MediumMouthBass

Rapala makes a white and gray one, they are called anglers pliers. $10. They are useless on trout and panfish (except crappie) but do excellent for bass and pickerel. I have 2 pairs now, they have saved the lives of dozens of bass, saved my fingers from treble hooks, and do not rust easily. They are small enough to do life saving surgery on gut hooked bass/crappie, but long enough to avoid getting bit by pickerel. They also have 2 holes in the bottom, can easily take paracord and make a leash for it that can be attached to either pant loops, or handles on boats/kayaks. Ill have to pick up the pair @ol'crickety posted for the occasional pike. And i just saw the part about Leathermans, Midway has a multi tool, its their house brand. It goes for between $10-15. I picked one up awhile ago, it has a good locking mechanism, tools are alright quality. Not work worthy but for fishing it would do pretty good.

I dont know much about pro bass fishing or those who do it, aside from those who have reels, rods, and lures named after them. What i noticed for getting better accuracy is this, look where you want your bait to land. Your coordination and body will follow and do the rest automatically. Just like driving. 2nd thing is this, and this has greatly made a difference, (for baitcasting) right after making the cast ill i will turn my hands/wrists to take the reel and spool from facing straight up and turn it so the spool is angled to the side. And keep it there till the bait hits the water. This simple turn/angle of the reel and rod has given me better accuracy than any video, teaching, or tip i have gotten. Its hard to describe so it might be a bit confusing the way i wrote it, but i fish and cast right next to alot of trees in the water, so if im off by even 1 inch the baits gone. (i still get stuck in the trees from time to time, but its been reduced significantly since i started doing this) The 2 above things have saved me alot of money on line and lures. Practicing in an open area with a bucket does great too.

Dicks Sporting Goods has the LFS RH/LH lower gear ratios for $50, id love to buy another but i maxed out my fishing budget for the decade.

I too was in the same boat, the Max X is very disappointing.... I dont get how or why they ever even updated the Black Max, the thing was a budget fishing legend! I had line keep getting stuck in the sides of mine, felt so cheap, and looked like i bought it from a knock off amazon app. I still have 3 Black Max reels spooled up and ready to go if i ever need them, but like you my first real reel upgrade was a Tatula.

I too absolutely hate bug spray, but also any chemical we put on our bodies. Ill have to look at the spray you talked about, i use vinegar for my bug repellent now. Ive walked through tick infested woods, came back clean every time. Paddle the kayak through heavily infested mosquito swampy ponds and lakes, and no mosquitos until after a 2 hour period, i take a ziplock bag, fold 2 paper towel sheets in half and soak it in either white or apple cider vinegar, and dump some in the bag, wipe on skin and reapply after 2 hours. Doesnt harm the skin, doesnt harm the aquatic or wildlife, doesnt harm the baits, tackle, handles on rods/reels, and its edible. Doest get much safer than that. Also the smell goes away after about 10-15 minutes.

The Zillion and SLX MGL i bought come from the factory with shallow spools meant for either heavier baits like pitching/flipping, and also for lighter baits like weightless for an example. The main reason i bought both was for weightless baits and lighter/smaller crankbaits, however i liked the SLX MGL much more with football jigs and swim jigs, so thought the Zillion could fill the gap for weightless. On the first few trips i pretty much only used Ochos (senkos) and Caffeine Shads (flukes), both should weigh right under or above 3/8oz. Any reel should be able to cast them, but this ones supposed to cast it far. It was very underwhelming, i tried several different brake and zero adjuster settings but couldnt get the distance, the most i could get (using the inside of my house length in yards for example) was about 18 yards/54 feet, but that was with the heavier Caffeine Shads, with the Ochos it was significantly less.... I thought maybe the M rod was too short and too weak so i chose the MH for the next trip to my other local lake. It was also very underwhelming, and disappointing.... I ended up just cutting the line and tying on other lures to test the reel.... But with both rods the 1/2oz Red Eye Shad, and 1/2oz Warpig were fantastic with distance and ease of cast, was able to cast it about 10' farther than any reel ive used for them yet. And barely had to thumb the reel even with lower brake setting. If the reel werent too small for my hands i would love to keep it just for lipless cranks, but it just isnt comfortable to hold. And to be honest i also prefer a more geary feeling reel.

Im late to the party here, but its nice to know im not the only one on earth who is also anti fluoro. I bought into the social media, youtube, hype and bought a ton of it years ago. Nothing but constant line tangle, twists, mess, and broke off constantly. And when i say broke off, it broke off so easily. Every 5 minutes at the river or creek i would be getting out a new ned rig jig, and thinking about how much money it will take to replace the baits at the end of the day. Switched to hybrid and mono and have had barely any break offs, with 12lb hybrid sometimes i feel my reel will break before the line when i get stuck in wood or rocks.... Going to have to invest in a wooden dowel. And the part you said about fluoro being as they say "less visible to fish in water" is so true, its an absolute joke! Bass are barely affected by line, ive caught bass on mono so thick it made me confused, whereas trout are some of the most sensitive, paranoid, moon phase has to be right for them to even consider being hungry, fish on the planet. And yet i catch them constantly with bright green fluorescent monofilament line in shallow crystal clear creeks..... And did i mention what a mess it causes? On spinning reels it would make a nun use vocabulary you wouldnt think possible. Casting reels are more forgiving with it, but its still a mess. I can get 4 spools of mono or hybrid for 1 price of good fluoro, vs buy ridiculously expensive line, have to spend more on a line conditioner for it, that ill have to use frequently, and then throw the line away in a month because its almost down to the spool from constantly breaking off and retying. Im still on the same spool of YZH from 3 years ago i paid $4 for, leave it out in the sun, in the heat, it gets shredded by zebra mussels and rocks, yet i dont cut that part off and it still doesnt break..... Same spool of Big Game mono on my spinning reels from about 4 years ago still works great too, i think i paid $10-15 for a 1500 yard spool of it. And ive had pickerel (alot less viscous than pike, with much smaller teeth) cut right through fluorocarbon too when ive used it in the past. The only real way to deal with the esox family of fish is tieable wire or premade steel leaders. Ive had success with pike on the premade ones, just make sure the snaps and swivels used are good quality before buying them. Its very simple, neat, and doesnt take much space.

Oh no the Zillion casts extremely far, with a 1/2oz Warpig i can get 10' more than my Tatula CT. But with anything else thats not as aerodynamic its under half that, weightless worms and flukes its about 30'. Tried several rods, brake settings, and even adjusting the Zero Adjuster.... I was going to make it my lipless reel because its the one thing it does great, but the reels to smooth feeling and too small for my hands, definitely will be selling it and buying another SLX MGL and a Fuego CT. And you are probably right, It might be broken, it was an open box reel after all, and on sale for 40% off..... But its got the same problem as my other 2 Daiwas, so might have to send them to them to check out whats going on with them. And i know im the minority here, not many people have had issues with these reels, but 3 of them? All the same problem? And im a big Dawia fan, ill use my Tatula CT until the gears no longer turn. And refuse to put down my 14 Aird X rods for anything else. I read the reviews, did the research, watched the videos. I know they should cast great, but they dont. I know i must be a liar, cuz how could Daiwa ever make a faulty reel during and post covid when everyones qc is literally 0.

Kayak river fishing is probably the best thing to ever do in fishing, in my area the guys at the lakes for hours and hours are catching maybe 4-10 bass, mostly 2lbs. The guys on the river are either coming back with nothing, or bragging about doing 30-75. But thats when fishing for smallmouth, largemouth in a river system is much different, not sure if its better or worse, only have smallies in rivers near me. So i cant help there, buts here some advice i have. Dont take any kayak on a river that you arent able to replace. River kayaks are specifically made to handle not getting destroyed by rocks, my Shoalie for instance is made for this (and the bottom still looks like a cheese grater went over it). A regular kayak would work but you risk damage to the bottom very easily from how curved and rounded they are, unlike the flatter bottoms meant to cruise over shallow rocks. Depending on the river you are fishing, you will either be able to turn without issue or keep crashing into rocks from turning to slow. River kayaks are meant for fast turns to dodge rocks or boulders if the need arises. If theres no rocky spots in the middle, or bad current any kayak will do fine. Also dont take any pedal or motorized kayak in the river unless you know the river. This is the main reason people keep ruining their kayaks, the river i fish goes from 10' deep to 1' in the middle within just a few feet. And if it werent for me wadding in that spot years ago i wouldnt know. And there goes your pedal system. And also in my river a spot will be clean and clear, no snags, no rocks, and after 1 rain in new york has our waters flooded and filled with trees. After a week that clear spot is full of things that will get line broken off, and if you run a kayak dragging something along with it (like pedals) it will take it with it to the bottom. As for the anchors, DONT!!!! These will be extremely dangerous on unfamiliar river systems, even familiar rivers can be dangerous to have one. One jet boat or a change of current could land you upside down rather quickly. And not sure how that river is, but the Susquehanna near me has caused way to many drownings, very dangerous river to be in. But if you have to use an anchor use a trolley system with a quick release. Your best bet would be to try to find a kayak shop or a rental guide place and ask them to give you a quick breakdown of that local stretch of the river, and then decide if the pros are worth the cons. But even after all the above, theres no place id rather fish than a river, and nothing id rather be fishing it on than a kayak.

Sorry, english?

Hmm interesting because 3 of them did make it to the market. As much as id love to sit here all day arguing with you, no thanks. Im sorry ive upset you by saying facts about getting defective products, im sorry if you cant accept reality of a company making a bad reel that isnt perfect. Have a nice day!

You should watch some youtube videos, it shows it pretty well. Lots of horribly destroyed reels by weeds, algae, and absolutely filthy reels being cleaned or fixed on there. And thats not even that bad. The place i fish is weeds from bottom to top. And then grass, algae, slime.... After setting the rod/reel down for a different combo and it starts to dry it looks like it was dumped in toxic waste. Unless cleaning after every visit eventually the dried up stuff will get into something like the gears or something else, now have you heard about the new Tundra's engines destroying themselves because 1 speck of dirt got in them? I know comparing a reel to an engine is a different thing entirely, but the point remains. Getting dirt or debris into anything metal with tight tolerances, especially moving parts that need to be greased and oiled can cause issues. And oh no, if anyone has a view or opinion other than you it must be bizzare, take some relaxation classes or yoga man, all that negative energy and stress isnt good man. Definetly from NY have a nice day

The Fuego CT is the same as the Tatula CT, just different color and minus the T wing and a few other small things are different. The lack of T wing is the reason people say for the price, it doesnt cast as far but its a bullet proofed reel, i use mine for frogging in the weeds. I also use myTatula CT for ripping lipless cranks out of weeds. Ive pulled in several hundred if not thousands of lbs of weeds and grass since last years pre spawn. Only cleaned both once and they are still like new on the inside and outside. Lots of people overlook the Fuego CT because of its price and its color. When people think of a matte finish they think cheap. I get it. But its a very underrated reel, especially when it comes to needing something tough enough to handle the work load. It does this quite well. I also understand the want for the Tatula since it is a step up, much nicer finish to it. Looks better, matches the color of the Aird X rods too, and also has a nicer finish to it. Plus the T wing. Heres something else to think about since in your post you mentioned fishing in some weeds, while most modern reels can handle it, some do get to the point where they can and will break after so much pressures applied, get something nice enough to enjoy, but affordable enough to replace. Personally any reel i use for fishing in lots of grass or weeds i consider it a throwaway reel, (not actually talking about throwing it away but....) even if it holds up and doesnt break the reel will get destroyed in filth. My reels after fishing in grass still look nice but in a few months or next year i expect them to be destroyed in filth, even with proper cleanings. These things get super dirty and the grass just clogs everything up.

Yes out of the 30 casting reels i own and can cast 27 with no issues, gently and with ease all while getting great distance it must be a problem with my casting thats causing 3 Daiwa Reels and Daiwa reels only to do that. Must just be something about the Shimanos and Lews along with the budget Tatulas/Fuegos that corrects my faulty casts. Thanks for the tip ill have to ask my DR. the next time if i have weird body mechanics with my arms.

I can barely get a 1/2oz lipless let alone a 3oz glide bait past about 50 feet max on the 150, The Zillion i can cast about as far if not a few yards more than my Tatula CT, SLX MGL or BB1 Pro with a 1/2oz lipless, but anything else is in the under 65 foot zone. With weightless being about 30'.... Sadly i bought this reel for weightless senkos but i guess ill be using the MGL instead.... The Tatula SV TW cannot go past 40-50' with any lure, on any brake setting. Even with adjusting the Zero Adjusters, taking the factory grease and oils off and reapplying some fresh stuff. Changing to different rods, and different lines. Results stay the same. I use 1 lake in particular for distance ranges, theres a part where it gets somewhat narrow and i use it for my guessing of distance. My Fuego CT, SLX, LFS, Black Maxes get around half, My Tatula CT, BB1 Pro, SLX MGL have almost went all the way, there were some casts that i almost ended up in the brush on the other side. These other 3 Daiwas tho cast about a 1/4-1/3 of the way.... Its odd since all 3 were purchased at different stores, at different parts of the country, in different years but all have the same issue. The 150 and SV TW tho are thankfully only used for close casting near docks off the kayak so distance isnt a big issue with them, but the Zillion was a big letdown.....

I thought the same with my Tatula SV TW and Zillion. The Zillion with certain baits gets good distance but with anything other than a lipless crank or something very aerodynamic its on par with my $30 Black Max for distance. The SV TW however is a joke for anything past 45 feet. Great for skipping docks tho! My Tatula 150 is setup for 1-3oz swimbaits, but ive tried regular baits with it too, the distance is about the same as the SV TW, its a 45' reel.... Since im only using it for swimbaits distance isnt really an issue since its all close to the kayak or bank, so it works fine for me. I definetly also agree with your recommendation for the SLX XT, really great reel. But since the OP is a Daiwa guy the Tatula CT is really all youll ever need for a Tatula reel (unless skipping, big swimbaits, or BFS). The CT is the only Daiwa reel thats keeping me from switching all to Lews and Shimano for casting reels. The distance is amazing and its easy to use. Also in that $110-130 price range. The Tatula 100 (new one not the old one with bad reviews) should be great too, for more of a beefier reel, then theres the Fuego CT as well for ripping big baits through the grass, now thats the best heavy duty reel for the money.

I went 100% all in on YZH to replace mono and fluoro. I have mono on my panfish setups and some braid for fishing around grass but 85% of my reels are spooled up with YZH. I have barely changed any of the old line thats been on the reels for the past few years, it sits in a hot car most of the year, and gets beaten up by zebra mussels and rocks regularly. I use the San Diego Jam knot only with it and the line doesnt break even with all the above issues it faces over and over again. The line being weak or having to worry about it breaking is nonexistent, the one day with the line being almost shredded from zebra mussels i still pulled in a 3, 3.25, 3.75 and a 10lber all in a row, and the line was frayed and it still kept going strong. I have 100% faith in its strength after that. I would suggest either trying a different knot, or maybe reach out to their customer service, since some spools of line from any brand can be bad off the shelf. And not sure if anyone mentioned this, but are you sure it wasnt a pickerel or pike you set the hook into?

Stay away from those types of Lews products, while Lews makes some great rods and reels the Mach series is awful for the price. Its subpar parts but somehow the same price if not more than their actual good quality rods and reels. I call it their "youtube" marketing series of gear. If going with lews the base LFS goes on sale alot for $75, great reel but its not going to be the easiest to use for beginners. The old gen Shimano SLX MGL 70 or newer SLX 70 uses a MGL spool thats very beginner friendly, very hard to backlash with it, casts very far too. Handles very lighter and heavy lures excellent. And as you improve just turn the brakes down. MSRP is around $150. I have the old gen MGL 70 and a Tatula SV TW 103, and as a Daiwa guy (85% of my rods are Daiwas and i love them) the SV TW is in no way of even coming close to the severely under priced SLX with the MGL spool. But both are still great reels, just quite a bit different.

In most types of business, life in general, and even fishing, confidence is key. Some people might get to a good spot where any and every lure works, but in most cases its the opposite. You can either try everything in the tray, constantly retying over and over, and become clueless on what to do. Or you can use something that feels like you were meant to fish with it, something you know, know how it will act, how it will move, how fast or slow it falls, and the where, when, and how to fish it. Thats atleast my thoughts on what a confidence lure is, there have been many days ive went out with 5-6 rods with all sorts of lures tied on. I became overwhelmed rather quickly and cut them off just to tie on the lipless crankbait, and wacky worm. (sometimes a Chatterbait or football jig as well). And the other 4 rods were barely used the rest of the trip. And i went from overwhelmed/clueless to instantly having a feeling of purpose, certainty, and the knowledge/comfort/confidence in what i needed to do to catch bass. So yeah, i dont even feel comfortable going to the lake without a 1/2oz lipless crankbait and a pack of Ochos wacky rigged. Regardless of time of year or weather. Because they have never let me down. Oh and colors are the same way, ive got over 40 lipless cranks but in my mind i can only catch bass on reds and browns. The rest dont work. (and of course 80% of them arent reds or browns)....

Ive caught more bass on trout/panfish tube jigs or live worms under a bobber than i have with a fluke, jerkbait, spinnerbait/buzzbait, swim jigs, and topwaters all combined. Im starting to think all the guys recommending them and talking about how much bass they catch on them are just artificial intelligence bots. Although the lures do look nice, just not to the bass where im fishing i guess.

On one hand i agree that alot of lakes are declining due to overuse of chemicals. Whether purposely sprayed or unintended ones from new or old construction/projects/homes/developments, as well as the unbelievable amount of pressure in the last few years, add jetskis on top of that, because why not. On the other hand in the Susquehanna River people have been dumping chemicals, waste, oil and gas, along with all types of toxic pollutants from all the mines around and under it. We also have creeks that are bright orange that dump right into the river, that the local government tells everyone not to go near but just recently after several decades decided to allocate some funds to finally start cleaning it up. And any day of the week there might be a few diapers floating past you. Add on to it that any time it floods it brings who knows what into the river. Some areas have a ton of pressure and others its just a few people fishing it. Still the fishing is out of this world when it comes to smallmouths, even after all of that. In my personal opinion, the decline in LAKES specifically is from chemicals. Any lake i ever loved to fish for bass or panfish where dozens of each species were common in just one day, after being sprayed it was very rare if you even just caught 1 bass or bluegill. But the creeks being ruined is all at the fault of the government. Im talking about the Class A streams (Natives), they keep taking and taking just a bit more each year to put their stocked ones in. But hey who needs conservation when youre making that kind of money. Oh and the same guys putting in the stocked trout have no issue destroying bass and panfish lakes by dumping in more trout than the lake can hold either. But thats only a few states that have this issue.

I saw you are in Berwick, thats probably the best place to be on the North branch.... Right inbetween Shickshinny and Bloomsburg, those 2 areas ive had some of the best fishing of my life. And the way the river changes in just a few miles is unbelievable. Not as much pressure as the rest of the river in other parts of the state, but so many fishing opportunities. And to say that part of it is loaded with bass would be an understatement, heard many times people doing 50-100 bass per day. Sadly i havent came close to those numbers yet, but i have the hope.

I honestly dont understand how this isnt an option already.... These companies act like everyone that buys there lures is a competition bass fisherman, and theres money on the line. But most of their sales are just to regular people who dont like gut hooking bass, or going to the ER to get a hook out. There was a time where i debarbed all my hooks, for bass, panfish, and trout. I just took pliers and flattened it, some broke off some had a smooth finish, the problem is its time consuming. It takes awhile, and has to be redone with each new tackle purchase. Any brand that makes this an option i will support.

Well that DEPENDS! 🙂 I hope someone understands this joke

Ive caught, trout, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, walleye ,pike, pickerel, and green sunfish while going for bass. I enjoy it when any of them bite, the first 4 ill bring home for my parents to eat. (reason i said 4 and not 5 is the walleyes i catch come from the Susquehanna, dont want to eat those!) Now if i were going for catfish with the right gear, sure. But bycatch ugh.... And musky, i know some guys would love to catch a musky, but anytime i fish the river i worry about one biting. They are such amazing fish, i would rather they not bite my treble hooked baits.