bulldog1935

I sold my centrifugal brake reels (not counting Abu CTs) , because I just don't throw enough weight (outside of surf) for them to be an advantage. They work best at preventing start-up backlash, but cost distance through mid cast, especially with lighter lures. Specifically, I discovered in embarrassment my mag-brake Super Duty would cast 1/8 oz much farther and with better wind control than a Lew's SP I set up just for the 1/8 oz niche. Sold my Tournament Pro, also, and bought another Super Duty at current sale price.

But you can see in new Zillion and Steez, Daiwa is also doing it in deep 1016 size, which is definitely not BFS. However, the bearing improvement should improve this spool performance at the light end. The benefits of reducing spool inertia occur controlling both start-up and mid-cast wind backlash, and improved distance. There's no reason to write off anyone's good result. The OP asked about spool bearing upgrades, and he hasn't received much support for his question.

we repeat this same thread every few weeks. The two sides are 1) keep factory shielded bearings, clean and re-lube them. 2) use unshielded low-inertia spool bearings, and add your own performance oil as needed. Both sides report excellent results with their preference, and no benefit to the other side's approach. I'm quite sure this trend will continue. FWIW, Daiwa has compromised with low-inertia shelded micro bearings on all their higher grade spools.

If you want a micro-sized UL reel in the tradition of Alcedo and Cargem, the only one made today is Tica Cetus - I have one that fished my salt XUL niche ten years and is still going. This reel is not going to have the smooth of a Vanford 500, but makes up for it in balls - the little reel above has landed too many big seatrout to count, and a couple of snook. This is the only good photo I have of a newer one, and this one has been pimped with a fancy Daiwa handle. Capacity is just right for 2- to 4-lb mono/fluoro, and it has a great ball-bearing line roller.

I think the most versatile reel you'll find in your combo price, easiest to cover a wide lure weight range with minimum fuss, will be a Daiwa Tatula SV. Even better would be to go offshore and pay about the same for a Daiwa Alphas SV TW - Asian Portal has good stock currently, and in the gear ratio you want. The non-linear SV mag brake gives you the advantage of centrifugal brake for preventing start-up backlash, and lighter linear mag brake for wind control and improved cast distance. I don't have a rod recommendation for you, other than moderate-fast action will probably cover the widest lure range. The one I bought recently doesn't fit your budget.

If you have a range of gear like most folks will, you should be able to recognize the difference in the feel and performance of the higher end gear. If you can't, then more power to you - buy something less expensive. Professionals are going to fish with gear provided by their sponsors, and they don't care how long it lasts, there's more where that came from. If you do the math, spending for 3 versaltile rods to take on your kayak may cost less than loading your bass boat with a dozen combos for different focused niches. Adding to @desmobob - if he's searching for a word, it's gestalt. The trip, the friends, the meals, the time on the water, even the function of the gear - when you lose track of catching fish, they're just the gravy. Yes, catching fish is the goal, but don't miss the rest because of too high a priority on the fish.

You all think? - again, clairvoyance is very unlikely. The state of braided lines in 1881 Silk was used for finer lines, and linen cuttyhunk for squidding lines to 100-lbs. Braid to mono leader is certainly nothing new. The first monofilament leader was silk gut - they pulled a silkworm apart to make it. You had to soak it overnight, and take it fishing on carded storage spools inside a cast tin, with a wet wool pad to keep it moist. Note these gut leaders are made to loop on - they come with a pre-tied loop at each end. What's new is the composition and manufacture of woven and fused polyethylene fiber; postwar nylon; and fluorocarbon in the new millennium. But the process is so old, Japanese PE# for sizing braid is the same scale they established for woven silk thread. Even fishing tiny diameter thread in XUL goes back before WWII - it was called threadlining first in prewar UK, and has its separate histories on every side of every shore. Prewar freespool finesse baitcaster with shallow balsa arbor and 4-lb braided silk.

I doubt if anyone wonders, except maybe about putting money where mouth pontificates. I've caught many nice bass on this, and it's a hoot to fish - especially morning topwaters - even those "sinking" buzz baits that are supposed to need faster reels - it's just not go-to. Braided silk lasts indefinitely if you dry it on your line winder every trip. Hell, in 1871, Doc Henshall offered the first bass rod that was less than 12' - and solid wood.

There's a reason the Fuji tag on a new rod helps to sell that rod.

@NoShoes I have to admit to loving to tie leader knots (I've been rolling great allbright knots for 48 years of fly fishing). Every one is a challenge to be better than the last. This knot corresponded with a black 5-m mark on the finesse braid. What I don't do is tie a lot of them - I put a perfection loop in the business end of my fluoro leader, and loop-on paper clips or micro-swivel snaps, traces, and cigar-cork rigs. Loop-to-loop, btw, is stronger than Any single-bend knot.

I think we all realize he doesn't have an example to back his erroneous statement. Holy Cow, give him a bye. One thing, when you need to set a big swimbait hook, braid is a big advantage over mono stretch. There's another side to the fish-by-feel argument, as well. Spooky fish that spit when they feel you may hang on longer gliding skinny braid through the water. Finesse braid is part of keeping the system inertia down to feel more at your end.

I was one of the last braid hold-outs, watching my friends suffering impossible wind knots. (then I was only using cheap YoZuri braid for backing Seaguar fluoro working line) That changed when I added shallow spool Stradic and Vanquish. For my primary inshore niche, I'm mostly fishing 1/4 oz and below, and need to cast distance in wind. When I recognized I couldn't remember a baitcaster backlash, I tried 20-lb Sufix 832 on a baitcaster. Haven't look back, and have looked way forward to BFS with tiny X-braid. While "limp" mono is often discussed on BR, there's really no such thing - the stiffness of mono/fluoro is its advantage. If backlash on baitcaster is an issue for you, mono/fluoro is your friend. Totally limp braid can hide backlash that's tough to work out and expensive to replace.

@NHBull The cheapest YoZuri braid is perfect for backing.

Megabass has their very spendy Evolution in 6'8" I would peruse Asian Portal and other good JDM vendors for Megabass F5 rods to get that lure range. If you can find it in Levante, it's under $300. Here's a $240 Major Craft 6'6" and good inventory. For go anywhere, here's a $220 Major Craft 4-pc This is a wide range on the other end - BFS 1/16 to 5/8 - but this extremely light-in-hand Valleyhill has a Metal reel seat. Noteworthy, this is a fast rod with nothing tippy.

Deft in Design Fierce in Fortitude, Even the Biggest Bass is no match. Abu Garcia designed reel seat. It's probably no accident you pay a little more to get get Fuji. My nano-resin rod from a Japan boutique maker cost $400 (they don't need to spend on marketing - their rods always sell out the same day they show in inventory). I'm guessing Abu is finding corners to cut to match with the blank technology they tell you that you Need. I've paid twice a Veritas for good old IM6 hand made USA blank - full Fuji hardware - it's heavy, which the Veritas isn't. I'm guessing you'll have a good warranty result.

yet reels come with a card of clear tape just for this purpose. When you need backing is when you have deep spools made for mono. Especially in JDM, they also offer shallow and mid spools just for braid that don't need backing. I've backed many mid spools with cheaper braid, and better working braid on top. Cabelas guy throwing a fit? He doesn't like being called out when he's working with a customer. I can count on one hand the number of sales people at sporting goods stores who could hold an intelligent tackle discussion.

The Japanese love their Limited Edition and highest grade tackle, and devour them as soon as they hit the market - they reserve them before they're even produced. They're also very faddish. When they're on a Pflueger, Hardy, or Fenglas Lunkerstik kick, you can get top dollar selling to Japan. They offer many more tiers and models of tackle than we ever see from them here. Every reel model sold there sooner or later gets a special color trim edition - Colt Sniper, Exsence, Sephia, SLP Exist, etc. They also have many more niches to fish than we typically do here - they have 15 different offshore niches alone. Every line of quality tackle sells their mid range in Japan domestic market just as they sell their high grades. Otherwise, Alphas and Stradics would never sell out.

When we began snapping up great glass fly rods on ebay, they were as cheap as $15. Can I help it if I made a lot of money turning great old tackle that is still too good not to fish today? Actually, all that went back into more great tackle, and no pontificating needed. I had a Heddon 236 spinning combo at 12-y-o that caught a 3-1/2-lb smallmouth in Lake of the Ozarks. Could turn up that photo at my mom's house. Sweeping that same family vacation trip west into Wyoming, it caught rainbows. Horrible reel with hammer bail closure, but a great outfit to learn casting. I wouldn't wish my first fly reel on anyone, but when they turn up on FFR with fans, I keep my lip zipped. Here's one of those $15 ebay snags. First time I sold this 7' Heddon 8381, it was for $45, and to Cameron Mortensen (Fiberglass Manifesto) - it became his first glass rod. If you had one to sell today, with its internet fame, it would sell for about $225. One of the most perfect Appalachian blue line rods.

I have to take exception with reeling before the lure hits - that's a great way to break off a heavy lure. The answer and solution is obvious for an inshore fisher who has to keep a 3/8 oz jighead out of the skinny grass at the end of a longer cast than bass fishers need (otherwise it's a giant grassball). It can work the same with either bait or spin: Instant retrieve is your goal. Baitcaster gets you there with less effort, because your thumb tightened the line before the lure splashed. At splash, lift the rod and crank. With spinning reel, feather the end of the cast with your fingertips and close the bail manually to get the retrieve jump on the lure sinking. If you try doing it with crank auto-bail closure, you're begging for wind knots.

There was a youtube where the guy tested an array of paper clips to failure. Tactical Angler was one of the few that didn't deform and fail before reaching its rated proof load. Believe me, these work fine, even in the crab-crusher back jaws of redfish.

@Cravin Backing up, your combo is a beauty - keep fishing it. My white bass rod is a Phillipson E80 - uncatalogued just before Bill sold the company to 3M over his health. While most Phillipson 8' are 7-wts, this one is a true 6-wt, and a rocketship with a T130 sinking line. These are all 2-y-o males. I released everything else, and caught the last 4 for my limit while I was letting my buddies fillet from my stringer. White bass are why I bought my first fly rod at 16 - 2nd purchase from my part-time job as a tire mechanic. I've given a talk on white bass fishing TX hill country reservoirs a few times.

@Cravin How about that same Phillipson patent seat matched with ball bearing Hardy Exalta? The rod is the last Phillipson ES65-R. I've caught a few bass on this. I gave a Fly Fox FF66 to my friend Josh for his first glass fly rod.

Este. When you call, ask for reel repairs. He'll drop the part in the mail and won't charge you.

I think that's about as good as it gets with braid using deep spools made for mono. My Tica Libra SX3000 (think 5000 size) gets a better result with very slight hour-glass. 15-lb 832, would be a better result with heavier braid, though this casts out of sight. This size is heavy, I've always lauded Tica line management. My Tica Libra SX 1500 gets perfection on even 6-lb 832 and slightly smaller PE#0.5 X-braid. while my Tica Samira 2500 worm-drive lays braid with more hour-glass, still works, but is absolute perfection with 10-lb Tatsu All 3 Ticas were bought when Amazon was listing each model with half-price loss leader.

I've used Lami and Loomis steelhead rods for surf lure fishing, and know several friends who do the same. I also use them for inshore drift fishing to get away from hull slap - and dog-walk lures at that long distance. My 30-y-o GL2 spinning rod - anyone I've ever loaned this rod for inshore fishing wants to take it home. It's landed king mackerel and samsonite-size jack crevalle. Lami MTC - 8'6" casting rod, fast enough, but soft enough tip to work lures very well, and light in hand. The lure range limits what you can throw - heavier is sometimes better. Tyler who owns corpusfishing website swears by one of these for surf lure fishing. Lami Classic Glass - 8'2" casting rod - very cost effective, not particularly light in hand, wonderful moderate taper for working lures a long way out, and a wide lure weight range. My RH Composites 8' surf rod - couldn't pry, etc., - I'll loan every rod above, while this one is mine - the most perfect surf lure rod I've ever fished.