Ryan N

If it's to get fish on in the boat, you're right, it doesn't matter as long as it has some form of lubrication. But in the smoothness, long-term life, and corrosion resistance of the reel, the correct formula of viscosity and additives can go a long way. Much like the oil to your engine or in industrial applications, all mechanical contact is prone to wear, and the right lubricant can prolong the life of your gear whilst providing optimal performance.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I settled on these two. I decided to bite the bullet and buy Daiwa's expensive oil because I wanted to maintain the same oil consistency and performance. And I'm assuming Cal's can be applied everywhere where grease is needed like drag washers, worm gear, and spool ends. I didn't buy Daiwa's grease since it had long shipping and quite frankly don't want to be without fishing for that long 🫣

Hookups in my opinion are skill-related. Setting the hook too weak, hard, early, or late I find are bigger factors to consider other than the rod. The only time the rod is a factor is if it breaks due to poor construction. However, I am in the market for a new rod for different fishing styles, like super lights or stout surf fishing rods.

So, maintenance is coming around and I need to buy Daiwa oil and grease but DANG it's expensive! I can't find any store retailers that sell them. I want to use a known-name oil and grease other than Daiwa that still maintains that Daiwa smoothness. Any pointers? I see Penn, Clenzoil, ReelX, Lucas. All look like good options.

I don't think the rod has much priority since it's just bendy stick. I have yet to feel a high-quality rod so I don't know what I'm missing here.

I knew you would be here from the start 😂 I find the spool on the black max to be a bit heavy for finesse but if it’s working for you that’s great 👍 With summer bass fishing, i’ve been using the 1/10 ounce ned rig on the Daiwa and casts surprisingly far despite not being a BFS. Seriously loving this thing, so much so it’s in my bedroom instead of the garage 🫣

I had the Black Max and I loved that combo. I exchanged it for the MaxX because I needed a more stout rod and I was fooled by their marketing; Abu states the MaxX reels are a new iteration of the Black Max. It felt noticeably worse and performed worse too. Well, it's all water under the bridge, I got a Daiwa now 🙏

Abu Garcia MaxX, it's sold as a combo. The rod didn't have any issues

I couldn't bear my Abu Garcia reel any longer. The drag is sticky, the reel is loud, and I could feel every tooth on the main gear. I finally bought the Daiwa Tatula 24, this is the best money spent on my fishing hobby. Smooth as butter, not made to look like metal, and has that JDM quality control, just perfect out of the box!

Does the SV spool actually feel better compared to base models? That's the use case I expect, the DC is probably a godsend when fishing with kids, not having to stop every 5 minutes after they backlash.

I read the "Best reels" thread and noticed it didn't feature the Curado DC. Granted, I've been loving this reel through YouTube and the cool sound it makes. I've been planning on buying this reel for some time, should I shift my efforts to a different high-end reel? Thank you!

I had the Baitsanity Explorer Gill for a couple months but it’s never seen much action since it’s so unwieldy. I tied it on again and decided to try a different retrieve. Quick half rotations instead of jerking the rod seemed to work well. This retrieve pulls the S waver wider and creates an enticing action. Occasionally “look backs” with a pause, this bass however ate it pretty early.

A fellow angler told me he hooked a fish in this pond and swore it was double digit, but he lost him (And nearly lost his combo apparently lol). I’ve already caught him a few times but I’m struggling to land him. I’ve hooked him 4 times already in the span of months, had some good fights but then hook gets loose. He’s doing two things, swimming toward me and violent aerial headshakes to loosen the hook. This bass is a very technical fighter. He doesn’t seem to tire out as quickly as the giants I’ve caught in the past, so he’s probably either smaller or just built like that. I’d say he’s around 5 pounds since he doesn’t seem to pull line… Or maybe since he swims toward me, I could be mistaken him for a “smaller” feeling fish when it could be a double digit. I’m going to wait two days and have a rematch. I’ll apply what advice is said here! Here’s what I currently know about fighting a fish: 1. Keep the rod bent at all times. This can be done by tightening the drag just enough to keep it at a good pull that your setup can handle. Reel in quickly when you feel your rod giving some slack. 2. Raise and lower your rod according to what the fish is doing. Aerials are countered with a low pull, and dives with an upward rod. 3. You should lip the fish as soon as it comes up on the bank, still making sure you have sufficient tightness on the line.

For me, bug repellent is the difference between a good or bad fishing day 😅

Yeah I’m struggling too. Not the temperature but the bites are very slow. I’m limited to worms and creature baits if I want to catch anything.

I don’t know why but a weightless watermelon dinger just catches fish as soon as it drops into cover. Pop it horizontally like a jerk bait or popper, bass just appear out of nowhere.

When I used to work at that standing job, I’d wear this back brace by Spartan, it really does support your back for countless more hours. Just wear it under your main clothes and over an undershirt if you want to be conspicuous. I don’t use it anymore because again, for some strange reason I don’t get fatigued from fishing even in blistering heat.

Yeah i’m just going out and getting some sunlight for 4 hours

That's funny because I have mild-severe scoliosis but my back never complains when I'm fishing for 3+ hours. I used to work as a waiter, and I couldn't go more than 2 hours standing up because of the pinching disks. But with fishing, I don't know maybe it's better posture or I'm always on the move.

I’m worried about everything trying to kill me at night lol. Snakes, gators, humans, etc. I’m a bank angler by the way

@T-Billy Well occasionally you do have full fishing days. The problem with my case is I'm fishing every day. It's just something I look forward to as soon as I wake up. And this does cause concerns from family members saying I'm fishing too much, and how tan I've gotten even though I'm wearing SPF clothing. Perhaps I should only fish on high-chance days shown on Bass Forecast or Solunar theory, as controversial as those "fish activity forecasts" are, it'll be a baseline on when to fish.

After having a full fishing day, I say to myself, "Okay I should really take a break." Next day, I'm tying on a new rig or lure in my garage, putting my rod back and saying, "Yeah maybe I'll test it out for an hour". 1 hours pass, 2 then 3 and finally 4. Sometimes I'd even skip breakfast to get in on the morning topwater bites. I realize all of this sounds rather childish, and the simple solution is to just take a break... But the entire day I'd just think about getting that hook set in, trying new lures, and feeling the weight of my catch as I land it. I also feel this causes environmental concerns as well. I fish this one lake everyday, and I feel like I need to give these bass a break. One measly man with an obsession is pressuring this entire pond haha. Also in the back of my mind, my neighbors are thinking "Ah he's here again!?" Do you guys fish as much as I do? I know those with boats probably go around 6 hours at a time, since the amount of effort to dock and stuff.

I always have lip grippers with me just in case lipping the fish looks dubious. One of the best purchases I’ve made. Just makes the catch and release process much smoother.

@Bird The money looks good enough to sell one's passion for the sport I suppose

It’s not that. I think he discarded the stringer on purpose to hide evidence. On top of the littering