Dan N

I’m still very happy with some my lower end reels, I’ve got pretty much every brand, and 1 my tatula has sat on the bench the entire season, while I use 100$ lews reels . I don’t know how to compare “smooth” but I have no complaints with Lews .

After watching some videos from the guys fishing BASS, this looks like a bad move. The pay outs look pathetic. I can’t imagine how most will make any money.

Not trying to brag or anything like that, but I started using baitcasting equipment young, and just use my thumb to control most everything. I usually set everything about middle, and rarely ever touch. Spool tension is always very loose, just enough to eliminate side/side movement.

Learn to use your thumb.once you master that, no need to ever change anything. And as green pig said, learn to cast with both hands. It’s not hard to do, just take a little time and practice.

Is there any official list of who’s all qualified for the elite series 2025?

I used to only fish for fish that were considered good eating. Walleye,perch, gills etc… kept a lot. since I’ve turned almost exclusively to bass fishing, I have kept some here and there, would definitely say none I ate were bad. I will definitely keep badly hooked bass to eat if they gonna die anyways. A small lake near me took size limit off bass(way overpopulated) and me and my nephew kept some 10-12” bass . They were delicious. The area of Wisconsin I’m in the walleye is king, bass are not highly regarded by many.

I do, but always have better luck on black/blue

Nothing

I still use a lot of mono, I still catch fish. I do experiment with braid and floro. Mono still works, has forever. To each there own.

Congrats sir!

If you know how to tie a quality braid to leader knot, ( and there are many good ones) that knot is not a weak point. The leader line should always break first. my opinion anyways.

Here in Wisconsin a 5 lb bass is big! I’ve only caught 2 , 5 or bigger. just look at the the results of the open on the Mississippi River. Biggest of whole tournament was just over 5, and that was a lot of great fisherman, fishing 3 days.

I also fish super clear water, so I use a leader. I have come to use straight braid for some lakes that are not so clear, without issue. I do however like braid to leader always on spinning equipment. I prefer to break at lure . Knot connecting braid to leader almost never breaks.

4 in boat or truck, when bank fishing I only carry 1 rod.

I have 3 of those exact reels ( obviously not 3rd gen.)in that gear ratio that I use all the time for crank baits, love them.

It’s 4” . I wouldn’t think it would matter that much

I would disagree that a Shimano or Diawa is automatically the best. A matter of opinion I think. I own both, and Doyo reels also. But I guess I don’t buy the top end reels either. 200$ would be the most I would spend on a reel.

I have many different BPS reels, both casting and spinning, and never had an issue. I keep buying them.

I would agree on all the names mentioned in the first post. well , maybe not the last guy. so, are all the others out of the elites next year??

No

I thought it was mono with a different name. I don’t notice much of a difference myself.

I very much respect guys winning an Open, but to me, it’s not winning an Elite tournament. I mean no disrespect.

I’m a fan of Cox, but he’s never won an elite event. Not sure he has a HOF career. Great to see him do good

Well at least I’ll have something to check in on during work tommorow. Pretty tight top ten.

I used to be worried about fish seeing braid, but this summer started throwing swim jigs a lot on straight braid, and my mind is quickly changing. In darker water for sure at least. Still not sure about super clear water. Although I have caught some on straight braid. And that’s in water I can see bottom at 14 feet.