softwateronly

You are certainly correct, maybe even moreso when shorebound. scott

No, it's not. The '22 casts further for me. Minor difference as I'm usually throwing something heavy and getting plenty of distance on either one. If you paid 10 cents per foot of casting distance lost, it would still take you years to make up for that price difference. That's a great deal, you're gonna love em. My ultimate problem is that I love the bantams so much that I want to phase out my curado dc's. This year, I'm gonna move the '22 to my deep crank/a-rig/big scrounger rod and run 30lb braid to leader and put a curado on a 7'6XH expride that I mostly use for swimbaits and heavy swim jigs. scott ps - the zillion was a weird one for me too. First year of owning one wasn't great. Never felt comfortable in hand, felt distance was meh. Made it a bfs ish reel with a roro x27 spool and now it's a dream on ML-M rods. Most of it is due to the way I palm it, I think.

Humble? I claim to have a magic rock.... scott

Thanks! Getting a lucky weather break, ice out has been followed by a week of sun and 60's followed by 3.5 weeks of 40's. I'm pretty sure the water is stuck between 43-46, keeps the alewives and gizzards close to the marinas and hungry smallies taking advantage. It'll fall apart soon, just getting what I can. scott

Interesting. I just started looking into aftermarket spools, got a few for my zillions/bfs ish. I have 3 '18 bantams and one 2022 bantam. Someday I hope to even those out. The 18 is great, but the '22 is a perfect 3/8-2oz reel for me. scott

No. Bulletproof tanks from both sides of the Pacific. scott

@Dwight Hottle you're giving me the green bass envy!! Frame's full of giants! My city bass are still on bait, but not as schooled up near the magic rock. Wind layed down a bit for the first time in 3 days, the current slowed, and the water cleared a bit. Lost a really nice salmon that hit right at the rocks. Felt 2-3 kicks as I tried to bring her up and turn her away from the rock overhang, saw a big, broad silver flash as she turned to dig back down and while I was trying to loosen my drag she popped free. My line came back with a straight ryugi r-snap. 🤷‍♂️ Here's 3/4 of the good smallies, 9/10 landed in total and the one that came off my hair jig was definitely pic worthy. scott

I can show you a pic, but a few days away. I'm not planning on going to my place for a little while. If you're looking for a drastic difference than the expride, it's probably not for you though. scott

If measurements help, let me know. I'm a few days away from being near it, but can certainly get a pic if needed. I don't know what the literature says, but has to be within a half inch of the 610M expride. My guess is yes? I fished the s**t out of mine the day I opened it scott edit; I replied to both for the reason of poor comprehension skills

Looks like your water doesn't fit in the banks either. scott Or a dense closed cell foam? scott

You are the monkey! scott

I only have a 904, but the major craft days360 610M/RF is what I imagine a 2 power loomis would feel like. I love this rod, 110jr+1, jigs, scroungers, spoons, flukes, spinnerbaits, free rigs, etc. https://jdmtackleheaven.com/products/major-craft-days-360-d360c-610m scott

@PQuin when you look at what you like, under the price there's a link that says more info//official site. You'll get the info needed to cross reference with US models. My browser is set to automatically translate japanese. scott ps - like @ReelDr says they are almost all 2 piece, break at the grip. In the US market those usually get glued as one. I think there is absolutely no difference ppsss- actions/lengths are often different between markets and between where the joint breaks are. 172MH-2 is a regular fast 272MH-2 is a regular

^^^ Agree with @Rockhopper about it being one of the, if not the, best fish catching "inexpensive" production glides. I had a limited edition ghost shad that I lost to a Northern at the boat and still have a perch. It's also the only glide that has delivered for me at night. I love the big bait bite, but don't always love throwing them as much. The spro chad shad is the exception. scott

Next time, can you be more specific? scott

I still have to remind myself that the usual best practice for a follow is to speed up. And if no luck, the next cast is burn/pause. Kinda counterintuitive, but for sure has given me more bites. scott

Zebras are brutal, I deal with them in all the waters I fish. I don't think any line is immune, but I've had the best luck with 14lb sunline shooter for flourocarbon and 15lb maxima ultragreen for mono. Learning to turn them away when hooked up and always checking/retying your line between casts keep me from losing most encounters. scott

Whoa whoa whoa!!! Work has been awful recently, we don't need a middleman in this transaction. She has her own bog, scott

I'm still haunted by 40+" northern with a face full of a Gantarel in a canoe in late March after the sun went down without a net. She was too big for me to control in any way and had that cold water fight stamina that made her always have another run when I got her close. After the third or fourth try to get her close to the boat, I had my left hand grab on the line and tried to grab a treble with my pliers, and her violent kick and roll just snapped my line with my pliers only an inch or two away from grabbing on. It's a kick in the gut to lose a $30 swimbait and kill a fish I didn't intend to because I forgot the net. scott

Is that the 9.5lb release from the other day? She's a gorgeous FLM, I can only imagine the headshakes! Congrats, and I'm down to trade spots, though my billy goat city spot only hits 4-5 weeks a year so I'll help you time it. Here's a handful of chunks from this am to sweeten the pot.... scott

@dv616 I think it's gonna do exactly what you want. I've been using ball heads in my glf juvy craws. I need to try their style still. My memory is that they are slightly flatter on the bottom to prevent roll when dragging. scott

Sent. No sharing!!!!!

Thanks for the kind words @Swamp Girl @T-Billy and @IcatchDinks !! I just had access to my lucky rock and free time at the right time. Lots of bass makes the cold and rain much easier to deal with. scott

Spent some time with the country bass, and didn't catch any worth a pic. Lots of 1-2lb bucks sitting on the 12-15' break. They were very susceptible to highly erratic cranks and twitch baits. The duo bayruf 85 hw seek is a blast to fish, and even called em up at times from 20-25'fow at times. I meant to bring it back with me to the city, but forgot. So I spent the next 2 mornings fishing in the city and boy did the smallies cooperate. Water clarity was dropping as the winds shifted, but the bass were on bait. Shaking a minnow was catching every few casts but playing the swirling current was tricky. 1/2oz scrounger would only get bites when ripped and killed, but the lip would leave a poor hookup ratio. Walked a 12g br head near the bottom, and immediately got smashed. Unfortunately, the hooks on those heads are slightly brittle, and I left the point of my only 12g in the upper lip of a nice 4ish lb bass. So I decided to put a 4" deathadder on a 3/8oz ballhead and mimic the scrounger retrieve. I was met with instant success and access to more water with my longer casts. In about 7hrs over 2 mornings, ended up with at least 45 bass. I'd bet on a 20lb+ bag each day with another thrown in for great luck. Couldn't leave without dragging a jig/tube when the action slowed down, and got rewarded with 3 more good fish. Lots of rambling and boring pics, but the variation in color always fascinates me. scott

I think either rod has a good chance of working. I'd lean toward the spinning setup as the first try, with a side stroke. I like to cast out my jerkbaits, give a quick 2-3 handle turns to get it down, then hit it pretty hard with some slack in the line. I want the bait to be still, then erratically jump, dart, and dive and then be still again. The jerk bait only moves 4-8" per hit. I do a mix of cadences till I find what they like. I watch for my line to jump, but lots of times you don't feel the fish till you hit it it again and there's weight. Others on here that are very accomplished anglers also sweep the rod for a short little swim then pause. I'm still working on this myself. I'm a fan of braid to leader and think it's worth tying the knots. I'd be more comfortable with 8lb line over 6lb. Good luck! scott