I posted this last night I was hoping to get exactly what I’m receiving in responses from you all, from bulldog1935 with a technical response, A-Jay with a cool video (I follow you on YouTube) to Way2slow and Catt who much like Tom Cruise “feel the need for speed”, cheesey paraphrase I know?. Been following along with MN Fisher boat build and enjoying that as well as this is something I’m hoping to try in the future. I don’t know if I ever will own a boat but that’s what I enjoy most about this forum is the varied responses everyone is willing to share.

I’m going to start by saying I’m not a boat owner and have never been. With that said my boating experience has consisted of being in a 14-16 foot? 3 bench seat aluminum v-bottom boat with a 9 horsepower outboard when I was 10-15 years old (52 now) and being on my in-laws 38 foot cabin cruiser (10 plus years ago. I’m not sure what the top end speed we hit in either vessel was as I didn’t pilot either but I’m sitting here watching an episode of “The Next Bite” and Gary Parsons is talking about doing 67 mph (I’m assuming) in a nitro zv21 with a Mercury Verado 400. I’m bringing this up out of curiosity after reading the post which I can’t remember the heading referring to coming close to hitting objects and if I’m remembering correctly someone saying they hit an alligator. This is not me being judgmental but more curious than anything, for those who haven’t seen the show the hosts fish up north and are generally on very large lakes including the Great Lakes so again its more my curiosity than anything else. If no one responds I completely understand.

I’m going to try to get a 13 fishing defy black crank bait rod this year $69.99 comes in a variety of lengths to pair with a Kastking Royal Legend 2 5.4:1 casting reel $39.99. Although I wouldn’t recommend the Kastking for long term use or hitting trophy sized bass (I’m going to use it for ponds) I’m relatively happy with the reel for being a budget reel. I really like my Daiwa CA80 and plan on getting a CR80 (left hand high speed only) but the have a 6 speed in right handed which would hit your budget pre tax. Also will add I threw small- med square bills mostly with the reel.

Exactly everything Lead Head says here sums up my opinion also.

As of now the Tinley Park Fishing & Outdoor show is still on I believe ?. I’ll try to find more information when it becomes available and if I get a chance I’ll stop in at my local tackle shop, they should be able to tell me something.

Does it look like this? I have the same rod in 6’/6” med I won in a raffle at a fishing show.

I’ve got one also 5’-6” dark red in color full cork handle. I think it’s a 2006? I still use it for fishing with a bobber.

I’m going to throw my .02 cents in. First off I’m not the guy who hits it hard fishing maybe 2-3 times a week for 1-3 hours at a time mostly at a local retention pond where the big bass is around 2 pounds. I bought my Denali “fission” rod off a co worker who used it a handful of times for $40.00 and I have used it for the past 2 seasons as a small crank/square bill rod. It’s a med. power fast action rod and the reason my co-worker sold it to me is the mod. fast action which I’m loving. Not sure if that power/action translates to the rest of their lineup but I will say I’m very pleased with the build quality on my particular model, the Winn grip (which I have several rods incorporating them) are a really nice touch and the best in my lineup, the duralumin guides are straight and the reel seat stays locked with no issues. I personally love the curled trigger on the seat also. I realize this model is discontinued and hopefully you receive some more responses with some current rod reviews.

I really enjoyed my Okuma EVX casting rod this past season. A rod that doesn’t seem to receive a lot of praise or recommendations but those who reviewed/used it on here seem to universally enjoy them.

I know I’ve recommended the Piscifun Carbon X reel many times on here and although it’s usually met with resistance I liked mine enough to order another 1000 size on Amazon for $50.99 on Thursday. I’m planning on purchasing the shallow spare spool direct from Piscifun to go with it. Although it was used on my bps rod last year I’m planning on purchasing a Daiwa Legalis LT from my local tackle shop in spring as I’m a complete sucker for a color matched combo ? To paraphrase Fernando Lamas/Billy Crystal “It’s better to look good than to fish good” ?? I’m planning on spooling the Daiwa with blue Kastking monofilament. I’m Eric and I have a problem? With that said I know I’m in good company after seeing the blinged out beauties by the likes of bulldog 1935 and KP Duty not to mention all the others on here.

? Those are some seriously beautiful reels. On a more serious note hoping you start feeling better and your COVID test comes up negative.

I have a bps panfish elite rod and can’t say enough good things about it. I know some had problems with bps rod guides but the Fuji faz lite guides gave me zero issues. I like my 6’-8” ultralight so much I’m thinking of getting the 7’-2” light powered rod during the spring classic.

And here I thought it was only Chicago land forecasters getting paid to be wrong 99% of the time ?. All kidding aside my boss in residential would take us out to breakfast and if it blew over we would get on it if not we’d punch list a couple previous built houses. Commercial carpentry the company I worked for they didn’t care what the weather was, their was always something to work on. Just got back last week from Christmas break in your beautiful state, reading your posts is making me jealous ?

That is a beautiful match. Looking forward to seeing what you catch on the combo.

Going to throw my opinion in here. I own a Daiwa Tatula CT ”7” speed (2019), a Shimano SLX “8” speed (2020) and a Daiwa Tatula 100 H “7” speed (2021). For what it’s worth I’m going to purchase a 2022 Daiwa Tatula CT in spring of 2022, if that means anything . I’m very happy with the braking system on all three aforementioned reels but feel the Daiwa system is superior in my humble opinion . With that said I’m not one to change the settings often as my setups are more lure weight based rather than rod/reel combination feel if that makes sense?. As far as profile the Shimano is lower profile/smaller in feel but comparable to the Tatula 100 which is $30.00-$60.00 more than my comparable Daiwa/Shimano reels in price point. If it helps I wear a medium sized work glove but I have fat (Fred Flinstone) fingers ?. I think you will be extremely happy with the Daiwa for your intended usage, would like to hear what you ultimately purchase and any thoughts after. Good luck.

You sir are a good man and manager.??

Not saying you didn’t have issues with your rod/rods just pointing out my experience with my rod. As stated it’s not my favorite for ultralight fishing and I own/owned a couple different bps rods along with other brands for my ultralight fishing.

I disagree with the bass pro rod comment. I have a panfish elite rod I’ve been using for two seasons with no issues whatsoever. My favorite rod is a 6’-4” light powered all star rod marketed as a drop shot rod but it is unfortunately not in production any longer.

I’m using a 6’-10” med power for 1/4 oz strike king finesse jigs with a trailer. I’m using 10 lb suffix advance monofilament and although I’m not hooking giants by any means I don’t feel it’s underpowered at all.

I’ll throw in the Okuma TCS A 7’-3” hvy. Soft tip solid backbone.

Here’s my contribution. Both reels were used by my dad (Daiwa) and brother (Ryobi) in Minnesota during our annual fishing vacation when I was much younger, I used a Zebco spin cast back then. Those 2 reels caught everything from perch to pike back then?. Nowadays they go with me to the pond catching bluegill, crappies and small bass. I love going down memory lane with these threads. P.S love Bulldog1935’s reel pics.

As I’ve stated I have a royal legend 2, which I like better than my Piscifun Spark for the same price but neither are built to last imho. I’ve been eyeballing the Alloy M as I really enjoy my Saex Elite and Carbon X reels.

I didn’t realize Doyo sells reels, I thought they only manufactured them?. I will agree with Crash Vector in the sense that someone who doesn’t know better could cause some damage without adding grease/oil.