Lure Cast in Target cloths.

Tom

This is what I have coming tomorrow, the reel in the post from @bulldog1935 is based on.  Same reel, just a different color scheme.  I got the black and chrome. 

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/PrGBU50NAQY?si=sjS3DhpNgsaTiCEp

2 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Nope.  Here's a clue, it's the only knuckle buster you can buy brand new at the moment.

Well hell, guess I’m the only one who went on record w the wrong guess. 
 

Explains why I sucked trying to guess that guys weight at the carnival 😆

1 minute ago, F14A-B said:

Well hell, guess I’m the only one who went on record w the wrong guess. 
 

Explains why I sucked trying to guess that guys weight at the carnival 😆

To be fair, you were the only guess.  Ron already knew what I had coming.  I can't keep my secrets from him 😄

6 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

To be fair, you were the only guess.  Ron already knew what I had coming.  I can't keep my secrets from him 😄

I knew he’d get it.. but damned if I wasn’t gonna try 😂

11 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

@F14A-B

Here's Isuzu link for the new reel.  

The giveaway for the matching TryAngle BFS spool is the drag gear for the feed clicker.  

Not something you see on too many reels these days  

Got the 23 Antares DC MD just to see how it'll compare with the Z2020 for large baits for bass, musky and pike. Lots of people praising the reel, but i haven't seen anybody do a direct comparison between these two. Both have the same size spools and made for big baits, so its time for the micro module to do what it does best - - - go buzzy🤡

43 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

so its time for the micro module to do what it does best - - - go buzzy

Learn to use your drag correctly, then they won't go buzzy  

 

I've landed a lot of coho and steelhead on my '17 Conquest BFS and there is zero buzzing.  Those fish actually fight, too.  My drag is set to 2lb.

35 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Learn to use your drag correctly, then they won't go buzzy  

 

I've landed a lot of coho and steelhead on my '17 Conquest BFS and there is zero buzzing.  Those fish actually fight, too.  My drag is set to 2lb.

Am i supposed to fish for musky with a semi open drag? Also, where does it say that Shimano reels, even those made for big baits, are supposed to be babied? Never saw this being mentioned by Shimano, cuz you know, if they do say it, that would be a deal breaker to many, and it's not what they want. 

Their micro module gears should be exclusive for their BFS reels. If Daiwa was able to create flawlessly smooth gears with massive gear teeth, there's no excuse for Shimano to have a side hustle selling gear sets because they're designed to wear out extremely quickly. No idea why one would defend this either.

42 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Am i supposed to fish for musky with a semi open drag?

Yes you are, that's what it's there for.  You want the drag set tight enough to set the hook with larger baits, but still loose enough to let the fish run.  Charters have it easy because they can run lever drags with a strike setting and fight setting.  Some guys I know that cast for them will back the drag off a quarter to half turn after the hook set so the fish can pull line when needed.

11 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Yes you are, that's what it's there for.  You want the drag set tight enough to set the hook with larger baits, but still loose enough to let the fish run.  Charters have it easy because they can run lever drags with a strike setting and fight setting.  Some guys I know that cast for them will back the drag off a quarter turn after the hook set so the fish can pull line when needed.

Those are just excuses for poor design.

What you're suggesting is what i have on my standard bass setups. Since i use braid to a fluoro leader, i never fully lock up my drag (there's literally no reason to ever do it outside of fishing in the slop, and i don't use any reels with micro module in heavy veggies). From simple high resistance baits like spinnerbaits, medium-deep diving cranks, etc, gears go buzzy in around a season and a half of usage. With aluminum gears, this usually happens even quicker, especially on faster ratios. But when you're chunking large baits, aiming for big fish, you need a proper hookset to get those big hooks in, and if your drag isn't set properly, you're asking for problems. I am also not fully locking it up, but it is, say, 75% locked when compared to when i am fishing for bass with standard baits. It doesn't make much sense that a cheapo Tatula 200 that isn't even specially made for big baits can deal with a locked drag, but a so called flagship reel from Shimano, a reel made for big bait and big fish, has to be babied. It's ridiculous.

37 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

It doesn't make much sense that a cheapo Tatula 200 that isn't even specially made for big baits can deal with a locked drag, but a so called flagship reel from Shimano, a reel made for big bait and big fish, has to be babied. It's ridiculous

They can't handle it either; I've had Tatulas, Convectors, Coldwaters, Sealines, Ambassadeurs, and Revos in the shop with buzzy gears. What it comes down to is how the reel was treated.  With a drag set too high under prolonged use, damage will occur at some point. Something in the chain is going to give, whether it's a sheared spool pin, a damaged pinion crown, or malformed teeth.  The pinion gear takes most of the abuse on a reel.  

 

I once had salmon charter send me some Okuma Coldwaters for service, every one I received had damaged pinion gears. Turned out he was throwing planer boards in the water at max drag which caused them to shudder.  This happens when a spool pin or pinion crown warps.  Either the spool will move side to side under pressure or the pinion yoke will move up and down.  The pinion crown can't fully grab the spool pin so that energy gets transferred elsewhere.  That was an expensive repair on his part; $42 per gear set, $20 per set of drag washers, plus labor charges for 6 reels. From a monetary standpoint, he wasn't too far off from brand new reels.  Those are only $120 each.

14 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

They can't handle it either; I've had Tatulas, Convectors, Coldwaters, Sealines, Ambassadeurs, and Revos in the shop with buzzy gears. What it comes down to is how the reel was treated.  With a drag set too high under prolonged use, damage will occur at some point. Something in the chain is going to give, whether it's a sheared spool pin, a damaged pinion crown, or malformed teeth.  The pinion gear takes most of the abuse on a reel.  

 

I once had salmon charter send me some Okuma Coldwaters for service, every one I received had damaged pinion gears. Turned out he was throwing planer boards in the water at max drag which caused them to shudder.  This happens when a spool pin or pinion crown warps.  Either the spool will move side to side under pressure or the pinion yoke will move up and down.  The pinion crown can't fully grab the spool pin so that energy gets transferred elsewhere.  That was an expensive repair on his part; $42 per gear set, $20 per set of drag washers, plus labor charges for 6 reels. From a monetary standpoint, he wasn't too far off from brand new reels.  Those are only $120 each.

The older Tats did not have the gear sets that the newer ones do. Older ones were buzzing a decent amount, especially when the Tat line was introduced. If you look at the price a gear set is worth on something like the 2025 Tat, they're as expensive as a Zillion set, and from what i've been reading online, they're really good for swimbaiting. And as someone who has been maining the Z2020 for musky/bass/pike since 2017, these stay silent and smooth for ages UNLESS you want to pull a snag with a #65+ by locking the drag, and just pulling on the line, but then again, no gear sets will survive this. First gen Ryogas that i've used for 5 years straight were also amazing when it comes to smoothness and how siltent they stayed after heavy use with large baits and pretty locked drag. 

The OG zillion was known to be a great reel for frogging and fishing in the slop. Everyone had their reels locked while fishing in heavy cover, and nobody was complaining about those reels going buzzy or grindy. It all depends on the gears design, frame+handle side plate material. 

10 minutes ago, ABU is overpriced said:

The older Tats did not have the gear sets that the newer ones do. Older ones were buzzing a decent amount, especially when the Tat line was introduced. If you look at the price a gear set is worth on something like the 2025 Tat, they're as expensive as a Zillion set, and from what i've been reading online, they're really good for swimbaiting. And as someone who has been maining the Z2020 for musky/bass/pike since 2017, these stay silent and smooth for ages UNLESS you want to pull a snag with a #65+ by locking the drag, and just pulling on the line, but then again, no gear sets will survive this. First gen Ryogas that i've used for 5 years straight were also amazing when it comes to smoothness and how siltent they stayed after heavy use with large baits and pretty locked drag. 

The OG zillion was known to be a great reel for frogging and fishing in the slop. Everyone had their reels locked while fishing in heavy cover, and nobody was complaining about those reels going buzzy or grindy. It all depends on the gears design, frame+handle side plate material. 

The Tats I had in weren't the newest models, probably one or two generations back.  They were 200s used by river salmon fishermen.  We call em kang bangers lol

20 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Am i supposed to fish for musky with a semi open drag? Also, where does it say that Shimano reels, even those made for big baits, are supposed to be babied? Never saw this being mentioned by Shimano, cuz you know, if they do say it, that would be a deal breaker to many, and it's not what they want. 

Their micro module gears should be exclusive for their BFS reels. If Daiwa was able to create flawlessly smooth gears with massive gear teeth, there's no excuse for Shimano to have a side hustle selling gear sets because they're designed to wear out extremely quickly. No idea why one would defend this either.

You keep buying them and keep whining about them, why? 

He’s just here to troll, and to moan and complain constantly.
I love the “block” button!

1 hour ago, Motoboss said:

He’s just here to troll, and to moan and complain constantly.
I love the “block” button!

 

No issues with micro modular gears. This one is about 12 years old. Still smooth as butter.

 

 

2 hours ago, Motoboss said:

He’s just here to troll, and to moan and complain constantly.
I love the “block” button!

Couldn't have said it better. 

2 hours ago, Motoboss said:

He’s just here to troll, and to moan and complain constantly.
I love the “block” button!

I like being a fly swatter every now and then 😏

4 hours ago, F14A-B said:

You keep buying them and keep whining about them, why? 

I will never stop whining about Shimano gears. It's an unacceptable selling feature that has plagued the brand for over ten years. But that doesn't mean that i am just gonna ignore everything they release either. Why would i limit myself to just Daiwa? 24 Met DC i got during winter, casts well, and is pretty much my all time fav shimano. Not geary yet either. When it does go buzzy, everyone will know about it😎

Tried the two Phat Lab cranks i got a few days ago. The red one with a wakebait style lip is awesome, but the pink one swims so poorly i am not sure what's going on there. At first i thought that these were supposed to swim like an S crank from MB or the scatter rap from Rapala, but nope, they just swim upwards, and it's a complete mess. Will probably have to grind the lip, and transform it into a squarebill, and hope it runs well.

Prime day sales pickup. Took Amazon 2 tries to get the correct rod delivered but no issues beyond that.

Zillion HD 1000 SLP’s purple is different from ZPI’s purple but I knew this beforehand. 

those colors work great

3 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

those colors work great

Thank you bulldog..