Thread: JDM rod/reel near-disaster at the ramp.. uh oh!

My favorite JDM rod so far is this Ice Cube Rockin Power (IC-69P-Sis). It it slightly stiffer, with a tad more backbone than the Rockin' Finesse, and handles 2x larger lures and up to 6 lb test. If I tore it up, I would immediately buy another. I can feel thumps/pick-ups at 30 feet easily. It casts a jig a mile. It can handle the occasional big ditch pickle or hybrid just fine. When I first got it, it snapped cleanly at the 4th guide wrap while I was lipping a small bass about 2 lb, the second day I used it. I never felt quite right about that, and after buying a new tip section and using the rod for these last months, I am convinced that first tip section was defective in some way, as the new tip has handled much more, and I'm confident in it.

Most of my current reels are 2000 size... I have 3 Daiwa JDM Exist 2003F-H... a 2004 Luvias and a 1025 Presso Limited and kind of wish I had more of the 1000 size...

The larger spool of the 2000 is desirable for dock shooting, IMO. I have a 3000D on my Ozark shooter.

On the reel size you speak of; most of my favorite reels aren’t the smallest available. For 4lb mono, a 1500 or 2000 gets the vote. Memory being the issue. I have 2 Diawa Capricorn reels that are super smooth in 1500 size. Cast any kind of line better than anything I’ve ever owned. With the new and super lines we now use with little to no memory, y’all are teaching me all over again. A term I hear a lot more these days is line management. A bigger reel manages the line better even though it might not be the first choice. I need to see some of these setups y’all speak of, I’m very curious.

Update: upon further inspection of the bail line roller stack, and comparing it to my 2000s, I realized the line roller bush that supports all that is squished or peened on one end where the screw threads in, and the line roller stack will not slide off. It must have taken quite a whack. I was able to squeeze it back into usable shape for now, but I went ahead and ordered a new bail ($30, ouch, and another 2 weeks waiting). I also have a bearing tune kit on the way from Hedgehog, which has the extra bearing upgrade for the line roller, and I don't really want to install that on the damaged bail. I will fish with this one for now, and finish the repair when I get the new bail and tune kit. Then the reel will be completely fixed.