Manifestgtr

They’re basically curado i’s...I forget what the differences are but there are a few here and there. They’re solid reels, though. At this point, I think it’s safe to say the I series has stood the test time. I still use and love the curado 70 (I’ve seen those on sale lately too). But the citica is a good reel. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed

I tell people the rainbows in my lake are like that...stocked fish. They’re so doofy, you can throw a bare hook in the water and they’ll fight over it

That stuff has been brutal on me this year. If you stop paying attention for even one retrieve, it piles up in your spool...pollen buildups in general really. My braid has taken on this sickly yellow/green color and it’s everywhere. Line guides, worm gears, frame crevices...all filled. At some point soon, I’m gonna pull them all apart for a cleaning before it gets down any deeper.

Meh, unless it’s an aesthetic thing, the full grips shouldn’t really be an issue. I don’t think it’s something that’s really even occurred to me while using the rod. I cast a lot with one hand though and with two hands, I keep them pretty wide regardless of the rod

Haha yeah, it’s got quite a bit of wobble. It’s retired now though. It did its job many times over back in the day.

Some other models that guys will usually cite during a Conquest discussion: Kistler Z-Bone St Croix Legend X and Xtreme “Go custom!” Loomis GLX and NRX Daiwa Steez Dobyns Xtasy There are others and they all have their fans. For the record, I LOVE the conquests. They’re expensive, yeah...but they’re also my favorite rods for certain things. If you can get a deal on one, I say go for it.

I keep at least a 90mm handle with big knobs on most of my reels nowadays. The curado k ruined me for life, I wish I’d never touched the thing...

Mets and Aldebarans make up the core of my “arsenal”. They’re as good as any reel I’ve ever owned.

I learned on an old abu ambassadeur back in the early 90s before I had any idea what brakes were (it’s “brakes” by the way...if it “breaks”, that’s a totally different story). I barely even knew what the spool tension did and after a while, I lost the cap. So I was left with this reel that had god knows what for brakes and literally no spool tension. Now that’s one extreme and I don’t think it’s a particularly good one, to be honest. Not knowing what your gear can help you with is only going to hurt you. Getting good with your thumb is universally accepted as “important” in the bass fishing community. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a credible source claim otherwise. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn your brakes as well. I keep some reels loose and some reels tight depending on their use. My light frog rod has a curado 70 with all four brakes engaged and the dial around 4...why? Because the pad crasher jr is LIGHT but I want at least a medium/heavy rod to help out with cover. So I lean on my brakes a little more with that reel. You should definitely learn to work your thumb but there’s also no shame in letting your reel help out. EDIT: I actually walked by my old gear and found my first baitcaster, complete with missing tension knob hahah

Interestingggg.... I’m a pretty major jig fan and I’ve never given these a shot. I’ll have to order a few and see what’s doin...

Love me some gamakatsu g-finesse

Nonsense! The bait monkey MUST be punished... ? Get something heavyyyy ? ?...or moderaaaaattte ?

They’re right on par. I own 4 powers of each and my conquest 844 is as good or better. The “thump” is really, really pronounced...even with shy fish. I actually took a sight fish yesterday on my conquest. Watched him lazily swim up to the jig and lazily pick it up...”thump”. It was pretty impressive. How they managed to make such a back boney rod so sensitive, I’ll never know...

I’ve experienced this here and there. The two things that have gotten rid of it are time and/or making sure the line is tightly spooled. Braid that’s loosely spooled will backlash a lot easier.

The nrx awesome but I have a couple rods I just like better for different reasons...the conquest 2 power and the legend x medium xf. The legend x tip is otherworldly...the best I own. It loads weightless plastics like no other rod I own. It’s better balanced than my comparable nrx. Torzite guides, a comfortable reel seat and better cork. It’s just a great rod top to bottom. The conquests don’t need much “hype”. They pretty much speak for themselves. I do use an nrx for senkos, though. You can feel the details of a strike really well with an nrx and that’s important with senkos, IMO. If you wait too long to swing, you’re probably gonna gut hook him and that’s never fun.

Daiwa numbers also refer to the actual body size too, right? One thing I envy Daiwa guys for is the STUPID amount of aftermarket stuff out there. The tat and steez have just endless numbers of aftermarket spools.

Haha sorry...I guess the terminology gets kind of weird sometimes. I consider a “shallow spooled reel” to be any baitcaster that holds ~100 yards or less of 10 pound mono. I speak only in baitcaster since my spinning gear for bass is severely limited. I’m sure there are Daiwa and Abu guys who can fill in their specific models, spools, etc. but some shimano models include the curado 70, any aldebaran, slx mgl, engetsu 100, scorpion xt 1000 (dynamite reel), anything with “bfs” in its name is going to have a seriously shallow spool...they’re made for lighter line. Many Japanese market reels come stock with “shallow“ spools as well. What we consider to be “shallow”, Japanese fishermen usually consider “about average”. There are quite a few options out there.

I’ll tell you EXACTLY what would happen to me with this bait. I would cast it out once, a humongous pickerel would come lunging out of nowhere on the first cast and break me off, I would drop to my knees as the world spins around me in slow motion. $1000 bait? There’s just no other way it would go for me...

I’m 36 and have my own business...retirement is one of those things that occurs to me briefly for a moment here and there, then I go “HAH...right, ok”. Luckily though, I have some good people who work for me and a schedule that still allows me to get out there a few times a week. There was a stretch when I first opened my business that I worked for 7 days a week, sometimes 16 hours a day and that would go on for months at a time without a break. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is at certain points in your life. People with kids know that, people with businesses know it, almost everyone really. “With great power comes great responsibility”. Not only did you get the chance to actually live and experience consciousness, you got to be a human! Possibly the greatest apex predator this planet has ever seen...that should NEVER be taken for granted. Between working to leave the world better and experiencing as much of it as possible in the meantime, there’s a lot to be done...

Unless they’re super spooky, I imagine the thought bubble looking something like this: ”whoa...that guy’s really hauling the mail...interesting....” Next cast: “HAY LOOK, FOOD *CHOMP*” Bass are doofy. Unless they’re feeling super vulnerable on a cloudless, calm, quiet day...you’re probably just fine.

I do a version of what your friend does... Shore fishing and boat fishing are two completely different animals for me. From the boat, I always hit a spot for a bit, move on...hit a spot for a bit, move on. From shore, I go into rambo mode...complete with war paint and mouth foam. There are certain 100 yard creek stretches that I will work for 3 hours STRAIGHT. Some version of this pattern always shows up if it’s a good day: -A couple fish at “upstream spot a” will smack a frog...sometimes I get em, sometimes I don’t. The cover is super thick. -break in the action for a half hour while I try a few things at a few different spots -a fish tucked WAY BACK in 6 inches of water near the downstream log just hammered a fluke -break for coffee or an energy drink -senko madness as the sun starts to set The results vary pretty widely but the point is this. Within this little 3 hour stretch, I’ve thrown hundreds and hundreds of casts to maybe 20 spots. Sometimes, no joke, a 4 pounder will come lunging out of a spot that was completely dead all day for “no reason” and hammer a toad. They’re in there...you just have to have some patience sometimes.

Definitely time for a service. I never go more than two years without taking my reels down and replacing any defectiveness. Quick trip to the reel doc and it’ll be right back...no worries ?

I do a lot of this stuff. My home lake has a couple small creeks with some really nice fish. i have three combos that I really like for short range work... nrx803c/aldebaran (senkos, plastics, finesse jigs) legend x 68mxf/aldebaran (moving plastics) mojo bass 66mh/engetsu 100 (small frogs, everything else...) The brands aren’t as important as the overall “theme”. Short rods are nice for ducking and swerving around bushes and trees, shallow reels give you the ability to throw lighter stuff if you need to. You might notice the lack of a jig rod. Jigs from shore are entirely possible and have caught me some nice fish but they aren’t my favorite unless you’re going finesse. I don’t mind working really light jigs from the shore because they don’t bury themselves down into the cover you’re always pulling them through to get them back. Standard jigs (>1/4 oz) just don’t do as well for me. You’re dragging them “uphill” into logs, branches, weeds, pads, rocks, everything. Long story short...shallow reels, short rods, weedless plastics, tiny jigs and bug spray from shore = ?

$300ish for reels, $400ish for rods... But that doesn’t mean I don’t have “more expensive” stuff. I have nrx, conquest, aldebarans, metaniums, etc....I just wait until I find one at a really good price. Do I need a $700 rod? No! Will I buy one if it shows up for $350...yup...

I only own the slx dc but it’s essentially the same thing brake-wise. Starting at 4 for a cast or two then backing it up from there is probably the way to go I dont think of the numbers on the idc reels as corresponding to line type (maybe they do...maybe there’s some insane math in there and I’m just not aware of it). In practice, it really is just a matter of the braking profile and amount. When I use mine, I always have it on 2 or 3. I’ll just toggle back and forth with any given bait to see what gives me the best result.