10,000 lakes Bassin

i got I bantam coming in the mail, and I’ll probably just try to fix the spool ive got now instead of buying a new one, thanks everyone.

That’s exactly what I want to hear. This rod doubles for 6” line thrus, light frogging duty and pitching up to 1oz tungsten. Ive heard so many good things about that 22 bantam so I think I’ll finally give it a shot. It’s also slightly tip heavy with a zillion SV TW on it, about to inches past the end of the lock nut.

Unfortunately it looks like it will take up to a month for the new spool to get delivered. Seems like a perfect excuse to pick up a new reel so I’m not in a rush to fix that spool. Now ive got to decide between another met 100 or my first ever bantam on my 7’2 H jig rod. The bantam is the only reel of the “big 4” (zillion, zillion HD, met, bantam) that I haven’t tried but I’m a little worried about it weighing 8oz.

So the 18 mag z is cheaper than the same one ive got now? Will it hurt casting distance at all with a 1/2oz jig+ trailer for example?

Thankyou! Where would you recommend buying from?

Thanks. Is that wire/spring I’m seeing also part of the cam? It is that part of the spool that broke the can broke? If you were to replace the would you get a direct replacement or an upgrade of some sort? I mainly use this reel for jigs 3/8-3/4oz + trailer.

I honestly don’t know. My best guess is a hard season of use, probably using that reel itself for 10+ hours a week for 8 months. I didn’t baby it but I didn’t abuse it either.

My JDM zillion started making some awful noises. I opened it up and found this mess. Looks to me like a shredded spring and chunks of o-ring. Ive never done the work on my reels, how big of a job will this be?

were they sitting still or roaming around? The best thing I've found for these fish is a light hair jig fished slowly. A dropshot with a leader long enough to put the hook right at face level, and a finese worm can worm good too. It might be less boring for you to fish if you are sight fishing with it.

Can you hook it in the middle and wacky rig it? Or would it tear in half?

It really depends so much. First off grass is like anything else. No point in fishing it if there aren’t bass there. When looking for productive grass I’m normally looking/listening for bluegills and sunfish. Also the thickest and greenest grass out of the bunch is generally the best. Any differences can also be key. Small points or pockets, wood rocks or docks in a grass field and even different types of grass mixed in. Baits are my last consideration honestly. A jig, swimjig, Texas rigged craw or worm ( can turn into a punch rig as it gets thicker and eventually mats over), and a frog can pretty much cover it bait wise.

I just looked it up. Seems like they went out of business about a year ago. This might explain why.

Yup. I wish Shimano specified this, I know it confuses lots of people.

Looks like you’re gonna beat me out there. I saw a roadside pond open today but all the real lakes are still covered up. Looks like the low temps will be back in the teens this weekend.

Nope, you’re not alone. All iced up around here still.

Thanks. I’m going to be very gentle with it. Mostly lob casts. I know if I blow it up mid cast it’ll probably cook the reel with that much momentum from 4+ ounces so I’ll try to avoid that at all costs.

I’ll report back. Ideally i wouldn’t use it for too long. Only a couple months until I figure out the best way to get a swimbait reel from Japan.

The zillion HD feels like a tank compared to the standard zillion at least to me and that's a good thing in my eyes for my heavier jigs and frogs. It could be the much beefier handle. It can send almost a full spool of 50lb 832 when I'm frog fishing. Very fun reel to fish and it makes you feel under control when pulling them out of the slop. Not trying to derail but I was planning on using mine on a swimbait rod in a pinch until I pick up another reel. Baits up to 4oz or maybe a bit over. How to you think it will handle? Thanks!

I agree with this. If you can get away with it I’d just stroll them overtop of the cover. I know it’s not quite the same as the darting action when rigged weightless but it works no doubt. I did have some fun fishing a 7” fluke on a Gammy monster EWG last summer. Im pretty sure it was a 5/0.

Awesome man! How long has the ice been out for you?

Ive been using Megastrike original attractant for the past couple years but ive never used any of the other scents. I’m curious if any Megastrike fans here use crawfish scent for jigs or craw plastics?

You’ll be perfectly fine with anything up to 3/4oz on that rod.

I agree that the rigged version is better for purely open water fishing but if @Jaybert wants to fish them on an Underspin I’d definitely go with the freestyle. Also it’s half the price per bait if he’s concerned about cost.

For a baitfish profile paddletails are hard to beat. From 3” to 6” are a key part of my fishing and I’m going to experiment with baits up to 8” this year. Don’t limit yourself with rigging options either. There are about a million ways to rig them and almost all can be a money depending on the conditions.

The magdraft and the swammer have a very different swim. The swammer has a very wide swinging tail motion and a lot of body roll. It has so much roll that I’m not a big fan of it on a 30 degree jighead ( I think it looks much better on a belly weighted swimbait hook/flashy swimmer or even a 90 degree ballhead jig). The magdraft has a strong tail kick, but its swim is more of a tight vibration and it stays more upright. Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of plastic. Even though the 5.5 mega swammer is only a 1/2 inch shorter than the 6” magdraft, it’s probably half as much plastic overall. I guess that’s the long way to say that I think you should try them both because they serve a different purpose in my opinion.