jejenkyns

My thumbs are pretty good. I'm always using conventional baitcast reels. Just wondering about distance as I'm usually fishing from shore. That's helpful tha ks.

What do you guys think of DC reels? I have a 23 Met I'm very happy with and I'm considering another. I'm also thinking about the DC. I can't it would hurt to have a fool proof reel kicking around for windy days. Do I need to set it up differently in the wind? Will it cast as far as a conventional Metanium in good conditions? I guess a Zillion is also an option, though I've pretty much strayed away from Daiwa after buying a Tatula years ago.

Steez the one and vanford 2500s. You may call me godless if you wish, but these two match better than my socks.

I love this reply ahahaha

My shortest casting rod is 6'3". It's a quality pole, no doubt, but the casting difference between that rod, and say, a quality 7ft rod is surprisingly small. On the other hand, it is far more accurate and much more maneuverable. If I have the space, sure, I will bring a longer rod, but I don't miss much as I gain so much more from short rods.

I don't want to hijack this thread but has anyone had a chance to compare the 23 Vanquish with the 24 Airity or 22 Exist?

Life is short my friend. YOLO all the way.

Thabks for the writeup. I've been thinking about getting one of these. Back and forth between the Vanquish and the newest Airity. I have a 24 Vanford and that anti twist fin has been wonderful for me. My biggest concern was how the drag would perform given its made of carbon but it has been fantastic also. You may have swayed me. I find it ugly though. But last I checked I don't spend alot of time looking at my fishing reels.

I respectfully disagree with the above. Regarding the Stradic and Miravel, they have completely different design philosophies. The Miravel belongs to the Magnumlite series which offers, not only light weight overall, but more importantly, a lightweight rotor. As you spin the rotor you can stop and start on a dime. The idea is to give the angler as much control as possible over really short, precise, movements. The Stradic, on the other hand, is build to wind with power. It will want to keep going by it's own momentum when you stop reeling. You can feel like when you spin the reel in the store. By design this gives more power to the angler under load and improves performance with lures that cause drag in the water. If you want precision over finesse presentations then look at the Miravel, or further up the Magnumlite line if your budget allows. If you fish for bigger fish, or with lures that require a constant retrieve for long periods of time, especially if they create drag in the water, look into the Stradic or other comparable reels. Every Shimano reel purchase I've made has been incredible, and you can't make a wrong decision per say, but it will pay to decide whether you want to focus on a reel designed to stop on a dime or leverage momentum to reduce fatigue with constant winding all day. No right answer, just two different focuses.

cool looking rods!

90% of my rods are between 6'3" and 6'9". I really want this rod to be 7'3" and up. I'm a short rod fiend.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I went with the Steez 7'6ML. So far all I have to say is that this is the most sensitive rod I own by a wide margin. It's absolutely insane. This isn't my first Steez either. I was dragging around a little 1/4 tungsten football head with a finesse bug of some sort and a whole new world opened up. Thanks again for the advice!

what size weight?

thanks. you are always so helpful, and you own some cool rods so I appreciate you sharing your opinions so readily.

Fair point on casting distance. I most of my rods are sub 7'0, some well under 7'0 and I don't notice any appreciable loss in casting distance. I'm curious if you've ever thrown small finesse jigs, like 1/4oz tungsten and small finesse plastics on your p5 Kasumi 6'11. I understand that's mainly a hardbait rod but it has me pretty intruiged for some reason. I'd love a rod to throw paddletails on ballheads, small finess jigs, micro free rigs with 1/8oz weights and smaller twitch baits. Maybe even the odd wacky/neko. Also, what gets thrown on your Whippet?

what rod did you buy with those specs?

Which MB rods are you referring to?

Sounds like that isn't quite strong enough of a rod for me right now. I was considering this as I own a Levante Whipsnake, which I sometimes wish was a little more powerful, but I'd be best stepping it up more and keeping the whipsnake I think. Thanks!

That's a fair point! I've noticed, that for me, all my favourite rods are a bit weird, in that they straddle the line between more traditional powers. Thus my interest in the 7'6 steez. With regards to rod length, I don't own any rods longer7'0" with most landing between 6'3" and 6"8. I think my preference for short rods mostly applies to casting rods because I'm target casting in tight quarters. Lately I've been starting to get interested in longer rods. We'll see I guess! If this rod is powerful enough to free rig with then it will find a home, if it can do the rest of that stuff it might just be "the one".

I'm mostly interested in the 7'6 MML. Most of my rods are 7' or under and I'm looking for something to bomb cast various things. The lure rating, marketing and customer feedback of this rod seem to suggest that it splits the difference in power and application between the 7'1 Utility Spin and the 7'1 ML, whatever that rod is called. I have a ML that I'm fairly happy with and so it really comes down to the 7'1 or 7'6, or maybe a windbuster. In practice some rods don't live up to that kind of hype. By application alone, the 7'1 is probably the right rod, however, I'm the kind of guy that will sacrifice a little performance in order to have fewer rods every time. So I'm hoping the 7'6mml will do everything the 7'1 M and ML will do, even if it isn't a good at either application set/weight ranges. I'd prefer to get rid of my ML altogether if this ro Truth is, the Windbuster or Utility Spin is probably the safest bet for me as far as application, but I'm gambling on the idea that the 7'6 will let me ditch my current ML. Ideally, I'm sitting 0.5 to 1 notch in power lower than the Steez 7'0" Sensor. I'd like some overlap but be able to throw lighter, in the 1/8th to 1/4 category, while also having enough bend to throw more moving baits. Ideally my new rod would share the load with the sensor while offering more utility than it does a little lower, and without being so fast. Ideally the rod can handle weedless presentations with a 3/0 hook and open hook stuff. Flyssa and Landsat are likely underpowered for what I'm looking for and I think the Windbuster and Utility Spin, while likely being safe buys, probably would be too much rod than the "ideal" rod I'm imagining. Hope this makes sense

Steez 7'6MML? Steez 7'1 Utility Spin? P5 Windbuster? P5 Addermine? Overall versatility is the main goal, sensitivity and fun factor are secondary objectives. Thanks!

thanks I'll try that.

It's not the rod. It's definitely me.

I'll be fairly brief, I hope. I bought one last year and used it a bit before breaking it in an accident (my fault, no "MB sucks! please" Anyways I had my replacement in hand before the start of the season this year but didn't have a chance to fish as much as I would have liked.Honestly I've been loving the rod to death. It's been very fun to fish with, super well balanced etc. I could go on... Finally, mid August, stuff opened up a bit and I've been able to fish much more and I've start catching some more quality fish... kind of. I'm actually losing ALOT of fish on this rod. At first I thought I was just having bad luck, or perhaps a little rusty, but I've been fishing with my Steez more and more often as the honeymoon wears and I have been landing them all with that rod, infact, I don't recall ever really losing a fish on my Steez (I'm sure I have but I don't remember). The powers and tapers are different so it's hard to compare apples to apples. Anyways, I'm mostly throwing bottom contact, but also some single hook moving baits, 3 aught and up. I just don't seem to be setting the hook well. I think I have more success when I set straight up, but I often find, if I get surprised I will sweep and this does seem to be a problem with this rod. Particularly if the fish is rushing me with the bait in its mouth and I think I have it hooked. Any thoughts? I'm starting to question whether this rod really works with my mechanics, but, as I said before, it is so much fun to fish with as the length, ergonomics and power just seem to make a lot of my preferred techniques really fun, so long as I DON"T catch anything! lol

I'm considering one, mainly because it is new and I'm about to pull the trigger on a metanium anyways. The truth is though, I've never really felt like I'd get anything from DC breaking... I'll probably stick with the vanilla met.