5-20

Tried to edit my post but the edit feature seems to have been turned off. To be fair, there's also a few places in the NE where you have a really solid chance of catching 8+ pound fish. Not really sure if I agree with the 2.5 lb handicap for the NE or not. 2 to 2.5 sort of feels fair. Guess there's going to be a few guys lucky to live near a lake that has a good number of those 8 pound fish in them while others are in more of a barren region where a 6 pound fish is a big one. But Texas rules. Texas will always rule. Nowhere else do you find so many bass as big in non trout stocked waters.

Have you spent much time fishing in the NE? Odds are really so much higher of catching a 10+ pound fish in Texas than it is to catch a 6-7 pound fish in many areas of the NE. Some guys get to fish lakes so hot in Texas they expect to catch a 10 pounder every time they go out. There's a lake near you that fished like that once...

Ooooh. Throwing the Tyrant for Calicos! That’s gonna be fun! Cool, sounds good about the Phenix travel rod. Interested in finding out how that works out for you.

In freshwater I seem to have better success using straight #20 big game for these large top waters. Braid with short leaders work great in saltwater but I don’t really use this set up as much in freshwater. Yes, having long leaders can be a bit of a hassle and problematic sometimes. Maybe not for you though. Some people seem to actually enjoy tying the FG knot.

Merrell Hiking boots with goretex. I think the model I have is the ankle high Moab. Very comfortable with wool socks. Might take a while to break in but once they do they should be totally great. Have done a lot of bank fishing in some wet terrain for the last 3 years and they've stayed totally dry this whole time.

I think it's going be a really mild December just like the last 2-3 years have been. Odds are good you'll be posting some more nice fish pics through the next 2-3 weeks I'd say.

Russell Myers does some awesome patterns. Seems like he's always getting better at what he does.

The black market.

I seem to catch most of my cold water fish in that 38-48 degree range in 6-8 feet of water. Usually near a nice point or good drop or ledge with deep water access nearby. Most of the time it's a rocky or hard bottom. Not always. Sometimes it's 10-12 feet deep or 20 feet deep but there always seems to be the chance to find a fish or two actively feeding are in that 6-8 feet deep range.

DRT USA has them in stock.

Thanks. I actually have a 95mm Curado 200K handle coming in. I think that should work just fine. If it doesn't, I'll go back and take another look at those Studio Composite handles.

Wanted to post an update. Finally got to use the Zelos. Have to say I wouldn't recommend it for a swimbait reel handle. The knobs are really thin and my fingers kept on slipping off. The rubber isn't as tacky as the Shimano OEM knobs are and while the rubber feels nice, it's also much smoother and slippier. The posts are really thin. Not sure what size they are but they are not large enough for the DRT Knobs and MK1 wheels.

I tried doing that with an adjustable wrench but there isn't much of an edge anywhere at all on this nut. Couldn't get a hold of the nut at all. Felt lucky and was surprised I could hand tighten it enough to where it felt secure and there wasn't any loose feeling play in the handle at all. Definitely would've liked to have put a little bit of extra torque on it with a wrench though!

It’s a pretty nice handle. The knobs on the MD handle are actually a little bigger than the Zelos knobs. It feels like it would be a great handle for a reel like the 150 Bantam MGL. One interesting thing about the Zelos nut. I wasn’t sure how to tighten it down without damaging it so I just hand tightened it. Somehow I got it tight enough I guess. And there’s supposed to be a small locking screw that keeps the nut in place. That thing is tiny and needs a small eyeglass sized flathead screwdriver which I do not have so we’ll see how long the Zelos stays on the reel with the nut being only hand tightened.

Just looked into it. The K handles have been discontinued. The handle knobs on the M reels look different from the K knobs. Not sure if they're also a different size. Too bad I sold/gave away all of the 200K reels I had or I'd just take one off and try it on the MD.

Tried a 110 on a 200 and I didn't like the big rotation. The small Shimano OEM handles have always worked just fine for me. It's all personal preference I guess.

Hmm, thanks, Brooalitties. May try that later. I actually just got the 92mm Zelos from Hedgehog this afternoon. Wow, that was fast. It's a very nice handle. Really quite similar to the OEM Antares MD handle size wise but it's much nicer from a quality standpoint. Knobs are a nicer feeling rubber. It's a really light, solid and very smooth feeling handle. Haven't installed it yet. Felt like it was a pretty good deal getting it on sale for 50% off which helped offset the $25-30 shipping charge.

Yes I saw that. They had only one model left in stock and I didn't like the color. Hedgehog has them for the same price. Will see how quickly they can ship it out. I'm not really sure why the Zelos handles have been discounted so heavily from the original $190 price. Hopefully it doesn't have anything to do with the quality and decreased demand.

I think I'm going to go with the ZPI. Sent an email to Hedgehog to make sure the handle would work for the Antares MD and come with the 7mm nut I need to lock it down. https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/5018

Any of you ever try the ZPI Zelos handle? They are 92mm with flat knobs. Some models are available at $90.