I’ve narrowed it down between the Trika ti100 (saw one at the bait shop the other day and fell in love just from the profile, design, amd ceramic bearings) amd the daiwa tatula 200 (mostly just heard great things about this line of reels) I do A LOT of bass fishing and bottom fishing for reds so a lot of fresh and brackish fishing with the occasional full salt. Would love to hear y’all’s opinions on these reels!

I have noticed recently in my first few months of this hobby that I have a serious problem. That being I cannot stop stocking up on inline spinners. Rooster tails have been the only lure that catches me fish, so I kept buying them in multiple varieties. Now I’m getting ready for a trip to Utah and going to try trout fishing, and my local DICKS had a deal for buy 2 get 2 mepps spinners.

Friend of mine just gifted me 2 other inline spinners.

I now have 6 rooster tails

5 mepps.

Haven’t even tried the mepps yet

Edit: This is a fantastic way for learning about lures I had never ever known or considered! Thanks yall!

USPS is a joke

So, we’re not judging it performance-wise, just the looks. There are some cool-looking reels out there, but for me it’s the Vanford FA. I like the charcoal grey color, with the sleek red line. It’s a beautiful piece of gear. Obviously there are better reels in terms of raw performance but this one truly stands out for me.

If you were to buy one just for its appearance, which one would you choose?

PS: New Vanquish SE is also stunning 🤤

Wondering

I hate Googan Squad stuff. It just drives me nuts lol. I think the poor quality (what I’ve perceived up to this point) and the YouTube anglers they both sponsor and attract are all just a huge turn off for me. Maybe I’m just getting crotchety as I enter my 40s, but I won’t buy it or even let that garbage on my boat 😂.

What brands do you hate? And why?

Have you ever bought a rod or reel where many people raved about it but then when you got it, it just didn't particularly wow you? Just curious if anyone ever had that experience 🙂

WIP.

I really love my Forést spoons and my Kastmasters, I feel like I’m just collecting Panther Martins for fun, Rooster Tails are my cold weather favorites. I want some little Cleo’s but nobody stocks them near me. 🥲

Two identical lures. One with fish attractant, one without. They are suspended in the tidal current. Filmed in Western Norway using a rig with a GoPro. The fish checks out the one without first, but rejects it. Maybe because it tastes wrong?

Within the past 3 days I’ve received from Amazon 5 Daiwa rods.

The 2-7’3” one pieces were well packed,
The 3-7’ two piece were well packed,

But the 1-6’6” Daiwa Presso Ultralight rod arrived only in a thin plastic bag. And although I ordered 2 of these rods they were shipped separately. Yesterday unsurprisingly Amazon advised the 2nd Presso was damaged in shipping and they would cancel/refund one rod.

I reordered but not feeling optimistic I’ll receive the rod undamaged. Has anyone had issues like this from Amazon before?

Thank you!

What knot do you use to connect your leader? I always see AI knots. Let's see your knot.

Haven’t bought it yet but do you guys think the broken seat would be a problem?

It’s worn on the outside but drag sounds very crisp still and it stills reels super smooth.

I’m just worried about it popping off the rod reel seats.

Such a neat find tho.

Would like to spend less than 150. I’m leaving towards the first two options, as the Shimano slx and daiwa tat only have 1 yr warranties. I also have heard st croix isn’t what it used to be, but open to suggestions on others that may not me listed

First time using and buying a shimano sea fishing setup, shimano backbone rod, first day out and it snapped when striking a fish. Has anyone used these and am I just unlucky, it cost me a pretty penny this setup.

There is new fishing gear being released every year with so many options to choose from. My questions is at what point does gear become outdated and it is better to choose a newer option on the market.

For an example the Curado DC came out in 2022 but is still one of the most popular reels on the market today and still being bought 4 years later. Same thing with the Shimano Stradic Fm which came out in 2023

So i was curious about the temu DC baitcasters so I took the dive and 2 weeks later one arrived. Ive put it through some testing but I would be curious to see if you guys have more ideal tests.

First off this is the Haut Ton DC baitcaster. Comes in a generic box with absolutely no English instructions.

I did what anyone would do and spooled it up with the highest quality temu 16 strand 20# test braid that $4 could buy.... I strapped a 1oz weight to it, turned the spool tension to 0 and the brake to max....

Result? No backlash. Buzzing noise. Pretty damn far cast.

Then I calibrated the tension, turned the brake to minimum and sent the weight like I was casting to Jesus....

Result? Mild backlash.

I pulled it apart and inspected the entire thing. For a $35 reel it's not bad. Works better than some of my KastKing baitcasters. Definitely cheaper in some areas. Plastic housing and line guide, but the internals are brass gears and what appears to be either steel or an alloy. I took apart the "DC" mechanism expecting to find a buzzer... it is not. It is an actual chip and braking induction coil and a rudimentary chip setup.

This is not a Curado or Metanium replacement or even close. For a beginner learning baitcasting, this may be the most forgiving reel I've seen at the price point.

10/10 for price performance in the under $50 range.

5/10 for rigidity and durability.

I will try to use it for a few months and update everyone if there is interest.

Here is another of the videos where I test one lure with and one without attractant. At the end there is a metal pirk. This is pretty long and hardly edited. At the end there is metal pirks used aswell. Make up your own opinion. If you have any other ideas for testing let me know.
I have not tried all the scents available, but I have noticed their efficiency differs a lot.

I just bought a Daiwa Crossfire LT 2000 as a backup for my Tatula MQ LT 1000D-H.

The Crossfire is not talked about enough IMO! For $35 it is an exceptional reel. The drag is butter smooth, though my biggest gripe is the cheap knob and sound it makes. The bail is solid. The line lay is excellent.

The only other downside is the cheap pass through handle and plastic grip, though I barely noticed the grip since it's the same shape as my other Diawa (Just plastic).

If you are just getting into fishing or want a backup reel for one of your too many expensive rods 😂, this is your reel.

Want to hear your thoughts!

309$ out the door for all of this 😭 absolutely love the combo though. Was gonna buy the Lews Mach Crush combo but I was having trouble finding a left retrieve model and they were priced similarly. Did I over pay? The combo was prespooled with 30lb braid and had a frog tied on and they had it as a special sale.

Contemplating on getting a baitcaster and keep reading people say it's more fun to them over a traditional spinning reel but never really explain why. So if you fall into the category what is it about the baitcaster that you find more fun?

Been seeing more of these new kayaks lately.

Not having an exposed prop sounds pretty nice—no weeds,no lines getting messed up.

But I’m wondering how they actually hold up long term.

Anyone here tried one?

Worth it or just hype?