GetFishorDieTryin

it shouldn't be bad for what they're charging for it.

Ill always have a small swimbait on a light head and swimjig tied on. 4 or 6 weeks that swimjig may be a 1/16 micro jig with a 3" bubbling shaker, but I'm swimming it.

How do you like that coastal 80?

You need not apologize for anything. The exemplar display of Faith, Grace and Courage whilst waging the most difficult fight of your life is inspiring. I can't speak for everyone, yet I have the utmost confidence that every member BR family who bends the knee and clasps hands regularly, petitions the Lord to grant you and your family, strength, faith, hope and grace, daily. God Bless you and God Bless your family...both of them.

Its happened to me a few times when I engage/disengage the brake shoes on the water. I pay more attention to not dropping the side plate than I do the position of the spool. Its only a few mm difference, but you know right away. When the spool isnt seated completely the brakes and tension arent working correctly and the spool wants to blow up right away.

2 come to mind, 10" bubbling shaker I dont know if most people would consider it large, but compared to the worms I use, its bigger than most. The 7.75" kut tail has caught me some big summer bass.

Tailspins are great. I use the Molix Trago tail spin, which is just small fish shaped chunk of zinc with 3 clevises on it. Water is very shallow here, so I really on use the 1/4oz. I fish it just about every way and it produces. For such a tiny bait, it will cast a mile and sink very fast on slack line.

Sometimes the spool doesn't seat all the way. Try backing the tension and drag way off and reinstall the spool.

I like the older style knobs. Like the knobs with the Shimano plate and the knobs that were stock on the 17 Tatula SV. Not a fan of the AL and other metal knobs that are becoming more popular. Its heavy and cold in the winter. I like the feel of quality EVA, but they have to be cleaned regularly. Cork is my favorite knob material. I should have bought a few more from Geomexus before they stopped making them. Theres a use for shorter handle lengths, especially with spinning gear. It keeps the weight centered and I feel like they have more sensitivity. Some of my LT handles are kind of tacky after 8 years of heavy use, but it doesn't bother me. Try cleaning them with a just a drop of Dawn soap to get oils off.

I like the lower tonnage blanks for spinnerbaits as well.

When I say bottom fishing, I dont mean yo yoing, I mean fishing it like a jig. TN60 was my favorite for the bottom fishing in the winter for years. The Duo Nitro 55 is catching up though. It falls slower than the TN60, yet fast enough to get a reaction and has more shimmy than the TN. The front of the belly is wide enough to stand teh bait up, yet it doesnt stand up as well as a TN. For yo yoing, its got to be a RES. The 3/8s fall slow and the 1/2s are good at covering water. Theres a dizzing array of colors and along with several rattle profiles. That gives you the opportunity to get the right vibration and profile. I rarely just retrieve a lipless straight in, but If I had to choose 1, it would be the Duo Nitro. There should be a suspending/slow sink category as well. I rely on the SV70 all winter and it gets em good.

Over an extended period of time, PE can compress an ovalize. Generally, PE lines with higher number carriers, 8, 9, 16, resist flattening more so than 4 or 5 carriers. Although they will compress, todays PE and super lines have drastically improved since the late 90s and early 2ks. The original Fireline used to flatten like a tiny ribbon, which made the... knots weaker casting range shorten drastically increased drag in water (and air) at certain angles stacked uneven on the spool, forming gaps which would become a nightmare in the dark.

BPS has a ned version for the mini Evo. The Zooms get trashed quick because I cut them down. I really only use them in the summer to keep the bait deep. This one goes back quite a way. Lunker City used to make called a Whiptail. Its like a combination of a Hof Farmers pintail and the Bass Assassin Straight Tailed fluke. Its a perfect size FinS Shad body with a super long and a long skinny tail that gradually tapers to a sharp point.. They're made of a moderate density plastic with little or no salt, which gives it a ton of action. If lunker City starts making them again and they put some real effort into advertising, they would be right there with HFs Pintail, GYCBs Zako.

Not sure on the size of that bait, but you ever check out the Lunker City Salad Spoon?

The coastal is a US reel that has no JDM counterpart. Supposedly the design for the 150SV was heavily influenced by the redfish/trout/snook anglers of the southwest. The deep SV spool would theoretically give you the lightweight castability to throw a 17MR into wind, while having enough capacity for heavy FC or Mono, all in smaller 100 size frame. At that time the SV TWS 103 was well setup for SW right out the box with 5BB (2 CRBB)+1. If you wanted to throw lighter baits on braid the 17 Tatula SV was already there. The Coastal 150 was kind of like the power finesse reel. The 200 was for bigger plugs, jiggin bucktails or metal or drifting eels, all of which it did well. I was always interested in the coastals. Every time I saw someone with one I would pick their brain and play 20 questions. I found both reels were popular, but the 200 was the clear favorite, especially for the guys who fished the deeper water in north jersey and long island. The guys who bought the 200 first almost always bought the 150, but that wasnt the case for guys who bought the 150 first. The 80 is like a deep spooled small frame reel. Its great drifting in the back channel or throwing twiching plugs all day, as its under 7oz and very small, yet it can run heavy line. It also comes stock with 100mm handle, so its easy to chop a loaded plug and you have enough handle to put some muscle into it. The googans complain about the 11lb drag in both the 150 and 80, but the reality is you dont need more than 6 or 7lb, even for 40+" bass or reds. If 11lb isnt enough you're so far under gunned, acidosis is going to claim those better fish you do manage to land.

I was intriuiged by it as well. My preference for the previous line of Tatula Bass is what caused me to take a look, but it was curiosity that was the deciding factor in choosing a Tatula BFS over Major Craft or Phenix. If you want I can send you a picture or video of it loading up, LMK.

Most of the water in my local area are similar. Other than milfoil or coontail there isn't very much submergent grass. The bottoms are soft and loaded with that filamented algae. A standard swimjig needs Good 3 or 4/0 2x wire hook Quality skirt material. I personally like hand tied to keep the skirt open and hold up to a beating. Some like a band, because they remove material and even add a few strands with a sewing needle.' The skirt shouldn't be too thick. Thinner skits move much better and help keep the jig down. I like a brush guard that actually functions, yet doesnt cost you fish. There are a ton of swimjigs that have a guard thats so light its useless. Many swim jigs have a guard, not for reducing snags, but for destabilizing the jig, causing it to roll slightly on a straight retrieve. Lastly the keeper should effectively keep the trailer from sliding down the shank on the hit, which helps you get more mileage out of the trailer. Ive tried a bunch of swim jigs and my go finesse swimjig that will take a smaller 3"-3.5" is... Greenfish Chibi Swim jig. The hook is a custom fine wire, O Shaughnessy bend, 4/0 Gami. The shank is long, but the gap isnt too wide. Despite the small gap I have close to 100% hookup ratio. The hook is so sharp the fish hook themselves. The lightest weight they come in is 5/16 and thats what I use. My favorite trailer is a Zoom swimming super fluke jr and 3.5 swammer. It gives it a ton a roll and keeps the profile small. The Beast Coast Workingman Jig comes close to the Chibi swim. Its a smaller jig with a 2/0 BKK. 2.8" and 3" trailers fit the jig very well. It has giant eyes as well, which I really like. BC has wire tied skirts with a band over the tie to sperate the layers. I like that they use krystal flash and or tinsel in most colors. I use 1/4 and 5/16, it depends on the cover and trailer I'm using. I like the zoom swiming fluke jr on this jig asa well, 2.8 keiechs and want to try the 2.7 and 3.2 new yamamoto swimbait. My favorite all around swim jig is the Greenfish Swim Jig. The head shape coms through grass really well and the recessed eye doesn't collect grass or algae. The brushguard actually protects the hook somewhat. The hook is a Mustad med wire, which is light enough to set the hook at range without a ton of power, but its plenty strong to fish in heavy cover and pull fish out of it. Many swim jigs use hooks that unnecessarily too big and heavy. The heavy wire requires a heavier rod and more effort to set the hook. The skirt is a single layer, which gives it great action and allows you fish a lighter weight compared to heavily skirted swim jigs. The only part about this bait that can be improved IMO is the keeper. Its effective, but its a simple single barb lead collar, just not ideal for skipping. I tie an additional heavy flurocarbon keeper on the shank, which locks the bait it My go to weight is 1/4 like most other swim jigs. My absolute favorite is the 4" swammer, which gives the jig a ton of roll just reeling it in straight.

I got the Tatula 6'10 vertical and really like it. Its like a light+, but the tip is crisp for twitching baits up to 1/4oz. I haven't tried anything heavier.

To be honest the reel I really want is that Coastal 80, especially because Daiwa is getting rid of that Coastal blue, I think it looks great. Issue is the same as Tatula Elite, its double the price of the SV @$300. I was pretty sick for 2 years and still have the medical bills coming out of my ears. A new coastal 80 should come out at icast and a new zillion this year or maybe next.

Appreciate the response KP. FWIW your opinion has some weight to it. I know Zillion is superior in just about every tangible metric. In the spring its goign to throw some cranks and after prespawn its going to be a close quarters reel for skipping and pitching. Size wise, that's kind of how I thought they would compare in my head. Its just been a long time since Ive had a Zillion in my hand and wasn't sure if I recalled correctly. I was messing around with the zillion at TD when my buddy introduced me to the last Hundo they had, which made me forget all about that Zillion. I was checking out, which is where the high end reels are, and Im glad the Hundo was a lefty because at that point I was already in for a record total. Yes. I had an older 103 as well, and liked it. I wound up trading it for some a few plugs that are insanely hard to find and what would be close to $200 of beautifully tied Jetty Caster like bucktails. I would make that trade again for just the bucktails as quality bucktail for larger jigs are extremely scarce.

I always liked the Tatulas, but I was never crazy about the ergonomics of the reels. The bulge around the level wind just made a small 100 sized reel feel like a blocky 150. Ive never fished an Elite, but have fished with guys using them and the distance was impressive. Daiwa did a great job with the new Tatula frames. Its small, the grip is intuitive and very comfortable. My hang up with the new Elite is its price point. Its up there for a Tatula. With tax your pushing $350 and at that point, it makes sense to spend another $50 and go for a JDM Steez.

To anyone who owns both the Zillion SV and new(ish) Tatula SV, how do they compare in size? I love the way the Tatula 100 frame palms. I have handled the Zillion before, and liked the way it felt, but I don't remember it being as ergonomic in my hand as the Tat 100/SV. Other thab weight, what advantage does the Zillion have over the Tatula SV? Just trying ot figure out if the $60 is worth it or not. TYIA

Ive used the fluke sticks and done really well with them. I could see using mag tricks or mag bull worms for sure. Ive been lookin into the 6th sense boosa worms for something close to a bubbling shaker. When bubbling shakers were $6 a pack, I used to use a 7" on the project Zs and they worked great. The 5"s will work, but the body on the 7" is wider and gives the bait a better profile. The plastic is light and neutrally buoyant, which gives it crazy action. The problem is that they only last a couple fish.

The closest thing I use to a worm on a bladed jig is a fluke stick. Other than that I use spunk shads, AFG gills, straiht tail jerkbaits and the BC bladerunner

Although the swimjig is a 3, or more-season bait, I've found the most productive time for them is late and post spawn, specifically fish guarding fry. I like to use a swimjig in tandem with a Free/T rig or mojo rig. I cover water with the swim jig and target specific cover or areas with the t/free rig.