GetFishorDieTryin

The kind braid matters as well and I dont mean brand specific. For spinning gear I like a light, whispy braid, but casting gear I want something that's has some stiffness to it. Just like spinning gear, you dont want to take up loose braid with casting gear, while its minor, the line will dig.

I love throwing Greenfish's Chibi swim jig on a M F. The hooks is so sharp and thin the fish hook themselves, but the weed guard and wire dia is too thin to actually fish it in anything heavier than moderate grass. Off the top of my head, I would suggest trying Beasts Coasts compact SJ. Its a small SJ, but its got a strong enough hook and the weed guard is effective without being too heavy.

Tough to beat twin tail. I like GYCBs, but for smaller jigs I prefer Keitech or Reins. Theyre much lighter which I think gives smaller jigs a little better action when dragging them. Damikis Air Craws are great too and I really like Jackalls 3.5 Chunk Craws

Good deal...They're worth their weight in gold, especially for JBs. I was wrong the sizes, green is S and orange XS, but they fit vision 110 and 110 jr respectively. The green ones are probably the most versatile, they will fit 8s, but the orange ones fit a little better. If you like to use EWG trebles, like the KVD triple grips they take you treat it like its a hook 1 or 2 sizes bigger. I crush the vast majority of my barbs and have found it makes no difference. If you look at the evolution of hooks, the barbs have gotten progressively smaller over the years, particularly the higher quality designs of Japanese manufacturers.

Nice...Im sorry I should have mentioned this earlier, but you want the small for the Jrs and med (green) for the standard.

To be honest I have no idea. Ive never held an Alphas in my hand and Ive got less than 3 hours fishing with a buddy's coastal 80 and 200. I do recall asking him about the 2 because I was interested in the 80 and he said he liked the 200 more than the 80 and his Coastal SV, which he didnt have with him. The 200 was really nice, its fairly small, but the spool is deep and its got a nice power handle which was great for jigging (which is what we were doing). There are several people on here who are alphas fans, and they would know the ins and outs much better than me. What I do know is that an Alphas will come with a short handle, probably 80 or 85mm and they have a smaller frame than a zillion.

I think there great, I love mine. The JDM versions are a little more difficult to dial in for beginners, but still forgiving. If you dont have the side plate in correctly then you can really run into issues with the brakes.

If you replace the belly treble with a duo and the rear treble with a light wire you can get away with fishing stump fields. If its really thick or Im unfamiliar with the lake, ill replace both trebles with duos.

Invest in some Owner Saftey Caps. They help keep the hooks sharp.

Tatula AGS would make a good ned rod.

While I don't love Fazlite for multiple reasons, its a fairly resilient material and in the blue color (which Ark uses in many lines) make cracks easier to spot. I had less than ideal experience with Arks customer service, but in the end, they did everything they could to make it right. Check all the parts around the level wind of you're reel to make sure there aren't any burrs or hard edges. Are you using a course rag to add tension to the line during spooling?

What do you hate about it?

While its not a higher end reel, the Coastal 80 is essentially what you described. Its a small power reel with a deep spool. Pretty sure its based on a Tatula though.

I think this applies to most every one lol.

Thats a tough one, but If I only had 2... Airtail Rattler Biffle Bug

I was referring to auto trip, which all decent reels over size 4k have done away with for the most part. AR switches started to disappear a long time ago on Shimanos designs. Even the lower end reels have drags that are smooth enough at low pressures to make AR toggles redundant. Whats the sense of paying the extra money for a reel with Magseal, X protect/Core protect and so on, when the water can bypass all the seals, via entry through an AR toggle. I fish in the rain and surf often with reels that have a toggle. I just pack it with grease, and it works well enough as long as I don't dunk it.

I would love for that happen to happen, but I have my doubts. Auto bail trip on a high end reel is like a Harley with training wheels. Auto trip should have been scrapped decades ago, which is why I have a hard time believing it's going to disappear soon.

Yes, fair at the very least. Look at the success of the Stradic Ci4/Vanford line here in the USDM, even the color scheme has been widely copied. You have to take into consideration the context of the video, which was a buyers guide for a budget (200$) combo and Miravel is the only Shimano option in that price range that can be remotely considered a finesse reel. but Miravel and Nasci were the best comparison he could make that fit the criteria of the video.

I understand what Matt is trying to say, the context he's using is just at a price point that doesn't demonstrate his logic as well as a higher PP or even different company, particularly the JDM FC and Airity reels. There's no question that there is a difference between the 2 styles and a spectrum that exists, which allows both kinds of reels to have similar attributes, its just as pronounced in the USDM market...yet anyway.

2500 and 3ks are virtually the same size wise, a 3k is a couple mm wider according to a Daiwa rep when I inquired about swapping LT 2500 and 3k spools, so there is a difference there. IMO the biggest difference relative to the way it they fish is the length of the handle and the knob style. I like shorter handles for finesse baits Im moving with the reel and longer handles for baits I'm moving with the rod, shakey heads/t rigs, or high speed/power moving baits (which hare very few and far between for me.) As for line any decent 8 or 10lb braid has a breaking strength of closer to 12 and 15lb respectively which is more than enough as my highest drag pressure for FW bass rarely exceeds 4 lbs.

If I could only have 1 it would be a senko. Second would either be a jig or a T rigged palmetto bug, I could chop a dozens of skips and still never tear the bait.

It pretty much is, I think.

Try pegging the weight a foot or 16' above the hook, the lightest weight you can possibly get away with, really a mojo rig. I feel like I have more time to set the hook with a lighter weight because there's less resistance when the fish swims off with the bait. As a kid, I used to use tubes with an earplug stuffed inside to slow the fall, it would make a difference in getting bit or not when the water is in the mid 30s or low 40s, but its going to cause you to lose some fish. I would suggest trying a smaller floating stickbait, like a Zmans 4" hula stick. Some people like big baits in the winter, but in the colder parts of the country the majority of bait in the water that's active are small. Try a lighter wire hook, when it gets cold their mouth hardens a good bit and a thinner wire will get better penetration.

You can get a 13 Omen Black and an Exceler LT. You would have to spend another 10$, buts it 100% worth it for the lighter reel and as for the rod 80$ for that blank and components is great.

TW has Okumas X Series for 200$ 46t blank with sic guides and super light, nothing else even comes close to that quality for the price. Ark also has BOGO one their Vipers which are supposedly solid rods.