i havent had any issues at all with line management, it lays evenly on the spool and cant remember any knots, using 6lb 832 on it, and its been perfect. like i said, if i were in the market for another reel in the 200 price range, even at full retail, i wouldnt hesitate on another ballistic.

i own a ballistic 2000, a fuego 1500, a fuego 2000 and a patriarch 9530 (and now a certate 2000), the ballistic (at least the one i have) is every bit as smooth as my fuegos, and MUCH smoother than the patriarch. the patriarch was my first nice reel, and i thoguth it was great, until TW put the fueg...

depending on funds/availability, my reel plan is either a JDM certate 2000/2004/2004ch from TW (if they are still around on for the labor day sale!) or the stradic ci4+ (havent decided between the 1000 and 2500) friend of mine just got a 2500 '13 certate and its awesome, i have a ballistic and 2 fue...

hope the specs posted on BPS, especially for the stradic are very close if not the exact specs that shimano puts out. i only use spinning gear, looking for a new reel and was looking to try a shimano (until this point i have only had daiwa and pflueger) was about to pull the trigger on the current C...

no, the top part is not supposed to move at all. i had the same issue on my legend tournament walleye 7' ml/f. exactly the same as yours, when the reel was on it it was fine, didnt move at all, i dont even know when it happened, could have been like that when i got it, but i figured better safe than...

i have a Phenix Recon 1 692 spinning rod, and i love it, very sensitive, light, etc. i also like how parabolic the action is. im looking for something to throw some smaller hard baits with, i only use spinning rods, and have the larger end of the bait spectrum (that i throw anyways) covered by 2 St ...

the hmg and phenix rods above are great (i have an HMG, for $100 its awesome) i was looking for a phenix x9, but couldnt find a retailer that carried the spinning models. my favorite spinning crankbait rod is the pre-2011 st croix legend tournament walleye series "deep cranker", its a 7' mh/m and is...

so i was up in park falls this afternoon at the st croix factory store, and saw a couple nice NIB reels they had out, and since i dont use baitcasters, and was not in the market for a new reel, i figured i would pass it along! there was only 3 reels and im not too sure if they were a great deal or w...

i would look at a jdm luvias or caldia, both are available with the 4.8 gears. right now (changes daily, of course) at digitaka the luvias is like $252 and the caldia is $192, free shipping. havent bought from them personally, but have read nothing but good reports on them.

thats a tough one, not many companies make spinning rods that can handle (rating wise, anyways) that heavy of a lure. i know fenwick HMG's medium can handle up to 3/4, i have the 7' m/mf and it works great for soft swimbaits on a jighead, up to a 5" flatback shad on a 1/4oz head (no idea total weigh...

there is a 6 page thread about this on bass resource, mostly speculation and some complaining about rapala customer service, but there is a couple posts with info (though its covered pretty well by jerkbait22), but on page 5 there was a smallish pic of what looks like the shad rap version of the des...

i have both the ballistic 2000 and patriarch 9530, and had a supreme xt 9230. between those 3 i would take the ballistic, followed closely by the patriarch. both are smooth, light and have good drags, the ballistic is a bit smoother, not quite as nice as my 2000 and 1500 fuegos, but its close. after...

i knew st croix would take care of the problem, i broke a legend elite a couple years back. i usually just go up to the factory store and do it in person, as its about a 2 hour drive from me and a fun little day trip. im thinking of 2 options on the rod at the moment, 1. get it fixed/replaced with t...

earlier this fall i bought a St Croix Legend Tournament Walleye series 7' mlf, the newer model with the fuji sk2 reel seat. there is nothing wrong with the blank or guides, but while fishing the rod in early december i noticed the epoxy just above the reel seat (where a foregrip would normally go) w...

i have a gen1 recon 692, have only had it since about thanksgiving, but used it quite a bit till near the end of december. the only rods i have to compare it to are st. croixs, a 6'9" mlxf ltb and a 7' mlf ltw (walleye series). its lighter than the ltb, but based on lure ratings thats to be expected...