Rods and Reels – Velox Seeker

Trying To Make Up For Lost Time…

I think I’m doing OK and healing up; albeit slowly. Last night was the first night I didn’t take any pain medication and although I only managed an hour and a half of good sleep, I feel pretty good. The dull pain and burning sensation is still there but it’s manageable.

On the pain medication topic: Pain pills are hard to get these days in part due to the “opioid crisis” so I tend to use them sparingly. As long as I could take the edge off then I could manage the pain and slowly increase my threshold. With this latest episode, I only took the pain medication at bedtime as opposed to every 6 hours and to me, that’s a good thing.

Anyway, back to fishing! In January/February I managed to get a few rods that a good friend of mine was selling. The prices were phenomenal so I picked up a Palms Quattro 4-piece travel rod that I had been wanting as well as a Majorcraft fiberglass travel rod that was on my radar. I’ve been very happy with both so far. I also picked up two Yamaga Blanks Blue Current TZ Nano rods in 6ft 2in and a 6ft 10in versions. BOTH are outstanding rods that I had been interested in for quite some time. Lightly used and at a great price was a no-brainer. I’ve recently fished all 4 of them and can say it was money well spent and it helped out a friend.

The Yamaga Blanks Blue Current 62 TZ Nano. Great rod!

The Palms Quattro is a saltwater ultralight but works well for my intended purpose. that’s a 1000 size reel for scale.

For the record: I only had one rod and one reel on the purchase list for 2024. The rod arrived this past Monday and is the TenRyu Rayz Spectra RZS-61LL. I bought one as a gift for my wife quite awhile ago and she was gracious enough to let me have a go with it for a round of testing. I liked it so much I decided to order myself one except they were sold out. After searching on and off for over a year, I finally managed to find one and it is now in my quiver of rods. I will say for certain that it was worth the wait! Oustanding rod for our type of fishing.

TenRyu Rayz Spectra RZS-61LL with a Stella C2000SHG reel.

So far the rod has been great…in fact all of them have caught fish so I have no complaints. We have been trying to gauge if the bass and crappie are staging for the spawn and it has been hit and miss due to the highly variable weather conditions. One day it was 84F and the next it dropped to 31F. Not enough stability yet for the fish to fully become active or to establish a reliable pattern.

We’ve caught plenty of rainbow trout so far in 2024.

We even took our medium rods out to see if the sand bass were about to move up and spawn but we didn’t get any takers. It’s still a bit early I suppose.

I’m probably pushing things a bit but it’s hard for me to be inactive for any length of time. I’m definitely much more careful and am moving slower than normal but I am making progress so I’m happy. Maybe I’ll hit the trout pond this morning at first light and get one last session in before the season ends on April 1st…time will tell. Take care and see ya soon.

Bait Finesse System Tackle…

BFS or Bait Finesse System styles of fishing were developed in Japan to help catch highly pressured fish…Largemouth Bass in particular. It soon morphed over into the Trout world in regards to both Area and Stream fishing. This method uses specially made rods and reels to cast lures down to sub-1 gram weights. Using 2# test line on a BFS baitcaster has become pretty commonplace for those who use this type of gear.

I was intrigued by the method but having never really spent any time using a baitcaster, I was pretty intimidated. There was a definite learning curve for me to become somewhat comfortable using this gear. My Dad tried to get me into it back in the 80’s but for some reason I couldn’t use a right-hand wind reel very well. Fast forward to the past few years, and in Japan you will find every reel made today comes in a left-hand reel version.

For me…this style comes into its own when you pair a BFS reel with a fiberglass rod. It is a lot of fun. The accuracy is better, the speed is better and it really shines when you have limited casting space.

Practice, practice, practice! I did just that…casting my baitcasters in as many different scenarios as possible. Standing in the driveway, standing in a boat, standing waist deep in a lake or stream. They all require some subtle nuances that are different enough to affect casting. Adjust the braking system and spool tension until you get to where you are comfortable casting. And it will change with different weights.

And I’ll be honest…2.5 grams is the lightest I have felt comfortable casting so far. I have had my fair share of bird’s nests to date and some have required cutting line off and re-spooling. But keep in mind that I came to baitcaster’s rather late in life ( around 50yrs ) so I am still learning to master this technique. For me, throwing minnow type lures with a baitcaster seems to be the best method and that was why I got into BFS.

Issue Resolved! 2022 Shimano Stella C2000SHG…

Awhile back a did a post about the issues I was having with line twist on my new 2022 Shimano Stella C2000SHG. It was kind of embarrassing really, since the new Stella had super-slow oscillation and a “twist buster” polymer fin on the rotor. Not to mention this is THE top of the line Shimano reel and is a favorite worldwide. Needless to say, I was getting major line twist. Meanwhile, my wife who has a 2022 Shimano Stella C2000S was happily fishing along without a single issue.

To make a long story short…she was using a 6ft 1in rod while I was using a 5ft rod. Once I delved into rod construction and the proper placement of line guides according to the formulas…it became evident. My rod was too short for the reel I was using and the first guide was placed too close to the actual reel which resulted in the line coils being smashed against the guides while casting. Normally, with proper line guide placement, the line flows through the guides relatively easily.

It is hard to get a picture of this concept so please bear with me. In essence, you install the reel onto the rod and rig the line through the guides. Then bring the line all the way back to the reel without tensioning the rod. If the line does not touch the first 2-3 line guides…you have a good match. If it rubs on the first 2-3 line guides, you will probably have issues.

I’m sure there are exceptions to every rule…but this actually made sense to me from an engineering standpoint. And switching to a 6ft 1in or 6ft 3in rod resolved the Stella line issues. I try hard not to delve into the minutiae of things very often…but when I buy a high-end reel and have issues…I want to know why and fix the problem.

And I learned something during this process, which is one of the main factors I love about fishing…learning something new! And we spent several hours trying our favorite rod and reel combos to see if they were properly matched or not…it was quite the eye opener.

Thank you for reading and I hope that made sense…

Interesting Rod from AliExpress…

Some of you may remember that I have been wanting a fiberglass baitcast rod for quite awhile. I have tried the usual BassPro and Shakespeare stuff that was available locally but they weren’t built well enough to hold up very long. I do have a MajorCraft fiberglass baitcast rod but it is quite stiff and designed as a river rod.

I was talking to a friend from Virginia who specializes in ultralight fishing and has tried or owned a lot more rods than I have. He suggested I look at this particular rod since he has fished with it and told me that it had the action I was looking for (I love the fishing community! Especially the ones who are knowledgable and willing to help and offer solid advice based on experience.)

You will find that Chinese rods usually have several different company names on them which makes locating them difficult at times. This particular rod I have was listed as an Angler Stream brand, but when it arrived, the bag says FishPeak while the rod says TEUCER. YMMV!

Anyway… this is a fiberglass rod that is referred to as a Catapult rod or Flick Cast rod designed for throwing light lures and minnow baits by using the natural parabolic flex inherent in the design. It breaks down into 4-pieces with the longest section coming in at 17 inches in length and has a double down-locking reel seat built on a wood handle. Total length is 140cm/1.4m or 4.6ft. The rod weight is 3.1 ounces or 89 grams. Not bad!

Interesting wood handle. It actually feels pretty good in the hand.

I have enjoyed practice casting with this rod. It’s different than what I’m used to, but it sure is fun. I haven’t been able to locate a consistent sweet spot in the rod and for all I know, there may not be one, and that’s OK. For small stream fishing like we do, and smaller fish like we target…this rod will be a lot of fun.

And the best part is that this rod only cost around $36.00 with free shipping. It took about 3 weeks to get here but that wasn’t a big concern. I have cast it for about an hour total so far and have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. I will do an update on it later so stay tuned for that.

As always, thank you for reading and have a great day!

The Reels that Started it All…

Back in the early 90’s I was fresh out of the military and enrolled in college. I had 3 part-time jobs with one of them working for a local sporting goods store. I was hired into the Fishing Department which I thought was pretty cool. I spent a lot of time drooling over the display case containing the fishing reels. Being the typical broke college student, I couldn’t afford a nice reel. Keep in mind that up to this point about all I had used for a reel was a Zebco33 and its ilk. I hated that reel and still do to this day, so I opted to try a spinning reel.

After careful consultation with my meager budget and Frank, who was the Department Manager and a hard-core angler, I opted for the Shimano TX-4000 reel. I figured it was big enough to catch anything in Oklahoma and elsewhere. I even matched it with a Shimano TX series rod. If I recall correctly…the reel cost me $34.99 and the rod was $19.99. And of course I got an employee discount so it what somewhat less than that. I just remember strutting out of there like a peacock thinking I had the “ultimate” setup.

I caught a ton of pike and smallmouth with this reel when I fished up in either Ontario or the Boundary Waters. But I quickly learned that the TX-4000 was overkill and ended up purchasing a TX-1000 and a matching TX rod. I fished that combo for about 10 years and caught thousands of fish with it. I ultimately retired those reels to my display case and they hold the central position of honor; not because they are high-end reels but from the sheer number of good memories they provided.

Made in Singapore. The TX-4000 was made in Malaysia.

The TX-4000 had two ball bearings whereas the TX-1000 had one.

For a beginner, the QuickFire2 trigger was a small blessing.

All I can say is that these reels served me well and I beat them to hell and back and they never let me down. Reels have come a long way and get better with each iteration, but these two will always hold a special place in my heart. 30+ years later, when I turn the handles I am amazed at how rough and clunky they are. But I guarantee that I thought they were smooth as silk back in the day. Heck, I might even fish the TX-1000 one more time next year just for old times sake. Nowadays I will admit that I’m just spoiled and much prefer the higher end reels, but these will always “get the nod.”

Thanks for reading.

2022 Shimano Stella C2000SHG reel…

So a few months back I wrote a blog post about the Varivas line issues I was having. Upon reflection, shortly after posting I opted to delete that blog post. I decided that further testing was in order before laying all of the blame squarely at the feet of the line I was using.

Fast forward a month or two, and after using the 2022 Shimano Stella in various situations, as well as switching out lines, I have decided that this reel is not really for me. This was my first foray into high end reels by both Shimano and Daiwa. I purchased both the 2022 Shimano Stella C2000SHG and the 2022 Daiwa Exist LT 2000S-H.

I took the Stella which was loaded with Varivas Super Trout Advance Bush Trail VEP nylon line to the river and fished for almost 6 hours straight. I ended up having several line issues that required me to cut line off and re-tie a new fluoro leader.

I was baffled by these issues since I have the exact same line on my 2022 Daiwa Exist and never (and still haven’t) had an issue or even a hiccup. Once at home I immediately stripped off that line and re-spooled it with Varivas Super Trout Advance Twitch Master VLS nylon and went back to the river the next day. On that trip I encountered zero issues. I thought that perhaps the Bush Trail line was too stiff and that the Stella preferred a more supple line.

I thought all of my issues were solved until I started throwing jerkbaits and spoons. I attached a swivel just to be safe, but started to get massive twisting problems that required me to cut off line and re-tie. I was baffled.

The 2022 Stella touts a polymer fin that is supposed to prevent line twists. And currently, I am beginning to wonder if the issue lies with the Super Slow Oscillation inherent in this generation of Stella. To complicate matters further…my wife has the 2022 Shimano Stella C2000S and hasn’t had a single issue while using the more supple Varivas line. I have been going over the issues in my head for weeks and have a hard time believing that a gear ratio difference is the culprit. I can’t wrap my brain around that one…but it is not an impossibility.

To further my point with the Stella, the start-up inertia is definitely not what I expect on a reel at this price point. In fact, my 2020 Shimano Twin Power C2000S is much smoother when reeling as well as having better start-up inertia. To say I am disappointed is an understatement, especially when the Stella is touted as the “best reel ever made.” But as always, I will keep tinkering with it until I figure it out.

Below are weight comparisons between the Twin Power and the Stella. At this point I can emphatically state that the Twin Power feels better to fish with by a long shot.

As always, I am open to ideas and input on this matter. Thanks

Spinning Reels…

It has been a hectic 2 weeks. The Mother-in-Law is back in the hospital so we are taking care of two households. Last weekend we completely revamped the wifes home office. Workloads have been steadily increasing for both of us as well. On a positive note, the weather has finally cooled off so I think summer is over. We desperately need some rain though and we are hoping we will get some soon.

Anyway, I got up early this morning and decided to clean and oil some of my spinning reels. I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some pictures when I was finished.

The only spinning reels that I have modified/upgraded were the Vanford and the Stradics. Upgrading the bearings to hybrid ceramics made a big difference. I also upgraded the handle knobs on a Twin Power and 2 of the Stradics. The Twin Power was super smooth out of the box so I didn’t feel the need to upgrade any bearings. The Vanfords and Stradics really benefited from upgraded bearings.

We are hoping to be able to fish the river tomorrow as we both need to get out and away for awhile. As usual, I will post a blog if we do! Thanks for reading.

Major Craft Finetail Stream Stage FSG-B462UL Rod…

I have been watching the development of this rod for awhile and finally was able to pre-order one. It arrived last week but due to the heatwave I haven’t fished with it yet. I like the action of the Anglo&Co. fiberglass rods such as the G411, but I wasn’t willing to pay $800+ for it. Then along came this FSG-B462UL and I jumped on it.

This is a full fiberglass rod and I really like the action on it for casting jerkbaits and light lures.

Paired with a 2017 Shimano Scorpion BFS reel.

Nice bending curve yet still has some backbone.

https://videopress.com/v/73USAusg?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Trying something different here. Adding a video of the action.

So the video snippet above wasn’t the greatest because we were preoccupied with a visitor.

Black Rat Snake. They have a huge diversity of coloration. And since I’m not a huge fan of snakes, this wasn’t easy for me to do. He did his best Rattlesnake imitation by shaking his tail rapidly against some leaves while assuming a defensive posture, but the round eye shape gave him away.

No worries! We see them as beneficial snakes that help keep the rodent population in check. I relocated him shortly after this pic was taken. Although we do have chickens, we have only found one in the coop so far. This particular snake has been relocated twice so far. Never a dull moment in the country.

As soon as the temperatures drop below 100F I plan on trying this rod out. We’ve already seen 111F here and we might have some relief coming next week. Today will reach 105F. As I’ve said in the past, Major Craft gives you a lot of rod for the money and I think this one will become one of my favorites since it has the characteristics I prefer.

P.S. THANK YOU Mr. Wilson for the hats. Love em.

TenRyu Rayz Spectra RZS51LL Spinning Rod…

This was the rod I was testing out yesterday. With the stream flow being quite low, this rod was ideal for the current conditions and excelled when throwing 3-5 gram lures.

This rod is 94% Carbon and 6% Glass Fiber

Fuji titanium guides and Torzite inserts.

I had a lot of fun casting this rod and catching fish. The tip action makes throwing light lures easy and the rod has enough backbone to handle fish in mild current. TenRyu makes really good rods and this one is a winner.

Tailwalk Keison Runsback spec * N 56ML Spinning Rod…

After using a Tailwalk Troutia 55L for quite awhile, I decided to see what else this brand offered. Perusing the rod listings, I ran across this rod. I enjoy using Light and Medium-Light rods when fishing streams and rivers because the added backbone helps fight fish in current as well as getting them into the net faster.

Length: 5’6′ -Max Lure: 12g -Max Line: PE 0.8 and 99% carbon/ 1% glass.

Nice hardware. Double down-locking reel seat. Cork is decent.

I’m looking forward to testing this rod out too. I’ll either get up really early to fish or just suffer through the heat. Time will tell.

Palms Pinwheel PFGS-69UL+ Spinning Rod…

First off, I apologize for not posting anything for awhile. We have been having internet issues and it seems that dial-up is faster than the service we pay for.

With that out of the way…I’d like to showcase a new rod I recently bought. The Palms Pinwheel PFGS-69 UL+ spinning rod. I like how Palms shoots a video explaining their rods in detail. I wish all of the manufacturers did that.

I knew this was a saltwater ultralight rod which was designed for shore jigging. What I didn’t expect was how stiff this rod is. I would compare it to a Light-Medium Bass rod to be honest. In fact, I ended up putting a Shimano Twin Power C3000 reel on just to get it to balance. And that’s fine with me. I fish farm ponds as well so this will be a good choice when I target largemouth bass since this can handle them well. Fit and finish was excellent and I like the aesthetics of this rod.

I’m looking forward to trying this rod out. Prospects are somewhat questionable since it appears that summer has truly arrived. Starting on Monday the weather forecast is calling for 100F+/38C+ every day for as far out as the forecast shows. We’ll see how it goes…

The 2022 Shimano Soare XR 500SPG Spinning Reel…

It finally arrived! The wife has been wanting one of these for over 6 months. Last Thursday when I got to work, there was an email that popped up on my phone from Digitaka stating that the Soare XR 500’s were in stock. This was at 0504. By 0505 I was on their site ready to purchase two reels but it already stated that it was THE LAST ONE. I bought it instantly and by 0506 I had confirmation of the order. These reels went fast!!!

Rear View of 2022 Shimano Soare XR 500SPG

L: 2022 Soare XR 500SPG and R: 2017 Soare CI4+ 500S

Rear View of 2017 Shimano Soare CI4+ 500S

Before I list the specs, I will say that the 2022 Soare XR is smoother than the 2017 Soare CI4+. I definitely like the color scheme on the 2022 better but that is just my preference. The handle fits better and has a bit more accents. The handle knob was changed and I’m not sure if it’s for the better or not. Gear ratio was decreased. Line capacity was increased a little bit as well. Maybe she’ll let me try it out.

2022 Shimano Soare XR 500SPG

-WEIGHT: 135 grams

-GEAR RATIO: 4.7:1

-DRAG: 3 kg MAX

-RETRIEVE: 58 cm

BEARINGS: 8/1

-CAPACITY: MONO 2#-115m, 2.5#-100m and FLUOROCARBON 3#-70m

2017 Shimano Soare CI4+ 500S

-WEIGHT: 140 grams

-GEAR RATIO: 5.6:1

-DRAG: 3 kg MAX

-RETRIEVE: 69 cm

-BEARINGS: 8/1

-CAPACITY: MONO 2#-90 m, 2.5#-80m and FLUOROCARBON 3#-70m

For Perch and small streams, these will be perfect and we can’t wait to test hers out. Stay tuned for that.