The Rooster

Absolutely! I had braid on a Curado E7 and soaked it in the stuff. I don't know how it would have performed without it because it's the only time I ever had braid (I didn't like it) and I saturated the spool as soon as it was filled. Never had the slightest problems from using the KVD stuff on it though. The main thing I don't like about braid is how noisy it is on the cast, how rough it feels when thumbing it, and when I get a snag, I cannot break it at all unless I use a leader and hope it breaks. Also line fray was a little issue since I fished it near rocks some. I don't like to be limited to using a rod in certain places only so I went back to mono type lines and throw anything anywhere now.

Don't forget the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. All of them are silly and stupid but just go to any haunted trail around Halloween and listen to the reactions the jerks in the masks get when running live chainsaws with no chain blades on them if you want to see the effect these films have had. People running and screaming like it's real. It's hilarious.

Freddy plays mind games and touches little kids. Jason hacks off limbs and apparently can't be killed. Nuff said!

Freddy has the dark version of "Where's Waldo" going on with that sweater. I gotta give it to the man in the mask. A machete is far scarier than four pocket knife blades on a glove. Freddy can only get you in your dreams. Jason can hack you up anytime. Even out in the woods, no matter how fast you run, he always seems to catch up just by a slow, steady walk. Plus, Jason is a chick magnet. Just look at how many hot, sexy co-ed type girls keep going out in the woods at night in spite of him being there.

Yeah and since my best fish is below the 3 pound mark by estimations (avatar pic, didn't weigh it) then my bass of a lifetime might just barely exceed that. I'd have remember the genie from Aladdin and bargain to wish him free in exchange for something other than that, like better gas mileage from my outboard, or trolling batteries that never run down, or else threaten to sink his lamp with him still prisoner in the deepest part of the lake!

Special delivery!

I worked for DHL for one day. That was enough for me to know I didn't want to work for them, and definitely never ship through them. I watched several Dell computers make multiple trips across the back of that van for several hours, banging into walls and other stuff. Then the driver gets them out at the school and acts like he's being so careful with them and takes them in. It was hilarious.

That's hilarious!

It's possible to get long casts from a magnetic only baitcaster. I'm using older model Bass Pro Shops Extreme reels, magnetic only braking, and they're very similar in design to the current $100 Lew's model reels. I routinely get 80' and longer casts using only 1/4 oz. baits on 6'6" M and MH rods. I also fish straight mono, fluorocarbon, or copolymer lines. The main thing is matching the lure weight and line size to the rod's recommended ranges. On my rods, my line is somewhere in the mid area of its rating, such as 12 pound line on a rod rated for an 8 - 17 pound range. The lure rating is actually bottomed out on 1/4 oz., because these rods I'm using have ranges of 1/4 - 3/4 or 1 oz.. Also dialing in the reel settings is important as well. Now, I do use a good bit of braking, sometimes having my magnetics set to the high end of the scale, never maxed out, but always above half. But I also have my spool tension knob set as loose as it will go, only just tight enough to stop side to side movement inside the reel frame. These settings, along with my current casting abilities, and rods matched to line and lure size, allows me very good casting for my uses. I also make sure my spool bearings are properly lubed. I just have factory bearings, but I remove them during reel servicing, soak them in brake parts cleaner, and then dry them on a clean cloth, blow them out and finish air drying them, then add one single drop of light weight machine oil. Works very well for free spool. I actually recently posted a video here on this site of one of my reels freshly serviced and it shows a nice, long free spool spin with no line on it. Add line and centrifugal force would apply to add even more time, increasing either cast distance, or ease of casting to achieve the same distance. Also, one final trick. Treat the line with KVD Line and Lure treatment. It's the best $10 I ever spent. Makes gnarly line much more manageable, smooths out casting, and adds distance as well. I saw a good 15 feet increase when I started using it. I don't need a nearly 100' cast though. To me, this is too far since line stretch would interfere with hook setting abilities at that distance. Maybe if I wanted a crankbait to have time to dive deeper I may attempt that distance. The main thing KVD done for me was make line more manageable, and made the effort needed to achieve my normal 80' cast range easier to do, requiring less wrist snap. I believe this stuff to be so good that I also use it on a Q-tip to swab the line guides on the rods. This does two things, first it will serve to check for guide damage (if cracked it will pull the cotton fibers and show potential problems before they happen), and it also cleans the gunk off of them from pond scum build up. It may also dry on the guides and leave a slicker surface, reducing friction which would otherwise kill cast distance and add to backlash potential. I believe it does adhere to the surface because once dry, the line guides do feel slicker to the touch. Like they've been waxed. One final thing. Some baits just catch air. Spinnerbaits for example, are about the worst. Others, like crankbaits, are more streamlined and easier to cast longer distances. My 80' casts are using Bandit 100 series 1/4 oz. crankbaits. I can get the same distance and more from a spinnerbait, but to do this requires more effort, and it helps if wind is with me. Yesterday I put a Rapala X-rap XR-08 jerkbait on, and even casting into the wind I was achieving a good long range. These baits are very streamlined. I was just out in the back yard but I previously had measured off the yard in 10' spans to know what I was hitting. That's how I measure my casts using certain baits. The record I achieved, just for the sake of telling it, was a 1/4 oz. rated spinnerbait (these actually weigh double what's posted due to skirt, hook, wire, and blades added to the 1/4 oz. lead head) casted to 125' using only a 6' medium rod, 12 pound mono line, and one of these same reels. It took a heck of a throw to get it though, and at that time the line was not treated with KVD Line and Lure. I'm telling you, get some of this stuff and saturate your line with it. Most rods seem to have a sweet spot they perform best in when line size, lure weight, user cast abilities with the chosen reel, and other factors come into alignment. With my set ups I can get my stated 80'. Someone else may use it and do better or worse on the same rig, and may need to readjust the reel to fit their cast abilities. Wind and weather play in as well. If you make a bad cast you can always just claim the sun was in your eyes. LOL. It's more believable if it's not an overcast day. Don't use this excuse for night fishing. Just claim you can't see at all. Haha.

You may also be able to use aviation snips to cut the rounded ones to be coffin shaped. Then use a file to smooth rough or sharp edges.

Current model, I don't know. Older model, there is a chrome pin that goes through from the crank handle side all the way across and threads into the palm sideplate. The head is visible at the top and near the front of the reel on the crank handle side, and has a knurled edge. Unscrew this to release the palming plate (brake side) and then rotate the plate upwards from the front and it will pop off. Don't do it over the water or you may drop it and then it's lost. For the handle side, it's complicated. Have to remove the crank, drag star and washers beneath it, and several screws. You shouldn't do this unless you know what you're doing inside it. This is where the gears and release mechanism are.

I didn't start until I was 21. I went a couple of times when I was younger but it just never caught on. One time I particularly enjoyed it but for some reason I still never wanted to go again. Maybe it was the grossness of live bait. I can't remember now because I'm long passed that gross out factor, even though I use lures exclusively now. The day I first went bass fishing when I was 21, back in 1996, I remember it vividly. I came home that day and said out loud to my (then) wife that I would always fish. I knew that day I was hooked for life. Before the end of the year I had a tackle box and several rods. Today I am getting my grand daughter started early. She was going by the age of 3 and caught her first fish that fall in 2012. Here's the pics.

My name is simple. I started fishing and didn't have very much luck with most lures because I didn't know how to use them. Dad suggested Roostertails, which I though were stupid looking at the time and didn't resemble anything a fish would eat. But I bought a few and tried them. They were cheap baits so I didn't worry about using them or losing them in areas where other lures snagged and broke off. Since I was casting them into brush and bumping rocks with them I started to get bit more often. Soon, I was fishing these more than any other bait. Now, I use other stuff much more but I still always keep one of these tied on. In my tackle bag they get their own box. I always buy them in quantities of 3 per size and color. One for me, one for a friend if I start getting nailed on mine and he isn't, and one for a spare in case one is lost or there is a third guy with us. I also used to go by the screen name, "the great brown rooster", which was in reference to the pumpkin seed color that was rumored to be so good. They all catch fish but in the beginning I had more confidence in this color than anything else. But I have had a day where color didn't matter, and every time I caught a fish I changed baits to see if I had one that wouldn't work. I went through every color in the box, and back then I had a lot more. Pinks, oranges, purple, and others. Every single color caught a fish that day. They must have just been very aggressive. These were white bass. Since then I've thinned down the selection to just what you see, the primary fishing colors of chartreuse, white, and firetiger, and some naturals such as black, brown, and green, and the blank spots are making room for different sizes of the same colors I already have here. At one time this box had over 100 in it. Bottom row, second from left, is an experimental bait I made from a blue fox blade, a paper clip forming the wire, a glass bead, a treble hook, and a worm sinker I powder coated. Haven't caught a fish on it yet but it casts and retrieves well.

I'd say the Mc comes from one of Adam Sandler's movies where one character was named Shooter McGavin.

Mount Rushmore is the wrong model to portray the bass anglers. There are just way way too many well deserving people to put on it to limit it to four only. I'm thinking something more along the lines of Easter Island. Google it an you'll understand.

Oriental Ramen noodles with an egg cracked and dumped into the water with the noodles, stir it in well, microwave it, drain, add powder mix and eat. Good! Been at least 10 years since I had it. I mentioned it recently to my wife who promptly turned her nose up at it. I'm craving it right now.

Hmm....maybe I can bend some with a lighter?

I have a boat but sometimes do fish from shore. I have multiple rods with 8 and 12 pound Berkley Trilene XL mono, and 12, 14, and 17 pound copolymer Berkley Sensations line.

After reading this thread I have had 3 PB and strawberry jelly sandwiches since yesterday.

7 years of reminding you of it every so often when the occasion suites her?

Ouch......for both of you. Prayers sent. Incidentally, I'm not hurt nearly as bad as you, and maybe not as bad as her, but I have a shoulder that hurts all the time anymore. Hurts when I sleep on it, hurts when I move it much or lift with it, pops and cracks when moved certain ways, and doesn't seem to be getting any better either. Too many years of heaving up 32' and 40' extension ladders, carrying around whole 2 square boxes of vinyl siding, and packing shingles up those ladders, among other things.

Got it! It's not the original one I filmed but I was able to use my phone (droid) to get a decent one. This is just factory bearings. It was pretty impressive to me anyway. The brakes are backed off, and the tension knob is just tight enough to stop side to side spool movement, so it is about as loose set as it will go, I admit, but it does demonstrate the free spool abilities of the reel at least. For casting, I do set the mag brake at about 7-8, but I always leave the tension knob set exactly as it is.

I have an old Bass Pro Shops Extreme that I just finished cleaning and relubing. It's all factory, no upgrades, with the exception of adding an additional bearing into each handle knob, making a 9 bearing reel from a factory 7 bearing model. Even these are still factory bearings, and used at that, because I ordered an extra handle in order to get them. So basically you are still seeing a factory reel. I filmed a short video of how slick the bearings are on it after finishing the job. I do plan to upgrade the drag to carbontex washers soon. I have three more of these, four in all, also all the same except gear ratios, and they all will get the drag upgrade. Total cost will be about $40. Enjoy!

Ok, maybe I'll try one then. I always thought taking hooks off, or changing their size affected the action. That's what happened with mine anyway.

I'm not picking any sides but I just want to say I used to think a metal drag star was a must but after thinking about it i realized it doesn't even come into play except for adjusting the drag and it only ever sees finger pressure, nothing strenuous at all. The parts that hold the drag pressure itself are metal below the plastic/graphite star itself. Now there might be an argument to be made for dropping the reel and having something snap off but damage occurring from that would be as likely to cause a metal star to bend as a plastic one to break. I think a metal star is just for looks. I know bling can help sell a reel, and if I ever start seeing metal stars on cheap reels then I'll know the manufacturers have figured out another way to dazzle would be buyers in stores like they have with high bearing counts. However, don't misunderstand that last comment, because I'm in the bearing club. And all this said, I still like metal drag stars best but I definitely would not let it influence my buying decision anymore.