VinnyR

I talked to someone at my local urban pond who suggested I try punching a Tokyo rig into the pads. I didn't know what a Tokyo rig was, but I ordered a few and gave it a shot. Either I'm missing something or that was just bad advice, because I tried it and pulled up TONS of grass and weeds with every cast. If you figure out what it's good for let me know! Haha

Tatula 100. I ordered some 30# 832 and just got delivered, gonna spool it later today. I guess I don't really know anything about how to tune a reel -- how would I know where to set the spool tension before I spool it up? In the past I just didn't touch it until after the line was on it and I was adjusting it to balance casting distance and braking

Why? You're good, man. The banks and cc companies have insurance to protect you/them from this stuff. This has happened to me and most people I know, it's unfortunately just part of life now. Just be on top of your finances, go through your statements every now and then to make sure the transactions were actually you.

Not the brand, just the smaller diameter digging in. Maybe my diameter isn't too small but I'm not winding it tight enough on the spool

Time to over think another thing. How low do you guys go on braid test for casting gear? I've been using 30# 832 for the past couple of years, and I've always had a lot of backlashes when I try to cast far and cover a lot of water especially with a light bait like a frog. Not day-ending backlashes, just annoying tangles from the line digging in. My question is do you guys find the line digging in to be significantly less problematic at 40# and 50# compared to 30? And if so, does it sacrifice any significant casting distance? I've used 50# regular power pro before and couldn't cast nearly as far as the 30# 832, but not sure if that's because of the line diameter or slickness. Probably a little both Need new line for two reels, on one I'm torn between 30-40#, and the other 40-50#. Probably a stupid question but I like asking you guys questions, I always seem to learn something I wasn't even looking for

More to this point, if you're having issues with hooksets and not fishing in thick cover, light wire hooks might be easier to get through the lips. But then you wouldn't want your drag tight with braid. In either case I would carry a file too, if you miss a couple fish sharpen it up

Sounds about right! He did, and he was really nice and helpful and even seemed really honest and not trying to upsell me. He suggested that the klx was just about as good as the helium and the best bang for buck, which was weird because I told him I was looking at that H3 LMH-F. By chance, the comparable KLX rod wasn't as discounted as the others in that lineup, so it ended up being only $20 more to spring for the helium

Got my Helium 3 7'0 light medium heavy today. Unfortunately going out of town and can't use it till next week but man it's so light! I think I'm gonna be happy with it

I'd say just lean your rod against something and hold the line in your teeth, it doesn't have to be completely taught. Or if you're at home, let out a few feet and dangle the reel over the side of a table. Keep pulling the leader tight after each time it over/under the braid. For the overhand knots I'm not really sure. I always make my braid knots really wet. Other than that just make sure as you cinch it down it's lining up just outside of your loops. I think it's just practice makes perfect

I know a lot of guys refuse to use the FG knot but this is exactly where it excels. If the problem is that the knot is too bulky, use a knot where the leader isn't folded over and inherently thicker than the FG knot. I use Alberto for my 6-8# leader but FG for the thicker fluoro. Yeah it takes a little longer to tie but it's not something you're gonna be retying throughout the day in most cases. If it is, it takes an extra minute or two (once you get it down) but it's well worth it IMHO. Maybe the shins knot will work better for you but I don't know why it would if it's gonna have the same bulk (but hey I've been wrong before)

Pardon my ignorance but whaaaaaat does that mean?

Coastal sv seems perfect but about $100 more than I wanted to spend. So I ordered the regular coastal 200. I got a tatula 100 the other day and it's so tiny it's almost cute! So I figure the larger coastal 200 (supposed to be the profile of a 150 with a 200 spool, or something like that) will be fine for what I'm looking for, maybe even better balance and fit for my heavy rod

Yeah almost exclusively haha, if I can't get a bite I'll throw a curly tail grub on the lead head instead and every now and then that works, or I get a sculpin. I have this one spot where I throw a football jig with a grub and consistently get bites but no hookups. I think it's from big sandies. Do you get bigger fish on the grubs? I get a ton of bites on the big hammers so I haven't tried too many other things

Doesn't this cost add up though? If it's 160 for a new reel that won't need service as often, vs 100-120 for a comparable reel without the salt-friendly parts but will need to be serviced a lot, I'd rather save the hassle. That's pretty cool re the seabass. I caught a baby, less than a pound I think, on my first ever cast with a baitcaster (obviously a huge rats nest) into marina del Rey a couple years ago. Never caught another one though

Don't need 20 lbs of drag to fight spotted bay bass, but I'm usually in the rocks so the strong drag comes in handy when I'm hung up. But yeah, definitely don't need 20 lbs. The daiwa's 15.4 is enough. More important thing is to reel smoothly against a fighting fish, which my cheap reel struggles with, and I think any of these will be a nice upgrade. That + durability in the salt. And price

Spotties mostly, and smaller calicos in the bay. Shallow water. Considering getting a big kayak and fishing the kelp forest but not getting too far ahead of myself here, right now I'm on the jetties and in the marinas Good point about the rod. So I guess I shouldn't care about the weight. I do care about the size though and I am fairly set on a low profile because I want to use the same setup for topwater frogs and walking baits where I'm actively moving the rod a lot and want it to be comfortable in my hand. Line capacity isn't too important. Tranx seems really similar to the coastal, but I see some new coastals on eBay for $160, which is 40 less than a new tranx 200, so I think I'm going coastal unless I'm missing something about the shimanos Appreciate all the replies, thanks guys

Thanks, so do you think with the coastal I'd struggle with light lures? Inshore I'm usually throwing 3-4" swimbaits on 3/8-1/2 oz lead heads (sometimes even 1/4 but already getting no casting distance there, which is fine). In freshwater, 1/2 oz frogs (already a little hard to cast) and heavier T rigs. Although, currently this is with a black max I've used for a couple of years in the salt, so maybe anything will be a step up from what I have now and I should just get the one that was made to handle saltwater

The weight being at the end gives it a different action on the fall, as I understand it

I'm trying to find a casting reel for my irod "Fred's magic stick" heavy rod, which I've used mostly for inshore fishing with small swimbaits, but recently started using for frogs and punching too. I've had a black max on it for two years (my first baitcaster, somehow still works fine despite use in saltwater) and i'm past due for something smoother and stronger. Daiwa coastal Daiwa tatula CT type R Abu Garcia Revo AL-F I know I can't go wrong with the coastal. Is the CT also good for saltwater use, with only 2 of the bearings "corrosion resistant"? And then I see the Revo has "HPCR" bearings which are supposedly corrosion resistant -- does that hold up in saltwater? Wondering if saving a few bucks with the CT over the coastal would end up biting me after a few months. And I saw a good deal on a used Revo so that piqued my interest too because it's so lightweight and cheaper than the coastal. But I'm still relatively new to casting gear and it's confusing. Pointers are much appreciated!

Depends on what "MH" means in this case. I was recently shopping for a MH rod and saw ratings anywhere from 1/8-5/8 to 3/8-1 1/4 labeled MH depending on the manufacturer. Flipping in cover (not the heaviest cover), big worms and texas rigged creatures (with a leader probably), jigs, chatterbaits, a heavier spinnerbait maybe, depending on how much tip and how sensitive maybe weightless senkos but that might be a stretch if it's the heavier end of MH

For drop shot in particular you might want to actually hold the rod before you buy it. I went to the store with a drop shot rod in mind, but when I jigged it up and down as if I was shaking my dropshot worm, it didn't feel natural (like, the frequency at which the rod would naturally shake wasn't matching with how I wanted to shake it). I ended up wanting something a little longer and with more tip. Of course this depends on how you like to present the bait, but if you do that slight vertical jigging which a lot of people do for drop shot worms, I would try before you buy. Just my two cents

Thanks guys. Ordered the 100. The rod I ordered is supposed to be really lightweight (helium 3) so I figured I'd keep the whole setup as lightweight and compact as possible. Though I'm sure I wouldn't even notice the difference...lol

I thought I pretty much found what I wanted with the tatula 100 to pair with my new rod. Saw what looked like a decent deal at $120. But then I saw the seller has all the R100's and the 100's both for $120. And I'm not sure I understand the difference between the two but one has a higher MSRP. If I'm understanding this right the type R just has the two corrosion resistant bearings and is slightly heavier? Does that mean it's rated for saltwater? Is there any reason I wouldn't just get the type R here? The type r isn't available in the 7.3:1 ratio but other than that, am I missing anything here? Seems weird that there's a lot of both of them in stock, in all ratios and L/R retrieves, and both are marked down to 120, one from 199 and the other from 159.

I use a medium light rod rated 1/16 to 5/16 for light drop shots and t rigs, but not lighter than 1/16. I can cast decently far with it but I don't know about 1/32

Check out one of the "Fred's magic stick" models from one the irod casting lines (I have the cheaper Fiber and it's $109, the Genesis II seems to be the more popular one at $149 but I think the blank is the same) I've read a lot of people in forums and reviews saying it's fantastic for the money. All I know is I like mine a lot. Only thing I don't like is it's hard to throw a 1/2 oz hollow frog a good distance. The sensitivity is solid though, I use it for small 3/8 swimbaits inshore fishing (and even 1/4 but then the sensitivity really falls off as you might expect) It's 7'5", 50-70# braid, 1/2-2 oz so it's not extra heavy if that's what you need