Well… the currency exchange rate got another victim.

 

I picked this Excense up from Asian Portal Fishing the other week. Then the bait monkey whispered into my ear again last night in a moment of weakness saying “wouldn’t it be sweet throwing jerkbaits on a smooth new Zillion with a clicking drag for catching some fall smallies in Sturgeon Bay?” Soon after JLS had my order. I’m looking forward to the mystery gift!
 

The deals are too good to pass up!

12 minutes ago, TheBaitMonkey said:

Well… the currency exchange rate got another victim.

 

I picked this Excense up from Asian Portal Fishing the other week. Then the bait monkey whispered into my ear again last night in a moment of weakness saying “wouldn’t it be sweet throwing jerkbaits on a smooth new Zillion with a clicking drag for catching some fall smallies in Sturgeon Bay?” Soon after JLS had my order. I’m looking forward to the mystery gift!
 

The deals are too good to pass up!

Dang, that's a sweet reel pal!

 

I've gotten back into throwing spinning reels again, and truly do need at least one high end spinning reel, the Japanese monkey insists this is the case.

 

JDM/exchange rates allow me to potentially get a spinning reel like yours, or a similar top tier Daiwa model, that I'd never splurge on at normal USDM prices.    I mean you can get the $900 Daiwa Exist for $565 right now.   I'd never buy a $900 spinning reel, but that same reel for 40% off......yeah that's real hard to resist ?

 

 

You guys have inspired me to place my first Digitaka order this Friday. $226 shipped for a brand new Metanium? Sign me up…again and again and again ?

My daughter in-law, just flew in today, and brought my new rods, reels, and tackle with her.  The Bait Monkey will not be back until April 2023 for my birthday.

5 minutes ago, king fisher said:

My daughter in-law, just flew in today,

Can I steal your daughter-in-law?

9 minutes ago, king fisher said:

My daughter in-law, just flew in today, and brought my new rods, reels, and tackle with her.  The Bait Monkey will not be back until April 2023 for my birthday.

Dang I'll just go sit in the corner and be poor ?

The TW monkey is having a 25% off select items Fall sale for those interested. 

 

Local monkey just got me.

 

ETA:  I was just looking at the TW stuff for sale, and go figure the one CB I buy today locally is on the list.   Would have saved 5 bucks right there.   At least my local store is charging the same price as TW before the sale.    

 

On 9/26/2022 at 2:16 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

The TW monkey is having a 25% off select items Fall sale for those interested. 

 

Local monkey just got me.

 

ETA:  I was just looking at the TW stuff for sale, and go figure the one CB I buy today locally is on the list.   Would have saved 5 bucks right there.   At least my local store is charging the same price as TW before the sale.    

 

Silver lining- you can use the bait right away instead of waiting for who knows how long? 

What the heck. It's my birthday so the Bait Monkey said "Treat Yo Self".

 

I was like a kid at Christmas when the UPS truck pulled up this afternoon in anticipation of that 8ft cardboard tube being placed on my front porch ?.
 

5 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

Silver lining- you can use the bait right away instead of waiting for who knows how long? 

Guess who's going to drop another $15 bucks tomorrow to replace that pretty Jackall above.....this guy ?

 

Fished that brand new bait for 3.5 hours today, it killed.....caught 11 fish on it.   Then right at dark like an idiot I set the hook when it was bouncing into cover thinking it was a fish and it hung.   Tried for 20mins to free it.

 

Thankfully cranking season isn't very long the way I fish or I'd be broke.   

 

5 hours ago, FishTank said:

What the heck. It's my birthday so the Bait Monkey said "Treat Yo Self".

 

Dang, Japanese Monkey loved you really good ?

 

Eyeing that bigger Zillion right now, can you tell me if the drag dial is plastic or metal?  My only complaint on the SV TW

48 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Dang, Japanese Monkey loved you really good ?

 

Eyeing that bigger Zillion right now, can you tell me if the drag dial is plastic or metal?  My only complaint on the SV TW

The Monkey got me good.  I actually have a few other things that haven't arrived yet. Nothing major though.  My favorite thing of the bunch is the Aka Tora 110. I have been hunting for it for a long time. I also picked up 3 other Respect series (JDM) color 110's, 1 Respect color 110 jr, and 2 other Deep-X JDM colors.  I got lucky but I missed out on the Viper Tiger and GP Nanko Tougan Gill 110's. I thought I was dreaming when I saw these two.  They showed in stock and were in my cart but by the time I made up my mind, they had sold out.  

 

I fished the HD for about an hour today at a local pond and the drag star feels like metal but I hate to say it, it's kind of hard to tell.  It is definitely different from the regular version.  The reel was great right out of the box. I spooled it with the Sunline Sniper BMS and put on a Megabass P5 Super Destroyer temporarily.  I caught 4 little ones and one good size keeper on a 1/2oz Sieberts Fogy with a Zako trailer. 

7 minutes ago, FishTank said:

The Monkey got me good.  I actually have a few other things that haven't arrived yet. Nothing major though.  My favorite thing of the bunch is the Aka Tora 110. I have been hunting for it for a long time. I also picked up 3 other Respect series (JDM) color 110's, 1 Respect color 110 jr, and 2 other Deep-X JDM colors.  I got lucky but I missed out on the Viper Tiger and GP Nanko Tougan Gill 110's. I thought I was dreaming when I saw these two.  They showed in stock and were in my cart but by the time I made up my mind, they had sold out.  

 

I fished the HD for about an hour today at a local pond and the drag star feels like metal but I hate to say it, it's kind of hard to tell.  It is definitely different from the regular version.  The reel was great right out of the box. I spooled it with the Sunline Sniper BMS and put on a Megabass P5 Super Destroyer temporarily.  I caught 4 little ones and one good size keeper on a 1/2oz Sieberts Fogy with a Zako trailer. 

I'm so glad I'm too ignorant to know which JDM lures are good.   In time I'm sure I will no thanks to you posting solid intel like that ?

 

I love the idea of using that one with bigger baits, especially stuff that requires more effort to retrieve.   That handle is money on it, and the aesthetics are beautiful as well.  

10 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I'm so glad I'm too ignorant to know which JDM lures are good.   In time I'm sure I will no thanks to you posting solid intel like that ?

 

I love the idea of using that one with bigger baits, especially stuff that requires more effort to retrieve.   That handle is money on it, and the aesthetics are beautiful as well.  

I was clueless for a long time. I would buy one or two Megabass 110's a year just because I liked to collect them. Once I saw a few that were pretty much unattainable and bought one, I was hooked.  

 

Are they worth the $25 US? Sort of. I haven't found their equal and I have tried many. At $14 from Japan, I can get a few more and not feel completely dumb.  To get them in a rare color that catches fish is a big bonus.  

 

If you ever want to try one, look at GP Pro Blue, French Pearl OB, and HT Ito Wakasagi. There are others but these three cover just about anything. Basically, you need one transparent, one white, and one natural to your lake. That's it in my opinion. No need to go hog wild. 

32 minutes ago, FishTank said:

I was clueless for a long time. I would buy one or two Megabass 110's a year just because I liked to collect them. Once I saw a few that were pretty much unattainable and bought one, I was hooked.  

 

Are they worth the $25 US? Sort of. I haven't found their equal and I have tried many. At $14 from Japan, I can get a few more and not feel completely dumb.  To get them in a rare color that catches fish is a big bonus.  

 

If you ever want to try one, look at GP Pro Blue, French Pearl OB, and HT Ito Wakasagi. There are others but these three cover just about anything. Basically, you need one transparent, one white, and one natural to your lake. That's it in my opinion. No need to go hog wild. 

Never bought a Japanese hard bait that didn't impress me.   My only problem is they are so nice, and beautiful to look at, it's hard to actually fish them.    Appreciate the info, I'll have to dip my toe in the water slowly when the JDM reel monkey gets me again ?

9 hours ago, FishTank said:

The Monkey got me good.  I actually have a few other things that haven't arrived yet. Nothing major though.  My favorite thing of the bunch is the Aka Tora 110. I have been hunting for it for a long time. I also picked up 3 other Respect series (JDM) color 110's, 1 Respect color 110 jr, and 2 other Deep-X JDM colors.  I got lucky but I missed out on the Viper Tiger and GP Nanko Tougan Gill 110's. I thought I was dreaming when I saw these two.  They showed in stock and were in my cart but by the time I made up my mind, they had sold out.  

 

I fished the HD for about an hour today at a local pond and the drag star feels like metal but I hate to say it, it's kind of hard to tell.  It is definitely different from the regular version.  The reel was great right out of the box. I spooled it with the Sunline Sniper BMS and put on a Megabass P5 Super Destroyer temporarily.  I caught 4 little ones and one good size keeper on a 1/2oz Sieberts Fogy with a Zako trailer. 

Hey Fishtank, did you find the HD balanced well with the Super Destroyer? I kept going back and forth on going with that one or just grab a used Steez A on my Madbull.

Look for some JDM Monkey posts coming soon... the sickness is real.

14 minutes ago, PotatoLake said:

Hey Fishtank, did you find the HD balanced well with the Super Destroyer? I kept going back and forth on going with that one or just grab a used Steez A on my Madbull.

Look for some JDM Monkey posts coming soon... the sickness is real.

It's not bad but I need more time with it to give a good review.  It did take some getting use to the reel. I was expecting it to be heavier for some reason.  With having the regular SV TW version,  my mind thinks I'm holding that when I have the HD in my hand. The large handle feels weird to me right now.  I think I just need to get used to it.  I plan to put it on either the new P5 FMJ or a NRX+ 895c some time next year. 

The literal JDM Bait Monkey.

14 minutes ago, PotatoLake said:

The literal JDM Bait Monkey.

Lol...that's too funny.     Post a pic if you catch a fish on it ?

1 hour ago, PotatoLake said:

The literal JDM Bait Monkey.

I use to have one of these.  They catch fish as well as any other topwater bait. 

On 9/27/2022 at 3:33 PM, FishTank said:

What the heck. It's my birthday so the Bait Monkey said "Treat Yo Self".

 

Does the HD have the clicking drag too? I tried finding info online about that but couldn’t find it.

 

That’s a hell of a haul, happy birthday!

8 minutes ago, TheBaitMonkey said:

Does the HD have the clicking drag too? I tried finding info online about that but couldn’t find it.

 

That’s a hell of a haul, happy birthday!

Yes it does, as good as the SV is I like the HD even better. Amazing reel.

24 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

Yes it does, as good as the SV is I like the HD even better. Amazing reel.

Don't say that, why do you want to spend my money so badly, and make me broke ?

1 hour ago, TheBaitMonkey said:

Does the HD have the clicking drag too? I tried finding info online about that but couldn’t find it.

 

That’s a hell of a haul, happy birthday!

 

Thanks.  It does have a clicking drag.  It's pretty cool. 

On 9/27/2022 at 1:33 PM, FishTank said:

What the heck. It's my birthday so the Bait Monkey said "Treat Yo Self".

Tom and Donna would be proud! ?