This is for all you tackle-ho's. I've been spending the last year assembling what I feel is the "Ultimate" bass rod and reel arsenal, but I want to know what you guys feel are the best for:

All around best combo:

Light Worming/Finesse:

Senkos/Creatures:

Jigging:

Crankbaits:

Topwater/Popping:

Swimbaits:

Spinnerbaits:

Drop Shotting/Split Shotting:


My current "ultimate" setups include:
IMX MBR783 / Calais CL200
GL3 CR723 / Calais 100A
GL3 SJR783 / Capricorn 2000 (should probably upgrade to a stella =)
MBR 783 / CT200GT
GUSA 66ULXF / TD-Z 105H
GUSA 70MXF / TD-X 100HSF
GUSA 70HXF / CT300te
GUSA 80XF / CT400te

You have some good gear. What I see missing is a 2 power rod I don't know much about the graphite USA stuff but have friends that swear they are better than Loomis.

(dropshotting, light cranks) I have a mbr782 imx paired with a chronarch mg

(worming, general stuff)- mbr 803 w/ext handle and calcutta conquest 100. this is the best reel I own I highly recommend this reel to any tackle hoes out there

(jigs) mbr 844 imx- w metanium xt w/ power handle

(swimmies) rogue swimbait jr and senior paired w/ calcutta 400te

GB

I carry 8 rigs in a 10x4' Basshunter boat:

Kistler Helium LTA(Lighter Than Air), 7' MC/Daiwa ITO
" " " " "/Daiwa TDZ
" " " " "/Shimano Antares AR
" " " 7',6" HC/Shimano Antares AR
" " " " EHC/Shimano Calais 200
Fenwick Techna AV, 7' MHF/Daiwa TDZ
" " " " MH/Shimano Antares AR
" " " " MHF/Daiwa TDZ

Dan

"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less"

Deo Vindice

great topic for the tackle ho's!

GLX MBR842\Curado 100B Hotrod- 6-8 lb. Texas, mojo, darterhead worms
GLX MBR842\CH100MG- 10 lb. Texas rig, gotta love the 10 lb. Sugoi
GLX MBR843\CH100MG- 12-15 LB jigs & spider jigs
VCT70MH\CL2005- cranks and the Sammys and spooks
CBR847C\CH100A 5:1- DD22, Rapala DT16, Bagleys BIII
VCT70FS814\CU100B Hotrod- jerkbaits and Pop-Rs, works for d\s
CT820XFA\CTE300- swimbaits
VCA610H\CA200SF- for the sloppy stuff, Margarita bound

now I just need to learn how to make the fish chew, and I'll be in good shape

Ok Neitzel, what's a hot rod? I'm out of the loop over here.

Those are some sweet setups you guys have. You guys have serious ho-power :9 Having smooth gear that you don't have to worry about is a real advantage on the water. If I can ever get rich, I need to add a about three 300TE's, a half dozen Calais CL200's, and another half dozen of those sic new Chronarch B series reels to my arsenal. It's nice to dream big tackle ho dreams :)

Rob, the hotrod 100B is my own creation, took the grinder to the main shaft and fit it with the Calais 200 handle and drag star, fiddled around with the BNT0015 washers and got it to stack right so the drag works good- Pie in the sky until I saw the Calais 100A- wow, I need one of those. The new Chronarchs look sick, especially the 50 size MG- the old CH100 with new 5:1 gears and ABEC 5 bearings is an epic cranking reel

>the hotrod 100B is my own creation

bassnet

saw a pic on the net awhile back, "hotrod" sitting next to a keyboard with a couple other reels...was that yours? if so, props on that, was looking sweet had me tempted to do the same to mine.

yeah, pack of smokes in the background??

metal thumbar on the CT100 was tough, but a nice addition, the little Japanese handle is trippy but works

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2672.jpg

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2673.jpg

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2674.jpg

Attachment #1, (.jpg file)
Attachment #2, (.jpg file)
Attachment #3, (.jpg file)

>yeah, pack of smokes in the background??

yep, thats the one, tho i think there was a stogie calcutta in pic somewheres, not sure...

>metal thumbar on the CT100 was tough, but a nice addition

good work, thumbar's a nice little touch. any dremel work involved?

yeah I have a few stogies- a few combos, CT250\200 stogie combos- the stainless bar that holds the thumb bar came from a CTE and needed a little putty to stay put, didn't need to break out the dremel on that one- pulled the black line guide from the Catala, looks better then the usual grey one- gotta love tinkering with reels!!

Recently added a Daiwa Type R+ and a Daiwa Ito to replace two Calais 200s. The Type R+ is an ultra awesome reel:-) . Now I have a Daiwa TDZ103H Custom on order which won't be shipped until January.

I was favoring the Antares ARs but those Daiwas are getting more use as they just feel 'right'.

Dan

"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less"

Deo Vindice

does "ultimate" refer to most expensive or best performing?

quite an impre$$ive arsenal there, yet i don't see any imports or even custom-built rods. megabass, evergreen, daiko rods, also the factory shimano shaula & lesath rods are pretty sick, very comparable to any factory loomis glx/imx. and don't forget the evola dropshot rods too.

fwiw, some of my combos include...

all around: v-rod vct66m & scorp 1500sf
worming: gusa dhx bac653mh & chronarch sf
jigs: gusa c703dhx & scorp 1000
cranks: flats v-rod vca70f & axis v2
blades: v-rod vct70m & conquest 200

but my ultimate combo is a super-lite 7'8" gusa pioneer series paired and balanced to a modded cu100b w/ 5:1 calais gearing & ceramics, custom-built specifically for LC jerkbaits. works perfect for that applications, plus rod was $105 out the door from hastings, cu100b picked up new for $45, with mods another $30. wouldn't upgrade anything in this setup even if i had the $$. regardless, what's "ultimate" if you don't include custom stuff?

my two pennies

My GUSA's over 7'9" are all custom, split-butt style. I'm contemplating having some made with the Heat-Shrink X-flock that is used on the Teramar series.


Question: When you say I'm missing a 2-power rod, what exactly do you mean?

Swimbait: Got a Calais CL-200 for sale if you're interested. $250 and it's yours (brand spankin new, no box, never seen the water) natelam@ucla.edu if you're interested.

Zenbass r: Why the GUSA (United) Pioneer series? They aren't Dual Helix and they are 2% glass, also the cheapest rods Hasting's makes. Just wondering?

Misc Questions:
-How does the Ito compare to the normal Millionaire, and does the pink bother you? :P
-If I were to add a 50gt and 100gt to my arsenal for 4-8#, what rods would you guys go with? MBR782?

Thank's for answering all my questions in advance, I'm just a 21 year old tackle-ho trying to get his gear together. -Nate

>Zenbass r: Why the GUSA (United) Pioneer series? They aren't
>Dual Helix and they are 2% glass, also the cheapest rods
>Hasting's makes. Just wondering?

nate

handled the pioneer blanks at the factory along w/ comparable dhx & united series and was impressed by the weight/price ratio.

plus, i liked the softer action of the glass mix, works well for throwing the smaller pointers, flashminnows, even small krocs & hopkins spoons



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That's a really nice price on the Calais and I appreciate the offer, but there's just no way I could swing it. The extent of my reel tweaking is to put the Calais washer in my Curados and Cardiffs and put a bigger handle on when I can get one.

If I value one thing in a reel, it's a strong but smooth drag with zero startup. I need reels that pay out line smoothly on 20 and 25lb test set near breaking strength. You guys have some sic finesse setups and stuff but to be honest I go a lot of trips without a rod lower than 16lb test in the boat. Sometimes I bring the Chronarch 100 with 10 or 12lb and in the spring I bring the 6 or 8lb and 12 or 14lb spinning rods with Stradic MG. Both get the job done nicely. I finessed an 11 and a half on the Stradic with 8lb Nitlon DFC florocarbon this spring and the drag was awesome :) But most of my bread and butter is just the Curado. A great reel for the price.

Rob, thanks for the insight. To be honest, I fish lighter (by lighter I mean <15#) most of the time because I can never get fish to nod at anything over that, even flourocarbon. Wether it's my presentation that sucks or really good water clarity or "good" fish vision, I can't seem to get consistent bites on heavy mono, and I don't like the action I get on plastics with braided line. I can get consistently bit on 10# and 12#, but when I switch to the heavier line, it's usually flipping or tossing big swimbaits. What's the trick =)

Out of curiousity, how much 16# line do you get on your Chronarch 100's? I'm guessing 90 yards or less?

Ah, sorry if that was confusing. Chronarch 100 gets 10 or 12lb test only. It's too small for 16. I probably only bring that reel one out of five trips. You're in So-Cal so fishing light line makes total sense. The water is typically much murkier up here and I get away with heavy line. I also believe very strongly that I can get away with heavier line with triple fish camo vs regular mono and even some florocarbons. All you have to do to prove line visibility between brands to yourself is look at it underwater. There's a huge variation in mono and florocarbon when it comes to line visibility. I'd take 30lb triple fish florocarbon over 20lb clear Trilene Big Game any day of the week. Don't believe me, just look at it in the water. I'd take 16lb triple fish camo over 12lb triple fish silicon any day too. When people say things like "florocarbon is invisible under water" they obviously haven't looked at all brands of florocarbon. Some are really good and some are not. My confidence is 100% shot if I look in the water and the line stands out like a rope. That's a big reason I don't like braided line, I just can't picture in my mind the fishing being dumb enough to eat it. Don't believe what people say, believe what you see for yourself in the water!!!

>The extent of my reel tweaking is to put the Calais washer in my >Curados and Cardiffs and put a bigger handle on when I can get one.

swimbait
caught the cardiff mods post a couple weeks back, ever check out the axis v2 handle? nice oversize paddles & prob a perfect fit...

I bet the 400TE handle would fit the Cardiff? I've never seen a Cardiff, but the 400TE handle fits on the Daiwa Millionaires as well. -Nate

I'm in the same boat as swimbait, the only thing holding me back from a skies the limit tackle collection is bunch of $$$$. This christmas I'm going to ask for the next best thing to a bunch of $$$. No not a good credit line, I don't want the ghost of christmas past comming back to haunt me. I like to keep hope alive so With a lot of luck maybe! just maybe!! Shimano will respond to my letter announcing my availability and decide to accept my request for full sponsership. It's hail marry attempt and my only hope!!..

JerryG

by 2 power i mean a medium butt fast action on the verge of being a rubber band rod. the mbr 782 is such a rod and it gives drop shot the noodly action it needs without moving the weight much. it also is good for skinny bears, small jerks and pop r's. if you want to fish 4 lb maybe the 1 power is the ticket. i fish 6 to 8 on the 782 and like it. if you want to tweak out some of your reels japantackle.com has cool handle and spool upgrades

LOL Loomis you wont find the ultimate bass combos in the US you will have to get it all from japan

HLZ611mhrb paired w/ tdz103hl-R

hlz66ulfs drop shot rod (guides cost more than a loomis) w/ td arir meatal 1500

There is 1200.00 for one combo who has one better?

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

I have these and they are sweet!
Shimano Conquest 200 and Scorpion 1000

http://www.plat.co.jp/img-data/top/bass/shimano/conquest/ima1.jpg

http://www.specialtytackle.com/new2003/products/shimano/reel/scorpion/scorpion1000.gif

i usea zebco push button rod and reel combo with the line they put on there.the only pain is getting them to throw swimbaits,and the plastic packaging they put them in.
Catch Alot,Photograph a few,Release them all...:-) :)

Hey guy's,
I have up graded got some of the new Team Daiwa IZE's and R+ reels from Japan.

Reg Worm Jig 1/4-3/8
Daiwa Hearland Z 6'11'' MHRB TDZ IZE

1/2oz+ Jig
Daiwa Heartland Z 6'7" HRBT TDZ R+ 103HL

Heavy Jig Big Spinner Baits
Evergreen Combat Stick 6'8" Heavy TDZ US trail 103ML

Drop Shot
G-Loomis Drop SHot 6'10'' Mag-Light Daiwa Pixy

Finess Worm
Daiwa Hearland Z 6' ML finessee worm special TDZ IZE

Crankbait
Loomis crankbait 7' M Shimano Calais 201-5

Small Crankbait
Daiwa Heartland Z 6'7" ML no reel yet :(

These are my current ultimate set ups I am going to weed out my loois rods eventually and upgrade to heartland z's or Megabass when I can afford it.

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

My all time favorite set-up is my K-mart special with snoopy on the rod and a spin cast reel. I have put a ton of fish in the boat with that...I recommend it to every one:7