I am an avid LM and SM bass fisherman for the sport of it. Anything over 15” is my game. I have had my whoppers as well with pics to prove it. I like structure and vegetation fishing. After reading all the opinions and owning only shimmano Stradic for all my fishing life, I was talked into purchasing the tatula by Diawa. I have never learned to bait cast, wish I had, so I am only a spinning reel guy. After 3 afternoons and evenings on a small lake, I became frustrated in the Diawa. 2 birds nests later I found out why. The retrieve ratio is 2:1. I use 15# braided line. The reel did not load properly. Coils were all over the place and overlapping causing casting problems. I also was told buy a St. Croix 6’ 6” rod. I have always used 7’ duckett because it has an extra guide in the first eye. So I pulled out my stradic and checked it’s load. Perfect coils. I fished with it and had pinpoint accuracy with no tugs on rod. 25 bass later of a lot of near shore casting with the biggest being 20”.
i believe the point I am making is the following:
-if spinning, buy shimano
-spend the extra money and get a stradic product. I bought the ci4+
-I use only duckett rods, medium or medium light rods, mine is the micro magic pro,I own 2
- load the spool with 10-15lb braided line
then go out and catch a boat load.