GetFishorDieTryin

I have the same reel. I retired mine for the same reason, little to no spare parts available for a 15 year old reel. I would replace it with a Vanford 2500, but if you want to change it up, you could go with a Daiwa Tatula MQ or Kage LT. The Daiwas use a main gear that about the size 4000 shimano, which makes them powerful little reels. If you want to stick with Shimano you go for Stradic FM or go to a JDM site and get a Twin Power for a good price. The only bad part about buying JDM is that you dont get the warranty that you would get had you bought it here in the states. Quality control is very good, especially with higher end reels like twin power, so odds of an issue are very very low.

I think whats happening is somewhat common if you have a jerky cast and or an old reel that isn't manually closed. Theres a position where the mechanism, hits the trip ramp and the bail closes. You want to flip the bail at the position where the rotor cant get enough momentum to where it hits the trip ramp and closes. If you open the bail, turn the rotor with your hand until the mechanism rests against the ramp the rotor will not have enough tolerance to gain the momentum necessary to trip the bail. Ive seen many guys run into this issue surf fishing with 2 and 3oz plugs youre casting 100yds, but its rare for FW or lighter tackle. I did some issues with an original Stradic ci4, but replacing the bail spring fixed it. I remove all the trip ramps in my Penn reels, its easy. I don't know if they can be removed in Shimanos/Daiwas as I've never run into serious issues, but I would like to remove them all. Having an auto bail on a spinning reel is like having training wheels on a Harley. I swear they only include them in hopes to sell more Power Pro and Jbraid due to wind knots. I dont think using the handle to close the bail is good for a reel anyway. The fastest way to make a new reel feel old is to use the handle to trip the bail. Shimanos actually feel like they have a more positive lock IMO compared to Daiwas, especially when compared to the last gen LTs that lacked an audible click. Daiwa even addressed that with the newer LT models.

I use a lot of MHs (1/4-3/4 or 3/8-1oz) spinning gear, but its in SW. There are uses in FW, but they are somewhat limited IMO if the rods are like a traditional MH. Personally for wacky rigs or tubes, I would want a rod with a M power tip and MH backbone. Daiwa has a model like that I think.

Wow, nice...I can see 10lb being strong enough to get her in out in the open, but its the teeth I would worry about. We have so many pickerel around here. I've lost so many 110s and TN60s to 2lb pickerel when they turn and dig. Im not dogging InvizX, I really like it, its pretty much all I use on casting gear. I used to use Big game in the winter when cheaper FCs would stiffen up and get tough to manage, but since going totally to invizX I dont use mono at all. I still think mono, particularly BG has some advantages over InvizX and most budget-mid priced FCs. I feel like when FC stretches to near breaking point, it weakens the line and I havent noticed that at all with BG. I think the abrasion resistance and knot strength on BG and other good monos is better than most if not all FCs Ive used.

Great little baits. I like putting Reins 2" twin tail on them, but my favorite trailer is probably a 3" bubbling shaker. They're great jigs, but keitech changed something recently with them. The newer ones are much more delicate than the older ones and fall apart quicker.

Big Game is really hard to beat on casting gear. I have as much confidence in 10lb BG in cover as 15lb InvizX.

You dont want to lob the cast so the bobber tumbles as little as possible. Being weighted it wants to go end over end. I found slip bobbers to be the way to go personally. The right bobber relative to the weight of the jig or fly you're using, lets you see the lightest bites. If the fish takes the weight off the bobber it will fall down. Its surprising the size of fish will eat a tiny 96th oz fly.

Yeah, I like the #5s on the MB 110. Its well worth the money to invest in treble caps to keep those hooks in good condition while the baits are being stored.

I use my rod and reel twitches to get that reaction bite, but early in the year I do really well just slow rolling it. They get wonky after a good fish, but I bend the wire, so it straightens out under tension. They break after a bunch of good ones or pulling just a few out of cover, but by then they have paid for themselves a few times over. When I first started using them, I would sometimes go with no trailer to get them to run deeper and sink faster, but I prefer having a trailer to add some bulk and a little weight. I probably should try it without and just see what happens. Like anything else, the more I learn about spinnerbaits the more I realize I don't know.

For the small pond magic SBs I like Charlie Brewers boot tailed grub. I think theyre 3.5" but I usually trim them down a bit. The action is sublte and allows the SB to swim straight. A 3" swing impact works well too, but they get torn up so fast, especially if you have to alter the length.

With a JB, I want a quick, sharp action. A M Fast with a qucik recovering tip is generally what you want, although some people have different preferences towards action, power and length. The 6'10 expride has a great action for JBs and twitch baits. Its pretty much ideal, until you get a better feel for JBs and know what if you prefer a faster or slower action. A faster action takes less pressure to twicth, but sometimes they don't cast as well and can overwork a bait if youre not careful, MF and regular actions load really well, but can be more fatiguing if you use them all day, its all preference. Every JB is different, some are more aggressive and take more pressure to work, some are sensitive to pressure. 110s are more delicate and don't need much tension at all to work and too much will blow them out. You want to be working slack or semi slack line, only coming into contact with the bait at the end of the twitch. As soon as you feel the bait you put slack back into the line by pointing the tip at the bait, reel in some slack and either twitch again or let it sit. Most of the time the fish will hit the bait with slack in the line. You might not feel it, but you can usually see the line jump or the fish will knock more slack into the line. Since you are relying on the fish to hook themselves, quality hooks and hook caps to keep them sharp are a must IMO. If the hooks stay sharp, the fish will hook himself as he tries to blow the bait out of their mouth.

Duo makes some great traps, been doing well with the Nitro the past few weeks. The Apex is more of a plastic blade bait. Very thin and gets down like crazy for its weight. I really like TN60s too. Even when they don't seem to be ideal for certain situations, they consistently produce. The only drawback is the price.

Ive got a Victory 6'10 MLXF. That soft tip really hurts its sensitivity, especially on slack line , so Ive relegated it to small cranks, JBs and spybaits, which it does really well. That tip is perfect for JBs and the rod is soft enough to keep small trebles pinned.

I dont think many people buy 1 and regret it. Hopefully youre not locked up in ice yet and can put a few fish on it before winter sets in.

I dont think there is a wrong way to rig a senko, they always catch fish. Personally, I dont throw them on a weighted T rig, I favor other stick baits that are more durable and less expensive, like a GB Airtail rattler or snake O. A buddy of mine, he used to swear by pegging a senko for pitching into flooded bushes and stuff. Ive seen him take a lot of quality bass on that when nothing else would work. I think the fast straight fall and lack of movement is benefit. It allows the bait to get through cover without getting hung up. I could see that fast fall getting the fish to react.

Very nice, may need to check them out...TY

I definitely prefer PE to leader. A quality braid will last a couple hard seasons of heavy use, cheaper in the long run vs FC I like the increased sensitivity No memory Much stronger and thinner than mono/FC Since there is virtually no memory with PE, you can get away with lighter rods/reels vs mono/FC

I do the best with 1/16 and 3/32. thats what I use most often. I'll go up to 3/16, but its rare.

Ive got too many reels abd a few rods from my childhood that are stll around. Most are Penn SS reels that went through too much with me to discard or sell.

Its a considerably smaller frame than a 150, roughly about the same size as a 70. The shape makes the reel sit slightly higher of the rod, but the frame is so small it remains incredibly palmable, even for someone with small hands. The Met 20 is my favorite all around reel I own, I highly recommend it. Ive never dealt with asian portal, but ive had nothing but good experiences with japanlure shop and digitaka.

They dont claim to be made in the US, just designed. If a reel says designed in the US its a safe its not made in the US. Made in the US is a key billing for any advertisement, so if it doesnt say its almost surely not made here. I was skeptical too. It wasnt until I actually got one in my hand that I was impressed. I dont think there are any other 1pc AL BCs that weigh 5oz or less. The Hundo is a like a heavy duty finesse reel, if that makes sense, like an AL Aldebaran. If you need a heavy duty reel for salt or something, I can see going with some of their bigger reels, but IMO the Hundo is the most interesting offering they have so far, as its unique.

The mag finesse worms are great, theyre more like stick bait IMO. Really like the super hog. Its the perfect size and profile. The swimming fluke jrs are probably my favorite finesse swim jig trailer because of the amount of roll. I dont use them as much anymore, but the mag and standard shaky heads have caught me a lot of fish.

Those are 2 completely different crowds. SLX sells because its a great reel at a good price. Those people dont care as much about where its made. There are more people who are value driven vs quality and chronarch doesn't offer any inherent value over curado mgl. I just dont see where chronarch fits anymore. Its a good reel, but unless Shimano does something out of this world with it and keeps its price relative its not going to sell half of the units per quarter SLX MGL. Im fairly confident curado mgl was a great move on shimanos part to put out a budget chronacrh. The specs and build are virtually the same, but curado is just cheaper. Its main competition is one of the best reels on the market as well, so it doesnt make sense to compete unless its a killer, which chronarch mgl was years and years ago, but not today IMO. I dont know which one got it right, small or large teeth. I can only go by actual results, with reels that see some serious abuse in conditions that are rougher than bass fishing. My gosas have been beat to death and still run very smooth like all of my shimanos, save for one but, that's a bearing issue.

Ive seen rattles spook fish with crankbaits often, but ive found it depends on the body of water rather than conditions. The lake is always dirty, but its slammed with pressure. The vast majority of the time a silent bait will outfish rattles 2 or 3 to 1. Now I can count on 1 hand, the amount of days where I struggled with a rattling JB and crushed with a silent. I dont think it was the water conditions, so much as the mood of the fish. All but one of those days were tough fall days, where it seemed like nothing worked. The first time it happened I just happened to have a Duo 80sp on a spinning rod and after almost 4 hrs of nothing I beat the skunk on the 2nd cast.

GYCB used to make hard baits too. They made a JB that I used to do really well with, I think it was called Tenryu.