GetFishorDieTryin

Didnt get to fondle a whipsnake until last year and was very impressed. They were next to the new SC LTBs and IMO the Orochi looked and felt superior in every way, really liked how stout it was. With a Luvias FC that must be one of the best combos for the $. If it were me I would go with the SH. It would be a good soft plastic or deeper water finesse. If I were to need something heavier then SH I go to casting gear.

I would go with Miravel, if you want to stay USDM. JDM Stradic FM would be the upgrade. Still going to be noticeably heavier then MIravel, but as far as refinement for the money I dont think you can beat Stradic. They run super smooth and the worm gear gives you outstanding line management which helps casting distance with lighter baits.

No expereince with Miravel, but have had Stradics for forever. The roller bearings can get loud fast, I recommend using bushings if its going to see SW often. Strange about the drag sticking. Try taking the stack out and see if it got wet. Really the water and salt buildup shouldn't cause much damage, but if there was sand in the spray that's a different story. Take the drag stack apart and look for sand or debris. If there's a bunch of sand you should do deep clean if you want that reel to last.

IMO its not a stretch to say that, legit gamechanger for sure. Other then the Senko, I dont think any other bait has had such an effect in a small period of time.

Other than the prespawn jig bite the winter is my most productive time to throw a jig. I get better numbers on a little swimbait or grub and ned rig, but I can stay competitive with a small football head, like a keitech/little spotty/ BCs sniper. The key for me steep banks with isolated cover, near relatively deeper water on sunny days.

I fish off jettys and run into stripers over 10lbs regularly with #8 and #10 PE, just use a leader and some common sense and you wont have breakage issues. Braid floats, so unless youre fishing a really tight angle under a bridge or around rocks, the leader will take the damage.

A3 Anglers have a really tough plastic. Its essentially elaztech without salt, which makes it super bouyant. Problem is the majority of their plastics are BFS sized.

Little to no rock locally, so when I get the chance I always take advantage of it and grind a swing head through.

Had a chance to fondle a bunch of them, even the fiberglass ones. I like the blanks and the fit/finish of the rod coming out of Fresnillo has improved tremendously. Personally, I'm not a fan of the new grips and the look/feel of the locking nuts was a little clunky, but it really all comes down to preference. That price point and slightly higher to 200$ is stacked with solid products. If I was set on a SC I would go with a Victory. If you arent set on Tatula is a good option.

The Tatula 7' M F is one of the best all purpose rods ive ever picked up. It will cover just about anything you need a spinning rod to do. The 3/4 rating is a bit optimistic IMO. If you need something heavier go with the MH.

Its hard to compare the Mojo to the Premier. SC used to have really consistent rating system throughout every line of rods, now they're all different. The Triumph and Premier blanks have soft tips where the Mojos are feel faster as a whole, as the mojo uses a higher quality graphite. Ive got an old pre IPC 7' M F premier I use every now on then for blues. Its rated 1/4-5/8 and its fairly accurate, Ive gotten away with pushing 3/4 of tin, but the rod feels like a stiff MH. If you compare that rod to the current 7' M Premier, you would see the only thing they share in common is the paint scheme.

I fish 95% FC with casting gear. Even within brands the difference of 1 FC to another can be vast. Like Red Label is a decent line, but as you get up to #15 or more it really has memory and doesn't like cold water. When you go up to InvizX, the handling is much better and it doesnt want to tighten up as much in cold water. To me its worth the extra money.

I would lean towards the Tatula in F action, far more versatile than an XF IMO.

I get away with #12 InvizX from time to time, but for my dedicated jig and t rig rod I use #15. I really like braid and the advantages it offers, but I don't like how noisy it is in cover. The ability to work through grass is great, but when it digs into wood, it causes problems.

August-Nov can be really inconsistent as far as the bite goes. Its a time of year when grinding the rest of the day with a couple baits that did well the week before is just a waste of time, IMO. Ive found downsizing to be really effective. Small JBs, 1/4oz traps, 1/4 buzzbaits and small spinnerbaits, more times then not, out fish their full size counterparts, both in term of quantity and quality. If down sizing the paddletail doesnt help, try going to a straight tail swimbait or even a straight tail 4" worm.

Cranks are such a rabbit hole when you first get into them. Silent cranks consistently outproduce rattles in my area. Getting the crank to the right depth is more important IMO then having the right crank shape. 2 inexpensive cranks I use and do really well with are the KVD shallow 1.5 and the LC silent 1.5 when the fish or cover is a little deeper. After you fish those 2 for a while and get a little more familiar with the kind of performance you want out of a bait, then get a little deeper into shapes and actions.

Me too. There other spinning reel covers that are as good or better, but their casting reel covers are by far my favorite.

Yeah, getting sick of Lews and Abu and KK winning the clone wars.

There arent that many FW spinning rods that are going to fish a 3/8 jig like a BC rod. The action and power you're looking for is more readily available with Inshore rods. I would be looking for a rod with 5/16-1oz range or 3/8-3/4 at the lightest, as an underpowered rod is going to cost you fish and when bites are few and far between it can really be aggravating.

My guess was 4 and change in the store, its a legit 5, it literally feels like an Alde 50 in hand, but more solid.

Thanks for posting the vid. Its a neat little reel. Couldn't believe the size and weight, it was next to a Tatula 70 and it made the 70 look big. I was curious about the brakes, but I had spent 2hr in the store and a whole lot of money. As I was checking out, a guy I know who works there was like, "look at what we just got in." I was in there 2hrs, had spent a whole lot of money and I had a tide to catch, so I didn't get to ask too many questions. They had the raw frames on display w/o the side plate, it actually looks similar to a Met.

To be honest for KVD 1.5s and other shallow SBs I prefer a 7' M F that has a good tip. I like to have a little bit of rigidity to the rod when bouncing a crank off cover. For a reel I like a lower 6 like a 6.3. My favorite SB reel is my Met MGL. The lighter spool helps with lighter SBs like the KVD or IMA Bill Lowen. Obviously you don't need to spend all that money on a Met, an SLX MGL would be a good alternative.

Was at TD earlier today and got my hands on a Bates Hundo. This thing was unreal. They're tiny, makes a Met look big and it uses a 1pc solid AL frame and @ 5oz it feels like nothing in you're hand. The build quality was impressive as well. Didnt hear of this company until a couple weeks ago and now Im tempted to check one out.

Cranks can be tough on reels, but that Stradic should handle a 1.5 without issues, you just have to take good care of it and keep it lubed. Shimano uses a coating on their gears and that will wear off quicker using cranks. The Stradic is one of the most popular reels out there. If you go to any jetty during the spring or fall bass run in north jersey or LI you're going to see multiple guys tossing 1oz+ metal lips and darters with Stradics in current and sweep that you wont see in FW and those reels, hold up fine, you just have to maintain them. Granted those guys are using 4 and 5k reels, but the weight of the plugs they throw is more than double. Gear ratio plays a factor as well. You want to the lowest ratio you can get to get max torque and the USDM Shimano reels don't cater to that at all.

Thats what the LMB around here do when they don't have the option of moving deeper in the lake. Not too many SMB around here, not sure how they respond, but I would think there are similarities.