Situize

I just finished deep cleaning the entire internals this weekend, ensured that my drag washers were installed properly, and cleaned the build up of excess grease on my AR bearing. I re-oiled/greased everything and it seems good to go. will do more testing tomorrow but overall the deep clean seemed to fix the pinion gear not going in or out all the way. I appreciate all the help and avoiding me having to send to a technician for repairs!

Can never go wrong with a Shimano SLX. Usually hovers around the $90-$100 mark. Look for sales as I've seen them as low as $80. Tried and tested reel that will last your for years. As far as rods Abu Garcia makes some very budget friendly options. Their vengeance series is great entry level rod and costs $40-$50. If you're looking for something a little nicer then Abu Garcia's vendetta is a great bang for the buck at just under $80.

Another thing that I've found helpful when fishing hollow body frogs is that if the body doesn't seem to squish down with ease it can help to put the frog in boiling water to help soften the material allowing for more consistent hookups. I also found that taking plyers and slightly bending hooks outward (not a lot but just enough to sort of offset the hooks from the body) that you tend to get better hooksets and your hookup ratio goes way up. If you want an easy way to do what's known as "walk the dog" when frog fishing is to cut one side of the strings that make up the legs a little shorter than the other side. This will allow more of that side to side motion that can entice bites. I've found that most hollow body frogs come with the legs way to long from factory, and this can lead to "short stroke" bites where they go for legs that are so far away from the hooks. By trimming the legs shorter and making one side uneven in length it can make the action of the frog look better and you also tend to hookup more often as they cant short stroke the hooks.

Could you link where to get one of these? Looking to clean my bearings this weekend and sounds like this would be helpful.

Also, any suggestions for good high speed bearings (3 bearings mentioned) that would work in a Lew's Tournament MB Left Hand?

I'm curious how often you guys go before replacing stock bearings on baitcasting reels (the bearing on the spool near pinion, bearing inside the tension knob area, and the bearing in the break side plate.) I've noticed that my oldest baitcaster is starting to have some bearing "whine" and doesn't spin as freely as it did on day one. I know a lot of people "degrease" the bearings straight from factory when they get them and instead use oil to lubricate the bearings which allows them to spin more freely. I clean my reel regularly but haven't ever soaked the bearings in a degreaser to get rid of the factory grease inside. I only ask since my bearings are starting to get old (2-3 years) and wondered if it would be more practical to replace them all together instead of going through the process of soaking in degreaser and using oil to see marginal increase in benefit when I could just purchase new high speed ceramic bearings.

The handle is 100% not moving backward when this happens as I have my hand on the reel and on the handle when retrieving the bait and doing the "twitches" so I know for a fact that the handle doesn't turn backwards when the spool does go free. I will mention however that my handle assembly does have some side to side play (horizontally.) I took off the handle nut, handle, washers, and drag star and the whole main shaft has this same side to side play (not just a loose handle.) I looked up online on other forums and they said that some side to side play is normal (especially on old used baitcasters). Could this be a potential indicator of what is happening?

When deep cleaning the insides should I be looking for anything in specific that may indicate that this is the issue? I think that this may be the solution as I don't think its my AR as I tried slapping the handle and it didn't seem to reverse. I will clean it tomorrow but wanted to know what I should be looking for in terms of finding if this is the issue.

I have had my Tournament MB for about 2-3 years now and have had no problems up until this fishing season. I am using 12lb monofilament tied directly through the holes on the spool so the line isn't slipping on the spool itself, and I also have ensured that my drag star is tight and set properly. The issue I am having is that when reeling in my bait and doing "twitching" motions much like you would with a jerk bait my spool seems to "go free" and be able to spin backwards causing large backlashes as the spool spins freely even when the thumb bar is not depressed. The handle itself doesn't seem to be able to turn backwards, and when I try to turn the spool with my fingers it doesn't turn freely. This problem seems to happen at random times but seems to be frequent. I clean and oil my reels regularly and this seems to be the only reel that has had this issue. The only thing I can think that may be "broken" is my anti reverse bearing, but as mentioned, the handle doesn't seem to be able to turn backwards so I'm a little confused what the issue might be. If you have any suggestions or ideas please let me know.

I have had my Tournament MB for about 2-3 years now and have had no problems up until this fishing season. I am using 12lb monofilament tied directly through the holes on the spool so the line isn't slipping on the spool itself, and I also have ensured that my drag star is tight and set properly. The issue I am having is that when reeling in my bait and doing "twitching" motions much like you would with a jerk bait my spool seems to "go free" and be able to spin backwards causing large backlashes as the spool spins freely even when the thumb bar is not depressed. The handle itself doesn't seem to be able to turn backwards, and when I try to turn it with my fingers it also doesn't turn freely. This problem seems to happen at random times but seems to be a frequent problem. I clean and oil my reels regularly and this seems to be the only reel that has had this issue. The only thing I can think that may be "broken" is my anti reverse bearing, but as mentioned, the handle doesn't seem to be able to turn backwards so I'm a little confused what the issue might be. If you have any suggestions or ideas please let me know.