mcm83

Sunline Defier Armilo

Around the Spring of 2015, I was shopping for some new line when I came across Sunline Defier Armilo. I have been a long time user of Sunline fluoro and braid but have have never used their heavier mono’s for swimbait fishing. I figured, "why not?†Back story is, I started out using Big Game because that is what I grew up using for conventional bass fishing. The downside to Big Game is the amount of stretch and memory that one has to deal with when spooling on fresh line. I changed over to P-Line Original for season but had some inconsistencies so I went back to Big Game. That is until I bought a couple Defier Armilo spools. After fishing this line for a good season on three different reels and three different pound tests, I believe I could give it a fair review. The pound tests that I have used are 19, 22, and 25. Whether one purchases 11# or 25# test, the spools only come in lengths of 165 yards. Each 165 yard spool retails for $17.99. It’s quiet expensive when you figure that a 595 yard spool of 25# Big Game is only $8.99 and 500 yards of 25# PLine PF is $13.99. Because I like the premium stuff in life, I purchased a couple spools of the 25#. When it arrived I spooled it onto my Ryoga Shrapnel (which arrived about the same time). The new line lays nice and evenly on the reel and is slick. The grey color looks great and matches up nicely with the murdered-out combos. Sunline coats the halfway point (assuming halfway point) of the spool with a length of red plastic. This is common practice with Japanese brands to let the user know how much line is left on the spool. This coating does no harm to the line and eventually rubs off. First thing I noticed was that Defier Armilo is supple and smooth. I really liked the feel of the line. I didn’t have to deal with the line jumping off of the spool like how Big Game does sometimes, but then again, Sunline uses tall, narrow spools versus the short, wide spool of Big Game. Line diameter is also smaller than Big Game. Armilo 25# comes in at .405mm while Big Game 25# is .480mm. I loaded up my Ryoga with an entire spool and headed out to the lake with a 9†Gliding Gizzard and an OG SS250. Knot of choice was the San Diego Jam. My first few casts were not the greatest due to me not adjusting the brakes on my Shrapnel and casting into the wind. I spent the first few minutes picking out backlashes while freaking out because I was fishing in fairly shallow water with lots of rock and rubble for structure. Once I had the brakes working for me, I started bombing the baits out. Still freaking out a bit because of the new line. The line flowed smoothly, cast after cast. I didn’t catch anything on that trip but I had a good idea that I had found a new line. I continued to fish Defier Armilo throughout the season and added 19 and 22 pound tests to the lineup. I spooled the 19# on a new Conquest 300, the 22# on a Z2020H, and the 25#on a Ryoga Shrapnel. Armilo is very abrasion resistant - something that we all like. I’ve fished Mission Fish in grass and Hudds and crank-down type baits in and around rock and timber throughout the season and it seems to hold up well. I do strip off about seven to nine feet of line every time I retie - I don’t retie as often as I should but I do check my line and knots after every dozen or so casts. I had the chance to fish in 30 degree weather not too long ago. I dragged Hudds in water with skim ice. I was sure that there would be nicks in my line from that if not from the ice forming in my micro guides. to my surprise, no nicks. I continued to bomb ROF12 Hudds until about noon when the air temps climbed up to a whopping 40 degrees. Armilo is fairly low stretch, so enough sensitivity is still there for most all applications that swimbaiter’s utilize(moving baits). Knot strength has never been an issue for me whether tying the Palomar, San Diego Jam, or my new favorite, the modified Morizo. I suppose learning how to tie a proper knot and retying often helps as well. Just like other mono’s out there, it’ll stretch out and one can clearly see the difference between the used section versus the unused section at the end of a long cast. Everything looks to be holding up well. The 22# on the Z has been on for a few months now and still works just as well. I haven’t had any break off’s to date using Armilo. One thing that I do not like about Armilo is that the line itself begins looking tarnished after the first couple trips. The finish on the line becomes dull. I have tried spraying line conditioners before and after trips as well as “buffing†it into the line. No matter what, the line retains the tarnished appearance. Another thing that I don’t like about this line is the price. For the guys who re-spool after every couple of trips, this may not be the line for you. From my experience, it holds it’s own quiet well over a season but if one is more comfortable with fresh line every couple of trips, this gets expensive quick. The amount of line that comes on each filer spool is less than desirable as well, especially for the guys with 300 and 400 sized reels. All in all, even with the price to yardage ratio, I really like this line and to date, I haven’t had any major issues with it. I will continue to use Armilo on my combos.

Ryoga Surpassing Sharpnel

I’ve fished this reel for most of the season. I’ve sold it since, but I will try to share my short-lived experience with it. I preordered the Shrapnel thru Jun at Japan Tackle in early spring. I believe it was priced around the mid $400’s at that time. I purchased the right hand retrieve version. If I remember correctly, the reel was received in April of this year (2015). It came packaged in the a black Daiwa box; wrapped in a plastic bag with no reel bag/cover or oil. It came with a set of larger brakes and a manual that was printed out in Japanese. The specs for this reel is as follows: RH and LH 6.2:1 gear ratio 13.7 oz 22 lbs of drag pressure 12 bb + 1 roller I was pretty excited when the reel arrived. I went through all the motions of getting a new reel - opening the box, admiring the reel, spinning the handle, etc. Some things that are noticeable right out of the box is the 90mm handle and the Serpent Bite knobs. Although they are thicker than regular knobs, the Serpent Bite knobs are extremely comfortable. The four-point riveted reel foot stands out as well, although I highly doubt that the reel would separate from the foot while fishing for Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Spotted Bass or Snakehead. Another thing is the synchronized level wind. This is one feature that I wish would be incorporated into more reels these days. One of the most noticeable things on this reel is the width. Most reels I fish now days are narrower and that is what I have become accustomed to. The non-handle side plate screws off revealing the centrifugal brake system which consists of just two brakes. The brakes slide up and down freely, so use caution when putting the side plate back on. The clicking drag star and drag are also a nice touch. Next thing was to mount it on the rod of choice. I had built a custom rod just for this reel. The rod sported a size 18 Fuji graphite reelseat. Everyone who’s been fishing for sometime knows that Fuji is the standard when it comes to rod components. Most all [freshwater] reel feet fit like a glove when mounted onto Fuji reelseats. Not the Shrapnel. The design of this reel’s foot is bent - think elongated “Mâ€. I wish I had a photo of this, but I do not. The “M†design did not allow the reel foot to fully seat itself. I really had to lock down the reelseat nut to make sure that the reel wouldn’t pop off during a battle. Because of this design, the reel now sat about one centimeter forward of what other reels sat (compared to Daiwa Z, new Conquest 300, and Calcutta 400D). This was an issue with me because now my fingers would have to find a new position to “rest†when palming the reel/rod - thumb on top of reel, pointer finger in front of reel, middle, ring, and pinky fingers underneath and wrapped around reelseat. As I was trying to adjust to palming this reel, I noticed something rubbing or more like cutting into my fingers. The four-point riveted reel foot design and placement was interfering with where my middle finger and pink rested. I adjusted my grip a few different times and settled on cradling the reel/rod. Next thing to do was to spool it up. At the time I was experimenting with a new line that was just released by Sunline - Defier Armilo - I’ll do a review on that separately. This reel holds A TON of line - it is designed to hold about 174 yards of #6 PE or .405mm line (20# Big Game is .460mm). I took it out to the lake and did some casting. At first I did have a little bit of trouble due to not setting the brakes properly and casting a 9†Gliding Gizzard into the wind. Once I got it set to an okay spot, I was able to launch the Glide and a SS250 with ease. The retrieve was smooth and effortless. The knobs felt extremely comfortable. The only issue was palming this reel and rod combo. I didn’t hook anything on this trip but it gave me a pretty good idea of what it could be capable of. When I got home, I swapped out the brakes for the larger brakes and casted a bit outside. I preferred the larger brakes and felt that they were ideal for this reel and big baits. I fished this reel regularly throughout this season and landed quite a few Largemouth, upwards of 5 pounds (I’m in MI). I was also able to land a couple of little Muskie but nothing to really challenge this reel. I sold it before the season ended here so I cannot comment on the durability of this reel. I do miss the power and look of this beast of a reel from time to time, but I probably would not purchase another one just because of the reel foot design.

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Haven't had much time to fish it. It's a floating 188mm lure that dives a couple feet on the retrieve. The glide reminds me of the GC178. I got it to glide to about 2-3' only on 22lb mono. I fished it for around an hour in dirty stained water - ~1' visibility.

Rising son and big game customs 8.5 gen 2 trout have been doing well for me lately

jointed claw is a great bait that won't break the bank. You don't hear much about it but it'll slay em. The Onimasu looks to have a similar swim as the claw. I'm hoping that it'll be more durable though.

I love the costa 580 green mirrors But because I wear glasses and am too lazy to put in my contacts, I stopped wearing my pair. I've been wanting to get a pair of rX costas but didn't want to fork out the dough for it. I picked up a set of green mirror, amber lens cocoons and have been quite happy with them.