PBBrandon

Never thrown em wacky or flukes on mine but the 743 is deadly with a weightless t-rigged senko

Catching old lures from the bottom of ponds is a bit of a sidekick superpower but a superpower nevertheless

I also noticed the Lews Custom SLP on sale for $120. Might be a better buy. I was planning on grabbing another Alphas but they aren’t $150 like they were a few weeks ago

I’m looking for 2 more baitcasters to fill out my lineup and notice that BPS has the 13 fishing concept Z slide marked down from $240 to $99. Anyone have these and like em? Almost all of my baitcasters are Daiwa SV reels and the other 2 are Shimanos. I liked the Lews reels I used to have but have never tried 13. What are y’all’s thoughts?

Where did you get it? Was it exposed to sunlight for a long time? Could be a bad spool or have sun damage. I mainly use Invizx and it hasn’t failed me yet

Large reservoir = fish are harder to find but easier to catch. Some days I’ll spend hours looking for the fish and then I’ll find them, and it’ll be time for me to head home soon after. I only go to these when I have 4+ hours. small pond = fish are easier to find but harder to catch. If I only have an hour or 2 I’ll go to these and toss a Ned or Texas rig around. Typically if I catch anything it’s within the first hour or so.

With both spinning and casting, I cast with the reel in my right hand, switch to my left and then retrieve right handed. So many people say it’s wrong, so I tried lefty baitcasters multiple times. Felt like day 1 with a baitcaster and I’m too stubborn to figure out how to use one with my left hand. So I’m back to all righties. I still write with my left hand though, probably why my handwriting looks like chicken scratch. A little too late for me to switch to my right on that one.

I have a Dobyns Mike Bucca 835c and love it for A-rigs. Doesn’t get talked about enough but it’s worth every penny over the Fury. I also toss A-rigs on my 7’2” H+F Daiwa BLX and the shorter handle does make it harder on the wrists. It’ll still sling em though. like @Bigbox99 said above, it’s about the casting technique more than anything. I also think a swimbait handle is necessary for a dedicated A-rig rod.

Got 2 packs of Yamatanukis, a pack of Keitechs, some VMC Neko hooks, and 2 packs of Ned heads for $15 at academy. I love the pre spring clearouts at big box stores. My local Walmart should have theirs any day now

Yeah you could get a Zillion/BLX/Steez and not have to worry about it

I’m a fan of the current Tatulas, and those new ones look pretty sweet!

With the 2025 season right around the corner, or underway for us lucky southerners, what are your lineups going in? Mine is looking like, Spinning- 6’0” ULF St. Croix Premier/Shimano Nasci FB 1000, 4lb Invizx FC (creek fishing) 6’6” LF St. Croix Premier/Daiwa Tatula LT 2500, 6lb Sufix ProMix mono (creek fishing, small ned rigs) 6’10” MLXF St. Croix LTB/Daiwa Tatula MQ 2500, 20lb Sufix 832 braid/8lb Invizx leader (dropshot, Ned) 7’2” MLF Shimano PA B/Shimano Stradic FM 2500s, 20lb Power Pro SuperSlick braid/8lb Invizx leader (Ned, small swimbait) 7’0” MF Shimano Expride B/Shimano Stradic FM 2500s, 20lb Power Pro SuperSlick braid/8lb Invizx leader (shakeyhead, wacky) Casting- 7’0” MLR Daiwa Tatula/needs a reel (small jerks and cranks 6’8” MXF St. Croix LTB/Daiwa Alphas SV 7:1, 10lb Tatsu FC (jerkbaits) 7’4” MF Dobyns Champ HP/Daiwa Alphas SVs 7:1, 10lb Tatsu FC (weightless T-rigs, finesse jigs) 7’2” MHM St. Croix LTB/Daiwa Zillion SV 6:1, 12lb Invizx FC (cranks) 7’3” MHRF Shimano PA/Shimano Chronarch Ci4+ 7:1, 15lb Invizx FC (do it all rod) 7’3” HXF St. Croix LTB/Daiwa Zillion SV 8:1, 17lb Invizx FC (t-rig, jigs) 7’2” HM St. Croix LTB/Daiwa Zillion SV 7:1, 17lb Invizx FC (bladed jig/spinnerbait) 7’4” HF Daiwa Tatula Elite AGS/Daiwa Zillion SV 8:1, 50lb PowerPro braid (frogs) 7’5” HF Dobyns Xtasy/Daiwa Steez SV 8:1, 17lb Invizx (jig rod) 7’6” HF Daiwa Tatula Elite AGS/Daiwa Tatula SV 7:1, 50lb PowerPro braid (flipping stick) 7’2” H+F Daiwa BLX/need a reel (1/2-2oz swimbaits) 8’3” MHSB Dobyns Bucca Bullshad/Shimano Curado 200K 7:1, 20lb Trilene Big Game mono (1-4oz swimbaits, A-rigs) probably gonna get an Alphas for my Tatula rod and a Tatula 200 for my Dobyns Bucca rod and move the Curado to the BLX. Then I’ll be set on setups Whatcha got goin into the season?

For 280 I’d vote Expride all day

If you are looking for an “affordabler” 873 NRX, the St Croix 7’3” HXF is very close from what I’ve read. Never used an NRX but I have the 7’3” HXF LTB and it’s a sweet rod for T-rigs and jigs.

For the price of a CT which you can’t get from Japan, you can get a JDM Alphas SV or a Tatula SV for a little cheaper and not have to worry about swapping for an SV spool. SV spool Daiwas are better about not getting backlash. Not immune to it but they are more tame than a Shimano or Lews. I love SV spools because you can get really good distance and control with the flick of a wrist as opposed to having to put your back into it like with a Shimano. The downside is you can’t really cast quite as far as you can with a Shimano, but you get 90% of the distance using 1/2 the effort. All but 2 of my baitcasters are SV spooled Daiwas. I’d say swing for an Alphas as it is a heck of a reel, but the Tatula SV is nice as well if you wanna save a bit of cash. Wouldn’t even consider a CT with the JDM market available

I’m typically open to any Daiwa, Shimano or Lews baitcaster on a discount. I like all of them. However with the price of Zillion and Alphas SVs, it’s hard to find a discount that beats those

My go to- Rod- St. Croix LTB 7’3” HXF Reel- Daiwa Zillion SV 8.5:1 Line- 15lb Invizx Weight- 1/4oz tungsten bullet Hook- Gamakatsu 4/0 EWG Plastic- this is a tough one but probably a green pumpkin or watermelon red flake 5” Senko

Ah…premium toilet literature…lol

Never used Cashion rods but I like Dobyns. The 713c Kaden would be good for unweighted senkos but if you are throwing over a 1/4oz bullet weight on it, you might wanna step up to a 714c. Dobyns casting rods fish a power lower than what they say, so a 713c is actually a medium power casting rod and a 714c is a medium heavy

I usually throw mine on a 6 speed because I rarely burn crankbaits. You can throw them on a 7 or 8 though and burn em shallow. You can throw a square bill on just about any speed

I went to Academy to restock on some Invizx and Power Pro braid, but also noticed that they had Tatsu on sale so I got a little spool of 10lb as well as some 20lb Super 8 Slick V2 Power Pro. Never tried either line but am going to take the kayak out on Ray Roberts tomorrow to test them out. How does Tatsu compare to Invizx?

7 or 8 speed, I wanna get that slack up as quick as possible. If I’m horsing them out of cover I’m using the rod and not the reel

Either a Tatula 150/200 or a Curado 200K Both great reels but the Tatula is a bit bulkier so if you have smaller hands it might not palm well. I used to have one and it would sling a frog a mile. Sold it due to how big it was but I do miss it. I throw small swimbaits and A-rigs with a Curado 200K, it’s a beast of a reel and palms well.

Warranty that Premier and use that $130 to bump up to a Victory, or swing a little more and get a Legend Tournament. The 6’10” MLXF in either line is an absolute weapon. I have the LTB and love it for everything from neds to drop shots and little spinners

There’s a Lews Custom Pro 7’11” big crankbait rod on Amazon for $73