bulldog1935

The needs for backing on spinning reels and bait reels are different. In the case of a baitcaster, you can improve casting by using very large diameter mono backing. The idea is keeping the spool mass down, because that big line has poor stacking efficiency on the small spool. You end up with 20 yds or so 20-lb mono to fill the spool a little over halfway, then up to 100 yds of 20-lb braid (e.g.) on top. This improves casting compared to loading the spool completely with braid or with fluoro. With a spinning reel, the mass is less important than getting good line lay on the spool. The longest cast comes from flat line lay on a spool as full as possible, without hour-glassing, bulging, or a cone-shaped line lay result. These are caused by errors in line lay adding up as the spool fills up. Trying to fill a deep spinning spool with line that's too large can give bulging - too small diameter can give hour-glassing and reverse cone line lay result. Flat line lay helps you avoid "wind knots" on spinning reels, which are caused by multiple loops of line coming off the spool at the same time. (Loose line lay is the worst culprit for wind knots - see manual bail technique for how to eliminate wind knots altogether.) Left is braid only on a 3000 shallow braid spool, and right is a good result with 125 yds 10-lb fluoro on a deep 2500 spool. The reason I picked the spool on the right to show with mono, it both hour-glassed and reverse-coned when I tried loading thin finesse braid over mono backing on a 2nd spool - the mechanism just doesn't like the fine stuff. This will still fish, but not as well as either spool above.

You have to match the spools with the maker and specific frame. Shimano gives a specific spool number to match models and especially spool pitch. E.g., From Stradic to Stella after 2018 all swap spools in the same frame size. Since I'm replying, here are 4000- and 5000-frame spools, made to match PE#2 and PE#1.5 The frame and pitch are Shimano S-28. https://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/default/language/en/cPath/2174_916_1440/optional-parts/shimano-yumeya/yumeya-custom-spool.html

KDW on newer Super Duty (left), but it's hard to see for the Studio Composite handle. Tough to beat this reel for fishing 1/4 to 1/2 oz with long casts, and it casts 1/8 oz surprisingly well. Found a ZPI cap, also, but no luck on a cool star drag. On the right is the cheap AMO thumb-button on my older SD - anything is an improvement over the stock Lew's plastic button. All of my salt bait reels have KDW titanium handle nut (or screw), as well.

We're on the subject of spools, the real difference isn't the cheap plastic giveaways, but quality back-up spools that are designed to achieve perfect line-lay with different lines and capacities. Shimano and Daiwa both do this well, though Shimano does it better, offering more choices and making them easier to find. This is the same reel, new from the box with a shallow braid spool and, and on the right after a bit of customizing, shown with a deep mono spool. As I said, Shimano makes this easy, identifying spool by PE# (standard in Japan using traditional silk thread diameter) or lb-test fluoro - on the left is a PE#0.6 spool, on the right is an F-6 spool. BTW, To prevent your braid from slipping, tie the basic arbor knot, then stick it down with the thinnest tape you can find - I like the acrylic/PE tape - essentially mylar.

yes, I use 2' leaders on micro-guide rods - I put a loop on everything to loop-on paper clips, micro-swivel titanium traces and sacrificial tippet. My surf leaders are 8' and 10', and I have some inshore rods made for braid that the guides were selected to pass longer leaders easily This is a 1" surgeons loop on salt finesse - big enough to pass a 3" cigar cork, and 8" titanium wire bite trace on the right. My Allbright knots will shoot through microguides quite well - they've been shooting fly rod snake guides 40 years.

@QUAKEnSHAKE With Duel X-wire PE#0.8, I had no problem fitting 100 m of 16-lb test braid.

Yours is easy - directions here on Hedgehog https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/1734 Most Shimano and Abu are simple - all you need to do is remove the spool to get to the screws. This is the ugly one, and Daiwa is also this complicated https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/2110 @redmeansdistortion yeah, I was working on that, and coffee at the same time...

From your list, I would take the J-Braid. I'll agree with others that Sufix 832 is rounder and better-behaved than most braids. The better braids I use include Florida Fishing Products (likely Varivas), YGK on spinning, and Duel X-wire on baitcaster.

best fluorocarbon leader I've used is YGK. V12 especially for abraision resistance. Seaguar Blue and Gold are close to these, and I would recommend Seaguar Gold for improved abrasion resistance. adding a ps - the most limp and most abraision-resistant fluorocarbon main line I've tried is Toray ExThread.

The square carton prevents the round rod tube from rolling halfway off the conveyor. For multipiece rods, the triangle tube the post office gives away works even better. I've shipped dozens of valuable rods properly packed (in a rod tube) inside Priority Mail triangle tubes and never had one damaged.

They call it a reel stand, but its primary function is a hook keeper This one is Tsubaki President, and that treble is on a 6" offshore plug.

My buddy Lou somehow bought two Twin Power reels from AP. They arrived on consecutive days, and AP wouldn't pay for return shipping. So I bought it from Lou. Nice reel.

watch this gent's reverse spiral cast - you can practice this in your back yard or driveway. Adding a ps here, my best skipping combo is definitely a moderate action rod - S-glass blend, optimized for 1//2 oz, and will cast down to 1/8 oz The reel brakes were set up on initial build and never need changing.

if that were true, it would be a thrust bearing rather than a radial bearing. It's there to pin radial deflection in the spindle from pinion gear loads. Torsion on long spindles creates bending deflection. Here are classic winding plate designs with thrust bearings. In both reels, the spindle rides in a bushing.

The king of bushing reels lasted 100 years in tournament casting. But it was it replaced in just 10 years once ball bearing spools were available. http://www.realsreels.com/customABURecordreelsDaveBrown.html And just like ball bearings, not all bushings were created equal. Benchmade Meek, Shakespeare, Jack Welch Heddon and Talbot made excellent reels that likely still have good bushings if you find one today, 100 years later. you couldn't count on equivalent performance or life from Enterprise or Pflueger from the same time period as those great tournament casting reels.

My buddy Josh took this photo. There's a 19-1/2" redfish making a good run against my spring-scale-set drag. It shows how long the fast mid is on this rod. I have the 7'7" spinner, there is added heavy butt, but even longer soft tip. I'm not sure how close the bait rod would be, but really don't notice the soft tip on the 7'1" bait rod except in its light-end casting ability.

@NorthernBasser oops - I checked 13Fishing - they're OOS. Tackle Warehouse carries them, but they're also OOS on the ML, both 6'8" and 7'1" Sorry.

My ML niche is most often 3" Z-man Minnow-Z on 1/8-oz Texas-Eye jigheads.

It's sold as a saltwater rod, but Omen Green ML is in stock and affordable. It's one you couldn't pry from my hands, etc. (and Eric, you know I have spendier rods to choose...) Fishing 1/8 oz inshore, I can feel blades of grass in this rod.

@redmeansdistortion has the best lead for you. When I order from hedgehog studios in Japan, I remember to throw them in with my larger orders. https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product-list/284

Lew's Super Duty G and ZPI Alcance (I'm guessing some Revo's as well) have 3. There's a third BB in the spool tension cap. Note, however, the spool cap bearing doesn't engage the spool spindle at all during casting - it functions as the pinion gear bearing during cranking. Certainly one reel and one application niche is no statistical sample. If there is a such thing as a dumb question, it would be one that wasn't asked as a question, but masked as a dumb opinion. I can present two backlash-proof improved-BB reels that will both cast from 1/16 oz to over an ounce, and both without making reel adjustments over the weight range. The braid-raced Ambassadeur is also the best skipping reel I've ever used.

Actually this tool and the Roro copy is the only one that can reach the pin on a Daiwa floating spool without full end flanges - the spool bearing is recessed into the spool hollow. Same holds for Lew's SP, which is the spool in the left photo.

This thread is all over the place for need a 2nd rod and reel (baitcast) with X-budget. I'll second the Zillion SV TW recommendation - the SV-TW-G is listed on Amazon. May want to study bottom contact rods on this forum page to pick a rod that will gain you the most.

Keeping the dust (even the salt) off your spare spinning spools isn't tough if you store them in the right-size spool cans. When you apply drag grease, especially to new carbontex washers, make sure you get the inside and outside thickness. Wet everything with the grease, then remove everything you can - you just want the film with no extra grease.

What's limited in aftermarket Chinese handles is they're just about all 120 mm long. That's a long handle, 60 mm pitch (even 50 mm pitch). You don't get a choice, and can't tune the handle length to the reel gearing. You may get tired of cranking lures on that long handle, and with a low-geared reel, may actually lose the ability to keep up with a charging fish. That happened to a friend who put a Gomexus double handle on a small low-geared spinning reel, and he was losing both trout and bass because of it. Gomexus, btw, offers an 85-mm or 95-mm length carbon baitcast handle. They also offer the handle without the knobs, and length choice, so you can pick your own knobs. (Matches Shimano A and Daiwa S knobs, but not Abu/Lew's knobs, which take 5-mm spindles) Handle length choice is new to Gomexus - they're getting smarter, and these are worth recommending. Admitted high-grade reels and high-grade handles, super-light, with titanium spindles and carbon knob tubes - here are examples of Japanese handles, available in different lengths, and tuned where I like reels with different gearing: 88 mm Studio Composite handle on Steez 6.3 gears, and 105 mm Avail handle on Zillion 8,5 gears. Here's a 60-mm pitch handle on my offshore jigging reel, low-geared, but large diameter (23 IPT), and where you want extra leverage for lifting big fish. Also note, this single handle lets you choose between 60-mm and 75-mm pitch when you install it. Not recommending this, just using the example. They're not tuning parts unless you think about it. And you can tune your reel in the wrong direction if you don't think about it. A handle that bends? Totally Unacceptable. Don't Even Consider It. Form should follow function - don't get hung up on looks.