J Francho

I try to have some sort of color scheme. Any accent is by dipping in JJ's magic.

I hear some say they rig it weedless, Texas style. I like that. It gives a nod to the origins.

These are the original oak 1" strip floors. They don't scratch very easily. I also keep their nails trimmed every other week. The back deck is another story. Hey play hard out back and it shows.

I'd avoid Ardent and Quantum Hot Sauce lines at all costs. They don't hold up. Pretty much anything else recommended in this thread and you can't go wrong.

As a young man, I really admired his style. Just a few baits that covered all the water and really get to know them.

I think you'll be fine with the rod you have.

They had these up through the 80s, because I remember using them. They actually worked really well.

Who'd have thought Evinrude would stop making outboards after 110 years?

I use a photo hosting site. Smugmug has been my choice for more than a decade and a half.

This is a really good guide put out by Shimano: https://fish.shimano.com/content/dam/shimanosnaffish/pdf/Spinning Reels maint.pdf

Mike kicks them out as is, without tuning. They work fine, but I like to put a tiny bend at the head. I feel like they burn better that way.

You're not the only one. The head on those is perfect for banging off the zebe encrusted rocks around here without getting stuck, like a edge shape does. You used to be able to get them at Dick's as SK Premier baits for like $5. I like the skirts on them with built in trailer too. For just about all other spinnerbaiting I do, Stanley Weedless Wedge and Siebert's Cosmic spinnerbaits are perfect. For the latter, pay the few pennies for wire tied. They hold well, even against northerns.

That motor has PHASE cylinder deactivation. I get the same in my 6.2 with 3.73 gears

I'd say you're okay. I didn't have trouble finding parts for 2001 115 Mercury or my 1998 2.5L Promax - both 2-strokes. Mercs are pretty well supported.

Spelling is impotent.

Try doing the same thing with a Space Monkey. It works even better. It's like a finesse toad.

Put a treble hook in you finger and see how much force it takes to pull out by pulling on the line. A bass's premaxillary process is actually tougher than human skin. Unless your using 50# braid and a flipping stick, chances are it's non issue. If you are bending hooks out, then your drag is set incorrectly. Drag should slip before the weakest part of the system fails. In most cases, that's the line or the rod, but in your example it's the hook. In other words, a simple and correctable user error.

I'll put it to you this way, I have around 40 SC rods. I'll even use 3/4 oz. on their ML spinning with no issues. I've also owned several Dobyns Champion Extreme. If you go over their rating, you'll probably break it like I did a couple. Another way to put it: take a 3/4 oz. bullet weight, a heavy worm hook, and a 7" right non tail worm, you're a little over an oz.

I have MHF spinning from Saint Croix. They'll handle that range.

I'm gonna say that when the weight was added would be about the time it was widely known as The Texas Rig.

Anything in your tackle box from about a 1/2 oz. to a little over an ounce.

I've built a couple and the only nylon gear I recall was the idler for the levelwind. The rest were brass. Pretty much the same for all Abu reels of the era.

A Texas Rig must have a sliding sinker above the hook and the bait is rigged weedless. Anything else is something else.