islandbass

Zebco 33, done deal.

Shimano makes one with their version of a flipping switch in their Castaic reel. With that said, I don't think it is worth its MSRP these days given that the Curado and Citica have seen two iterations while the castaic has not. This doesn't mean that this is not a bad reel. My point is that you will get more bang for the buck for better reels, minus the flipping switch, but yikes, it's a requirement for you. I have heard very good things about the accurist. I would, if it were up to me, choose between the castaic or the accurist. As mentioned, I can't think of a single lp reel with a flippining switch that also has a clicker. Have you considered round reels (for line capacity) to battle such big boys like lake trout and pike? I think that there are a couple of versions of abu garcia round reels that have the bait clicker but not a flipping switch. I think I'm confusing you more. Sorry! ;D Best of luck for your final decision.

x2 You don't need to sling it lure out there with as much power as you can. It's more about technique. As you get more and more proficient with it, you'll find that you'll loosen the reel up more and more. You can hurl a lure out plenty far enough without having to horse it out there. Practice is key. If you're a visual learner, the clearer way to say this (which I agree with 100%) is to allow the weight of the lure or whatever you're tossing to load the rod on during the motion of casting. Once you feel the lure's weight load the rod get ready to release your thumb from the spool as the rod begins to spring forward. You can get away with making sloppy casts (casts in which the lure's weight doesn't properly load the rod) with a spinning because there is no consequence but not with a casting reel. Couple other things: 1) Don't bother using anything less than 1/2 oz to practice or something that isn't that aerodynamic for now. Anything less is probably going to contribute to lengthening your time learning. 2) The result of the lure flying to the left as you described is a clear indicator that your thumb is coming off of the spool later than it should. If you performed and overhead cast, it would make the lure slam right in front of you. Generally, the time that your thumb comes off of the spool on casting set upto let the line out is ever so slightly earlier than your forefinger coming off of the rod on a spinning rig. Picture a clock with 12 oclock above you and 9 oclock in front of you and 3 directly behind you. The approximate release time for your thumb for an overhead cast is going to be somewhere between 1 and 12 oclock. Any sooner and your cast is going to rainbow like an underhand softball pitch. Any later and the lure is going to slam right in front of you. For the latter case get your thumb on the spool to stop it from spinning asap! ;D I can assure you that it will feel awkward for what you perceive is too early a time to release but you will overcome that quickly. Stick with it and use something heavy for practice. You'll have this mastered in no time.

Wow! Dang! I was doing so well keeping IMX and GLX out of my head. I'll just have to wait til I see them in person.

I was thinking the same thing. It's the only way I could make one at home. Definitely man cave grub. 8-) Just got ordered to bypass surgery just gazing at it. ;D Awesome, Red!

The IC knot ought to work, but why bother tying it when the palomar can be tied faster. Not only that the Palomar also is easier to tie with less steps involved. In addition, if you're using braid, the IC knot is not the best choice. The other reason for me is in subfreezing weather. The palomar is easier to tie with frozen fingers. ;D I definitely use the IC knot for other things and I like this knot. But for drop shotting, the Palomar, if only for ease of use is the knot I prefer to use.

As some of you might know, on occasion I like to add some "teeth" (pardon the pun) to my lures, as I have been inspired by the cool WWII fighter planes of the past. I thought, "Wouldn't those be neat to see on baits?" These teeth have been my amateur trademark/personal touch on baits I have made. The teeth look great on propeller baits for sure! This was dubbed shark bait. And crankbaits too: Yeah, she's ugly, but she fooled both big trout and bass. The two lures above were hand-carved and painted by hand brush. I thought that perhaps I could try piranha teeth. Fortunately, I found a never used Stamina plastic plug in the garage that I bought some time ago for a cool project with the neighborhood kids. I primed it with white (it was made from transparent plastic) and penciled in Piranha like teeth. Since this picture, I have already inked in the teeth with an ultra-fine black sharpie. I am envisioning a black back (I've been having awesome luck with black back/silver bodies this season) and a bright yellow/chartreuse bottom with splashed of red. I hope it pans out. Many times, when it comes to painting, what I picture in my mind's eye doesn't seem to translate correctly to my hands. I.E., I suck at painting as you can see in the first two baits. If you have read some of my previous threads of my lure making adventures, you will know that I've gone crankin' and I've gone minnow. Now I think it's time to run with the piranhas. ;D

I've heard a lot of stuff about Vanish. I've used it all year and once I figured out to use 5 wraps on the knot instead of 4, I had ZERO issues with breakage. Used in weeds, wood, some rock, docks...No issues with breakage and that included yanking a five pounder out of timber in 12 foot of water with about 20 feet of line out. Diameter is a little big and it's got a little memory (not much, but some), but it's plenty tough. I've got PLine spooled up now because I wanted to try it, but I'd use Vanish again in a pinch. YMMV Perhaps I had a bad batch but let me tell you my experience with it was really bad, and it never even made to the water. My bro actually bought it and at that point I had only read the horror stories and the occassional positive story like yours. So I went to test those claims for myself. I took his newly bought spool (8#) and lined his Symetre with it. No problems at this point. I proceeded to tie on a crankbait and gave my "pull/tug check" on the line which is never overwhelming by any stretch. The line broke upon pulling the line. I figured that perhaps I was too careless with tying the knot (I didn't think I was) so I retied. I was even more careful the tying the knot the second time. Not only did it happen again, but a third time. I will tell you that my pull/tug was no harder than a blue gill's take of a bait and I'm not talking about slabs. I am very careful when I tie my knots and it is one area I take my time. I used the improved clinch knot, if anyone wishes to know. Three strikes and you're out for me, and the line didn't even get wet. The next thought that came to mind were the many posts about how poorly this line performed for so many. I am glad that it has been working well for you. Perhaps there was something wrong in its production and my bro bought a bad spool, who knows? If one or two persons say "X" stinks, I'll make a mental note. But when you have so many people sharing their stories about how poorly Vanish (I call it poof now, because that's just what the fish will do...) was for them, you would have to wonder what caused so many to arrive at their negative conclusions about Vanish.

You beat me to the punch. Excellent idea.

I have heard a lot of good things about it, but I don't see myself trying it anytime soon because of a couple of things. 1) The first fc line I ever tried was Seaguar Invizx in 6# test for my drop shot/finesse rig. I found that this line is quite limp and had just the amount of stretch that I wanted in the line I was looking for. Because of this I have not had a need to try other lines. In addition I was able to buy it from a local shop for less than $13 until recently. I guess the store owner saw that others were selling it for more so he upped his price. 2) After my experience with Vanish, I can't get out of my head to try any other FC line from Berkley. Just can't, won't, and don't. When a blue gill can bust your line in open water... ;D

Consider yourself lucky. I can lose 5-7 weights in a 15 minute time span as a shorebound angler when fishing the rip rap. It is just too costly even for me to use drop shot specific weights, let alone W when fishing rip rap. And you're right. If I paid the W price, you bet I'd do what it takes to recover them. ;D So what I do now is use pencil lead (comes in a coil) and my special river pliers that can cut, flatten, and pop a hole for the line. With it, I can also cut it to any length I want. A coil of lead costs about $4 and I can easily make well over 40 weights. A typical pack of 10 ds weights is about $3.99. So for about the same amount of money, I can have about 4 times as many weights.

I have only had a chance a buccoo out at BPS earlier this summer and the mojo, while nice looking, didn't feel that great in my hands. Since you are open to other suggestions in this price range, I think you ought to consider the Lamiglas Excel. The Excel blank is their Certified Pro blank at a very affordable price from about $99 - $110. So in this order of selection I would choose: Lamiglas Excel Falcon Bucoo - Not bad at all, actually quite nice. But feel wise in my hands and yours could be different, the Excel was like the Baby bear... Just right. Mojo I think you should get the feel of as many rods as you can at this price point and whichever feels the best in your hands is the one you should pick.

I see no reason why you shouldn't try it. Imagine this. I live in the pacific northwest and know exactly what lure your talking about and it never occurred to me to use them for bass fishing. ;D They aren't kidding about how wide it wobbles.

I will not go down the W road anytime soon. Its cost exceeds what I am willing to pay for weight. If the ban on lead goes through I don't anticipate W getting cheaper by any means.

Nice paint jobs. Those eyes on the 1st one sure look mean. 8-)

How much mono? I'd go with at least 20-30'. You need just enough to create a sufficient "brake" so that it won't slip. If you have at least that much, you have me stumped.

I reckon the difference is that the Chronarch does not have magnetic brakes but centrifugal brakes, exclusively if I am not mistaken. Most people gravitate toward 3 brakes off and 3 brakes on, or 4 off and 2 on. I prefer the latter for most scenarios.

Don't forget your license. If you forget it, it won't matter what boat your have or gear. G. Loomis this or Lamiglas that, or Shimano Cubano, or Pflueger, Booger.... You ain't gonna be able to fish legally. Not applicable to minors. Go with your gut.

Gosh! In one word, fantastic. Well done, Dwain.

Since we're talking about beginners here, generally speaking the thinner the diameter the line, the harder it's going to be for them to learn on. It spells trouble for beginners to learn with anything less than 8# mono's equivalent diamter, and even this could be a challenge for them. Choose a mono from 10-14 test for them to learn on and they should learn just fine. In addition, it is also the more economical. Take this as someone who spooled up 20# braid on his first lp casting reel learning solo. That was the fastest $12 I ever spent on line. One cast, one major bird's nest that had to be cut off. Then, as they gain more experience, they can acclimate themselve to lines of thinner diameter, which I happen to prefer when the cover permits. With regard to which backlashes more, I would say the one with the thinner diameter, without the proper training. It doesn't matter the line type, but its diameter.

Dwain, Thanks! I was just getting tired of making the through wires. I will make the next few with screw eyes attached with Dev Con 2T.

Those are nicely crafted. Did you use screw eyes or thru wire for the line ties and hook holders? I have used both on different balsa lures I've made and want to use screw eyes because it's less work. It's just that I'm a bit wary they might rip out of the balsa during a good fight.

You can use regular paint brushes. This is what I used in the beginning and still use now. I have a super cheap Harbor Freight air brush and it is only good for general painting and cannot do fine touch work. As for paints, you can get water based acrylic paints at any craft store and even in the crafts section at Walmart. Also, make sure you have the 30 minute dev con. The more common 5 minute might not give you enough time to coat the bait. I use a dixie plate to mix my epoxy so I can toss it in the trash when I'm done. Please follow to a "T" the instructions on mixing and do your best to ensure that you use equal amounts of both. If you don't the epoxy might not cure. Lastly, heed Big M's advice too. That is a very important step after the epoxy has been applied. If this is your absolute first bait to make, you might want to consider a popper or propeller bait first. You can go balls out with a crankbait but they are a bit more challenging (and fun) to make. Warning! Lure making is as addictive as fishing and a new monkey within you might awaken. ;D

No doubt! ;D Nice reel, Micro. PS. Everytime I see your nickname, the memory of micronauts comes to mind. I take Micro for use doesn't stem from that or 10 ^-6, but from the bass' Latin name of Micropterus Salmoides (sp)?

Sorry to hear about that. As a rule of thumb for me, any reel I usen salt water needs to be at least washed down with fresh water and clean (as in checking for debris and such inside the reel on the inside after every trip without delay. The world could be on the verge of nuclear destruction, and I will still clean them. Well that's my anal philosphy on it. Many of my reels serve both fresh and salt and I don't have much gear so every thing I use is treated with great care. A second vote for a new reel. On the bright side, getting the bait monkey going is not a bad thing.