inferiorfisherman

Get the 3000. I have both. The carbon drag on the 3000 is better and worth the $10 extra. I ended up getting 3000 spools for the 2500 just so I could get the carbon drag. I tried the aftermarket carbon washers made for the FL and they were too thick for the 2500 spool to operate properly and the drag would not go all the way out. The only reason I could see for anyone wanting the 2500 over the 3000 would be if they really did not want to waste any line and didn't need the capacity of the 3000. If you go straight braid like I do and like the expensive stuff you will end up spooling about $40 of braid or so onto it.

I have purchased a few in the price range in the last 12 months. Here is what I purchased. Stradic FL 2500 Stradic FL 3000 Vanford 1000 Vanford 500 Vanford 3000 Tatula Lt 1000 Here is my take after getting to use them all several times. Stradic FL Amazingly smooth and just rock solid. Feels like it can really take a lot of abuse and some truly monster fish. This is the reel I want if I need a spinning reel that can horse a fish in. It is light enough in the hand, but heavier than the carbon options for sure. It takes a bit more effort to turn the handle than the other options as well due to the heavier rotor, but once spinning it is incredibly smooth. I prefer the 3000 over the 2500 because 3000 has carbon drag. Spools are interchangeable between the 2500 and 3000, so I bought a few extra 3000 spools. These would work just fine for a dropshot rig as well. Pairs best with longer rod for balance. These go with me everywhere along with my travel rods. They go on flights, inshore fishing, kayak fishing, bank fishing. Vanford Expensive. Super light weight and also very smooth. You can feel it "operating" a bit more than the Stradic FL, but I think it is because the carbon body transmits a bit more of it into your hand. Where the Vanford excels is the initial start up of the handle. It feels as if you could blow on the knob and the handle would turn. Very finesse feeling. This is currently on my dropshot rod which is a dobyns 742SF FH. Honestly the Stradic Fl balances better with the long rod, but the performance of this reel seems to match this fishing style the best. It balances well enough that it doesn't bother me. However, I have the full handle version of the rod so it was pretty well balanced without the reel. If I had a more tip heavy rod to pair it with I probably would not choose the Vanford. Turning the reel handle to close the bail all of the Vanfords brings about a sensation of graphite rubbing on graphite. I don't enjoy that feeling and I am hoping it goes away when they break in. Tatula LT This reel is great. I put it in between the Stradic and Vanford as far as performance. It feels heavier duty than the Vanford but less so than the Stradic. It weighs in between the other 2 models. It is just as smooth as the other 2. Initial reeling effort is also right between the others. The Tatula is the best value of the 3. I did not pay more than 170 for them. This is why my next reel will be another tatula 3000 (shallow spool) as and upgrade for my current medium action setup. Vanfords are very nice, but not worth the price over the Tatula IMO. The operation of the Tatula feels a bit more refined than the vanford. The tatula is only slightly heavier than the Vanford. I would choose the tatula over the Vanford for every situation other than when I needed an ultra light setup for my crappie fishing. I would choose the Stradic any time I was using a rod that was a MH or above, I was fishing salt water, or I expected the reel would get banged around a lot.

I have to test this out. So easy to tie!

I did not really become aware of how overrated FC was until after I bought into the marketing hype and invested in numerous spools of Sniper and Shooter. I have since seen enough data to agree that it looks like high quality mono can perform just as well or better in some areas for much less cost. It will take me a long time to use up all of the FC I purchased, because I only use it for leaders. I tried it on a spinning rod as a main line and hated it. When I do run out I will be trying mono. I currently use no leaders whatsoever on any of my setups. Straight braid on all of them, but a leader seems like a requirement for a good dropshot presentation. This season I plan to experiment with using more leaders on other setups to see if I get more bites.

I'll give that one a shot too.

I am using the version from Salt Strong. Basically, I am having a hard time wrapping the braid around the FC. The tension on the braid makes the FC wrap around the braid instead. maybe if I can figure out how to control the tension on the braid a little better, while getting more tension on the FC I could get it to work. Thanks. That was pretty easy. I need to practice a bit more and see if I can make it stronger. Not sure what I just tied would stand up to a big one. This seems a bit bulkier than the FG. So, I will probably run a shorter leader so I don't have to pull it through the guides.

I am using 12# sunline asegai braid on my dropshot setup. I am trying to tie on 7lb sunline sniper FC leader. I like the idea of running a longer leader with and FG knot. However, I cannot tie it successfully. I spent an evening trying to tie it with no luck. I watched every video I could find. Out of curiosity I tried the same knot with 18# shooter. I was able to tie it without an issue. Seems like my issue is with light FC line, but this seem to be what works best for a dropshot setup. Should I go with another knot, or is there some trick to tying an FG knot on light FC that I have yet to stumble across?

Hi. I am and from the Indianpolis, IN area. I grew up with a crappie fisherman father, so I did a lot of fishing. However, never fished for bass on purpose. I just finally was able to buy my first boat at 40 YO in 2020. Since, I have become obsessed with everything bass fishing. For a true geek like me bass fishing gives me an opportunity that crappie fishing does not. There are so many more lure types, techniques, equipment considerations, etc that is a really good hobby for me. I am starting to feel a bit too old and like I have too much to lose to keep pursing all of my young-man hobbies like riding motorcycles too fast and other adrenaline chasing activities. I have done a ton of reading, watching videos, and following message boards. I have collected rods, reels, lures, and line for every technique I have heard of. I feel like equipment wise I have everything I need to catch some serious fish (I still have more I want, I can't stop). I have also researched the patterns of the bass and generally speaking I have developed an understanding of where they like to be at what time of the year. However, I have very little experience and trying to take what you think you know and turn that into fish in the boat is a different story. Right now I am at the stage where I am getting hung up a lot, having a difficult time deciding which lure to throw, and just not getting bites. I am slowly figuring out my Humminbird electronics and how to read them. Moving while fishing is new to me and I spend most of my time trying to keep the boat from ramming into stickups. If it were easy I wouldn't like it so much! I look forward to learning more from you all. I'll try to not ask too many questions. That might be tough because I have about forty eleven of them.