J Francho

Let me know (PM) if you absolutely cannot get it back together. I recently rebuilt seven of these reels. In the meantime, call the number, and have them send you an exploded diagram.

Good for 1st! Matt, I saw that post, and that is one great accomplishment! Congrats to you. Very humbling, and yet inspiring to see what you are doing with those MONSTER baits.

Amen to that! I haven't done much business buying and selling here, but in the past, I've had GREAT success dealing with forum "Flea Market" boards. I even bought one of cameras and several high end lenses through a forum. The experience was always good, and I even made a few friends along the way. My Oneida trip was one of those experiences. I bought a bunch of old Wiggle Warts from a gentleman on a local board. We ended up chatting on the phone, he ended up sending me a bunch of reels, and two weeks later we shared a spectacular day on Oneida, along with his father. Anyway, I've seen some screaming deals on our Flea Market. I only wish funds were a little more fluid for me right now.

You wouldn't be in 2nd, though. More like 3rd or 4th. If we split them by species, I'd be in 1st w/ 57.78, then T-Rage, then you. Haven't looked at the other smallie entries, so there might be one more.

How cool is that, IDbasser! I caught my big smallie on my birthday as well

If you were so confident in your gear why didn't you just swing it in?!?!? ;D I actually don't like swinging, especially 5# fish, on a light power/x-fast drop shot rod, LOL.

Take the 10" version, and rig it drop shot style on your flipping stick, using 4/0 EWG hook and 3/4 oz. weight. Toss in pads, feel bite, set hook, reel in lunker On the opposite end, I used the 4" version on a drop shot to catch bedding bass with great success this past week.

Great points tyrius! I will say another thing about "confidence." I have confidence in my gear, my knots, and my ability to land the fish once hooked. I caught the second biggest smallmouth in my life this past Friday, and it never once entered in my mind that I'd lose this fish because of some knot failure or break off due to a reel malfunction. I had to keep the fish moving in figure-8's next to the boat, with my rod buried in the water while my partner grabbed the collapsible net. I was never worried, and not because it never happened to me (believe me, I've broken off some good fish in the past!), but because I knew the knots were strong, the line and leader were fresh, and the fish was well hooked.

Simple solution. Otherwise, Chris Fish suggests braid with a fluorocarbon leader. I don't use either. #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid is almost as stealthy as Fluro, much stronger and far more manageable. 8-) This works great. 15# Power Pro and a 6# CFX fluoro leader:

I think that old thread was the "knowledge or confidence" deal. I remember it. I'm sure I said something boneheaded in there, too. The more I read his post, the more I agree with tyrius.

I love alphabet soup! ;D Nice catches, BTW

Bubble Gum (pink) Super Fluke.

how so, a t rigged paca craw with a parasite weight does the same exact thing that a jig does. i punch them through grass, and also flip docks with them. they may look different, but other than that i fish them just like i do a jig and IMO they outfish the jig. Maybe you dont know what a parasite weight is, basically it is a weight that attaches to the hook that prevents the weight from sliding up and down the line.Trust me, I know what a parasite weight is, LOL. They are two unique tools, both catch fish. I suggest both doing a search here, as jig vs. T-rig has been dicussed ad nauseum, and dedicating some time to learning about all the different jigs, how to use them, and catch some fish on them. Once you are proficient with both, you'll see there is a difference.

I use 50 or 65# Power Pro for vegetation.

Huge Mako near Ocean City, Maryland, no idea about weight, on a "jig" made out of a Bud Tall Boy can and baited with cutbait. Woops, sorry, this is a FRESHWATER thread, LOL. Some notable local catches: 11# Bowfin 10# Drum 7# LMB 5+# SMB 22# Brown Trout 18# Steelhead 34# Chinook 18# Northern Pike

My confidence starts when I locate fish. I have confidence in just about every bait I use, if its the appropriate bait for the situation. As I catch fish, my confidence grows. I really can't help you with your jig fishing, because it sounds to me that you have decided it isn't for you. That's OK, but I can assure you, a jig is not like a Texas rig bait.

Thanks all. It was one of those deals where my time off coincided with some great fishing conditions. It was slow for the 1st half, but by the 2nd half, it was game on! All in all, I caught two largemouth that better my best of last year, and the second biggest smallie of my life. More importantly, I shared time with good people, both new and old friends.

Sometimes burying the rod in the water doesn't keep a big girl from doing what she wants, but it does make it easier to keep constant pressure applied. This is a reentry shot of a 5-0 smallmouth. I ended up giving her the "figure-8" treatment toward the end of the battle, until she was ready for the net. Result:

Nice fish CFFF!

Gotcha T-rage. Makes sense, you wouldn't want the top ten to say "J Francho" ;D

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure, LOL. We never get into what we do at work while fishing. ;D

Bernie, you aren't by chance acquainted with Burnie Haney? He works out of Ft. Drum as well.

Hope you guys checked out this weeks report. there's a funny looking guy holding up a 5-0 smallmouth at the bottom The rest of the pics from that trip are here: http://plan-b.smugmug.com/gallery/8296541_pYqyQ

Absolutely. A couple of things that I can add that I think directly affected my success. The smallmouth was caught off a bed, that was tucked into the corner of where a dock met a break wall. The bed was right next to a swim ladder. The bed had the telltale "donut" look, with the eggs or wrigglers in the middle, and the female still there w/ the male. It was on the west bank of the lake, and with the sun somewhat elevated, and to our backs, this time of day gave us the best view of the bed, and most importantly, our baits. My partner had at least a dozen "pick and spits" of his pegged beaver, before I had a turn with a drop shot 4" Power Worm. I use a darker worm, but I could still see it when I made a good cast, right in the zone. More importantly, I could see the bright white flashy membranes of the fish's mouth when she took the bait. The rest is history. I would not have been able to detect the strike, or would have set the hook WAY too late had I fished there at dawn or dusk. In the case of the other two fish, these were post spawn largemouth, near spawning flats, in big, heavy lay downs, and not feeding heavily. The morning was VERY calm, no wind. As the day progressed, and the sun got higher, warming the air, the winds picked up, creating quite a chop on the water. I think this chop was key to hiding my presence, practically right over their heads! I was able to put my bait squarely where I thought a fish might hold, and once bitten, able to extract those fish straight up through the wood. Had it been calm, I would have had to approach those fish with a longer cast, perhaps not placing my bait in the best location, or not being able to get the fish out of the cover. The other piece to the largemouth story is that those fish may have been cruising the spawning flats nearby, in the dawn or dusk time frames, and only "luck" would put my bait in front of them. The midday sun drove them to their shelter to rest until it was time for them to go out and hunt again. That my take, feel free to offer other opinions about it. I'm just d**n proud of those fish.

That about sums it up, Paul. It's my "Uncle Al" - who is actually my grandfather's cousin - that ran a salmon/trout charter. It was work, and at times, a grind for him. The thing about my week or so was that it coincided with the the spawn up here - no time to pace myself, I'm a very greedy man.