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I struggled tying knots in heavy mono leaders until I discovered this knot. Are we allowed to link to YouTube?

I’m gun shy to buy anything other than Shimano Spinning reels. I fish OBX piers for two weeks every year, every day for 8-10 hours per day. Mostly throwing metal and got-cha plugs. I can’t count how many casts & retrieves per day. I’ve tried many different brands, most would get grindy/geary after several days. I have two new Penn Spinfisher V’s that I don’t use anymore since they were so hard to crank since they were new. (I did the recommended take apart and remove excess grease etc.) I use 3 Shimano Saro’s that I’ve had and used for years that are still as smooth as the day I got them. I picked up Two Shimano Symtre 4000’s on Sale at Cabelas a few years ago and they work great as well. So this year I picked up two Shimano Spheros sw inshore 4000’s which I’m sure will do great as well.

I smear a small bead of silicon sealant on the thread below the lock nut. When I want to remove the reel I can easily peel off the silicon with my finger.

I’m curious to see the answers as well.

I bought a JDM Spheros size 8000 several years ago because of the attractive price on Amazon. Later I read on Alan Hawk’s review page of how the JDM reel has inferior gears and a few other things compared to the model on sale in America. I’ve used the reel some, mostly for Togging on the jetty and haven’t had any issues. I have two questions: 1) to those that have the JDM model and have fished it hard have you had any issues? 2) have any of you with the JDM model done any upgrades to it like using the better gears from the USA market model? thanks.

I’ll preface this by saying my story pertains to a largemouth bass but still relevant in theory. I remember reading a story in a bass magazine over 40 years ago. It was about a relatively unknown (at the time) bass angler named Doug Hannon. He was only interested in big bass (over 10 lbs). He only fished at night, he used a heavy casting rod, he used an ambassaduer reel with 50lb mono and said he tightened the drag down with channel locks. He only used a black Musky Jitterbug (he bent down the edges of the lip for a more dramatic gurgle) for his lure. He discovered a system that worked and kept on working the system.

All good answers so far but my question isn’t actually how strong of a line you need it’s how the diameter affects overall use. IF you’re casting on an open beach with jig and gulp for fluke you could easily use 10 or 15 lb braid and handle the fish just fine. But that braid is so thin it may be more susceptible to wind knots or tangles plus it would take a lot more of it to fill your spool. Wouldn’t it be wiser to step up to say 30lb braid that’s thicker and easier to manage and less line to fill your spool?

When I first started using braid years ago my local tackle dealer and avid surf caster told me to choose braid by diameter and not to worry about pound test. He said the thinner stuff could be a potential disaster being so thin. So this is what I’ve always done. Usually choosing 30 or 40 lb test braid with approx. mono equivalent of 8 or 10 lb in diameter. I read of many folks using 15 or less lb test braid with mono diameters of 4 or 6 lb. My thoughts are it sounds harder on finger and more chances of tangles. Am I in the minority? What’s your thought on diameter vs lb test. I’m mainly speaking of 4000 size spinning reels.

If you watch the YouTube channel WWJ whipping with Joe from Hawaii he uses one outfit only. I think a 7 ft Fenwick HMG inshore. He pops 2 oz poppers for big fish then switches to a Carolina rig 1/2 sinker grub combo for small fish.

The surf rod Pickens are on slim on Amazon anyhow.

The last time I looked on Penn Fishing the medium 10’ conv. Battalion 2 was the only surf rod in stock. I think it’s rated for what you’re looking for. Free shipping and if you sign up for emails I think you get 10 percent off.

Hand pump water squirter right after fishing. Spray reel, reel seat, and rod eyes. Lures also.

When I was researching my problem I came across a few threads about the ticking. Ticking is common in many reels and they advise against trying to chase it down with shims.

I just got off the phone w Shimano after an hour wait. The tech on the phone couldn’t understand what I was telling him. He kept saying it should just screw on. I said there’s a definite design to it and asked him how far the inner collar should set. He told me send pictures and he would have another tech look at. I said nothing to look at but I’ll send images anyway.

This may be related. I just received 2 new Spheros 4000SW’s. I’m a lefty so the first thing I do is switch the handle to the opposite side. Well, the handle screwed right into one and it wouldn’t go into the second reel. I thought I was going crazy because it wouldn’t screw on. On closer examination there’s threaded collar on the outside of the screw that goes into the reel and it must be screwed in far enough in order to show enough threads to attach handle. It’s a weird system to me but I’m thinking if a Saragossa is of the same design the inner collar may be adjustable to take out slop in the reel. I know I babbled but I hope I made sense. This could explain why it’s hit or miss among peoples reels