On monday morning I made the mistake of browsing through tacklewarehouse while at work. I saw that the reel I have wanted forever but would never buy because of it's price, was actually on sale. I have read review after review about how amazingly smooth it reels, how smooth the drag is, how awesome the performance is, etc etc. Normal retail value = 124.95. Sale Price = 88.88.

It was a Daiwa Tierra 2500 reel. I then looked at drop shot rods but noticed most of them were 200 plus so I automatically said no. I took a look at the 7' Daiwa Tierra Medium Action Spinning Rod which was selling for 59.95. I kept telling myself not to do it but I couldn't resist. I have never spent more than 85 bucks or so on a rod / reel before. But I have been really wanting a nicer higher quality set up for drop shotting. Long story short, I ordered it along with a few plastics and deep diving crankbaits. I paid for the overnight shipping and received the goodies today.

Straight out of the package, I was impressed with the rods light weight, the quality and feel of it. I unboxed the reel and I had extremely high expectations because of the reviews I read. After a few turns of the reel, my expectations were completely blown out of the water. I didn't know it was possible for a reel to be this smooth. I spooled it up with 8 lb Fluorocarbon and headed for Lake Union.
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Sorry about that, onto the actual report now :)

I got to Lake Union around 5 pm or so and started drop shotting with the new set up right away. I was once again blown away by how sensitive the rod was in addition to how effortless it was to reel. Within 3 casts, I get a hit and I set the hook! Fish on! As always, smallmouth put up a deceiving good fight. I pull in a fish that is about 1/2 a lb. Not bad for my very first fish. Within 45 minutes I pulled in 6 more smallmouth that were all just over 1 lb except for 1 that was about 1/2 a lb. They all fought really well and a couple of them were jumpers. I was thrilled at how hard the smallmouth were fighting and how well I could feel every single one of their violent head shakes. Then about 10 minutes after that, I get a couple big taps and I set the hook hard! This time there was nothing, I missed the fish. I was bummed out but instead of reeling back in and recasting as I normally would (thinking I spooked the fish), I just kept on working my lure. About 5 seconds later, I get another big hit and I set the hook hard again! Fish On! Immediately this fish is peeling out drag and violently shaking it's head like no other. I was expecting to pull in a smallmouth in the 3 lb range judging by it's fight. Also because the fight lasted much longer than normal because it made several runs peeling drag. I get it close to shore and again, I have been deceived by how hard the fish fought. My guess was that it was about 1 1/2 lbs and it ended up being 1 lb 8 oz on the dot. This is the 3rd or 4th smallmouth I have caught the past few weeks that was exactly 1 1/2 lbs. It's almost like I'm doomed to not break the 1 1/2 mark this year.

Anyways, I send some texts and found out Pika206 was also nearby so we meet up and try another spot for about 30 minutes or so and absolutely nothing. So we move back to the spot I was originally at and within 3 casts I get another bite, set the hook and fish on! At first I thought I had a really small fish but it was swimming straight at me. Then it jumped a good foot and a half completely out of the water and started fighting. I bring it in and it's another smallmouth just over a lb. As the sun started to set, the rock bass made their way shallow and began to bite and once that happens, it's "almost" game over for smallmouth since the rock bass are so eager to hit anything they see.

I then met up with dresscode5 at another spot on Union and about 10 minutes into it, I make a cast, twitch my rod no more than 4 times and I don't feel a bite but I feel a lot of weight all of a sudden and it just starts pulling. I didn't even really set the hook because it pretty much hooked itself. I reel it in and the fish is probably about 1 lb or so. This was the 1 fish that I didn't weigh on my berkley digital scale.

So I started the day with the hopes of breaking in my new rod/reel with the hopes of a smallmouth. But I caught 9 smallmouth and a few rock bass. I was beyond thoroughly impressed with my new setup. It still blows my mind how smooth the reel is, it's like reeling air, with no friction at all. I am afraid that this may be the start of a slippery slope. I may need to upgrade my casting rods and reels in the near future as well. Perhaps I am slowly being turned to the dark side LOL :)

All 3 pics are of the same fish. I just wanted to show that these fish are feeding heavily and getting fat in preparation for winter. The fall bite is on like donkey kong!

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