Bigbox99

A private lake I fish limits kayaks to no wake zones only and this is something I practice there and on other bodies of water. Stick close to shore in the main body and free roam in coves/bays in bodies of water that allow boats to get on plane. If the whole lake is no wake then it's a free for all.

It's not the size of the fish the Teton L struggles with. It's the terminal tackle and habitat bass inhabit that make the rod a poor choice. The Teton can't collapse a fiber weed guard and drive a bitsy bug hook home in a single hooksett of the rod. The rod just folds in half because the blank is the diameter of a tooth pick. It even struggles with weedless ned rigs. This not to mention moving a fish out from under a dock once hooked. It's not the rods fault. It's a not a bass rod. It's not meant to do those things and there are BFS or BF versions of bass rod lines like Benkei, Volkey, Speedstyle, Zodias, Expride and many more that do just that because they are built to do that. Different tools for different species of fish.

Get a rays studio spool from Aliexpress where I assume you are getting the Teton L rod. I have that rod and while I use it for bass throwing tiny hard baits, it is a trout rod and not suited for BFS in the traditional sense of tiny bass jigs and plastics fishing where bass live in cover. A Majorcraft Benkei UL BFS will cast as light as the Teton L trout rod and be EMENSELY more powerful allowing you to collapse weed guards, drive hooks through plastic and steer the fish away from cover. The trout wand can't do that.

I like the zoom hollow belly

Aliexpress. Search "reel handle." 1,000,000 results. I like this one in 95mm for the knobs.

I don't know, I don't have a Kistler rod but I'd be hard pressed to pick one over a Veritas Tournament just judging a book by its cover. That blank better be leagues better than the Abu stick.

12 to 14 lbs sniper fluorocarbon no line conditioner unless you really want to since the braking profile and t wing handle the stuff line just fine.

I'd get a L or ML Majorcraft BFS rod and run 8 to 10 pound sniper for line. The Shimano BFS versions of their Zodias and up lines are great too. You really need to figure out what your main baits you want to throw are going to be. A crappie jig and even a 4" senko are pretty far apart. A rod that will do one of those well will not do the other well. I use an UL with solid tip for panfish jigs (1/32 head and 1 inch plastics) and ML for weightless 4 to 5 inch senkos, lightly weighted finesse worms and smaller 3/16 to 1/4 oz hard baits.

Was it a right handed reel?

The Piscifun Alloy M is also worth considering but not at Amazon prices. For what Amazon sellers are upchanging get the Lews LFS for peice of mind. If you do want one then go to the source on Aliexpress and get one for $50 or less. I have one and I haven't given it a fair chance to shine yet so I can't honestly review it. I tried to make it a jig skipper on flouro and then a frog bomber on braid but it left a lot to be desired. I think I need to move down a power in rod and let that light weight spool shine with weightless plastics.

As someone who owns more cheap amazon/aliexpress reels that I care to admit to if you are going to that route then get something of substance like a reel with an aluminum frame, or better yet an aluminum frame and handle side plate with a double supported pinion. I'd recommend the Histar Black Mamba Max/Max Pro for a 100 size reel and the Johncoo Ares for a 300 size reel.

I buy these on Aliexpress for my reels. I like the 95mm length and the Zillion HD like power knob. Here is one on a Revo X. They come with both left and right handed nuts. You want the 8x5mm size.

Spool tension is training wheels for fishing reels. It's fine for beginners that are learning how to use a baitcast reel but like training wheels it is teaching you the wrong way and you will have to relearn how to do it properly at some point. Training wheels teach you that leaning the bike is bad and that you should stay upright and perched on the saddle of the bike which is not how you should ride a bike. Go to any single track on a mountain bike and you will be in for a world of hurt. You'll learn real fast you need to lean the bike in turns and get rider and bike separation. The same applies to the spool tension knob. If you learn to cast with that thing smashing the ends of the spool shaft the line will be taunt between the bait and rod on the cast. This will prevent the reel from spitting out enough slack line on the cast and will have baits want to pendulum swim back at you rather than fall vertically (hence the old adage "you can't get a vertical fall with a baitcaster") This will also cause the rod tip to be loaded as the bait flies through the air and this can cause issues with inconsistent bait flight characteristics when switch between a reel with no spool tension and picking up one that does.

Every reel I own with a centrifugal brake came out of the box with no spool tension and I fish them without spool tension. Daiwa does does not have any special sauce that allows only their reels to do this.

These would finish the look

You may have to run a higher brake setting to tame that 18 lbs Sniper. Stiff plasric lines are like casting a slinky. I would have opted for the Zillion HD for its stronger braking profile for casting 18lbs flouro but the Steez A II should be able to tame it at higher brake settings. Also just letting the line sit on the spool will get it to take the spools memory and behave better. Fresh spoolings of flouro can be a nightmare to cast with until they settle down.

I set all my reels to just eliminate side to side play to my desired idea of "eliminate side to side play" including my Daiwas with the spoon tension knob named zero adjust. Come to think I have never received a new reel from any brand with spool tension applied. They all shipped like zero adjust reels with no spool tension.

Same with my old Daiwas or any other brand of reel I own new or old that don't have a "zero adjuster". Spool tension set to just eliminate side to side play and never touch it again no matter the bait. How is the line spooled on the reel? Is the line over or under the bar in between the spool and the t-wing?

All my reels are set up for zero spool tension across all brands. The zero adjuster is just a marketing gimmick to coerce you into setting up the spool tension properly, which is to not use it at all. If you are backlashing then have some sort of issue such as fluorocarbon line spooled on backwards or are failing to stop the spool when the bait hits the yard.

Darn. I know you can buy color parts from Kawa but that silver looks incredible and Kawa doesn't have silver.

Can't want for these reels to become dirt cheap so I can make a fraken Zillion. I did that to a Tatula Type R using an old last gen Zillion TW SV. Nicest nuzillion I have ever seen. Can't get over it.

Oh neat I always assumed is was the JDM cr80. That makes the price more appealing if you can get it for $70 shipped.

$70 is too much for a plastic reel with a non dynamic magnetic brake IMO. I'd go with weird Aliexpress deep dive chinease reels like this before a Bass X. At least I get an aluminum frame and handle side plate with a dual supported pinion for my money.

The Daiwa elites don't want you to know this but all your reels are supposed to be set up with no spool tension. The zero adjuster doesn't actually exist and Daiwa just got butthurt and made the knob difficult to turn so you would stop turning it.

Neither. I'd recommend an aluminum frame baitcast reel like an SLX, Lews or Tatula 100 or 80. All can be had for around $100 with my pick being a Tatula 80 from Aliexpress. If you REALLY want to be cheap about it and also want a small light reel then the Piscifun Carbon XCS is good at throwing jerkbaits. I use mine on a Lews Walmart Hank Parker M rod and the combo is feather light and balances out on the lock nut. The reel being a plastic reel does lose winding power under the load of winching in a fish and doesn't feel very refined but it cheap, light, small and casts well. I use mine as a budget jerkbait and popper rod.