Nufo

Looks like the new Daiwa Lexa HD at $299 just smashed abu's market for this reel. Other than their old school round reels, I've never been a big fan of abu and would be super hesitant to drop $400 on a reel from them.

those are some fat health looking linesides!

I'll take those two bills hard tail baits above the sst off your hands

Butch, What action/speed do you feel the biggest fish want the slide swimmer? Steady/Super slow? I know there is a lot of talk about fishing glide baits really fast and erratic. I always figured the big big fish don't want to work that hard.

A true ninja learns from his master, takes that knowledge and wisdom and then forms his own path.

Nice Chris!

If you have the right combination of rod and hooks, Braid is an excellent choice for hard baits in this size range. You want a rod that has some bend in the tip and strong hooks that won't get straightened out easily by pulling hard on the braid. I fished this set up for years and have landed many stripers up into the mid 20/'s on it

Thats a shame. better performance when it stays engaged with heavy line and big baits. One of my biggest complaints about the 400d

I use the best sun protection you can get. Its called "night fishing"

I'd personally check out the 9' Phenix M1 rated 2-6oz. The handle is the perfect length for a swim bait rod and it has the right bend for topwater hard baits. Just spine the blank to make sure they put the guides on correct. Ive noticed about 1in 3 phenix rods are spined incorrectly (guides on the side of the bending fulcrum).

I fish almost exclusively for highly pressured striped bass so my perspective is different but still applicable. When I first started fishing glides, I used a slow and steady retrieve. I was catching a lot of fish with this method (and losing a lot too), I would always switch back and forth between a wide gliding bait and a narrow bait depending upon what the fish wanted. I often find them in a finicky mood where they will come up and bump a bait and not eat it. Some times they will even come up and rub the bait with their body. I found that when I was getting a lot of foul hooked fish on the wide baits, that they would eat the narrow baits and get hooked (I will also switch over to a 3 piece bait in these situations). I did find that with some of the narrower swimming baits, that I could walk the bait with the reel and and heat a really wide glide that would entice strikes when the fish wouldn't touch anything else. These are some of the most vicious strikes I have ever seen and some of the earlier baits didn't hold up to the fish. Fast forward to now: I fish much faster now with a wider gliding bait but not a steady retrieve. I basically get the cadence of the bait moving with one full crank of the handle and a slight pause . I found that this fast pace allows me to cover more water and still draws the fish and and once I draw them (if they don't eat the bait), I entice the strike.by walking the bait with the reel with big wide swoops and pauses. This forces more of those vicious strikes I discovered earlier. I have also found that the slow and steady grind leads to a lot of foul hooked and lost fish. the walk with a pause leads to fish with a bait down their throat. This has been a great thread with some great perspectives.

there is more to it than just how wide or narrow the glide is. How tight it turns is a big factor which adds a 3rd element to the swimming action. you can have a tight wide S or a loose wide S, A tight narrow S, or a loose narrow s and anything in-between. The Dynamics of glide baits is what makes them such cool and productive baits.

The side walls on the shrapnel have an angle to them. Take a look at the picture thread below this one

Don, I am throwing big stuff. 11" 8oz baits. it handles them well. If you don't need a lefty, I would probably look at the Kago over this reel. I have had a chance to fish both and they both are great but the Kago is slightly faster and has a normal spool giving it the slight edge.

2 big blocks not one ^

I'm running one big break block and one small one and its a little more manageable. 1 big blocks would probably be good too. Casting distance was still good

There is a huge difference between "world record/trophy fishermen" and "swim bait fishermen" A guy chasing the world record will do what it takes and is not fixed on a specific style or bait. His goal is to catch the record. "Swimbait fishermen" are more about the style/type of bait and very limited and thus are not really in the same category as a guy fishing for the world record. This is the reason, I have never really considered myself a "swim baiter" but rather a "big baiter" As for the record, even if the fish exists in a body of water, catching it is a whole other story. The fish could pass its peak and decline in size or even die before it is caught at it's record size. The record could be caught 10-20 years from now in a lake or region that is just starting to have the right factors to create such a fish.

can't say as I have never fished them. It is about the width of a calcutta te but lower profile

Couple more updates after getting a little more time behind this reel. First off it's absolute buttah! I respooled and packed the line down tighter and it mostly fixed the line lay issues (still had some) I am going to play with the bigger breaks and see if that helps. the spool is very very fast and casting distance is really good. Got to test the drag last night and its buttah too. I love the subtle clicking noise it makes when line is pulling out Now we shall see how it holds up over time. I am hoping to get at least 5 years of solid use out of this reel.

I will start this off. Used the reel for the first time today. First impressions are that it is super smooth. Really like how low it sits on the rod. Cast really well. Drag is smooth. Hooked into a few linesides this but they all came unbuttoned so I didn't get to test the drag. Although the handle is only 90mm and has square knobs, it was pretty comfortable. I am going to be upgrading to a 108mm Studio composites though as I like a little more leverage. I am having a problem with the line lay. I noticed when spooling the reel that it staked line the sides of the spool but then it all leveled out as it got full. I kept having line come loos on the spool due to this during fishing. Hoping to figure out how to get it to stop from doing this.

There once was a forum called the "nation" that bait manufacturers sponsored and any opinion against them was silenced and the person was banned. Lets not turn this forum into the same. Matt hyped his bait publicly and bashed others (with out naming them). Now his only option is to bring the sickest glide ever. I personally think iIts better when manufacturers stay quite and let the bait build its own reputation.

Ceaser's on point! I really hope Matt's glide ends up being everything he claims it is. The more good glides the better for everyone.

Old school breaking system. Bigger/heavier breaks equal more breaking. Look at the size difference of the extra breaks.

Thats an SP minnow and he is fishing the south side of muscle rock in pacifica