i'm getting enough swimbaits to warrant the purchase of a new swimbait rod

i already have the diawa swimbait special extra heavy, and that works well for smaller baits

i'm looking for a rod that i will be able to throw huddlestons on and some larger plugs/ rubber baits
basically lures that are about 4-8 ounces

but i dont want anything over 175$

then I need a reel

i have a cardiff 300 but I've had some problems with that reel and was looking for one that could handle the big baits for under 125$

My spending limit is around 275$ maybe a little more

thanks for the help

BEN

ps: i tried a search but there was liek a billion hits, so i kept trying and still had too many hits

god bless

You may want to concider this.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36149&item=7147768298&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW for reels I have heard good things about the okumas but dont have one I am sure some other guys can give you some more info on them..good luck

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

Ben check out the Okuma Swimbait rods. For the reel, either the Okuma Induron or I've heard some good things about the new Cardiff's.

thanksmuch guys!!!
i'll check everything out
where could i find the okuma reels?
arent the okuma rods tooo heavy though?thats what Swimbait's review said

BEN

god bless

The Okuma rods are heavy yes, but they are perfect for baits like the huddleston, stocker trout, optimum, etc. I've caught dozens of fish this year on my Okuma Heavy and you just can't beat it for the price.

If you bought the Okuma heavy for $89, maybe you could swing a Calcutta 400 to put on it. That'd be close to $300 price wise but it would be a great setup. I don't know what problem you had with your Cardiff but I still think the Cardiff 300A is a great buy. A Cardiff 300A with the Okuma Heavy is the best bang for the buck IMO.

my cardiff never reels in smooth, and the drag is extremely tight and I cant even move it more than 1/8th turn

it used to be fine, but then one of the parts came loose 2 trips after i bought it and i had to open it up and clip the spring back on

maybe it was a matter of assembly on my part

anyway...where can I find the 400 seris calcutta?
they only have the 50 and 150 seris at TW

maybe i'll just try this year's model for the cardiff

BEN

ps: one quick question: is the rago full body baby bass a waking, mid range, or bottom fihing bait???

god bless

Shimano will fix your reel for free just send it back to them.

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

really?

i thought that because i stupidly opened it up to fix it that i destroyed the warranty

thanks for the heads up

i think i'm goin with the okuma rod wit the cardiff reel and of coarse, a few new swimbaits

BEN

god bless

Just put a note in the box saying that it is not working well and I am sure they will fix it I have sent them back many bad reels and they came back NEW. PS make sure to really feel stuff out before you buy it I used to buy all kinds of rods and eventually ended up selling them all off and upgrading, I guess what I am trying to say is dont buy a bunch of junk you dont need and buy the best it is usally worth the money and saves alot of hastle in the long run.

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

Ben this would make a nice swimbait reel http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36146&item=7147963439&rd=1

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

Ben...I might be able to help you...or at least warn you.
I have a Shimano Crucial swimbait rod and I really like it. I bought it in Extra Heavy because Rob suggested it. The Crucial rod on EBay is rated Heavy...might work for you, might not.
TM Customs also suggested the Diawa Mill' CV-Z 203 reel on EBay. I'm sure it's a nice reel, but it is a left handed model. All the other reels you mentioned were right handed.
As far as the Okuma Induron goes, I just finished going through an unneccessary nightmare with Okuma customer service. I had a brand new Induron 400 LX lock up on me the first morning I used it. They asked to me to ship it to them at my expense, so I did. It took three weeks and multiple phone calls to get it back. It locked up again (exact same problem) on the second cast. They asked me to ship it to them again so they "could look into it". When I asked for a new reel they balked.
It took me three more weeks and several more calls to get a new reel.
I can assure you Shimano would never have handled the problem that way. The experience reminded me why I have always bought Shimano equipment in the past. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER OKUMA REEL.

Happiness is a tight line and a stiff pole.

I just got a Shimano Crucial XH and I like it for throwing the Hudd, plenty of beef but a little slower then the Calcutta 820 XFA- nice rod!

The Crucial rods are definitely nice. I wanted to keep the demo rod I got :) I suggested the Okuma for Ben because I figure he's better off spending his money on the reel than the rod but if you had 5 or 600 to spend, get the Crucial by all means.

Ben - I saw that TW didn't have a Calcutta 400 listed on the site. I'm not sure if that's an oversight but I'll check into it. In the mean time you can always find them on Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops.

On the Rago - are you talking about this bait?
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageSWMJRAGO-JRLT.html?from=calfish

The Live Trout Hardbait series are floaters but they are very close to neutral. Their natural action is to dive down in the 5 to 12 foot range. You can fish them on top but you have to go extremely slow. You'll also find some slight variation on these baits so some may be more bouyant than others. There was a time when some came out that were sinkers, but I don't think Jerry is making any like that now.

-Rob

Hey Rob,
What happended to the live trout soft bait? I did not see it on TW did I just miss it?
Taylor-

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

thanks for the help, i called shimano and they are very helpful!!!
i'm going fishing, again, for like the 7th time in 4 days :P :P anyway
i'll see if its still acting up tonight, if so i'll send it in

i was looking at the shimano crucial's last night, and I can definantly afford one, it would just eat into some of the $$ to get some more baits

is the crucial 60$ better than the OKuma in terms of bang for your buck, if so, i' can get the crucial
RIght now in terms of reels i'm almost set on the cardiff, but the calcutta still catches my eye, so I guess I really dont know

thanks for the help

BEN
ps: SWIMABIT- i was talking about the 3d generic swimbait from rago

god bless

The generic 3D swimbaits are slow sinkers. If you throw them out and do a regular retrieve, they run about 2 to 5 feet deep. You can let them sink deeper but they sink slowly.

I talked to TW about the Calcutta 400 and here is the deal. The regular Calcutta 400 has been end of lifed and Shimano is not producing any more of them. That is why its not on the site now because what they had is all sold out.

The replacement is the aptly named Calcutta 400B series. The Calcutta 400B, much the like Cardiff Series A reels are hard to get right now and Shimano is apparently backordered for quite some time. So there you have it.

awesome man, thanks for the help

i guess this is a sign to get the cardiff!!
the rago sounds perfect, because any fast sinking biat is not good for ponds because the bottom of these ponds are just algae and other pond scum

i tried my reel today and it seems to be doing fine, i dont know why it was acting up, but the only thing of concern is tht it kinda makes a continuos clicking noise while reeling, i think it may be the bearings knocking, but its working fine!!

the cardiff is the reel i'm getting robably
i'm still am torn between the okuma and the shimano swimbait rod though
x(

thanks for your help

BEN

god bless

OK i finally have made my descision!!!

I'm getting the Okuma heavy swimbait rod with a cardiff 300A
along with this order i'm going to pick up the Huddleston deluxe
and the stocker trout


I was wondering on which rof hudd. to buy , i've searched but havent heard much about which bait liek the rof 5 or 12 would be used in certain situations

i know the rof 0 is a deadstick bait, but the water around here never get extremely clear, so that worries me

the ROF 5 bait?- if i were to reel very slov with this bait, would it sink, or does it only sink on slack line?
is teh rof5 a faster/ slower sinking bait than a slow sinking version of the soft castaic trout?

LMK if i should start a new thred for this topic

BEN

god bless