9 hours ago, Eric 26 said:

⬆️ Totally agree ⬆️

X3. I came to baitcasters late, after decades of spinning reels. Tried a right-handed baitcaster in a local tackle shop and it felt incredibly awkward and weird. I guess I could have gotten used to it but why? Bought a leftie and have loved baitcasters ever since. I’d suggest a Shimano SLX XT. For $130, hard to beat.   

Spoil yourself you deserve it. The JDM Zillion SvT W 1000 are a little over $200. Pair with a nice $100 rod. You definitely won't be disappointed in the Zillion.

15 minutes ago, 928JLH said:

Spoil yourself you deserve it. The JDM Zillion SvT W 1000 are a little over $200. Pair with a nice $100 rod. You definitely won't be disappointed in the Zillion.

A bit over $250 currently at Digitaka, not quite the deal they were when exchange rates were better, but still the best deal going imho.

 

On 4/7/2023 at 7:44 PM, Pills said:

I asked the same question about 2 weeks ago, look for "1st bait caster " thread in here, I got a lot of good answers/ info. I ended up with the Diava tatula sv and I am extremely happy so far. Very smooth, I threw it for 3 hrs yesterday and only got 1 small backlash that took 30 seconds to fix. I think it would almost be hard to backlash this reel.

I got a good deal on the tatula sv. Arrived today. I've always used braid on my spinning reels. Fluorocarbon seems to be preferred on baitcaster, what did you go with?

On 4/7/2023 at 9:35 PM, Bird said:

Reels - Shimano

Rods - Dobyns

Is where I'd start with a modest budget.

You'll be fine there with unlimited budget too 

Thanks for the advice everyone. First time today with the new setup

11 minutes ago, flbassn said:

Thanks for the advice everyone. First time today with the new setup

Wow ~ Nice Bass !

Breaking in the new rig with a Giant.

Congrats

A-Jay

1 hour ago, flbassn said:

Thanks for the advice everyone. First time today with the new setup

Nice!  You and your  new buddy are built similarly...long and lean ?