newapti5

When I created my Amazon.jp account a couple years ago, I didn't have to have a Japan address. I just used my US address, and Amazon Japan would filter out listings that wouldn't ship to US. I believe it still works that way. But the thing is, a LOT of listings won't ship to a US address, especially all Amazon Warehouse deals and some really good deals from third party sellers. So, to see these good deals, I'll have to change my address to a random Japan zip code. In this way, once I see some great deals, I'd just use proxy companies like Buyee to purchase and ship it to me. Currently, Buyee charges less than $30 in total for service fees and international shipping fees.

Recovering from a really bad cold, and stumbled upon a new Steez A II on Amazon Japan for $300. I had no intension buying the reel, but the 34mm Mag-Z Boost spool caught my attention. Has anyone tried that spool? How is it different from the Mag-Z Boost spool on the Zillion HD? Thanks.

What line do you plan to use? For fluoro or mono, I will go as large spool diameter as possible within certain reel weight, like 8oz; for braided line, I'll go with the lighter one.

Hey it's made of magnesium, so it's better than the Zillion.

I think a rubber/plastic setup is great for him. Make sure they don't have sharp angles and are soft enough.

IMO it also depends on the line I am using. For fast or xf tip, fluoro or mono would compensate the stiffness a little; for braided line, I'll be using moderate fast medium rod, or just a medium light rod.

For light wire small hooks on finesse jigs, like the ones on Ned rig or the Strike King bitsy bug, I find that penetration isn't the problem. The main cause of losing smallies is that the small hook tears a rather large gap on their mouths. In my experience, that's either because I got too excited during hookset, or the drag was set too high. Either way, with that gap, whenever the line tension is loose, like when they jump, the hook would have a big chance of flying out. That's why my favorite smallie jig rod is a moderate fast one. It greatly helps keeping the pressure on them, even with the gap. And I never have trouble with penetration, as long as the light wire hook is sharp. For $250, I would go with a Dobyns Champion. Their fast action is rather moderate-fast. Or, you could get a Loomis MBR rod, like GCX 783C MBR. Their action is perfect for smallies, too.

I have the casting model of both lines. In short, Legend Elite is more sensitive, but Expride is balanced better.

I don't have the handle, but I do have similar knobs from them. I like the material - close second to cork knobs IMO.

Dawn got my vote, but don't forget a good scrub with a toothbrush. It's very effective for most open parts. For little parts that are hard to get to, like bearings, I would use acetone or Zippo fluid (Naphtha) with an ultrasonic cleaner like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374483836600?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28. Several minutes of acetone bath in that machine, yields a better cleaning result than an overnight soak does.

Gee, who came up with this pattern? It looks like the vomit of a rainbow unicorn.

It only matters to me during winter off season, when I have not much to do but pimp out my reels with cosmetic details/upgrades.

One of my fishing buddies sold his NRX+/Stella spinning combo this year, because after trying that combo, he still preferred the 13 Fishing rod he luckily fished out of the river bottom last season, which had a broken handle and a grinding Pflueger reel on it. True story. So your case is not weird at all to me.

I'm a sucker for cork knobs, and these AMO ones are not bad.

I was like "they tied the leader to braided line for me already? Hmm, I gonna try that. What knot did they.... Never mind."

Don't know about that line. On the other hand, I have had great experience with SeaKnight W8 and S9. They're very similar to Sufix 832, quality and performance wise, but with less than half of the price.

Besides different experience and situations, I'd say sometimes it's just confirmation bias. Before your actually try it, sometimes you like a product already, and you pay more attention to the good reviews. And when you're actually using it, you pay more attention to whatever aspect it excels, and you go back to write more good reviews. Other times, you have some serious doubt of some new product, and you pay more attention to the bad reviews, And when you're actually using it, you pay more attention to whatever weakness it has, sometimes even exaggerate that a bit. Then you go back to write more bad reviews. It's very hard to be objective when it comes to product reviews.

I personally put light grease in baitcaster bearings, except the two spool bearings. Grease would slow them down a little, but it'll expel water better and make the reel winding smoother.

Did you clean and oil the spool bearings? It sounds like them bearings are dried/damaged. It's not that easy to get water into gears, but it's pretty easy for spool bearings after several cast. When water get into bearings, it'll quiet them down a bit as lubricant, and after bearings get dried, the noise will come back.

I actually did last year. They're great jigs for finesse presentation, but with those rocky bottom of the river and creeks here, it just seems football heads are less prone to snags. Thanks!

Actually I have a question about jigs. For smallies, I am trying to find some finesse football head jigs 1/4~3/8oz, with a 3/0 hook, and living rubber skirt. Could you recommend some on your website? Thanks!

Tatula Elite rods are on sale on MidwayUSA right now; some models are 50% off. And you can still get the rebate shirt.

Did you rest your thumb on the spool or the thumb bar when turning the handle to engage the thumb bar? That could cause the pinion gear to only half-engaged, and then "spun free" as you described. If not, did you set the drag to a proper level? A loose drag could cause similar problem as well. A too-tight spool tension knob (the zero-adjust knob) could cause similar problem also, although that requires a really tight tension - tight enough to have the same effect of resting your thumb on the spool. If none of the above, you may have a defective one.

The spool is magnesium alloy, but I am pretty sure the frame is composite material. Otherwise I'd made a big mistake selling mine cheap. To get magnesium frame in Shimano reels, we'll have to reach Metanium or Aldebaran. There's a detailed TT review of Chronarch MGL several years back.