12 Volt Man

Personally I think you are better off spending more on the rod rather than the reel. a better rod will cast farther, give you better hook sets and be more sensitive to detect bites. it will also be better balanced to help avoid arm/wrist strain. the thing is, all of the spinning reels mentioned in this thread are pretty good. thats the nice thing about todays reels, you don't have to spend $200 to get a great spinning reel anymore. even back in the early 90's you literally had to pay $200 to get one with instant antireverse and a balanced rotor (back then the stradics were one of the few that had these qualities). now, they all do.

another vote for the St. Croix Premier (same blank as the Triumph but its made in the USA not china so the quality control is probably going to be better). I would go 7 foot fast action med. power. I would go with the shimano Symetre 3000 size.

G. Loomis SJR 782 GL3. amazing combo. perfectly balanced. and no, its not for sale I had the rod already though. I upgraded an older stradic with the sustain. I almost bought a new stradic, but am glad I spend the extra cash and got the Sustain. its a bit smoother, has an even smoother drag (thanks to a ball bearing on the spool shaft) and has two titanium lipped spools which is nice. it was expensive, but at the same time, thanks to the identical spare spool included and reel cover, in addition to the reel itself, I think you are getting a lot of bang for your buck with this reel. its just a lot of bucks that all but then like most of us, I don't buy a reel like this every day. if i did I would be in the poor house.

I have a Daiww Tierra 3500 sized reel that has a pretty large reel foot. it holds 210y of 12 pound test mono so it is pretty large. I think they go for around 120 bucks.

I treated myself this season and bought a Shimano Sustain 3000FE. amazing reel. incredible drag, super smooth, casts a mile. super comfortable septon handle grip. but it was pricey. but well worth it.

I have caught Legit 5 pound smallies on Lake of Bays in the Muskokas on live minnows a few years ago. insane fights. unfortunately, that was before I had a digital camera, so there are pics, but they are on my uncle's camera.

pike are pretty famous for short striking. what I used to do was add a trailer hook to spinner baits and top waters while fishing with them. take a peice of plastic tubing, put it over the eye of a trailer hook, and then place this through the barb of one of the main hooks on your frog. you have just added a trailer hook. should help with the strike to catch ratio.

with my Shimano's, I never touch the internal centrifugal brakes after the intial setting. I set 3 on, 3 off. and never really touch them again. what I do adjust is the cast control knob when I change lures. it should be set so it falls at about 1 foot per second when you press down your thumb bar. then, cast away. if the brakes are set right, you really shouldn't have to touch them very often, if ever.

the first and only time I have been on a bass boat was on Lake Tarpon near Tampa Florida. with a 150 HP motor on the back the guide accelerated up to 60 mph. it was insane. a memory. peels your eyelids back going that fast. and now, they are putting 200's and 250's on the back of the same size boats. this was back in the early 90's when few had bigger than 150 HP motors on them..

I was fishing Bayfront Park in Hamilton this morning in the rain with ultralight gear. had a blast catching small bass, perch and bluegills on #1 Mepps Black fury's and 1/16th oz rapalas (original). catching small fish on UL gear is a lot of fun.

when you look at the performance over the life of the reel, I think so. I have a Chronach 100A that I bought in 1998 that was almost $300 at the time. 12 years later, not only is it still working fine, it is still smoother than most of today's more modern reels. so in that sense, yes I think in some cases it can be. now, if this reel breaks, I know you can't get parts for it anymore. thats the only thing., shimano builds reels to last over a decade but only makes compatible parts available for a few years. sucks if you ask me.

based on the specs, it doesn't look like it makes much sense to go with the Caenan over the Citica. you are much better off spending the extra bit of cash and get the citica intead. for a bit more you get: -high efficiency gearing -super free spool system (its going to cast a lot better) -better anti reverse (has 'assist stopper') -and an aluminum frame. not graphite. I know its a budget reel, but when you are already spending $100 for this one, it probably is worth the next jump up IMO.

those new Flat Raps seem very similar to the discontinued "Long Cast Minnow" of a few years ago. this must be the replacement.

the Jointed Shad Rap (in yellow perch colour) is one of the best baits I have ever used. so is the X-Rap Shad (non jointed). both are amazing.

I actually really like the 407. it saves a lot of time depending on your route and it is such an easy drive compared to the constantly plugged up QEW. one tip that helps is to get your 407 bill billed directly to your credit card. so when you pay your credit card at the end of the month, you pay the 407 bill too. makes it very simple. having said that, I think your friend should try and fight it. tell them what happened and see if the charges can be waived.

^ thats part of the reason why I believe the newer shimano's eliminate line issues so well. the one peice bail wire with the cone shaped part adjacent to the line roller means that the line slides immediately over to and on the line roller without getting caught on anything. the older ones often would get the line caught between the wire and the line roller itself. the older stradics/sustains had the cone shaped part but it was not one peice so the line can still get caught. the new bail design is great. but then, Daiwa came out with it first and shimano just copied it and improved upon it LOL

I have several Loomis rods and I have to admit, they are my favorite. I own a few IMX's, and a few GL3's. I do prefer them to my St. Croix Avid, but it is still a great rod and arguably more bang for you buck. the Loomis GL3's/IMX handle/cast better but they are $100 more. what I really like about Loomis is their tapers. The SJR782 is the best best spinning rod I have ever used. I prefer the GL3 version because I much prefer the handle style over the IMX version (which I also own). and some of their tapers are quite unique. for instance, there is no comparable St. Croix taper to the SJR700 GL3 Mag Light ex-fast spinning rod. it has a very light tip but a strong butt section. its like a hybrid rod -bottom half is a jig rod with some power, top half is like an UL rod. its such a cool little rod. I can't wait to see what future tapers are available with the NRX graphite. even though they are pricey, maybe one day I will have to own one..

I think that used to be true as far as spinning reels. but not anymore IMO. the new models of shimano spinners have blow right past them IMO. the new models (the 2008 and up ones) with the new spool design and line lay system (and the one peice bail - yes, that daiwa came out with first LOL) are fantastic for line issues. last week I was up north and fished my Sustain 3000 FE with 8 pound mono and fished the entire week without a single tangle, snarl, wind knot etc. and the spool was full. this has never happened to me before. usually at some point inevitably I get at least some problem somewhere. needless to say, I was very impressed. and the newer model shimano spinners cast incredibly far too. noticably farther than previous models.

the blanks will likely never be available: http://tackletog.com/cal/2009/04/23/its-official-loomis-to-exit-the-blank-business/ Loomis no longer makes blanks available to rod builders. once they are gone, they are gone.

I used to use spinning gear all the time. then I went through a period where I literally didn't use a spinning rod for 5 years. loved my chronarch/loomis combo. then, I read an article on ultralight fishing in In Fisherman magazine and bought a fancy UL rod (a Loomis) - was so cool. then, that basically caused me to 'lighten up' my fishing so I generally use spinning now (with 6/8 pound line) and smaller baits and only dust off the baitcasting rig for the salmon run in the fall.. for those learning to use a baitcaster -practice practice practice. after while you cast without thinking and you never backlash (unless you cast into a tree lol). also, buy quality gear -when you get good is when you can make the cheaper reels work. not the other way around. start out with good gear to learn on. it helps a bunch.

not sure why people are saying these are just a shimano product with a Loomis name on them. shimano has owned Loomis since 1997. 13 years so far. and I think some people think they just bought them yesterday..maybe because they just heard?? the thing is, Loomis branded rods and shimano branded rods are completely different and might always be. no shimano branded rod is anything like a Loomis rod and vice versa. shimano rods are made in china. Loomis rods are made in washington in the USA. these new rods are no doubt no exception. personally, I have not been a fan of any shimano branded rods relative to Loomis and St. Croix rods. they are just not as good IMO. for the best of the best, I think SC and Loomis are still tops and they are still made in north america which is good in terms of quality control. shimano rods are not.

Bill Dance got me to buy that quantum garbage LOL

with some companies, when you invest in an expensive rod, you get a good warranty behind it. I just recieved my Sage fly rod back from washington, the butt section broke when it was slammed in my car door by accident. they made me a brand new bottom section and only charged me the shipping and handling. no charge for the actual rod or labour. I was quite pleased. Hopefully, Loomis will continue with a great warranty on their expensive stuff.

update: the shimano rep over on tackletour responded to my post and did verify that there WILL be some changes beginning Aug. 1st. but he does not have all the details yet. time will tell.

doubt that it has changed. there is a shimano rep that posts on another tackle forum that I visit. I will post a question to him and get back to this board. stay tuned.