newapti5

Not that I want to see them prices go up, but to be fair, tackle prices have been pretty much the same level as everything else almost doubled the price in this inflation.

Yep, if you want to cast as hard as you can, thumb free, worry free, with great casting distance, then Shimano DC reels are the sure way to go.

Ceramic bearing "upgrade" IMO and experience Pros: 1. Rotate easier, which means casting would require less effort. This is important for very light lures, but matters less for regular weight lures. 2. It increases casting distance a little, especially for light lures, but not so much for regular weight lures. 3. Easy for maintenance. You don't have to add oil to bearings all the time. It runs dry, so all you need is an acetone flush once a year. 4. Corrosion resistance is excellent, compared to regular stainless steel bearings. Cons: 1. Noisy. After some usage, tiny debris will get in there, and it'll get louder. 2. A little less smooth under load. If by "smooth" you mean cranking the handle easier, then yes, it's "smoother." One hard spin on the handle, it will keep rotating for a long time. But if by "smooth" you mean less geary grinding feeling while under load, ceramic spool bearings will actually add a little extra "grinding" feeling to the reel, compared to regular stainless steel bearings. 3. I assume we're talking about hybrid ceramic bearings, because full ceramic bearings will be kind of brittle, not designed for heavy loads. So to sum it up, you're trading comfort and quietness for performance and convenience.

Cleaning gears isn't miracle work. After several years of frequent usage, every reel will eventually develop the "geary" feeling, and cleaning would only alleviate the feeling a little bit. The sure way to fix that is to change the gear set.

Did you change "spool bearing" or "spool bearings?" Singular or plural? Because the other spool bearing could be damaged as well. Also, make sure the spool shaft is clean without any oil or grease on it. Clean the spool rim and the reel frame, so there's no dirt or debris between them two. Then, I'd clean the brake drum with alcohol, and change the brake shoes (turn off the two you used before, and turn on the other unused two).

It depends. How long had it been fully submerged? If it's in-and-out in a flash, the reel is probably OK. If it stayed submerged longer than say 5 seconds, I would send it to professionals for a full clean-up.

I got this Tica BC reel for only ~$50 on Amazon. It's made with sturdy metal frame, dual supported pinion gear, quality opponents like NMB bearings, as well as many metal parts inside. And the craftsmanship, as you can see, is pretty good for a sub $100 reel. In real use, it's also quite smooth. Not Bantam/Zillion smooth, but Curado/Tatula smooth for sure. The brake is an imitation of Shimano‘s VBS brake, not the best but sufficient, Tica has made some good quality reels like this. It's shame they are not that popular; Tica is more famous for salt water reels.

This is tough. I don't know if you're religious, but when life gets tough on me, I am often reminded of 1 Corinthian 10:13: "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." God bless!

Social media promoting and marketing is the new norm in China market now. People in China, especially young people, don't buy much stuff from brick-and-mortar stores or Internet stores anymore; the new major shopping method for them is the "live streaming sales." It's sort of like QVC channel, but with celebrity hosts, Internet live streaming only, and limited time window. The sales they make within a couple of hours of live streaming is stunning to say the least.

As long as you don't use it for any heavy duty stuff, I think it will be fine. My Piscifun experience was about 6 years ago, and it ended with a broken reel foot under normal usage. They (well actually Amazon) refunded me quickly though. Back then, they were just starting to gain recognition, and the product quality should have been improved since then.

The left-handed version is available in Japan now. With shipping, it'll cost ~$210. IMO that's a bit much for a DC reel with so-so craftsmanship. But, for someone who wants to try a DC reel with great casting performance, this may be a good choice.

Thanks for the input! If it's similar to 1012 SV, then it's exactly what I'm looking for. I actually don't mind the SS SV magnets. Once I changed the thick tall inductor on its original spool to a much thinner custom inductor, the original spool's casting distance was significantly improved. I put 10lb mono on it for casting 1/4 - 1/2 jerkbaits, and the performance is almost as good as MGL 3 spools.

Recently ordered this 34mm spool to try out. I believe it's the spool in the Zillion 10.0 reel. https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/3763 Given the ~9g light weight, I am assuming it excels in lighter lures. Has anyone had any experience with this spool? With which reel? I am gonna try it with the new Zillion and a SS SV, maybe a SV103.

Yep, it's only after several stripped small screws that I realized the problem was the screwdriver, not the screws.

It could be just under-lubed or dirty inside. In that case, it may become normal again if they cleaned and re-lubed it.

If you're asking people here, you already know the answer:

Not sure what kind of whirring noise it is. It could be certain damaged part, or it could just be worn gears and worn bearings, like many other used reels. If it's from worn gears and bearings, usually the noise/vibration would get louder with faster winding or heavier loads. BTW, if the picture is what it looks like after it's re-lubed, I think you should put more grease on. To me, the gears (and other parts) seem too dry/clean. Also, I'd deep-clean all the bearings. Then except for spool bearings and AR bearing, I'd put LIGHT GREASE in other bearings as well, especially the two bearings on the main shaft, and the pinion support bearing. They may not spin that well after that, but it'll dial down a lot of unwanted noise or geary feeling. You mentioned that without load, the main shaft bearings and AR bearing don't make noise. In my own experience, sometimes worn bearings only make noise/vibration while under load. So, I wouldn't rule them out yet. If you have spare bearings, the best way to diagnose is to change all these bearings. If not, grease in the bearing usually helps. Lightly greased reels still work, but I would expect to feel more vibration/noise; heavily greased reels would be the opposite, but hard to turn the handle. At the end, it all depends on what matters most to you.

At the beginning, I did mess up one of my cheap reels: it's a left-handed BC reel, and to loosen the main shaft nut, I should turn clockwise instead of counter clockwise. I didn't know and there weren't any mentions in the manual. Fortunately, replacing that main shaft was not that expensive. I guess this is the price of learning that we all have to pay during. But once you've broken down and re-assembled a couple of BC reels, you'll find them not that complicated - the basic designs are all the same, no matter $500 reels or $50 reels. Entry level spinning reels are fairly straight forward as well, but the expensive ones are more complex and fragile.

I didn't buy anything related to fishing this BF; I'm waiting to see what TW offers on "25 days to Christmas." But I did help/instigate a buddy to buy a couple of JDM reels, so that's something.

Shims are not that expensive if you know where to find them. Also, if you're interested in self-maintenance/deep-clean of your own reels, this would be a good place to start. IMO it's one of the easiest upgrade projects; you'll just need to have a little patience to find the perfect fit like others suggested.

Exactly. Except being heavy, A-rig is not that hard to wind in. Chatterbait, spinnerbait, deepdive crankbaits, these are the ones need serious winding power and heavy duty gears IMO.

Instead of tighten that screw, loosen and take it out; then put in one or two shim washers. For Shimano and Daiwa reel, you'll need 4x7x0.1mm washer; for Abu, Lew's, and other doyo reels, it's 5x8x0.1mm. If you don't want buy a whole bunch of washers for just one reel, the quickest way is to put in a lot of grease.

I use acetone, sometimes Zippo fluid(naphtha), and ultrasonic cleaner for bearings only. 4 min for each side on 30W setting would usually clean most of bearings, even the permanently sealed ones. Everything else will be good ol' Dawn and a used toothbrush. Only a good scrub satisfies my OCD. Dawn does leave a residue of scents sometimes, but I don't think that amount would affect general reel parts.

Maybe He's talking about over 3/4oz walking topwaters like Super Spook with them beefy hooks, because I can't imagine 844 is better than 843 to handle 1/4oz poppers. Anyway, taking his opinion, or anyone's opinions, with a couple pinches of salt is what I always do. Heck I don't even like Expride 610M for jerkbaits after his years of praise.

I've only used the first generation of Envy Black and Envy Green. They're not that light, but pretty sensitive for the $200 price tag. And I have never experienced any breakage like others. The $300 price of the second and third gen is pushing it IMO, but right now, Amazon is having some second gens on sale around $100. No idea about the Fuse series, but the $450 price is a bit ridiculous IMO - this is the territory of premium rods like Legend Elite and GLX. Heck you can even get a decent custom rod for that price.