bulldog1935

It is nice panfish gear, except when it's nice redfish/snook gear - never try to box-in BFS.

gratuitous 1500CI on stream rod

@tholmes FK is 1951 model change year. here's your reel in 1951 Ward's catalog (D) In case you're wondering, $8.90 in 1951-$ is $165 in today's money.

Daiwa likes X-shrink grip enough to use it on a $900 tuna rod. (along with everyone else in this market - I don't think you can sell a blue-water rod without X-wrap-over-EVA foregrip - the combination is perfect) Winn Grip wraps like bicycle bar tape, so the specific length needed on a rod grip combined with service life will factor out in my comparison. I will also retain my literary license. If you like Winn Grip, knock your lights out - to me, it ages into spongy snake scale. https://www.rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,512216

skipped the heat gun and used the tea kettle. X-shrink vs. Winn Grip - X-shrink is 20 cents, Winn Grip is 20 dollars. X-shrink lasts longer. Here's where personal tastes vary - Winn Grip feels creepy, X-shrink feels silky, but grips like sandpaper. Since I'm here, also used X-shrink to rescue the splitting soft foam grip on 12-y-o kayak stake-out pole. I made indexed-position hand grips on my straight-shaft kayak power paddle by rolling on closed-cell foam with spray contact cement, and covering with X-shrink. Used bent-shaft touring paddle to index the hand position.

I suspect EVA will melt/burn under power-tool heat, but you can probably gently sand them by hand. If you want to improve them - put X-shrink over them - you can buy it on Amazon - "X-Tube Heat Shrink Wrap" Surf rod above, with a layer of cork tape under the X-shrink. Just below is one of my favorite JDM rod-blank series, with my most-hated grip. The grip is too small for (western) human hands, and the ridge on the back is intended to split 3rd and 4th fingers, to keep your 4th (little) finger in contact with the blank. But on me, it splits 2nd and 3rd fingers, and splits them wide - very uncomfortable. I used spare closed-cell foam sheet, blue tape, and X-shrink to test a new shape - easy to cut off and start over. When I liked it, I built up the grip with cork tape, eliminating the ridge, and covered in X-shrink. I did the same thing on 2 rods/ grips, and I love this grip shape. Buy the diameter that's close, but easy to slide over your grip. Easiest way to apply it is boiling water from a tea kettle - pour from the center to one end, then from center to the other end.

X-Protect - X-Protect is a three-lipped rubber seal system which is designed to keep low pressure water out of the reel. The grease between the second and third lips resists high pressure water. Besides the rubber seals, a labyrinth construction is added in order to make it waterproof for a much longer time. All of this does not affect the smooth rotor rotation or (sic) roller (bearing) performance. https://reelcatalog.com/shimano-reel-technologies-dascription The rubber seal is not a simple rubber seal, but part of a labyrinth seal. As far as the design of the A/R roller bearing assembly, it improves roller element alignment under spindle deflection, to prevent slippage under higher spindle/rotor deflection - that is, under higher fish loads - higher drag loads. It also improves wear resistance by reducing roller element contact stress under radial loads - wear can cause eventual A/R failure.

I don't have my first baitcaster, which was Daiwa Millionaire 6H (1978). Plated brass worm gear with 440 pawl. When surf sand cut through the worm gear, and Daiwa wouldn't support parts for the 7-y-o reel, I went to Lew's, zirconia pawl and 440 worm gear. Still have my 2nd, 3rd and 4th baitcasters. (Gave the ersatz Millionaire to a machinist friend, so he could tinker with the drive plate mechanism - also didn't buy my next Daiwa until 2020 - 35 years later). My last BB-25, I retired at the end of 2018. If you want to go way back (before my time), I have Meek, Talbot, and Jack Welch Heddon to tinker-cast and have caught quite a few bass. fwiw, there was never a time spinning tackle was go-to for me over baitcaster, but vise-versa. Most of my life, fly rod was first, and even drift (blind) fishing coast flats, I kept a rigged fly rod in the rod holder, and would swap to it in fish sign.

Honestly, get over 33 and try an Omega Pro (or at least Delta). Adding spool oscillation for line lay really improves cast distance.

answering out of turn, new A/R clutch begins with '18 Stella, '19 Stradic ... '21 Sustain and continues on all newer worm drive series. Discussed on this famous Stradic take-down. It's beefed-up, it's better sealed, doesn't need to be removed to lube the gears. It's also here to stay.

MTCW again only makes TD drag cap for small frame, both Shimano and Daiwa. But if they offered them for medium and large frame, I'd have them there, also.

I promise you it's not over-spooled - none of my reels has ever slipped a multiple line loop on max-distance finesse shore fishing. The spool is full when my fingernail slides flush from the bottom of the line clip groove. Honestly, this is why you want these reels - to get line management this accurate (and unequaled).

Pinion gears have the shortest life in baitcaster - they work 5 to 8 times harder than main gears - their teeth have to mesh that many more times. First thing I would do with that complaint is begin looking for a NOS pinion gear. Second thing is clean and lube the drive (good time to swap in the new pinion), and also clean and lube the level wind. If the reel is that relative age and wear condition, replace the bearings as a matter of course.

@T2DM - when you love something... I love my counter-balanced and double handles in finesse fishing - they keep the rotor from turning under gravity acting on the offset weight of the bail. Big fish sip tiny winter bait - they don't spend a lot of energy to eat it, because they don't get much back. (Susie's catch on XUL) Since my small-frame reels are in salt finesse niche, they get even more attention - MTCW dual-bearing titanium line rollers. And MTCW TD drag knob (only made for small frame), which replaces the plastic drag knob with all-metal, and replaces the elastic strain of the plastic knob with the rate of an internal metal spring - comes with 2 springs for 2 different spring rates and drag ranges. With the plastic knob, the entire drag range is in 1/2 turn of the knob - the metal TD drag range is spread over 2-1/2 turns, and there are twice as many click-detentes. The spring also lets you push the front of the drag knob to add finger drag. (Susie's fish made two 50-yd runs) This gets said A Lot on the forum, and matching rod lure range with the lure weight is important. But from building and tuning reels, mixing and matching rods, lines and bearings on the casting range, you get more variation from the reel set up than from the rod choice, and surprisingly, that often includes rod length - I can think of two 6-1/2' rods that will cast light end toe-to-toe with some 8+' rods of the same lure rating. The properties that make a rod cast well often aren't the same properties that make the rod fish well in many niches, also making the reel set-up important for optimizing cast distance. A spinning reel with good line management, matched spool depth and line, lets you load the spool to the line hook, and will cast into next week.

I have 3 small-frame JDM Shimano worm drive, '19 Vanquish C2000S, '19 Stradic 1000S, and '19 Stradic C2000SHG (same reel as USM Stradic 1000FL). They're all couldn't-pry-from-my-hands, and they fish hard in winter salt finesse. Vanquish hit its mark, designed from go to be the best finessse spinning reel ever made. But I wouldn't take anything for my little Stradic 1000S also in this niche, or my JDM equivalent to 1000FL. These are little workhorse reels. Add to the list two large-frame Stradic FL and a medium frame '20 Twin Power.

Hard to give an accurate answer without knowing the braid diameter range ("lb-test" in USM); however, tough to beat 832 for friendly braid. The main thing here is a good FEP (teflon-based) coating. When you get to smaller sizes, Japanese X-braid excels for double the breaking strength at the same diameter.

@Flyfish-mt Vanford is the '20 name for Stradic CI4+ And yes, the reason Vanford has a shorter knee is for Shimano design to hit their stiffness target - Stradic forged alloy is inherently stiffer than the composite. The composite frame is the only difference between the two reels - both are assenbled in Malaysia and share identical drive. Both have composite rotor, and Vanford's is cut-out for lighter weight. Beginning with Stradic, all worm-drive Shimano reels are the same design as Stella, with model grades separated by bearing count, MOC and labor costs setting the price (Japan/Malaysia, Al/CI4+/Mg) - from Stradic to Stella, parts inerchange. Stradic FL is '18 Stella design, and when '19 Stradic (FL) was introduced, TackleAdvisor's take-down review dubbed it "The Best $400 Reel You Can Buy" The only change in '22 Stella and Stradic FM, etc, is a slightly increased spool pitch (slightly longer spindle). This change shows Shimano was so happy with the strength of their '18 design, they simply pushed it a little harder. @TheLokoWuaka for MH, I would definitely pick Stradic toughness over Vanford light. (Stradic FL + Yumeya shallow braid spool)

mostly enough.................mostly

SV uses a lower-mass inductor, and Boost uses 2 different spring rates on the inductor ramp. Generally, the problem with Daiwa spools is their big weight, and where much lighter aftermarket spools take over.

Hi Don, don't rush into this, but those soft-tip glass rods would be a lot of fun casting UL mono on a BFS-mod reel.

@Flyfish-mt If you were fishing the TX coast, that's exactly what you would be casting. Our inshore includes 15,000 sq-mi less than 2' deep. The difference between fishing 1/4 oz and 1/8 oz is dragging up grass every cast vs catching fish. The beauty of MagForce-SV, it also lets you fish 1 oz topwaters and 7/8 oz Corky's suspend jerkbaits - and without making a brake adjustment.

I can duplicate this every day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Stock Steez or Zillion SVTW, stock SV Boost 1016 spool, 12-lb fluoro. Casting 1/8 oz consistent to 90' but careful, it's a Gateway - swapping to aftermarket spool, you may get consistent casts with 1/8 oz (honeycomb SV) or even 1/16 oz (fixed rotor microcast) to 130'

yes, it's titanium (snell knot to stinger hook) and unlike stainless wire, titanium wire is ductile and stretches up to 60% before it breaks In Europe, titanium is the choice wire for pike leaders. There are also good US suppliers.

that's not too bad, and would be really clean with backing. Not familiar with Pflueger reels, but Shimano reels come with a bag of two thicknesses of spool-shim washers.