bulldog1935

I've gone to all unshielded bearings on my baitcaster spool bearings, and retain good-quality corrosion-resistant shielded bearings for all drive bearings. If you compare how even orange-seal hybrid ceramic bearings compare with unshielded bearings in free-spin, the difference is pretty impressive. After that, decreasing bearing weight is the next step in reducing inertia. SDS on ebay offers spool bearing swaps by reel make and model, and each listing gives you a menu of bearing types to pick between. You do have to wait for post from Ukraine. On my Abu CT surf reels, I've gone to full-ceramic, because these stand the chance of saltwater splash. Another good bearing vendor in Florida is HPR bearings, and pretty sure that's where I sourced my full-ceramics.

all fair enough. My back acre is 150' in the short direction, making it a great place to cast. First time though, I aimed up with 1/4-oz on my Abu CT and 8' surf-lure rod, the slow cast went over the fence into my neighbor's back acre - oops.

I think it's really unusual to talk Yards in terms of casting, unless maybe you're tournament casting with surf rods. 70' is a working cast and near the limit of accurately casting into a bucket, 100' is a long cast. Blind fishing, you can fish casts out to 150'

Smooth acceleration is the key to reliable baitcasting. Any jerk you put into the cast is only backlash. If you want/need to increase rod tip velocity for longer casts, go to a longer rod.

Two trail cams in Arizona confirmed two jaguars that have wandered that far north. S. Texas has a closely guarded population of 35 ocelots. Laguna Atascosa NWR was established for them, and the roads closed to motors after a road kill a dozen years ago (you can bicycle there). We've seen some of their footprints on Horse Island when we stopped to stretch from our kayaks.

Are there Japan fishing guides? There's 10001 MAD snappy answers for that one. The Japanese make our fishing niches look downright preschool - Plat lists 22 different classes of rods, but the Japanese have that many niches in offshore alone, from XUL to XXH. They were also a fishing culture for 1000 years before the old world discovered the new. And I can't imagine not bringing home a Japan knife.

here's what I did with mine - I already had the long Daiwa handle, and it was a perfect match with the tall gears. Required an IOS hex shaft adapter (best price on custom parts at Fishingshop.kiki in Tokyo), and found the Ulucus Daiwa-copy knob at half-price closeout. I did this when I was ordering a few parts batches to customize a buddy's four reels. The reel was also one of the $50 Amazon loss-leaders, so I had room to play. up front about Tica, their bronze gears need run-in, and they'll feel stiff until you line them.

old news in S. Texas. Hit 80 yesterday and again today - redbuds are blooming, white bass are running, and spring has sprung. Problem is, our spring doesn't last long, and zips right to S. Texas summer.

I buy a few parts from TicaAmerica (spare spools), and they tell me Amazon stocks their own store - they'll show up on Amazon if you search Tica Libra SX or Tica Samira X-treme.

We always come down the creeks with fly rods

one thing, you didn't mention a capacity. In this price range, Tica Libra SX is my go-to reel. Tica goes back to 1961, they build all of Daiwa's big surf reels, random other Daiwa models, and Daiwa has borrowed a lot from them. They're workhorse reels built to outlast every Shimano, with sealed roller-bearing selective A/R, a better line roller and comparable line management in their improved version of locomotive drive. If there's a problem, it's that TicaAmerica only imports the small 1500 size (comparable to a 2000 Shimano) and the large 3000 size (comparable to Shimano 5000). Tica sells on Amazon, and if you keep up, may catch a Libra SX at loss-leader half-price - I've bought two of mine that way. If you're looking for a line capacity in between the two Libra, don't care for Libra's low gearing, the worm-drive Tica Samira 2000H fits there, and 6.2 gearing.

Recently put my buddy Donny on redfish, he landed 30 and kept his slot-fish limit. He's one of those whom if you point them at the water, they do the rest. I have many friends who can contrast his skill set. They range from natural-born to just happy to be out, and I can think of a few who can over-think their way out of fish in any situation.

all I can offer is christening my daughter's maiden-voyage kayak with a bottle of Virgil's root beer. May she always bring us home safely.

You can get long casts with light lures fishing about 20-lb braid on a matched rod. PE#1 is recommended by Jun at Japan Tackle as the lightest braid you want to fish on a baitcaster. In X-braid, that's 22-lb test. In Sufix 832, it's 10-lb. Don't go to the finer braids unless you're pretty confident in your casting skill. I set up a shallow spool Lew's SP with Air bearings for my ML niche, and the combo casts 1/8 ounce farther than I need to fish - which makes casting the range I want to fish low-effort and reliable. So my vote would be any shallow, lightweight-spool reel with a good casting brake, loaded with PE#1 to #1.5 line. The whole idea is keeping the mass/inertia of the loaded spool low. The MGL fits the idea with fluoro, but you can set up a shallower/lighter spool with braid.

I have a firepit photo from the Kenai - I remember after an exhausting day catching twenty-four September dollies and rainbows hiking and fishing the Russian River bank trail, I was fished-out by 2 pm, beat, sitting here with an Habano and a cognac. they were all this size, gorged on salmon flesh, and averaged a fish every 3rd cast.

not if you fish the braids I typically fish

IPT = Pi x spool diameter x gear ratio

I showed this before. Here's the same set-up, but swapped the Daion knobs for my favorite set of Avail acrylic knobs. If anybody wants a pair of Daiwa Daion paddles, LMK - it will just cost you the priority mail (I only ship parts in flate-rate video boxes).

Best way to set your drag is a spring scale, straight shot to the reel through the first guide. You want to set your drag to No More than One-Quarter of your weakest link, line, leader, or rod max line rating. In your case, might want to guess a little lighter to protect the hook wire.

Really dig those cockroach patterns - they're very effective for baitfish or shrimp, and have wonderful action. I spent a decade trying to imitate a kicking, evading shrimp, since stripping fly line exactly imitates the motion. Here's the same idea for bait tackle using plastic shrimp tail, Stazo jighead, and weightless Mansfield Mauler cigar cork: When I saw Ally's shrimp salmon fly, it all clicked for me, and derived this strange creation, which has become my go-to fly for the TX coast flats where I pick fly rod first. Size 6 hook Shrimpy kevlar thread. Tail (the shrimp antennae) is white bucktail mixed with krystal flash. Bead chain tied at the bend to keel hook-up. Palmered thread and rooster hackle body. Pheasant crest wing Pheasant rump soft hackle collar, which turns into crustacean shell in the water. 2nd cast of the morning on Allyn's Lake - first cast was a larger spec that tore the hook out on her second run The fly is generic food-thingy. Of course this imitates kicking shrimp in the grass, but on sandy bottom, it's as good a crab as any redfish wants for breakfast Fishing the cuts or under the dock lights, it's as good a glass minnow as you could ask for. They sell pheasant tails for trout flies, and the balance of the skin is really cheap. The rump soft hackle is loaded with iridescent blues, greens, and red.

pick a color I especially like bright colors in thin braid. I always fish with fluoro shock tippet. this is YGK X-braid (PE#1 - 22 lb) that changes colors every 10 m. It is kinda strange to cast green and look down at a purple spool. Recently loaded one of my UL with their white PE #0.5 finesse line, and I have a tough time seeing it

Dog-walking is a big deal in the coast flats, and just about full-time fishing between topwater plugs and neutral-density swimbaits over skinny grass. My two favorite dog-walking rods are St. Croix Legend Glass 7'2" MM spinner, and for baitcaster, my IM6 Crowder E-series Light - while Crowder rates this rod as ML, it's definitely closer to MM, compared to my other ML rods. IM6 rods (graphite II) are not the lightest in hand, but will have the right moderate action.

Browns will stack up below hydroelectric power plant discharge and feed on the chum that comes through the hydro turbines (includes chopped-up kokanee and lake trout).

Daiwa SLP Works sells some nice handle upgrades. My favorite double handle is the Avail offset ESD STi2 (titanium spindles), and I like the big Avail A knobs (out of stock at JT) - not everybody likes these big EVA knobs... The Daiwa S-size EVA knobs that come on the Steez A handle @BaitFinesse recommended are a good size for baitcaster. (I think the Avail handle is notably lighter) Of course there are many I-shaped knob options. If you like small I-shaped knobs, the Roro wood knobs that Japan Tackle sells look really nice, and they come with the ball bearings. Any handle that doesn't already come assembled with the knobs, while it will have the screws and shim washers for adjusting out knob end-play, it won't come with the four 4x7x2.5 mm ball bearings you'll need. SDS who sells on ebay is a great place to look for quality cost-effective handle and knob swaps. These are SDS EVA knobs on a stock Lew carbon handle, and I like the size and shape of these over flat paddles. At the extreme are Livre handles and titanium knobs. Fortissimo (24 mm) is probably the largest Livre knob you'd want on a baitcaster. This is the fortissimo knob on a long (60 mm pitch) counter-balanced Livre SB handle. While the titanium knob might sound slippery, the pendagonal shape on the fortissimo knob grips well and feels really natural. There's also an argument metal knobs increase feel through the handle by transmitting light vibration.

Swapping spool bearing requires a tool to remove and reinstall the spindle pin. Japan Tackle will also install your bearing on your new spool if you don't plan to buy the tool. The right tool can also be tricky. If the spool bearing is recessed in the spool, the Billings and Hedgehog tool design won't reach it - only the Daiwa SLP tool can reach that pin. Jun at Japan Tackle also has very good English, and is very helpful with questions. Also plenty of spool choices for Zillion, along with good bearing choices.