newapti5

Tell me about it. I am Asian, too, and my Asian friends always ask me twice to confirm this: You like fishing but not eating fish?

You need to quit showing off. No judging, just plain curiosity. If it offended anyone, my apologies. You do make a good point though: Does intention matter when the results are similar? Not my intention to bring gender into this. Again, if it did, my apologies for digression.

Thanks guys! A lot of great food for thought. Also intriguing to see so many replies in this V day night. That's saying something.

I think fishing is similar in the sense of outsmarting a wild fish, but I don't have to kill it to have the feeling of accomplishment. The power to decide its fate is a good enough substitute.

Jigs, jigs, and jigs. Especially finesse jigs, swim jigs, football jigs... Also a ton of finesse stuff like Ned rigs, given the crystal clear water it'll be in the summer. To cover water, I used shallow crankbaits, light spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and topwaters. There're more and more weed in recent years, so plan accordingly. Which part do you fish mostly? Down in Marietta and Columbia there're still some deep water. Even the water at Middletown airport are decent deep, relatively.

New fluoro? No, I wouldn't spool it until like the last minute. The second you put it on spools, it starts collecting memory. There's only so much KVD line conditioner can do. Braid line is different story though.

I actually want to try out new area this year, "think outside the box" as cliché goes. I have been heavily relying on the known spots in the past, so I want to cover more water this year, try out new technique and lures, don't underestimate some area just because it "doesn't look good." Sometimes I feel like the more I fish, the less I know about what fish truly thinks.

That makes sense?

It may be a silly question, but what is the fun in hunting? I know a lot of anglers are avid hunters as well, and I am not vegetarian or afraid of killing animals. But I just don't see the joy in killing any living things. A lot of my Asian friends love to eat all sort of fish, and I like eating salmon, too. But the killing part is the least fun part for me. Is it a culture thing?

Is this a thinly veiled market survey for some new brand of rods? Something smells fishy here...

Since this is the section for rods, reels, and lines, I'd say any Daiwa TD-Z platform reels.

There is (or will be in near future) a new kid in town: the '22 new Bantam. It's already listed on Amazon Japan for roughly $250 including tax, but "temporarily out of stock." It uses MGL III spool as the Metanium; the line guide is moved forth as well as the Metanium. All these would no doubt improve its casting performance. It also uses "infinity drive" to improve cranking power, which only has been seen on '21 Conquest and other saltwater reels. I bet it'll give the Metanium a run for its money, except maybe a little heavier.

GPL205 almost has no effect on that aspect, which is what I want. Sorry, early on I was talking about how Cal's affects the easiness of cranking, with its thick viscosity. I know some reels in bad shape and urgent need of cleaning may also feel hard to crank, even grinding, but I won't wait till then to clean my reels. When my reels' handles start to spin forever with an easy turn, I know the grease inside is getting thin. Usually that's when the smoothness start to suffer as well. I might start to clean them soon, or at least add some grease.

I used a tiny painting brush to put it on. When done, the leftover grease on the brush wasn't hard to be washed away with some Dawn. So I don't know about the "insoluble in nearly all solvents" part. I think a little scrubbing with a toothbrush and Dawn should do the work when the time comes. Even if it only lasted as long as other grease, IMO it still performs pretty well while on. But I agree on the "overkill" part. You don't need a fancy grease like this to make reels behave; even "that red stuff" works. It's just more fun. Cal's and Shimano drag grease have been my main sources for reels grease for years, too. Now I mostly use Cal's only for drags, but I used Cal's on the gearing of a couple of Curado I, also a Tatula I think. Maybe "hard to crank" is a bit too much, but the easiness of cranking is definitely affected after.

I got the 2oz tube from eBay for $30. Even at a bargain, it comes in very pricy. I first heard about it from Alan Hawk, then other reviewers. When I saw it on sale, I snatched. I only started using it recently. We'll see the long term effect this coming season. On paper, it's supposed to outlast other greases. I only used it for gears inside. For exposed worm gears, there is GPL225, which has better corrosion resistance. I didn't try it on bearings, either; IMO it seems a bit too thick for that task. I've used Cal's for other reels. It's smooth but it makes it hard to crank the handle. Not this one. I've also tried some low viscosity greases that makes little difference on smoothness or easiness. Not this one either. I am not saying this grease is magical, but a small amount of it does make a reel smoother while still relatively easy to crank.

Krytox GPL205 for freshwater reels. It's crazy expensive for a reel grease, but after trying it on my freshwater baitcaster reels, I have to say it's become my new favorite grease. It may seem a bit dry, but a little of it goes a long way. It noticeably improves the smoothness of reel cranking, while not hindering the easy operation of reels like other thick viscosity greases do.

When wade fishing smallies, I also tend to carry only one do-it-all rod. There're many great choices here, but GLX MBR 843c is always on the top of the list.

I doubt there is a screw extractor bit that small. You may be able to find small left-handed drill bit that would fit. It's pretty much the same thing. That's what I used to remove a damaged small screw on a reel handle.

How much impediment the 200 size spool will be, depends on how light the lures you'll be fishing. IMO 1/2 ~3/4 oz is totally fine, but anything under 1/4oz total weight will be a little tough to cast on that spool, especially for new baitcaster users. If you don't plan on getting a new reel, you can do what I did: Get a Scorpion 150 MGL spool from hedgehog website here, https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/4540 . It's interchangeable with Curado K spool, and better suited for lighter lures. Also, it's cheaper than getting a new reel.

That specific model of rod is quite stiff, a weaker line might break if you hookset too hard and the drag is locked down. Also, given the weight of the lures I used with this rod, 12+ lb line would be much safer IMO. You could still use 10lb line of course, but the lures you fish with 10lb line might not be within the weight sweet spot of that rod. About backlash with Curado K, there're so many reasons to cause backlash. If you're new to baitcasting reels, I would suggest the safest route: hold your rod horizontally; tighten the spool tension knob until the lure barely falling down; release all four brakes shoes inside and put the outside dials at 3 at least. Once you get familiar with it and start using your thumb, gradually lower the brakes and spool tension. Braided line also helps, less prone to backlash. If you're fishing finesse lures mostly, Curado K might not be the best choice. This might be another cause for the backlash. It has a large capacity 200 size heavy spool, designed for heavy lures. Curado 150 or 70 would be better suited for finesse stuff.

Yes, I wouldn't use this rod for anything under 3/8oz total weight. I personally use it for finesse jigs, which has a total weight ~1/2oz. Curado K is fine, but I would use minimum 12lb test line for this rod.

I use my Super Duty 8:1 for top water lures. I can almost empty the whole spool of 12lb mono with every cast of a Super Spook.

It seems like you're fishing mostly hard lures, but you also mentioned "finesse bait." Is that also hard lure/moving lure? I fish in similar scenarios as yours, but more than half of the time I am fishing jigs and soft plastics. For a true do-it-all rod for kayak/canoe that can handle hard lures like top water, jerkbait, crankbait... and bottom contact lures like jigs and soft plastics, my favorite is a Dobyn's 683 or 684, Champion XP if you got the budget, Sierra if not. They both have a great parabolic moderate fast action and a sensitive blank. And 6'8 seems to be the perfect length for kayak/canoe fishing. As for reels, Dobyn's rods are balanced so well and their reel seats are so generic, that pretty much any brand of reels will fit.

Black Max, Silver Max, Pro Max, Abu's entry level reels are famously durable and reliable, and they're truly under MSRP $100, not like Daiwa Fuego riding on the edge of $99. BPS Qualifier is pretty good as well, and you can find it under $100 during their Spring sale, which is coming up next month.

Yep exactly.