bulldog1935

Abu Protytpe Kurodai Baitfinesse also gets my vote Two fall redfish rodeos, it took every fish that mattered. IOS Supra 65 - best skinny water shrimp lure I've ever used. 3" MinnowZ on 1/8-oz TexasEye jighead.

link to facts on "braid" I used 12-lb mono and later Seaguar fluoro for 47 years, and in the last decade of that, refused to try braid because I saw too many friends cut out softball-size yellow knots. Started using FEP-coated braid on spinning tackle in 2017, switched all baitcasters in 2018, and in 2019, when Japan X-braid dropped below its starting price of $1/yd, I began switching everything to that. My reels loaded with mono/fluor now are for loaners, because they inevitably get the line behind the spool, then listen the 2nd time to my speach on manual-bail technique. If you're getting better distance on mono than braid, you were using the wrong braid.

With spigot ferrules, I've had 2-pc and 4-pc versions of the same rod at the same time, and liked the 4-pc better, because the spigot ferrules moderate the taper. Where the're really improving are sleeve-butt ferrules, and the design of the taper on each side of the joint. Newer ferrule designs add insignificant weight - literally just a few grams. This 5-pc Daiwa is so good, I have a full-time niche for it. The Japanese have even tackled the ferrule wax as a technology (Bingham plastic) that hardens when you're not working it, but will soften with friction so you can get the joint apart. Unfortunately, the soy wax is an agricultural product - they don't even show it on their US$ website, but you can sneak in a tube if you order through a broker on their Japan website (currently OOS) and other JDM shops.

No, that spool will not work on a new Stradic. https://jdmfishing.com/vault/shimano-stradic-mg-fb/ - discontinued by 2010. (found a 2007 thread online). Like CI4+ became Vanford, Stradic Mg became Vanquish. Shimano builds their worm-drive spinners in series, beginning with each new Stella introduction. Spool pitch changes with each Stella introduction. E.g, '18 Stella spool fits Stradic FL, '22 Stella spool fits Stradic FM. If you go to an online Yumeya catalog, you can find the Shimano spool number for each series and size. It may not go back farther than 8 years or so. e.g., Large frame Stradic FL spool number is S-28. Here's my '21 Twin Power C3000MHG (mid-frame) wearing a '19 Vanquish shallow braid spool for PE#0.6, etc.

@F14A-B google-translate Daiwa JDM images

Made me look - Coastal 200 TW has 7 CRBB Coastal 150 has 2 CRBB + 5BB - I would assume the 2 CRBB are spool bearings. I fish salt 70%, 5th year on a Zillion, and 8th year on a Super Duty G. The only bearing problem I've had was a BFS dual-race bearing that was not CR, came on an AMO spool. My ultimate solution for salt spool bearings is silicon-nitride full-ceramic. But I don't think you need this. Most reels are so-well sealed now, even mag-seal drive bearings is overkill. My first thought is you're covered for everything except surf. Using my 5-year-salt Zillion SVTW, e.g., I was finally inside the drive over last summer for clean and lube, and it was absolutely pristine. But if you're really worried, I would swap LW worm-shaft, pinion and outer main drive-shaft ("handle") bearing to mag-seal, or simply orange-seal hybrid ceramic. p/n 57, p/n 79 and p/n 99 - I swap these for new on OG Daiwa, e.g, CV-Z and Ryoga. (this is Steez schematic, which was handy on my computer)

I rate my lines by how the FEP coating glides through rolling Allbright knot. Especially when rolling follow-up leader knots out to 3 years line life. The best coatings include Varivas, YGK, and Duel X-wire held up well for a 3-year life. The two very best are Varivas Si-X and probably the same coating formulation on YGK WXP1. I won't mention the worst coatings, which peeled soon, or even New. Since I'm here, two PE#2 in tough service - frogger and surf-lure

I'm in the baitcast for everything camp But those of you throwing big swimbaits on your spinning gear might want one of these

I would go with PE#2 (0.235 mm dia), nominal 40-lb breaking strength I checked capacity, which is the same as Daiwa 1012, 12/100. Using line capacity calculator, that's exactly a 150-m Varivas spool. If you go with a smaller size, e.g. PE#1.5, you have to stack lines. You can always use the PowerPro for backing. No line-dig worries on lines bigger than PE#1.

here's everything in inventory at JDM distributors https://fishingshop.kiwi/category/Rods/Casting-Rods/ If you filter Rod Sections (pcs) you can narrow the search to multipiece rods in current inventory. Since you already mentioned high-grade Tulala, I'd look at Transcendence, multipiece rods that assemble in multiple lengths. https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product-list/874 https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/5966

I modified the foregrip on my 11' heavy surf spinning rod and added a casting thimble - it's for casting 6 ounces on spinning rod while keeping your skin - some of you might like this device for casting giant swimbaits. Most people just zip-tie these to their surf rods - I made a permanent mount. Also added a shorter grip and rod blade (Resion + Rotton Frogger), 5'3" to match my favorite Headhunters Isuzu 620 in river kayak.

I'm not sure one cast with 15 ounces counts. I still like the guys who race motorcycles. Tuning a personal reel stash, one-time purchase lasts to boredom.

@JHoss - kayak rod keeper - quick-release rod leash regards

The aftermarket line rollers come with 740Z bearings, the same size used in Shimano and Daiwa handle knobs. Most are shielded and oiled, and that's what you want in freshwater. The MTCW I use in the salt come with unshielded bearings, so they're very easy to flush, and a drop of oil every spring and fall takes care of them. . Grease is the last thing you would want - you want your line roller to spin fast. If you want to test your bearings, take a few inches of mono, loop it over the installed roller, pull back and forth on each end, and see how freely it spins.

@Jaybert smart choice - that's something new for them also - covered several Japan aftermarket makers for that part here: Also noticed Gomexus has added a Florida warehouse and reel repair service.

I checked Carolina Tackle, also OOS. I'm surprised Tackle Trap lists spools, bearings, and grease, but no oil. ZPI F-Zero Nano Finesse is go-to for me. except, that SiN palm bearing runs dry. Spool w/ 4-mm shaft end has a custom KTF IXA hybrid bearing and gets lowest-viscosity oil.

@10,000 lakes Bassin I bought my Smith telescope from JP Angler. no, there are no Japan-based frauds, it goes against their culture. Bad service would lose face.

@webertime - the coolest I've found is Tsubaki, with both a stack of o-rings to grab your line, and a rotating hook-keeper.

Great $15 carbon jigging handle., able to install at exact pitch I wanted here. Threw away the 40-g pot-metal knob and swapped-on a 14-g Livre Ti-shell knob found a just-right-72-mm double handle (36-mm pitch), $24, for a low-geared Stradic 1000S - also swapped it onto a Livre handle base (Avail knobs). Have also thrown in a couple of hex-shaft-screw spinning reel stands along the way. They were smart building their business by copying Livre, and handy they copied them so exactly the parts interchange - though Gomexus quality has never reached as high, they got the look. I noticed from a quick peruse on their website, they're copying Studio Composite now, also.

I made the switch to Seaguar fluoro 25 years ago over tippet knots breaking on 30+" Alaska rainbows using Rio fluoro. AbrazX became my only fluoro on conventional tackle, 12-lb bulk spool, for the next 20 years, until I made a wholesale switch to coated braids. I've never tried Sunline, but it gets good reviews on BR forum. Seaguar 12-lb fluoro tippet here Lines below won't meet your cost requirement, and always bought in single-charge spools. When I added salt finesse 15 years ago, I found all the right properties for 4-lb in Kamikaze copolymer from Oz. My two finesse fluoro spools have Toray ExThread, which is the limpest low-memory line I've ever tried, and also the Most expensive fluoro made. I have a two other 10-lb spools charged with Tatsu. Also noted Tatsu has usable low memory after it's been spooled and put away for a couple years.

@FrnkNsteen - where I've used common Daiwa-S/Shimano-A knob on Daiwa handle, I just throw in a third 740Z bearing and 0.2-mm shim washer. Since I mentioned IOS SD adapter shaft on first post, IOS also makes hex-shaft adapter that lets you use fixed Daiwa handles on hex-shaft reels. @Bigbox99 the bushings and the bearings are the same size. They should never need thinning - just adjust the stack height with shim washers, which come in 0.5-mm and 0.2-mm thickness from bottom for Daiwa: shim; bushing (or bearing); shim; bearing; enough shims to dial out knob end-play. for Shimano, leave out the first bearing or bushing and 2nd shim. Also with a Daiwa SLPW knob, leave out the first bearing or bushing and 2nd shim.

@newapti5 I have a place for those fast reels. It's drift-fishing a kayak (with sock) in coast wind up to 20+ kts. Here, I just staked my boat to get out and land the redfish I hooked up - to keep him out of my drift sock rigging, and to keep my boat from blowing across the flat if I lifted the drift sock. In lighter wind, a 7-geared reel is just right, and we fish a lot of calm sloughs, also.

5000C gear ratio was 3.6. Introduced in 1973, 5500C with 4.7 gears (this is 4500C introduced in 1976) 1989 5.3 gears, Ultracast spool introduced in Royal Express (became C3) 1999 6.3 gears introduced in Royal Express I/II (current C4) all Ambassadeur were made in Sweden except S model made in China. Also Ebisu built reels in Japan, including small-frame, and current Factory Tuned limited reels.

@little giant - the only reason I could justify the SB - intended as an offshore jigging handle - was because I could swap-in the smaller fortissimo knob - I had a place for the 37-mm Livre knob that came from the SB on my low-geared jigging reel.

@newapti5 in LP reels, 6- and even 7-geared, 90-mm is just right for me. But when you get to smaller spools and lower gears, you need shorter handles to have control of line pick-up so fish don't out-charge you - you spin a short handle with more wrist, crank a long handle with more forearm. With the 8-geared Super Duty, everything about jerkbait presentation improved with the Livre SB (55-mm pitch, equiv to 110-mm dia). Could count the fish-rate improvement.