SuperWetBlanket

Why bother with this when JDM Alphas is so cheap?

I have three. Easily one of the best fishing companies there is. I also have one of their swimbait rods, and its the absolute best big baits rod i've even held in my hands. S tier company, and i am glad all their stuff is still made in Japan.

Always 20lb Sufix 832 or Berkley X9. Cuts through wind much better than 30 or 40lb, so you cast further.

This magseal stuff is such a waste of space for freshwater.

Wouldn't mind Fenwick becoming a relevant brand. Haven't had a rod of theirs for about 15 years.

You want to replace bearings, but you don't know if the issue is a bearing? You kinda have to test all the bearings before replacing them. My best guess is that its the gear set that went geary, Tats aren't exactly known to have long lasting gear sets that stay smooth and silent.

ooooups, forget what i said then, i know nothing about spinning reels when it comes to best for the money. Personally cannot stand the Zodias line, and Levante break way too easily.

My answer to this is always the same. Use your setup the way you're most comfy with, and don't pay attention to how others use theirs.

Depends on the technique. And if you invest less on a reel, what exactly are your options? There's only the tatula and the slx, both of which are so far behind an alphas sv tw, that they shouldn't be compared. But lets say that you do get the $100 tat/slx instead, what kind of a big upgrade are you expecting to get from a fishing rod for that $150 you have left instead of the $100? All and all, for a reel and rod combo, you'd need about $350 to get something that is balanced, as in a good rod and a good reel. For $250 you have a choice of getting an okay reel (slx/tat) and a meh rod in the $150 range, or an amazing reel (alphas) and a meh rod in the $100 range. In this case i would go with an awesome reel, not like you're gonna get a great rod for $150.

Get the zillion, replace all bushings to quality bearings, and you will ask yourself what's the point of a steez.

For $250 i'd grab an Alphas SV TW from Japan ($150) and some $100 rod locally, there are a few decent options for the price.

Nope. Neither companies have issues with construction. The only issue i've even seen in the last few years is the curado's thumb bar falling apart while fishing. I don't own the reel so it didn't happen to me, but i've seen 5+ random youtube videos where this is happening.

Better take some pics when you retreive it😎It could be a Zebco or an Ultima

Getting an SLX DC or a Curdo would be an extreme waste of money over the 21 Zillion. If you don't get the zillion, your budget needs to be in the $100 range, then it makes sense. But if your budget is $300, the zillion is such a nobrainer that anyone without one should just forget everything else exists, and get it before the yen spikes up.

Sure, but at least you're buying it from the bigger manufacturers, the ones that have a warranty if something goes wrong (and on those cheap reels, something going wrong is a feature of the reel).

Even tho these reels become grindy within a month, for the price, it looks good. But at the same time, why would a grown ass man that fishes more than once a month bothers with this? This is a reel you give to a kid, or buy it if you aren't sure if fishing as a hobby is something you see yourself getting into. Someone who is on the water multiple times a week should use proper gear, and with the newer tatulas and the slx, you aren't even breaking the bank.

Everyone in-the-know uses the 832, its THE line, but i do use the Berkley X9 for the third season, and love it.

In general, Japanese folks don't try to scam people. I have purchased a lot of used stuff from there, and its always as described.

SLP Works 104, shimano dg04 and shimano dg06 is pretty much all i use. Cal's grease for carbontex washers is great, but you can use dg04 on them and its as good.

7. Since i fish from the bank, its pointless to own a bunch, and i usually sell them when/if i am tired of a certain setup.

$3.5k. But even if it was $3.5M, not much of a difference, both prices are ridiculous for a rod.

Maybe when it comes to baits, but i've seen their rods sold for over $3500k on Japanese auctions. Same with handles, they go pretty high.

What's real something is that i bought their tiny klash and k9 copy off of ali, and the paint on those $8 lures holds better than their $130+ baits.

It certainly is smart, i think they got the hype rolling through socials, and it somehow worked better than everyone else.

lul was gonna say so in my original post, but didn't want to derail the thread into Abu🤣