Bigbox99

This is my pick for a surprisingly good cheap combo. $48 aluminum frame and side plates 300 size Johncoo Ares and $48 Lews rod. Its been a versatile combo that can do chatterbaits up to 3 oz swimbaits. A real swimbait rod would have a slower loading tip but the mod fast rather than regular loading makes it versatile enough to fish 3/8 oz head chatterbaits and swim jigs at the cost of some casting distance with baits over 1.5 oz. It will cast them but the softer faster tip doesn't launch them as well as a a slower loading tip found on a swimbait rod. For $100 combo you can fish normal H power rod bass baits but also tie on a rof 12 Hudd 68 special or a Gantarel/Gantarel Jr. Yep the 7' "MH" is the one I was talking about. I have the M casting too. I use that one as a budget jerkbait/popper and weightless plastics rod.

That rod is a good ultra cheap jig and worm stick. It has a super stiff and slow loading tip that gives it tremendous hook setting power. I treat mine like its a H and pitch jigs and even punch with it. It's like a short punching rod. The low limit rating of 1/4 oz is bogus and that tip is so stiff even a 3/8 oz 5" senko is uncastable unless you cast straight ahead. Any side casting motion and the bait swings left because the tip of the rod barely loaded.

This T3 MX is from 2012 but still looks cutting edge and modern to me. The whole reel is made from the same unpainted zaion plastic as the Daiwa drag stars. What's your old reel that you think still looks modern?

Expride. I have the Levante JBS and it's great for both and casts well right up to 3/4 oz baits but I don't like the nub trigger and it's a bit tip heavy. Fine for the jerk and wait of a jerkbait but for constant walking of a topwater I would opt for the Expride over the JBS.

That's a steal at that price.

I don't weigh my fish but the top 5 biggest bass I have caught were all visually approximately the same size and came on these rods and reels. BPS Extreme H and Extreme reel on a Spro Bronze Eye poping frog Megabass Super Destruction XH and Daiwa Z200 on an 8" Savage Gear floating trout line through Legit Designs Wild Side H and a Prorex 300 on a 5" Savage Gear 3D Bluegill SS Megabass Hyuga H and Tatula HD Custom on a 5" Savage Gear 3D Bluegill SS Megabass Orochi XX gen 1 Perfect Pitch and Megabass IP68 on a Berkley Gilly 110

If you can afford the 71MH Valkyrie then that's the rod.

It's the worse 70 MGL. It has gears that are notorious for getting rough and the spool is on the wilder side than most like especially compared to the 70 MGL and 150 MGL. I can get new 70 and 150 MGLs for $150 or a Tatula 80 for $115. Under $100 like new with box and only if you have your heart set on one.

This rod can do 3/8 oz cranks to 1/2 oz chatterbaits. It's expensive but awesome.

Doesn't bother me any. I fish with 3 fingers in front of the trigger with my thumb on top of the frame. Lefties with 2 fingers in front of the trigger palming the back of the reel might not like it.

For me it's the Lin 10 Black Jungle with a Gomexus handle.

I've seen fresh 4 carrier braid stick to itself like velcro. Just fish it, break it in and it will behave itself.

I don't like gold round reels so its Ryoga for me if I want a round reel. The spool swapping options are also nice. It may be worse but it's more reel than I need.

200i/70i/70k should all fit with the micro mod 70k being the ones to get. You may have to get a drag stack too if the clicker and drag stack from the BFS doesn't fit into 70k gears. You also have Scorpion BFS and Scorpion 70 to choose from. I would only do this to upgrade to brass if the stock BFS aluminum gears got nasty feeling. If you just want to buy a slower IPT reel then buy a slower IPT reel. If you can't find a slower IPT Curado BFS then keep an eye out for the exact same thing, the Scorpion BFS, in a slower IPT.

I forgot about these. The camo on on an Alphas TW looks kinda cool.

The rack extension really helps to car top tall vehicles. The Element is as tall as my pickup on 35s.

Looks like a 4 pin centrifugal brake with a tapered race. Turning the dial on the side plate with the brass ring (centrifugal race) should move that ring in and out from the side plate. When the ring is moved outwards from the side plate and closer to the spool the centrifugal brakes on the spool rub on the ring now that the smaller diameter portion of the ring is in the path of the centrifugal brakes and this increases braking. Moving the ring into the side plate and away from the spool will allow the centrifugal brakes on the spool to rub on the larger diameter portion of the ring reducing braking to the minimum setting. It's going to be an analog adjustment with the movement of the ring towards to spool increasing braking until it reaches maximum. I'd set the spool tension to just eliminate side to side play, never touch it again and then set that centrifugal brake to maximum and start casting backing off as you go until you reach your happy medium setting. It's also possible that there may always be too much brake and that some oil may have to be added to the centrifugal race to counteract this. Some like oil and some don't. It depends on the reel and this one is a mystery reel so it'll be a learning process.

My go to trick for speeding up an SV spool is to swap the inductor from a Ray's Studio spool onto the SV spool. You can buy them individually from some sellers on Aliexpress and its a direct swap since Ray's copied the Air Brake. You lose some control when it comes to skipping but if that doesn't matter for your application then it's a great swap. I'll be doing this to a Steel LTD spool I have to free it up for jerkbait use.

Open the side plate and get a look at the spool. That'll tell you all you need to know.

Put the flouro on the Daiwa and the braid on the Shimano.

I'd get the Zillion. I have an Elite spool in a Fuego CT (back when you could buy the spools for $45) and a Zillion 1000 and while both cast really well the Zillion is a much nicer reel. Both are effortless casters that send baits for good distance with surprisingly little effort. Both skip pretty well too although I've only used braid on my Elite spool so it may be less skip friendly full of heavy fluorocarbon line. The SV Boost in the Zillion has seen nothing but unconditioned 14# Sniper and has been a dream to cast and skip with. If I had to choose between $170 for a Tatula Elite and $200 for the Zillion, I'd take the Zillion every time. The new 2024 Tatula is around $100 if you know where to look and that one looks promising with its hyper gears and hyper aluminum handle side plate and at half the going rate for a Zillion it could be a real winner IF it casts anything like the Elite and Zillion.

Why are we treating a warranty as a replacement program?

Just want to share my love for these devices. In the past I used a Yakima Boat Loader that slid out of a Yakima rack but when I got the Element I needed something that was universal to work with the existing rack. Enter the Rhino Rack universal side loader. It comes with a bunch of brackets to adapt to your roof rack and I did have to swap out the ones that were pre installed but now it grabs onto my rack like a glove. It allows me to bring the boat along side the car and hook the bow onto the loader then pick up the back and place it onto the rear rack then shove the boat off the loader and onto the front rack.

Looks nice. Have you fished the TDZ Type R+ spool before? I've rediscovered my love for that old spool and noticed it is reminiscent of the SV Boost in how it casts but is also better with lighter weight baits. Curious to see how it stacks up to the Silverwolf spool.

I had a drunk blow past me on plane in a pleasure boat within 6 feet of me and there wasn't even a wake to be felt. I was about 3 feet off of a dock in a no wake zone too. The lake police ended up getting him after watching him do laps drunkenly around the lake.