newapti5

Is this what Daiwa uses on their ATD? Has anyone tried this Japan grease and noticed any difference? Just curious.

Things I got recently from Amazon.co.jp

Don't know about the "cheapest" part, but they're legit based on my purchase from some of the reputable sellers on Aliexpress. I got my Vanford and Stradic FL from them, because they have the shallow spools version, and cheaper than US market price. It took awhile to receive them, but they are all genuine and solid so far. IMO, some of the interesting ones are the "CS" version reels Daiwa caters to Chinese market, like the Tatula 100 CS, Tatula SV CS, and even SV103 CS. They are basically the "bling-bling" version of the original, with different color themes(mostly red for some reason) and different knobs.

Digging out this post because with the new Engetsu coming out, the old version is on sale on Amazon.co.jp, $165 shipped for the lefty PG version. Very tempting...

IMHO, dual support is not necessary for light duty fishing, most bass fishing being one of them, given the size of fish I caught anyway. But for other heavier duty fishing, with the amount of pressure put on the gears, dual support pinion gear, and dual support of any turning parts for that matter, is essential for longevity. This Lew's Tournament Pro is still made in Korea, if that matters.

That's a good point. I thought so as well. But still, I think the tolerance between them is a little too large for sliding movement. A Tatula, or a Curado, has a better fit between that pinion gear and pinion bearing at the same position, especially Shimano's reels, almost a press-fit. But anyway, it's good to hear it won't affect the smoothness in long term; I am just curious how it works. Thanks!

My first one is a Piscifun baitcaster from Amazon, because it's cheap. I pitied the fools who spent hundreds of dollars on a fishing reel, and then I became one. Good times.

I am a big fan of Daiwa, but I bought a lot of Shimano reels as well. And Abu and Lew's. And some Quantum to try out. And a few 13 fishing as well. And several Okumas gems. And a couple of BPS qualifier. And even some oddball looking but solid Tica reels. So I screw around when it comes to reels I guess, rods as well, and almost none of them matches.

I just couldn't contain my curiosity and bought the Lew's Tournament Pro to try out their P2 pinion support. Even though it's not 2 bearings, it still feels pretty smooth, so far. Let's see how that goes in long term. While my reel is still relatively new, I want to upgrade the P2 bushing to see if there's any improvement in smoothness, in short and long term. However, I just couldn't find any information about the bushing size on Internet, so I went through it myself. There's no surprise there though. They use the same size of bearing as Tatula's pinion bearing, the MR128 8x12x3.5. It can be rather easily accessed, and this is just for Lew's Tournament Pro. I don't know about Lew's other P2 pinion support reels. While I was at it, I noticed the fit between the bushing inner diameter and pinion gear is not as tight as Daiwa's or Shimano's. There's a rather large gap between those two part, at least 0.5mm. You can clearly wiggle the pinion gear a bit while it's in place. Maybe that tolerance is acceptable. I know sometimes you need certain tolerance at certain place. Or maybe it's a manufacturing cost issue. But a gap that big just makes me wonder, how's that bushing going to keep the pinion gear well in alignment? Any thoughts?

I still use Strike King's bitsy bug jigs with 1/8 or 1/4 oz sizes. They are cheap, effective, and available everywhere. It won't break my heart to lose a few by snagging.

So true

Gee... Well, at least it looks great! Usually Amazon.co.jp charges shipping at about 14~18 bucks, and that's the you-can-get-it-this-week kind of fast shipping method. You can also combine shipping together, as long as the shippers are Amazon. One thing I haven't figure out about Amazon.co.jp is that sometimes they factor the shipping cost into the selling price. Say a reel is selling for $200 plus $18 shipping. When I go to checkout, the price will be lowered to ~$182, plus the $18 shipping. It's like giving me free shipping. There may be a price threshold to get free shipping as we do here in US, but I just couldn't find any information about that on Amazon.co.jp.

I buy directly from them. You just need to register a new Amazon.co.jp account, and choose your location and currency type accordingly. Then it will list out which items can or cannot be shipped to you, as well as the shipping cost. Most of the used or "displayed" items cannot be shipped to US, at least that seems to be my experience, but sometimes you find some gems that can. Just beware of the third party sellers. Many of them don't have enough ratings. You're welcome! And the new Scorpion DC is already released on Amazon.co.jp. I am not interested, but I saw them there.

If you had a chance to cleave a bass head open right in the middle, you can see how small its brain is. It's like a tiny peanut. But yeah, I believe they're line-shy.

Besides the line choice, the rod choice, the position choice, and the day/time choice, I just think that the lure choice plays a role as well. A light jig with a thick skirt and fat trailer, especially those with flappy arms, will fall much slower, and only hit bottom gently. A jig like that won't get snagged often, but it's hard to feel the bottom with that. About rod sensitivity, does anybody feel that sometimes it's "too sensitive?" My new Steez spinning rod is sensitive alright, but it amplifies even the slightest bumping between a Ned rig and the rock bottoms. I sometimes couldn't tell the difference between that and a subtle bite. This never happened to my other high-end rods. I guess I am just not used to that "sensational feeling" a Steez rod can provide.

Amazon.co.jp is also a good place to shop around for reels. Sometimes it could be even cheaper than Asian Portal, for example, the new Alphas SV TW. I just ordered a displayed model of Chronarch Ci4+ from them on last Wednesday, got it on Friday. It's a pretty much brand new reel for just $150, shipping included.

It's only during the time of a hooked SMB charging on me that I question myself "why the heck didn't I get a faster reel?!"

I have that exact model, so what you'd like to know? Its power is quite true to the rating IMO, handles 3/8oz and up jigs quite well - accurate and far, but not so much with 1/4oz and below. Action wise, it's a standard fast action as well. Sensitivity wise, I'd say it's on bar with my GLX MBR. I heard it's balanced better than Legend Elites, but still a tad tip heavy to me. I mostly use it for jigs and worms, but I think it'll also be an excellent choice for spinnerbaits of sorts.

For the 2016 GLX, the handle is the part that got the most complaints I believe. It's similar to Fuji ACS, uncomfortable to some, fits well to the others, depending on how you hold a rod. I didn't like it initially, even thinking about returning it, but found out that some Shimano reels fits it well. Currently I am pairing my GLX 843 with a Bantam MGL, perfectly.

Finatic website is having a 70% off sale going on. The shipping is not free though, which is about 20~25% extra on top of your order, depending on how much it is. But still, this is the most discount I've seen from them. The quality of their braided line is quite good from my own experience. Excellent on performance, colors never fade, and it looks good on reels as well. The other tackle review website gave it the "editor's choice award."

Like others said, a lot of factors affect the buoyancy. Water temp is only a minor one IMO, the quality of water would have more impact. The buoyancy of a muddy lake, a crystal clear river, and regular tap water could be quite different. I would pick a nice warm day, go to my favorite lake/river, bring the lures, the suspension strip/dot, a bottle of superglue, and a pocket knife, then just start experimenting.

Basspro and Cabela's are selling Abu's Ambassadeur C3 5501, left-handed, for 70 bucks. This is the cheapest Swiss made Abu reel I believe. If you don't mind the heavy weight, the C3 and C4 reels give out a solid "connected" retrieve that few baitcasters can't provide.

That's right. Try a Tatula LT 4000. It's only a little over 7oz, but the spool diameter is large enough for 10# Seaguar FC IMO.

This post is very helpful for smallie anglers like me. Saw some familiar choices and some new introductions. I also want to add Pepper Custom finesse jigs to the mix. It's a bit hard to find them on most websites, but they're very snag free compared to other shape of jigheads.