CEOBBS

I'm used to the manual brake adjustment, my nacl has the same. Right out of the box I suggest keeping half the brakes on other half off and tighten the spool drag all the way. Then adjust accordingly from there. The button is still rather stiff on mine

This is my second swimbait rod. Amazing rod through and through. It medium fast taper, has 9 guides plus the tip, 8', handle length of 16". But the remarkable thing about this rod is it's rating of 1/2-8oz! Now I don't really throw anything larger than 5 ounces so I haven't been able to throw its limit. But on the lower end I can cast a whopper plopper 130 just as good as any other rod and then snap on a 9" slammer and it casts with just as much ease. I have my rod currently paired with a new shimano tranx. This is my newest setup and have yet to stick a swimbait fish up in my area this season but still plenty of time. A cool thing about the rod though is that it comes with its own custom rod sock. Not a mesh but just a black plastic sheath. The handle is removable and fits into its own sheath inside of the one for the rod itself and they all zip up for safe transportation. This also knocks off about a foot off the handle for all you guys who have rod tubes built onto your truck. With this setup I am using 65# braid due to the fact that I have a strong geared reel that can pick up 30 inches of line per turn, and the rod itself has a very nimble taper. I'm getting enough give from the rod itself to justify the braid. This setup is mostly for throwing my broomstick style baits and top water rats.

Upon opening the box, found the action to be slightly bogged down due to over grease. After a couple trips this was not an issue. It's smooth as silk. The spool is narrow but deep. Breaking system is very easy to access with the flip of a switch and unhinging the door. Few things I don't like. The thumb button is very small and sharp on the spool side. After a healthy day of bass thumb and wet conditions it wasn't necessarily painful but annoying as all hell to press down and a little far away from the spool to engage it and have your thumb on your line. Also, the line guide stays stationary when casting. Some say this increases casting distance but there is also a downfall to this. Say you have to cut off a good section of line for whatever reason be it a birds nest or whatever. The line guide will not be lined up with where the line is laying on spool. I would prefer this line guide action to be similar to my nacl in which no matter what way the spool is spinning, the line guide would move horizontally. Once all the moving parts are synchronized though, she's a pretty mean machine. 8 out of 10 is what I would say it is. Basically took away one point for the thumb button and one point for the line guide.