bulldog1935

An educated guess, it's more likely the contact points on either end of the bail trip lever that are worn - that is, the graphite rotor. A new stiffer spring without age-creep will likely make the problem worse.

TroutFest is coming up Feb 18 - the expo is always a good introduction, and the only thing that costs is Friday night's banquet, which is probably already sold out. If you read my Joe story above, I saw him again at the following TroutFest, and he was plugging in. I won't be there this time, though, it's our New Moon at Arroyo in the TX Tropics. Mushroom Rocks we love our place-names in the Guadalupe tailwater (Mystery Pool, Redhorse Run...). Also, you can aim your camera into the sun 200 times and not get a photo like this.

What happens way before 50 years of fly fishing, you tie fewer and fewer fly patterns in each niche and, of course, catch more and more fish on them. I tie/fish 4 patterns in coldwater, 2 in warm water, and 3 in the salt. Though some of the older stuff I made the effort to tie have great fish stories.

@Big Hands dug back to these photos I posted before, showing the difference in worm gear pitch Slower-LW-pitch Zillion SV TW - 5 nodes across worm gear Faster-LW-pitch Zillion Silver Wolf - 4 nodes across worm gear - LW rider is moving 20% faster ____________________________________________________________ As far as coatings, the FEP-based coatings used on Japan X-braids is a teflon derivative. Here's the marketing blurb on YGK Oddport, the first X-braid sold in 2018 at $1/yd. Here's the Izanas process on the higher-strength center strand, which contains an oriented, higher-crystalline content. https://www.toyobo-global.com/products/hp_fiber/category/dn_izanas/index.html The photo on their applications page shows 4 different brands using the process, which has become the PE standard in Japan.

Jun also used to push uncoated braids for BFS reels, again, PE#1 - 0.165 mm dia. - as minimum. He's backed off on that a bit, as the Japan braid vendors (all made by Izanas) have been using harder FEP-based coatings, and getting smarter about their coatings. If you look at Varivas, they've gone to hard coating on everything new, and their earlier lines with harder coating included Casting in the name. There's a Varivas store on Amazon and a US website. The softer-coated braids (e.g., Florida Fishing Products Distance, and YGK BornRush) perform better on spinning tackle, and it's that softer rubbery coating that contributes to line dig in threadline sizes on baitcaster. I fish 20-lb 832 on my deeper spool Super Duty with no troubles (20-lb mono backing), and as mentioned on the other thread, I fish down to PE#0.8 on Steez with shallow Roro-X spool. Never had a line dig issue. I better add a PS about Daiwa Air and Silver Wolf. These reels have faster LW pitch that lays the line wider on the spool - the whole point is to prevent line dig down to PE#0.4

I would never steer anyone away from a Zillion SV TW recommendation. I would also avoid dual-brake reels because of the added hardware on top of the spool mass (Dual brake needs the centrifugal Because of the added centrifugal brake mass) Out of all my bait reels, my linear-mag ZPI Alcance, which is basically an all-magnesium raced out Revo, remains the Fastest spool I own.

It's all about matching spools to line diameter. First off, get the pounds out of your head (except for leader test and rod rating relative to drag set). While we're at it, if you're fishing 4-lb test, Your Drag Set Should Be ONE (1) lb. If you want higher drag set, use bigger line. Is this thing on? And guys "setting" drag by feel aren't setting drag. This fishes great with PE#0.8 (slightly smaller diameter than 832 6-lb braid). No line dig issues. Note however, Jun Sonada recommends PE#1 as the smallest braid to use on a LW that doesn't have increased LW pitch for the smaller threadline braids (e.g., Silver Wolf, Daiwa Air), and his recommendation is all about line dig. This wouldn't know what line dig is on 832 6-lb braid, though now, it's gone to YGK PE#0.6, and still no line dig. Credit has to be given to Shimano worm-drive line management. Stradic is the entry-level reel that can lay threadline braid this well. If you want to get really fancy (small frame only), MTCW all-metal drag cap lets you add finger drag by pressing on the front with your index finger.

I only fish really fine braids here, because I'm shooting for max cast distance from shore in salt finesse and long rods - mostly PE#0.8, 16-lb. Roro-X on Steez out-distances everyone's package BFS reels. And then some. This is throwing micro-plugs, 38 mm, 2.8 g, metal jigs to 5 g. Here's the Silver Wolf on all-range salt BFS rod for kayak fishing, shallow AMO spool, PE#0.8 (the stock Silver Wolf spool is really too deep for braid this fine). 5g topwater My reservoir bass BFS is on another reel now, with PE#1.2, 27-lb X-braid, and I'm using my ZPI Alcance. My salt ML is also PE#1.2 on Zillion and Ray's Studio SV spool. Even though it's rated for finer braid, the stock Silver Wolf Spool would fit right in here. @Fat Ika Adding a note here while I'm thinking about it. If you get in the mode of swapping spools, Always begin by opening your "zero adjust" knob. This is because spool spindle widths vary. You can damage the palm plate latch by trying to close it without this. Last thing you do is adjust the spindle knob in freespool to incipient side play.

I was about say the reel had a really good line lay result for that length of thin line, then I saw it was a Stella. The spool says 140 yds of 8-lb mono 4-lb test is 0.165 mm diameter, so the capacity is 320 yds of 4-lb test. https://www.pattayafishing.net/fishing-reel-line-capacity-estimator/ The 150-m capacity is PE#2.5, which is 50-lb braid. I hope this thing is on. You don't tell us what frame size Shimano, but a Yumeya 1215 spool would have the 4-lb capacity you're looking for

I have 10-lb fluoro (Toray Exthread) on stock Silver Wolf spool. It casts great, but the Steez with 1012 spool has a slight advantage in the LW pitch and straighter line lay with fluoro. I pm'd you a couple more deep/light aftermarket spool options.

Silver Wolf holds more fluoro than it's rated for. That would be my choice. Sorry, this is the best photo I have of the stock spool. Though I'm not sure why you'd want to cast light weight on 15-lb fluoro. Steez SV TW with 1012 spool might be even better - install those bearings.

Not your specific requirements, but Many casting trials comparing Daiwa Silver Wolf, Steez SV TW and Zillion with stock and a range of aftermarket spools and spool bearings. The hands-down distance champ is Steez SV TW with Roro-X spool and Roro-X bearings. It's about a 50% improvement over stock Steez SV TW. I sent you a pm with a cost-effective recommendation.

harrumph

The rod is your link to the hook at the other end - your eyes underwater. There's not much tinkering you can do to a rod (unless you need to work on the handle like I did above). A new reel opens up a world of tinkering. @Catt how about this combo?

The more line you wind on a spinning reel spool, the more the error in line management adds up. The error in line lay includes cone and hour-glassing, which can create wind knots. E.g., here's a spool that lays the rated 10-lb mono perfectly, but lays hour glass when you top the spool with thinner 16-lb braid (it has thicker backing beneath). While the result on the right isn't too bad to fish, the hour glass would be more severe and would be too bad to fish if you filled it with only the thinner line. More total line length = more total error. The best way to fish a lighter working line than the reel rating is to fill it most of the way with the larger line it's rated for as backing, then top it with the thinner working line.

When I gave a talk on white bass to a local fly fishing club, described myself as "Always been the tough to mentor type." I know I offended Joe Robinson on more than one occasion - I balk when someone wants to take me under their wing. When I kept a fishing journal, the first line was, "I've been trying to teach my dad to fish since I was 12." As a kid we had 3 channels, plus bullfights on UHF. Tough to call Virgil Ward inspirational. But I was inspired watching Jim Thomas Outdoors.

@dodgeguy nailed it here. I'm usually skipping under cypress overhang in wide spots in rivers from a kayak. The rods I found best for this are pretty fast with the flex in the tip. this load curve is a 6' graphite MH (that close kayak stuff) rated 5/8 to 1 oz.

@Big Hands - here's the old stuff - of course cane rods live inside - the plastic rods are ok in the garage.

@Johnbt My best delivery so far is 44 hours from placing the order to my front door (time zone included) - that was Hedgehog Studio, who never fails to get an order out first thing in their morning (including Saturday). Asian Portal ships on specific days each week. Jun and Kayo usually hold the order for a day or two before they ship. JapanTackle has not been competitive in reel prices in the past. Just since the last exchange rate drop, they've really slashed their prices They're good people, and no problem sending them business..

There's a lot of big talk about drag - most of it is numbers on paper. If you really want to set your drag, use a spring scale at the guide closest to the reel. Ambassadeur lists their drag as 12.5 lbs, but it will never deliver more than 5 lbs on spring scale set. If you want to break you rod, do as @Tennessee Boy suggests. 3 lbs drag is a heck of a lot more than any of you imagine, and exactly what you need to protect 12-lb leader. Without measuring, most people never get this high - it "feels" like too much drag. Yes, it will slip, and you have room to dial in more - pretty sure slip is the whole point of having drag. 7 lb drag set is enough for offshore, and this reel is rated 35 lbs.

It's speed out the door that makes the most difference in delivery time. Neither Asian Portal nor JapanTackle are speedy (if you're buying parts, Hedgehog Studio is always fastest out the door). Both DHL and FedEx seem to be in a 40-hr race to get packages to US. Both have nonstop flights from Japan to their Customs and distribution hubs, Cincinnati and Memphis.

Neither acknowledged by UKSF, but The 2013 World Record Ground Cast of 924' was made on a 37-mm-dia spool. and so was this 2019 125g World Record Pendumum Cast - 920' Noteworthy, in every category, multipliers (baitcasters) have the edge over fixed spool (what we call spinning reels). I was making spiral casts with weightless free shrimp on Daiwa Millionaire in the early 80s, and two different guides told me what was wrong with my cast. Then we cast toe to toe, and I doubled their spinning cast distance. It's OK, I always made them look good back at the dock.

Jun Sonada at JapanTackle has excellent English (son Kayo is passable). You can get any question answered there you want. He's also written some great essays on reels. https://japantackle.com/tackle_topics/

@Fishydishy If you notice my Custom 4500CT in my first post, it has Everything. 37-mm dia, 22-mm wide, 5-mm-deep spool that only weighs 9 g, and still holds 150 m of threadline braid (PE#1, 25-lb X-braid). I use it for shore micro-jigging on an 8'9" rod rated 3 to 30 g. The combo will cast a 5-g metal jig 50 yds. Where I use it, realistically need to fish 120+' @LrgmouthShad - thanks - I have a goal to land an over-slot snook on this combo in 3 weeks. I've broken off 3 over-slot winter snook on lighter tackle.

@Blue Raider Bob If you have any friends from Louisiana, otters are enough like nutrea. anything is good after a day on the smoker