bulldog1935

That's a niche I don't fish - freshwater UL spinning. Instead, my rods are 7'6" and 7'9" Japanese rockfish rods rated from 0.5 g to 5 g, 0.6 to 6 g. NS Black Hole is a really good Korean rod maker - they target Japan market, and their rod quality is higher than their price level. The Seoul vendor on ebay only lists their highest-grade UL rods. Valleyhill is another rod maker that fits that niche (based in China and targeting Japan market - they also make Whiplash Factory). They offer Accustream in 5' and 5'6" (FishingShop.kiwi seems to have the lead on Valleyhill rods in Japan, and note they charge $40 shipping) 13Fishing Defy Silver could be a great choice, also.

Cetus stands alone in that niche. No one else makes a reel that picks up where Alecdo Micron left off,. Cetus took it to the next level in modern computer design and balancing. It's choice for under 4-lb mono and PE#0.5 and smaller. The Cetus above got dressed up with a Daiwa SLP Works double handle and Avail knobs. My first one fished 7 hard years in salt XUL. Landed too many nite-lite fish to count, and seatrout to 23" on 4-lb Kamikaze salt copolymer. Tica reels in general are a great buy and built to fish hard - they build a fair portion of Daiwa's reels, and have built offshore reels since 1960.

I would say yes, they swap, since the same Avail spool fits both reels

We take advantage of winter glass minnows in tide passes and under dock lights for inshore. Speckled trout will hit a larger flashy lure for slashing into bait balls, but both redfish and snook will only sip the correct size bait. Micro-jigs and micro trout plugs (w/ hook swap to plug singles) shine here, 30 mm to 45 mm, weight 3 to 5 g.

My 13Fish Omen Green ML - it's the least expensive rod I fish, very fast, and I feel every blade of grass through it.

I figure this doesn't help the value - the value is in the reel itself, but Don's signature could make the difference in someone choosing it over a different example.

Seems like you gotta at least try it - it's in the top 3 spinning reels Abu offers.

Very specifically, Daiwa intends Zero tension on the spool spindle, which is why they call it Zero Adjust. 1 mm side play is where I set all my CT surf reels. The measurement is not critical, simply the existence of Any discernible side play is critical. I tighten until I can't feel side play (spool must be in freespool). Then I loosen to where I first notice side play. As far as casting distance goes, it should always be read as casting effort. A lower-effort cast is a more accurate and reliable cast.

@Phil77 Collected along the way, the Avail brake cap and AMO thumb clutch are easy and inexpensive swaps (same parts as Revo). The Livre handle was a special effort, but I had two reels that benefited from the handle purchase. The long handle went on the high-geared SD with a Livre FF (27 mm) knob, and the big EP37 knob that came on the handle went on a carbon handle on the low-geared Caiman for offshore jigging (1-4 g) - really took the torsion out of gripping this rod. The 14-g big titanium knob replaced a 45-g pot-metal knob that came on the inexpensive carbon handle - back when Gomexus was cheap - $15.

I replaced three A/R dogs on old BB1-NG - instant A/R is much better. To me, it makes more sense to buy a high-grade Lew's than a low-grade Shimano. Everybody knows I remain a big fan of Super Duty G. It's Lew's centrifugal brake I don't really have a niche for, mainly throwing 3/16 to 1/2 oz ps - I just discovered I can buy the R/S plate for my 1500C (CI) from ereplacement parts to convert it to IAR, and I'm going to make the effort, because it's worth it to take out the drive freeplay and A/R dog.

@DitchPanda no question, Woodford double oak was my favorite out of that line up. The Matusalem was the 18yo - they were out of the 23 last year, and I left the bottle at Josh's digs - it should be a lot better this year. (also found a bottle of 23 for our Arroyo trip last December)

Nothing is as thirst-quenching after a long bike ride as a sour ale - liquid bread for calories, and your body is craving the lambic flavor. Our week-long redfish rodeo is coming up in 2 weeks, and we'll be sitting around the firepit, smoking cigars and sipping single-cask bourbon. But nothing goes better with a cigar than neat rum - the sugar fights off nicotine head. Rum is also the only spirit that gets better after the bottle is opened.

I'll vote for Stradic as the all-time best buy in a workhorse spinning reel. Here are the JDM sizes

1917 Hardy St George 2002 J.W, Young Revolution (s/n 94, made in final month of 107 years) Zzeta frame for Ambassadeur 4500CT

Holy cow, plug into a regional kayak fishing forum. (and decide to make friends) From TKF friendships over a dozen years, we go out in force, and our annual redfish rodeo is coming up in 2 weeks. Lunch Beach on Talley Island (ok, we have a 2' storm tide here, but the bottom is hardpack)

You can make a pretty good rod keeper from swivel-snap, paracord (here coreless), cord locks and buckles, and bungee. You can buy it all on Amazon. My knots are seized with PE/acrylic film tape, or get really salty and seize with twine. (Robline whipping twine even comes with the needle) Rods out of sight stay clipped to a keeper. Snap to a hard point, or if you have an anchor trolley, they'll glide on the trolley line and you can make the keeper really short. I never take more than 2 rods in the river because of the extra attention the boat needs. (Redfish 10) I'll take 3 on the salt flats. (T160)

@FishTank yes, Seaguar Gold is thinner, harder, more abrasion-resistant, lower memory. I use 30- and 40-lb on my surf reels, but our OP sounds like he's asking someone to recommend Seaguar Blue.

honestly, didn't see your question, and doesn't seem to quite fit the thread context - also just noticed the 8 years. A few people seemed to like my simple analysis of handle length. Sustain is a nice reel. I like counter-balanced handles on lighter spinning, and have Livre Union with favorite EF30 knob on my Twin Power 3000MHG. It was a rock-solid swap. My Stradic 5000, well, I'd give you the 2-oz rubber knob that came on it. I wanted longer than the 57 mm in near-offshore niche, and used a Daiwa 65-mm handle with IOS SD converter and 14-g Livre EP37 knob. ... @df81 '19 Shimano/Yumeya catalog. Your new Sustain will swap handle with '18 Stella and newer Shimano, H-11 handle. Everything older uses H-1 or H-2 handle. If your Sahara is older than the new Sahara FI - that's definitely the wrong handle. However, if you just swapped the knobs, side-play in the knob is either caused by needing a fractional-mm shim washer, or not getting the outer bearing completely seated on the knob shaft.

Since no one else said it yet - Seaguar Blue Label. Tough, elastic, superior knot strength.

People Never get this on BR. The gears in a reel are the same as a transmission in a car - they don't produce anything, they reduce torque into speed. What you put in through the handle is the motor. When you increase the length of the handle, you're putting in more torque and lower rpm. When you decrease the length of the handle, you're putting in less torque and more rpm. I tune every one of my reel handles by gear ratio. Longer handles on higher-geared reels, shorter on low-geared reels. It improves lure finesse and fish power in the higher-geared reels and pick-up speed on lower gears. An internet friend put a long double handle on a low-geared spinning reel, and discovered he couldn't keep up with charging bass and trout. Handle length is Directly related to gear ratio. Longer handles slow down the reel and shorter handles speed them up. Specifically, it doesn't change the IPT, it changes the distance of the T (IPT = I/T - it works out in the math). The rpm difference - on a longer handle, you wind with more arm, on a shorter handle, with more wrist.

That's one heck of a conservation career, to give constructive criticism to others - not. The definition of a control freak is one who offers unsolicited advice. It's especially remarkable when they have no knowledge of the people they're criticizing, the skills and commitments those people may possess. Sooner or later, this topic appears on every fishing forum, always with bad result.

um, you start this thread without starting? Where's your example? I'll go for prettiest, Valleyhill Tideraker with upgraded Shimano Twin Power Though they call this seabass ML, it's more wide-range MM/MH

When it's worth the effort is when you have a reason to move a line to a different reel/spool; e.g., you want a different line on the current source reel. A couple of clamp rod holders sure helps here. Loosen the drag on the source reel to feed line.

In spite of mercury warnings, eating stripers from our tailwater is fair payback. John's state record was helped by the 5 rainbows in its gullet, up to 18" Stripers routinely snag rainbows coming to the net.

Also note, USM Stradic 1000FL is JDM Stradic C2000SHG - same-same. C1000S in JDM is 3-mm smaller spool diameter, low gearing. JDM C2000S Vanquish next to JDM 1000S Stradic (both with aftermarket upgrades) here's the JDM skinny - 3 frame sizes, which you can pick out by the weight