Purchased the rod, now just need to get a reel.

 

Mostly throwing "normal" sized poppers and walkers. Not the BFS small stuff or larger sized walkers. When the water is really cold it will also throw jerkbaits, full sized as well as the Jr's.

 

I figure I won't need much distance for poppers but for the walking baits and jerkbaits added distance would be nice.

 

What do you think, 70 or 100 size?

 

I bought a pretty nice rod so I'm willing to spend a decent amount on the reel as well. Monkey got me.   

 

Thanks!

My primary treble top water rods Dobyns 704/705cb have SLX 70mgl and SLX DC XT been very happy with both. 704 is spooled with 10lb hybrid, 705 has 12lb.

I would go at least 100 . Assuming you palm the reel when you work a walking bait I would try different ones on the rod if possible until you find what's most comfortable.

I split two reels on my jerkbait/topwater rod.

 

Tatula 80 which is a bomber with 12 lb fluoro and a Zillion with braid. I like but don't love the Zillion.

 

This could be a job for the new Curado 150.  

41 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

Purchased the rod, now just need to get a reel.

 

Mostly throwing "normal" sized poppers and walkers. Not the BFS small stuff or larger sized walkers. When the water is really cold it will also throw jerkbaits, full sized as well as the Jr's.

If you're open to Lew's, take a look at the Tournament Pro LFS. It's small and comes stock with the lightest spool in it's class which is several grams lighter than the competition. Fully externally adjustable centrifugal brakes, and it'll sling light baits very well for distance, especially hard baits. I'd put it against anything in the category. Mine's been beaten for 5 years and it still feels great. I have more Daiwas than anything, and some Shimanos. This reel is special, IMO. Well suited to my casting style at least.

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

If you're open to Lew's, take a look at the Tournament Pro LFS. It's small and comes stock with the lightest spool in it's class which is several grams lighter than the competition. Fully externally adjustable centrifugal brakes, and it'll sling light baits very well for distance, especially hard baits. I'd put it against anything in the category. Mine's been beaten for 5 years and it still feels great. I have more Daiwas than anything, and some Shimanos. This reel is special, IMO. Well suited to my casting style at least.

I've yet to take my Tournament Pro LFS out of the box.  Sounds like a good reel for my 704CB Glass or 7'6" MF Custom Pro Speed Stick (for crankbaits)..

Tatula 80 is a solid choice.   Small with great capacity 

Not sure how deep you have gone into reels, but one thing to consider are the brakes.

 

I see suggestions here going in two directions. The shimano reels use centrifugal brakes with no magnets, and the Daiwa mentioned are usually magnetic brakes usually without centrifugal brakes- not sure if any Daiwas now come with centrifugal brakes. I see the Lews mentioned has centrifugal brakes and some reels come with both.

 

They operate differently. The centrifugal brakes are most effective on high speed spin out at top of the cast and they taper down to almost nothing at end of the cast. The magnetic brakes tend be more effective at tail end of cast.

 

If your thumb is already used to one or the other, it may be an issue to consider.

10 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

Daiwa mentioned are usually magnetic brakes usually without centrifugal brakes

Daiwa brakes are somewhat unique, they are purely magnetic but use centrifugal force to modulate the strength of the brakes throughout the cast. They do have some static magnetic brakes such as the non Z mag force and the mag trax brakes in the CA/CR reels.

My standard size lure topwater reel is a Tatula 100 with 14 lb mono and it'll reach way out there schoolers just fine.

It would depend on your hand size. Typically a 100 size would be more comfortable for longer periods of time. But then again my hands prefer a 200 size.

If it’s not comfortable you won’t use it.

The Daiwa 70 spool would be too small, but the Tatula 80 would work.

As an admitted Daiwa fanboy, I would actually suggest the Shimano SLX MGL70. They cast light lures exceptionally well. Also they're rated for up to 85 yards of 12lb line, but the line rating they use is fairly thick as well. At one point I did the math and figured they hold over 70 yards of 16# fluorocarbon (I don't recall the exact number, just know you can run up to 16# with most fluorocarbon brands)

5 hours ago, Boomstick said:

As an admitted Daiwa fanboy, I would actually suggest the Shimano SLX MGL70. 

 

It's actually what I have on the same pole.

 

Figured I'd get something a little nicer even though it does work well, especially for the price.

My topwater reel is a Curado 150DC. 
 

first. I love the distance 

second:  the DC.  When a wolf-pack starts in on the topwater feeding frenzy, I do not typically keep my cool.   If I’m gonna backlash, that’s as good a time as any. 
 

now I fire fast, I fire far.  But f I miss, my second shot isn’t a wild mess into a deep backlash. 

6 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

It's actually what I have on the same pole.

 

Figured I'd get something a little nicer even though it does work well, especially for the price.

Could try a higher linetoo. The Curado MGL 70 behaves almost identical though