Tatulatard

I don't want a rod the makes fishing a chatterbait feel like I am running my yard trimmer. I want to know that the blade is moving but not more. I expect a dedicated moving bait rod to filter the feedback to the point that the rod is not violently shaking as I work a chatterbait. This is actually one of my big complaints on a moving bait stick. I want to feel the bait and less of the blade. At the price of the megabass rod and assuming it is a moving bait rod I would reckon that this "lack of sensitivity" to the blade of a chatterbait is by design.

If it is a locked down drag reel with flat washers then you can leave it locked down and it won't loosen over time from spring washers deforming, because it has none.

What sorta scam are they running these days? That 1st reel is a bottom tier $20 aliexpress reel on a mystery meat rod. $89 for that? Get a hank parker lews rod from Walmart and a $50-$60 reel of your choice. I like the piscifun carbon xcs.

Probably. It is an insanely smooth reel that will make you think the drag is backed off when cranking. If this is your 1st time with a reel this smooth you will do a double take at the spool to verify it is turning when cranking.

I wonder if the drag is locked in that there aren't spring washers and the drag star is just tightened down and without star points to adjust. Flat washers in place of the spring washers and a locked down drag effectively. This is how one of the deps zillions was built. You can do this to any reel really. Just swap out the spring washers with flat ones plus a shim or two then crank down on the drag star.

Doyo does. They then let others put their name on the outside. Its their gig.

The waddle bat is a little different. It has a blade attached to the hook hangar to cause instability and hunt. The wake baits with the big blade off the back use the blade to make noise as the blade clanks on the body and sometomes metal nub on the body. The waddle buggy combines both.

It's a type of Japanese bait. There are many of them. The most well known in the US is the megabass gong or jackall bunny. I like the imakatsu waddle buggy because it hunts sub surface

Whats wrong with the drag?

They are affordable and an American brand so newer anglers gravitate to them. Their minds melt when they find out they are rebranded Korean reels but most never find out. Also their use of combos sold at big box stores get many into fishing as their 1st baitcast reel and they just stick with the brand.

Also I would pair the reel to a medium rod and 12 lbs flouro for skipping plastics. Think of it as a setup that does what a spinning reel can do but also handle stiff lines like flouro.

Spool tension should have tiny amount of play or be whatever you want. It's no different than any other reel. Daiwa just made the knob hard to turn and called it a zero adjuster. All my reels are set for a tiny amount of aide to side play zero adjuster or not.

I fish this water temp every year as small bodies of water lose their ice and warm. I'll drag a jig from deep water holes to shallow. I always bank fish to avoid falling in and rapid hypothermia. If the fish are sunning themselves shallow I'll throw a flatside crank like a tiny 04 or a 1/4 oz super spot in a lift and fall retrieve (1/4 spots sink super slow). For a jig I like a arkie head with a rubber skirt and a low action trailer. I use buckeye mini mops and bass pro elite chunks. One of the nice things about these temps is that the dreaded green slime hasn't formed yet so I get to actually use a bottom contact bait. Its like a special occasion.

I find BFS reels the easiest to control. Light weight spools are easily tamed. Check to see you haven't over filled the spool. If the line is rising up off the spool in a big arch on the cast then that big indication of an overfilled spool. Also the mag brakes could be really weak on that reel and causing problems. I fish floating worms wacky rigged as a topwater but use all UL BFS rod. What rod are you using? The more I think about it I belive the rod is the problem. Get an actual BFS rod like an UL majorcraft benkei. An 8 ft rod sounds like a light powered seabass rod. As someone who ones a 7'6" light powered seabass casting rod I can tell you they can be awkward to cast.

Never trust daiwa US. Always go to the japanese site for reel info. The English language reel descriptions on the US site are frequently incorrect to the point of being untrustworthy.

I wonder if engetsu bb pg 5.5 gears would fit? They are not x ship but I don't recognize the platform they are using. It might be a derivative of the slx but I can't be sure. If one were to go this route I would get the drag stack along with the gears in case there is a change in the drag washer diameter, a clicker or some other such thing from it being a vertical jigging reel.

Worse no doubt. Majorcraft stuff is excellent.

Odd. The old zillion should be an improvement palming over the tatula ct reels with the rough mag dial. I palm mine the same way as you but this was a change I had to make because wrapping a finger around the front of the tatula ct reels is awful but something I always do on my old zillions and old alphas without issue. The non recessed mag dial with rough edges and the weird ridges under the front plate make wrapping around the tatula/fuego ct and tatula 150/200 reels a no go for me.

Both of those reels are big boys. They compete with other 300 and 400 size reels. That would put them in the weight range of a tatula, lexa or tranx 300/400. The komodo gets a synchronized level wind and a bait feeder as well making it more live bait friendly.

The low thumb bar is how all daiwas are. The shape of the reel makes it palm pretty well for a 36 mil spool reel but a bit tall. Better than the tatula 150/200 and ct reels which are also native 36 mil platforms. The zillion has a contoured front shape and recessed magnetic dial to wrap your fingers around the front of the reel when palming with 3 fingers in front of the trigger where as the older tatulas platfroms are much more blocky. I'm pretty sure these older daiwa pre t wing platforms like zillion and alphas/pixy were designed for 3 fingers or more in front for the trigger palming wrapping around the front of the reel and reel t wing plagform reels are meant for only 2 with their wide fronts and their back tapered side plates. Still the old zillion as a 36 mil spool reel will palm taller than a 32 mil spool reels that are becoming common. What reels are you coming from and how many fingers do you have in front of the trigger when palming?

No. A frog rod has more in common with a jig stick than a topwater rod. For dual use you can just put a leader on the braid for jigs/t-rigs then cut it off when frogging. I would use 15 lbs big game if being a cheapskate about cutting off leaders. It's clear, it's strong and it's going to hold its knot. I would use your jerkbait or crankbait rod for throwing normal topwaters.

I used to go in the back door of a 2000 taurus and put the tips on the dash and the butts on the rear seat backs and package tray area. They end up suspended in the middle of the car supported by the dash at one end and the seat back at the other. That dash space is free room. Hauled 11 foot long sections of siding this way in a 2001 focus wagon one time.

Open the side plate and turn the dial on the spool to turn on centrifugal brakes. I think they are off by default. If you just rely on the external magnets you will have trouble keeping the spool under control because they are very weak magnets. I would turn on 4 out of the 6 a run a sidge more spool tension than what is needed to eliminate side to side play. The magnetic dial is effectively worthless on these. Use it as a line size indicator or something. You will need a shim. If its a slight play then just leave it and use the brakes and by brakes I mean the centrifugal brakes and your thumb. That slow drop thing is not required if you know how to cast.

The curado 150 mgl goes for $155 on AE. Not sure it's worth waiting a month for it to arrive to save $45

I would use an ul stream rod in either spinning or casting. 2 pc so I can back pack it in.