softwateronly

I'm a fan of all metal reels in general, but especially love them for jigs/bottom contact. A jdm met, bantam, zillion 1000, or zillion hd are going to be tough to beat in my opinion. I'd also say they are the best bang for the buck regardless of technique. My 3 jig rods next year will have a zillion 1000, metanium, and bantam in order of light to heavy. For me, there's a slight diawa advantage for skipping, and a slight disadvantage for braid to leader. scott

My basic understanding is that the river/lake water is used as a heat sink for the refrigerant in the heat exchanger to cool the steam back into liquid refrigerant. Should be a closed loop system. scott

I’ve had some recent cold water success w/ summertime sizes; 3/4oz swim jig with 4.75 D walker has enticed some decent fish. Everything is in play for me till I start getting bites. scott

I can feel bites, thumb a cast, and be waterproof with these. They dry out easily. Durability and cost are the main negatives, but they’ve been the best for me so far. https://a.co/d/89cWEPe scott

I wear gloves for work as well. These have been my dexterity gloves for the last 6-7 years (2 pairs and they're currently shredded) and are good not great, reasonable not affordable. There are compromises and I somewhat recommend but haven't found better yet. Fishing; I can manipulate everything well except I tie knots or pick backlashes bare handed. I'm probably gonna grab another pair for this winter. https://a.co/d/89cWEPe scott

Maybe a tail spin or stroke a tiny underspin as well, so many bait monkey options, hahaha. I hop blade baits and coast or pendulum a lot of little baits in cold water on blind casts, and do pretty well. In my mind's eye, these are bass set up underneath schooled fish but I never really know. Just happy to feel the thunk. Or my fingers. scott

I don't have electronics, but damiki rig looks to be a good choice. I'd also look into blade bait, flutter spoon, jigging spoon, ned, and hair jig. This "advice" is not sponsored by the bait monkey. scott

Wanting a chronarch a couple years ago is what led me to the jdm sites originally. For me, I can't get past the 20 met, 18 or 22 bantam, zillion 1000, and zillion hd. The solid frames just take it to the next level and I choose by application, weight, and availability with the dollar this strong. scott

It's not ideal, but I have left rods, reels, and tackle in an unheated, uninsulated garage all winter without any noticeable problems. So if that's your only option, you should be fine. Usually, soft plastics and reels will come in though. scott

Maybe the blade clicking/banging off the bottom when slow rolled is an added benefit. I sometimes fish light underspins w/ flukes and fish them similar to hair jigs. scott

Me too! Thanks scott

This was my first spring with the nishine eerie darter 115MD. The nose down, slow sink was a huge winner. Many 20+ pre spawn days. Also my first spring with dht punisher jig. Coupled with a beaver it was a great 1-2 punch in the cold water. The only truly new bait for me was a 3/4oz Uoze w/ a 6.5” gambler GZ. The extra large swim jig profile was my best night bite from post spawn thru summer. scott

Burning leaves @ 10 o'clock at night in snow flurries and these girls were hunting the neighbor's docks.... scott

Happy to have company.... @AlabamaSpothunter I'm no blade bait expert, but the vault is fish catching machine. The only advice I have is less is more, just a 2-3 shimmy and drop. Rips through the short grass, vibrates quickly, and gets bites. @A-Jay put me on some good hardware upgrades. The pike up here have been equal opportunity feeders to go with the SM and LM. scott

I fish 2 smaller natural lakes in SW Michigan almost exclusively. Casting: EX610M 20 met 7 20lb/10lb mono PA611M+ 20 met 7 20lb/16lb floro DC734MH cur dc 7 30lb/15lb mono PA173MH 20 met 7 30lb/16lb floro EX176MH cur71 7 30lb/15lb mono PA172H 21 Zln svg 30lb/16lb floro STAGS721 18 ban 8 65Mlb/16lb floro DRX755H 20 met 7 30lb/16lb floro CNQ904H 20 met 7 30lb/16lb floro DC735H tat200 7 65lb/20lb mono EX173XH 18 ban 7 65Mlb/20lb mono EX176XH 18 ban 7 65Mlb/25lb floro P5 TB XH 21 Zln HD 65Mlb/25lb floro DC706CB cur dc 6 30lb/15lb mono EX177H 22 ban 7 30lb/16lb floro MB Onager tat300HSL 65lb/30lb floro FR795SWBT cur301HG 65lb/30lb floro Spinning: AVD70ML STCi4+2500 15lb/8lb floro AVD70M STCi4+2500 15lb/8lb floro This is a list I already have; expride, poison adrena, dobyns champion, xtasy, fury, g loomis conquest, steez ags, mega bass P5 and destroyer, & Avids. I'm squarely in the shimano & diawa camp for reels & I fish braid to leader. I also have another 7-8 spinning rods of various quality for friends/guests/kids. scott

My suggestion is to not go 50/50 in cost. I think spending more on your finesse set up would pay dividends in term of sensitivity. If the baitcaster is mostly for cranks, you should be able to find something really good <$150. I might be in the minority, but I'm also happy buying gently used rods from boards/forums/one nameless online retailer. Most of my rods are shimano, dobyns, and St Croix in this price range and I've been happy. Best of luck! scott

Wow! 40% off and I'm looking to try a new company for these baits... I'd like this rod to be good with, 1/8oz okishira head and a 2.8 keitech, 1/4-3/8oz ball head and 2.8-3.25 soft swimmer, 1/10-1/4oz ned, 1/2oz damiki vault, 1/8-3/16oz punisher jig w/ a beaver, 1/16-1/8 spro phat fly w/ gambler shakey shad, and rarely a vision jr 110+1. Am I looking at a ML? Thinking helium series. scott

My "cheaper reels" comment was in direct reference to the jdm pricing/exchange rate not quality. I look through those pics on digitaka till I see the sticker on the reel foot. made in japan usually seals the deal for me. scott

I'm also happy that most of these cheaper reels are manufactured in japan. Culturally, they seem to be keen craftsman and am happy to benefit from the workers caring. scott

I grabbed an HD back in July. It's fantastic and was my first "high end" diawa. tatula and curado are more than fine, but the met, zillion, and bantam are ruining me. I feel like I can never look, touch, or fish anything more expensive. haha scott Been interested in these, what kind of hook is it? medium wire? 12-15lb line? scott

This monkey speaks Japanese. scott

Not who you asked but thought I’d add. This is for my casting rigs. I bought 1500 yd spools of 50lb and 30lb power pro slick on sale. Heavy jig // swim bait reels get 50lb, M-MH+ get 30lb. I have 100yd spools of maxima green 10,15,20lb, 16lb and 25lb fc leader, and 11lb Amarillo. I also have some tieable steel leader. This lasts multiple seasons for me. Ice out, all rods are rigged with leader. My water is 12+ feet visibility March-May. I also drag and bounce the bottom frequently in the cold water, and it seems the zebra mussels are omnipresent, wether they’re alive or shell beds. 16lb shock leader and 15lb maxima are my mainstays. Floro for jig and worm rods, mono for the movers. 20&25 are for my swim bait setups. 10&11 are for my M to light MH. Basically rod moving the bait, floro; reel moving the bait, co poly. The cold water also puts me in front of a lot of pike. I’m starting to use the steel leader more frequently. Certain jerk-baits and cranks for sure and starting to add some bigger swimmers and blade baits. As the weeds come up, the zebra mussels seem to be less dense and I start to not replace my leader and go straight braid brigade. This usually lasts till late October when the pike get shallow and aggressive again. Although pre-post spawn seems to have an uptick with me putting jigs in front of pike. I don’t like jigs on steel leader and straight braid gets bit clean by the toothy critters. So I switch to 20lb maxima, which seems to shred less on their teeth though this isn’t foolproof. Still searching for an optimal solution. But middle of summer, full weeds, water in the 60’s or warmer, jig rod is straight braid. Cuts right through the slop. basically I like braid for the price, the no stretch base, and ease of use. I like leader mainly for abrasion resistance but also like it’s slight give/stretch. When the water is super clear I also get a small confidence boost with it being clear. I choose mostly based on float or sink since both types of line I use are pretty good at abrasion resistance. I usually use 10-15’ of leader tied on with a fg knot or modified Alberto. I tie mostly sdj knots to my lures. If I’m straight braid, I loop through the eye a 2nd time to help bite and prevent slippage. I’ve been braid to leader for awhile and I’ve gotten used to how all my setups feel in terms of power and sensitivity with braid. If I go straight mono everything feels a little duller and slower. I’m happy so far mixing and matching leaders and I rarely fish complete slack line presentations. I’m mostly in the controlled slack camp and do some line watching. apologies for the word vomit. scott

1/8oz MB okishira **screw**head and a 2.8 1/0 dirty jigs guppy head in whatever weight you like. I’ve caught LM, SM, crappie, bluegill, walleye, and northern on these little guys. My personal opinion is a 2.8 is too small to texpose. scott

Looking to try a new to me rod, fill a gap in cold water fishing, and hopefully stay under $200. I'd like this rod to be good with, 1/8oz okishira head and a 2.8 keitech, 1/4-3/8oz ball head and 2.8-3.25 soft swimmer, 1/8-1/4oz ned, 1/2oz damiki vault, 1/8-3/16oz punisher jig w/ a beaver, 1/16-1/8 spro phat fly w/ gambler shakey shad, and rarely a vision jr 110+1. Right now I cover these with a 610M casting expride and a 7' ML Avid spinning. I guess my true goal is to leave the spinning rod at home occasionally. To any owners of either of these Phenix rods, what's more comfortable, under weighting the ML or working the heavy end of the L. I have a curado 71 mgl available because of the JDM Zillion monkey, and plan on 15lb power pro to 11lb amarillo. Open to any and all opinions or recommendations. Thanks, scott

I don't have any personal experience with them, but trust all the people here that talk highly. 2 Ark Lancers for $119 seems like a great way to start or fill out your gear. https://www.sportsmansoutfitters.com/products/ark-rods-lancer-pro-series-rods?ref=tylerberger scott