J Francho

They aren't my favorite to assemble, lol.

Buried in there is some good advice - set expectations, but keep them reasonable and relative to where you fish.

I recommend a muffin pan to hold parts from each subassembly. Like this:

It's 100% stock. No polishing or tuning. I used the Bantam Oil that comes with the reel. Nothing fancy. Funny part is, this was not the best performing reel. I kept the best of four Chronarchs for myself. That reel really flies.....

I use two of the FTO spinnerbait wallets. Very compact, and easy to deal with in the boat or out of a tackle bag.

Any pictures of your pet sunfish pooping?

I like Purple Power, but here's something I found to be quicker and more powerful. Wear dish gloves though, unless you want dishpan hands. Seriously, it's rough on the skin, though claims to be non irritating. https://induscoltd.com/shop_now/?slug=product_info.php&cPath=22_25&products_id=51

Mike at DVT and I are friends offline. We chat on the phone regularly, and we pretty much do the same thing to the reels. I don't do too much outside of my own reels and a few friends anymore. If I didn't clean them myself, I'd trust Mike with my gear.

EXCELLENT demonstration! This is a video I took of a properly greased and oiled reel after full cleaning. A tip about grease applicators: trim fibers of a small art paint brush down to about 1/8". I find that a flat, somewhat stif bristle brush around 1/4" wide works best for greasing gear teeth. As far as cleaning the reels, I completely disassemble every single part, and scrub them using a degreaser and toothbrush. About the only thing I use a Q-tip for is to get the last bits of junk out of small round or tubular parts. The parts rinsed thoroughly , so I'm not worried about cotton fibers. Here's a reel that pretty much behaved like rippin-lip's before reel. Dramatic, to say the least.

That's how my Xpress is set up, too.

I caught one, Jordon caught the other, but the pic is of him, taken by myself after our win on Erie:

Well, certainly - an 8 lb. released in to the lake stands a much better chance than one released into Crisco.

Jeez, correct on all three, lol. my list: 1. location - fish where there are big fish 2. time - dedicate yourself to getting on the water 3. preparation - even if your lucky, it's easy for that luck to turn around, i.e. not having the gear to land and document your catch

I think his point is that large females are suffer greater mortality/harvest when fished during the spawn. I don't think he's arguing that bed fishing affects the spawn, but that it diminishes the number of healthy trophy fish in the lake.

Is this for a float toon? Let's see some pics!

I prefer a shorter rod, with a short rear grip. I also like a medium power rod with an x-fast taper for a quick recovery and maximum control of twitching input. The rod I favor is a pre-IPC Saint Croix Avid AC62MXF. I've used the modern version, and it's pretty close to the rod I use. I don't have a preference for reels, so long as it's very comfortable to palm. For years, I used an Alphas 103, but lately I've been using a Zillion. Some have a preference for fast or slow ratios - it makes no difference to me. For line, P-Line CXX in 8 to 12 lb. size works great for me.

Picasso School-e Rig with Keitechs:

They are almost ALWAYS in "General" and we try to keep them on the 1st page.

There's another side to this - having sponsors participate directly within threads, answering questions, and making recommendations where their product would really benefit the user is a great thing. Hawgtech, Ragetail, Megastrike, DVT, Siebert Outdoors, and most recently Valley Sports are great examples where their involvement goes well beyond just paying for forum ads, and enriching the discussion content of threads. I would hate to lose this due to the impression that a "sponsor sandbox" is the only way for sponsors to communicate to members. Many would skip over this, and never get their perspectives.

Biologists up here have told us that 75% of the fish aren't spawning at any given time, but are shallow. The larger females aren't guarding beds, and usually cruising the shallows. They can be spooky, and difficult, but these are the fish I target. I will stick a bed fish if it's pretty big, or if it's a slow day. They aren't always as easy as people make it seem, and sometimes they are. December through June is catch and immediate release for black bass, so any fish are immediately returned. It seems to me that if fishing pressure was an issue, I'd think the fishing would suffer, but it hasn't.

You are at least on the route 90 corridor, and about an hour from Buffalo, so you have at least heard of modern things, such as indoor plumbing.

You can always send a PM. I have thick skin, and am open to feedback.

Budget?

I'd worry that it would draw negative attention. I like that we mix it up with entry level gear and enthusiast gear. We have always been more about the fishing and how to catch than what you use. I like that too - it speaks anglers on any budget.

I'd just grab them all, ask for a break, and resell them on the bay. You'll make a few bucks.