Everything you have there looks great and I don't think anyone here thinks that you've overdone it.

I would imagine that it's made in China and while that's not very patriotic and all that stuff, the Expride is also made in China and they are very fine rods. In regards to the Cardiff NX, I would think that it's worth that price. I have owned two different model Shimano trout rods that were a littl...

bronzefly wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:03 am

They aren't as easy to find, nor are they inexpensive, but the Megabass Pagani Trad blanks and grips are awfully nice! The Pop-X Stick is a lot of fun to fish.

That's a sweet looking combo right there.

Not that there is anything wrong with the Smith pistol grip topwater rods, but are there any other manufacturers of JDM pistol grip topwater rods?

slipperybob wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 21, 2023 8:35 pm

Hula Popper...and lose the whole skirt thing. Casts better and finesses way better.

I'll admit that I have never used it but I will take your advice and remove the skirt.

dragon1 wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 20, 2023 4:49 pm

Cast your vote there since Fenwick is still reflecting "0".

I've changed my mind again. If money was not an issue, I would get the Super Techna Series.

What was the alcohol for TSI 321? In my country I think I can't get pure enough medical alcohol, because in there we just can't buy too strong ethanol. But for laboratory use I think I could order for example this: https://www.laboratoriumdiscounter.nl/en/benzyl-alcohol-995-pure.html?gclid=CjwKCAiA...

Thanks mate, will look into the TSI oil. Good to see there are other Aussie BFS tackle junkies out there! TSI 321 is a lubricant and TSI 320 is a solvent. You want the lubricant. I was using TSI 321 on worm gears and I thought that it was maybe a little bit too thin for that application so I starte...

dragon1 wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:14 pm

Haha...old habits are hard to break, especially on the muscle memory side.

Yup.

dragon1 wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 20, 2023 4:49 pm

Cast your vote there since Fenwick is still reflecting "0".

I already voted for Shimano and it will not let me change my vote.

I'll add these to my list of UL topwaters. The Jitterbug is a little bit heavier at around 3/16oz but it will fit in just fine.

If I lost everything, the Fenwick Aces Lineup is what I would be looking at.

I think it has to do with the laws in Japan. To my knowledge, Japanese manufacturers don't have to provide replacement parts for products as soon as it is discontinued. Here in the states, manufacturers are subject to the Magnuson-Moss Act which governs warranties of consumer products and bounds th...

This is why I haven't replaced my 14 CQ 200 with a newer model yet...this 4.8 brass MM went buzzy on me being the least oft used reel in my arsenal and with nothing over 1 oz. I even used my standard TDZ US Trail, old PT33SH reels, Zillions, Z2020/Z200, Millionaires, all harder and more often and w...

Feel free to pick my brain, these are my jam. Now for the difficult thing with old ABU reels, they stopped producing parts for pre-1997 models just a few years ago. The good news, millions of them were made so parts are still easy to get in terms of the 4000 to 6000 sizes. With the smaller reels, n...