The price increases just make me feel better about all the unnecessary purchases I made some months back when the Yen was over 140. Zillions were under 200 bucks.

Seems like a gimmick to me. I bought an early DC reel and wasn't impressed.

Next we will have a reel that is linked to your FF sonar and it will drop your bait right in front of the fish.

There was a team of some old timers in my area that used to clean up in tournaments fishing rocky structure with 1/4 oz hair jigs and 101 pork on spin gear. The jigs were home made with a single light wire weed guard. From all the money they made I would say they definitely work for LMs.

I have never used any KK stuff but I picked up a few of those Skeet WM rods out of odd curiosity many years ago and can't imagine anything worse. Come to think of it, his performance seemed to take a dive after moving over to hawking junk tackle. I see that as evidence of the man's integrity, i.e., ...

HaHa. Vanish has to be the worst line ever made. I found it virtually impossible to get a hook into the fish without the line breaking. Set the hook and the fish vanishes with your bait. Rapala crankbaits are pretty bad. Slap some weeds off and the baits split in two. The X-Raps have a habit of brea...

I don't think the newer Zillion 21 SV TW 1000 reels are bulky by any means and I can cast weights down to 5g quite well with mine. The current Zillion comes in @ 175g which is the same weight as the Alphas. The Alphas do better in the lower weight ranges and are a good bit cheaper. I prefer the ergo...

Not afraid of the duralumin gears from Daiwa. I have not had a set fail.

Deep Wee R is one of my favorites. I still have some I picked up a Kmart in the early 80's.

I'm really liking the Luvias for fresh water stuff. I have the prior gen Caldias but not the current MQ so can't compare. I had been debating between the current Caldia, Tatula, Luvias and Certate seeing the bargains with the Yen in free fall. I ended up grabbing a Tatula and shortly after a Luvias ...

I, too, have Shimano in my saltwater gear. Their reels are something special in that environment. I've had a Certate LT and Ballistic LT go coffee grinder on me in the salt - this is light surf duties zero dunking or sand. I suspect the water in the surf zone is laden with sediments, including meta...

I am partial to the Certates. The performance is on par with the Stella and they can be had for under $300 currently. Aesthetically, the Certate should also pair quite nicely with the NRX. The Luvias is also an excellent option. I picked up one recently to try for UL fishing and I liked it so much, ...

7.1 without a doubt. No point in the 8's for me unless you are rapid fire presenting a bait to a strike zone of a few feet or less.

I find it much more comfortable to shake a rod/bait with a spinning setup. Something about being able to grip the handle loosely while having the mass of the reel lower. Heavier line goes a long way in keeping a bait from settling into rock crevices and minimizes snags. If I'm snagging shaky heads o...

Yes, more and more lately.

There was a time fishing competitively that I rarely had a spinning rig in the boat. Now, 25 yrs later, I fish for different reasons and enjoy more diversity in both species of fish I target and my tackle selection.

I have an LE 7' MH. It's a great rod but not in the same league as NRX for weight and sensitivity. I suspect this is due to the heavy 2 coat finish applied to it. It is quite durable however.