I have the vkc-78H-4 for chunking baits for musky, pike and smallies, and its an amazing rod. The softer (but not soft) taper is perfect to bomb lures across the river. This is one of those rods that makes me want to stick with Megabass and ignore all other rod brands. Perfectly matched with a z2020.

Mine will not happen when turning the reel in hand. I bought a magnifying glass to examine all internals, no help. Greased and cleaned, no help. Some casts it will not happen, other days it did it all day. I will give Bryan at Tackle Trap a shout today and see where they have gotten on it. But when...

I use ZPI Medium exclusively and I think it's really great for casting performance/distance, but it's nowhere near the smoothest grease out there. It's a tradeoff I'm happy to make - but if there's a grease that's just as performant while also feeling smoother, I'm all ears. Are you referring to th...

HobeyBaker wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 09, 2021 5:29 am

I have ZPI grease that I use, but I don't think they make it anymore.

Which one is it? And is it any good? Have you compared it to others?

Does anyone have a suggestion for a gear grease that makes the gears as smooth as possible? I have been using the cal's grease and Shimano ACE-2 for years, and want to try something new. Was thinking of trying the ZPI F-0 Pro Grease Medium. Is it any good? And by "good", all i care about is for the ...

I have my Steez A at Tackle Trap for the same thing, mine was not audible though, just a faint tap when retrieving a lure. In hand, the reel was butter smooth. I realized something was wrong when I got the new Zillion, also my Steez A will not do it every single time. Did it with the stock Steez A ...

I have a Fuego CT thar does this really bad. I should tear it down and see what it is. I assume it's a crunchy bearing. Bearings can seem fin in hand but do weird things under load. In my case, it is not a bearing guaranteed. The reel is pretty much like new, and when testing all the bearings, i di...

I have no idea but all the ticking sounds I got would only be better if I switched spools. Sometimes it might do the trick or slightly dampen the tick. Underload it became louder and more pronounced, super annoying that’s for sure. Tried like 6 spools, and did notice it being being more dampened on...

That has happened to me in many daiwa unfortunately, it eventually turns into a rough gear set in the future. I’ve even had Ian shields tune a reel and he was unable to diagnose the issue as well. Well that is crazy. Its as if the frame was poorly made or something? Hard to believe that is the case.

Real Pudd legend wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:47 pm

Bryan (Pikeroadbassin) has fixed Daiwa’s with the elusive tick. Might want to see what he says about it.

Lets hope he comes by. Want to use the reel so bad, but that tick is more annoying than a buzzy gear set

Hobie-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 07, 2021 7:53 am

This is my Alphas AIR TW that Sagisi Customs painted. Hypershift paint looks nice in the sun.

Is the frame done with the gloss black or the graphite black?

Yestersay, i spent at least 5 hours on my Steez tw 7.1 inspecting every single thing in it, and i just cannot find what is wrong with it. Turning the handle with no load, its perfectly smooth. As soon as there's any kind of load, even applying some slight pressure on the sides of the spool with your...

After the gear swap, the steez feels significantly smoother. Under load, it feels like all the bearings and gears were removed, and replaced by a blob of grease, and the only friction inside the reel is grease on grease :shock: It does feel smoother than the zillion and i haven't even serviced my st...

So i decided to swap the gear set from my zillion into the steez tw and the steez gear set into the zillion. Everything fits and turns smoothly. What exactly were folks saying that is not compatible? Will try both on the water later today, but on the bench, they seem to be fitting perfectly. I can ...

So i decided to swap the gear set from my zillion into the steez tw and the steez gear set into the zillion. Everything fits and turns smoothly. What exactly were folks saying that is not compatible? Will try both on the water later today, but on the bench, they seem to be fitting perfectly. which ...