EzyEric

Yeah this is very bad news. I ordered all my rods/reels through them, especially considering the used selection discount. I had a lot of points and also gift cards...

Nice. Many upgrades. I like the idea of the anti twist fin. We will see about the cost though, I think it might stay the same.

It's not as small but the Strike King Hybrid Hunter Jr. Shallow has been my go to super shallow crankbait lately. Especially over grass as it comes through it very well.

With both Daiwa spinning reels I have (Fuego and Tatula LT) the drag adjustment is too fine. It takes multiple full rotations of loosing the drag just to be able to pull off some line by hand. On the Fuego I have to loosen it to the point of almost coming off just to be able to hand pull some line. On the other hand, all my other brands of spinning reels it only takes one or two rotations to be able to get it loose enough to hand pull line. Anyone else notice this? It it just a Daiwa thing?

Hmm the parts numbers on the Schematic do not align with the shop part numbers. EDIT: Correction, some of the Schematics have both part numbers. Example: BTN4343 (schematic) vs 105C3 (shop part number)

Perfect. I did not know you could buy them directly from Shimano. I wish they said the size of the bearings though. Sounds like its worth the upgrade to buy bearings from one one the higher end reels assuming they are the same size? I think the standard Shimano spool bearing size is: 3x10x4

I am looking to get baitcaster reel bearings in bulk (5+). I just want the original quality or slightly better. This is mostly for Shimano reels. I do not want to buy expensive super speed bearings which come in just two packs. I have had one set of Boca Bearings for years and I have never installed them. Once I found out hot to properly clean bearings the original bearings work just fine. Occasionally a bearing goes bad so that is why I am looking to have some spares. Has anyone tried to buy some larger packs from someplace like Amazon with good results?

Spring?! It's early February!

Do you fish these like regular jerkbaits or is it more of a pull and stop?

Woah...something about that code seems like it was supposed to be for an individual...haha. Guess they will probably catch it soon if its a mistake. I've already saved too much money this last month so I am not even going to click that link

I saw it was the Johnny Morris Signature Rods and Reals, not the platinum (red) ones. Was hoping for amazing deal on the Platinum rods again like they had a few years ago. Add is here: https://blackfriday.com/ads/black-friday/bass-pro-shops

Went out Sunday. This is a largemouth lake so not a direct comparison though it's still gon clear. Water temp was 60. Fish completely abandoned the shallows and even most drop offs for deeper water. 20 to 25 feet. Lots of small bait out in open water too. This time of year is so weird for me. When will they move up shallow again if ever...anyway. Ended up having to tie the blade bait on to get a bite. Only got a few bass and a nice walleye. Damiki Vault is my go to now.

Let us know how it goes and what the water temps are. I will be throwing it in a week or two here.

I fish that jig on a MH spinning rod. Medium would work fine too.

Take spool out and put it back in. Heard with the new spring system it could be out of wack.

Spinning or baitcast? What do you use it for.

@A-Jay When fishing it shallow do you still use 1/8th heads and just fish it faster?

Same with drag. This is normal for this Metanium I've read.

@Primus thanks for sharing. Hope to have first ice out trip here soon. Been delayed more than usually since it was thick ice season and it's still been snowing almost every day. Getting the boat out of storage tomorrow. I picked up some over winter too. What colors worked well for you? I'm just north of Grand Rapids and fish similar sized lakes.

This is funny. Was trying to solve this exact same problem last week. I went through all the beaver like baits online to try to find more durable one. Really just want the body to be solved instead of having the slot as that's where they always break first. Based on my search Thinking im going to try Baby D Bomb and the Net Bait one. So there is an elaztek one which is the Zman Palmetto bug but I don't want to deal with elaztek on a jig. Also note on the Maxscent Creature Hog. I love this bait but one thing to keep in mind on jig is they actually shrink over time as they loose their scent/Maxscent juice. So may need to replace them more often if you want the original size or scent.

Good to know on all levels. Thanks for sharing. Update on mine. I decided to just test it out before trying to open it up. Put some line on and threw casting plug in the back yard. Worked fine. You cannot notice the issue when reeling in actual weight and that makes complete sense since that weight is much more than any slight resistance all that grease has. Casting was not mind blowing or anything but will get that dialed in later. I don't even think I need to open it up but I might if I can't get on the water soon. We'll see how it does over next few months. I fully clean my reels every winter anyway.

I'm confused. You got one in the past that was sticky but just got a new one recently that's smooth? Digitaka replied that it should get better with use but I could return if I chose. I'm going to open it up tomorrow and find out what's going on. Will follow up.

Digitaka

Took spool out and it's the same way with spool completely out. Was grease on the spool shaft pin and I've never seen that so really assuming must be packed with grease.

Yeah that was first thing I checked.