Manifestgtr

I’ve found almost the opposite. Mine (jdm model) is so ridiculously fast, I actually keep it a bit tighter to maintain a consistent feel with the rest of my stuff. i remember casting a 1/4 oz jig with it for the first time and watching the thing go “wooooooooooo...” off into the distance like Homer Simpson watching his trap fling a rabbit into orbit.

This is actually a myth. I’m a guitar tech/gb player for my day job and a strat fanatic. I’ve played pre-cbs strats and new, polyester/polyurethane finished strats alike that have beautiful, long lasting, rich sustain. The thing that matters most in this regard is what actually touches the string...a well cut bone nut, dressed frets, a decent bridge with good saddles. These things (along with wood species ?) are debated heavily on the internet...but I’m just telling you what I’ve seen after almost three decades of encountering untold thousands of guitars. While it’s the sum of all of its parts, there are certain things that make a bigger overall difference. I’m sure this also applies to rods. With rods, you’re also dealing heavily with detection/sensation of compression waves as opposed to the manipulation of electrons via changes to a magnetic field...so, in that regard, things like finish almost certainly have a greater impact. Sorry for the novel. You just combined my two favorite things in life...bass fishing and guitars.

I use green for two reasons... 1.) it’s there at Walmart...big game green 2.) hey, there’s a lot of “green” stuff down there, right? Algae, grass, etc...if anything is gonna camo against that, it’s probably green. The validity of number two might be suspect but i wouldn’t know...it’s worked for me up until this point...

Agreed. i like buying new reels but I HATE the idea of having to buy a new reel because one quit on me. I lube my brakes every month, “shallow” clean every few months and deep clean when I’m stuck inside and bored over the winter months. Its minimal effort when you think about it but it keeps your gear runnin...

With any of my reels (including my curados), I start by minimizing side to side movement and go from there. I keep my frogging curado a little bit tighter because I was getting some loops at the very, very end...right before engagement. My jigging engetsu (basically a curado...) has a little side to side knock because I like my jigs to fall straight down...plus, it’s super short range, so I’m not quite as worried about its casting dynamics. It sort of depends on what you want it to do. That’s what’s nice about baitcasters. You can adjust them almost infinitely. The side to side minimization has always just been a “starting point” in my mind.

Yeah, they’re kind of funny ratios. The pg is almost 6:1 and the hg is almost 8:1.

Ok, let me preface this with a disclaimer. The only way you could possibly void your warranty more is by setting your reel on fire then doing a celebratory booty dance around its remains...this video is for entertainment/informational purposes only Curado 70/engetsu hybrid complete with parts list and assembly The necessary parts are from the “17 engetsu 100hg” part numbers: 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 64 Notes: Included in the video (but not necessary) is part 34.

I hate to say it but I agree. I’ve given fluoro an honest try several times in the past and just couldn’t get past its “downsides”. Mono (for me...let’s make that part clear) is more manageable, easier casting, easier to knot, less expensive and my go-to brand can be found at walmart. If you like fluoro, that’s TOTALLY cool. I’m never gonna tell you that you’re wasting your effort/money because that’s not the case at all. Even if it was, I’m not qualified to make that assessment. There are times when it’s probably beneficial in some way or another. It’s just not my thing.

I’ve only broken two rods...both under incredibly stupid circumstances. Years ago...unbeknownst to me, I had loaded an abu vengeance into my car with the tip sticking out a window. Put it up on the highway and *CRUNCH*. That particular incident actually kept me out of the higher end rod market for a few years. I figured the trauma involved would just be too great if it had been an expensive rod. Turns out all you have to do is use rod socks and LOAD THEM WITH CARE The other was a Shimano exage. I hung up on a log and gave it a few jerks...then, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, gave it the full hook set swing and *CRUNCH*. This was even dumber...I have no idea what I was thinking. But guess what? I don’t swing into logs anymore, I don’t high stick and I load my rods carefully. Haven’t broken one since. I guess these are just lessons you have to learn. Luckily, I learned them while I was still using inexpensive rods.

Had my first truly good frog/toad day today. Those bluegill/pumpkin patterns...

I use two reels on COMPLETE opposite ends of the price spectrum to catch trout. An aldebaran 50hg and a sienna 1000 (when it’s not a fly rod...that’s a whole other story). They’ve both caught trout quite handily. I won’t go into detail about fly fishing...there are entire forums dedicated to it...but I will say that if you find that you like catching trout, it’s worth your time. It’s a whole different type of reward and the learning curve isn’t nearly as steep as you think. I can do it and I’m a blithering moron.

Wow! That’s some beautiful revoness, right there...

I should get some of those for my frog or toad rods. There are days when those bites are good that I walk back limping after swinging away (and missing every other fish). There’s something about those hook sets. Between the adrenaline and knowing you have to hit em hard, they’re just so impactful

Bingo

Oh d**n, those aren’t floats? For whatever reason, I’ve always thought that’s what those things were

Roland Martin uses them. Hay, if they’re good enough for him...

Flounder, for sure. Every summer I see guys on the cape jigging shallow for flounder

This thread is soooo timely... The other day, I saw a group of guys fishing with bobbers, shiners and a blasting radio at the boat launch (no biggie, whatever...I’m not THAT much of a codger). They caught something just as I was starting to get a little further away...too far away to see what it actually was. Tons of whooping and hollering followed by this guy flipping the fish up into the air and *SMACK* back into the water. I’ve always hated guys who do that with a burning, unhealthy passion. It’s so low rent and disrespectful. Naturally, when I got back, there were cigarette butts and snell hook packages everywhere.

Meh...give me 90 min, a bottle of Mr Pibb and a Marlboro red... I’ll get em up with an Engetsu and some 20lb braid.

Got in a new Engetsu today...had some Curado K knobs kickin around. Im not one of these aesthetic-driven, “has to look good!” guys at all...like at all....but man. This thing looks incredible. I wish photos did it justice... Shimano Terminator pitching machine...

Daiwa fanboy? I’ve had recent conversations with this dude (and others here) about both Daiwa and Shimano...pros and cons. You’re watching too much reel test, man haha. Fanboys, haters...I’ve been lurking here for years and there isn’t a ton of that terminology or, indeed, a ton of those hard flag waving types around here. Alright, enough of that noise. On topic: I’ve been loving my 20 jdm met. Unless there’s some drastic difference in performance (which I can’t imagine), the usdm version has gotta be a monster, too.

Whaaaaat? That’s my favorite fluke rod (legend x). It actually unseated the nrx 803c I used to work flukes with.

Holy moley! You go right for the gold, huh? I was ABOUT to say “I use a 3 powered nrx for such duties...I know they’re pricy but they’re worth it” but I can see you skipped right past me haha The 844 mbr is a mighty fine rod, though. Just about as good as it gets, depending on who you ask.

Heyo, I’ll give the standard issue advice (with maybe a twist or two based on my experience). General duty bass rod...medium heavy is the way to go. 7’ is definitely good. Myself, I prefer SLIGHTLY shorter medium, fast rods. I just find that, for my purposes, they load up a bit easier on my soft plastics but can still handle a small jig if I need them to. I wouldn’t get crazy hung up on brands. Most are quite good nowadays. As far as casting reels go, 7:1 is basically the new 6:1...tough to go wrong there. Bps, shimano, daiwa, abu, I’ve used them all and they’re all great. I’m all shimano nowadays but that’s just personal preference. Spinning stuff, I can’t comment on...I’ve been all baitcasting for about 5 years now. Any of my spinning gear is solely dedicated to trout. I can imagine it’s the same, though. Above the $100 mark, they’re probably all good. Trilene big game is the mono to go for. It’s cheap and it’ll start you off on the right foot. Almost all of my leaders are big game and they’re all rock solid. Even before I went braid to leader, I used mostly big game. A lot of guys do the same. A good strategy might be to start off with 3 or 4 baits and get good with em. Say, for instance...a 3/8 swim jig (you can do more than just swim them), the senko, a 2” body frog (I like the pad crasher jr) and a weightless fluke. You can work any of these with a medium heavy rod (a dedicated fluke rig should be lighter but you can definitely get the job done). Get good with those baits and you’ll definitely have the basic tools necessary to tap into bass’ predatory/opportunistic instinct.

The bantam is always good. If you wanna go pg, there are some great jdm pg options including the engetsu, stile, stephano, etc. They all have big, honkin cranking knobs, too. The spools are pretty shallow, that’s the main issue for crankbaits. They can be swapped out obviously but that’s a matter of how far you’re looking to go.