islandbass

You might want to try tightening your drag. It might be set too loose.

Keep it on. Unlike mono, it is not affected by UV light so as long as the line doesn't have nicks or other damage, braid is always good to go. The braid on my Curado 201 BSF has been on for 3 seasons.

It boils down to about two things: 1) Personal preference. 2) Generally, round reels tend to hold more line. This gap is somewhat narrowed with the coming of LP reels that can hold a lot of line like the Curado E300. I love both types. If you don't need the line capacity, go LP. They tend to be lighter. If you need the line capacity, go round or pick an LP with a greater line capacity.

D, Thanks!

Take advantage of the No Hassle something like that offer. $50 or so gets you the same model, no questions asked. As for why it broke, that is tough to say. Sorry. Breaking a rod is always a bummer.

For me, spinning gear is much more comfortable for this technique Interesting. I thought I was the only who thought this too. It seems more comfortable. It is a feel thing. If I rigged a hard jerk bait on a casting rig, I'll use it without hesitation or debate.

My first bass was caught this way when I first started fishing. My first lure was a size 5 Rapala floating minnow and back then I was greener than a dollar bill. I was trying to figure out how to cast it farther (being shorebound) so I put a weight in front and attached the lure to about a 20" leader. It wasn't until I started learning more about bass fishing that what I devised was in essence a Carolina rig. It works, no doubt. X2 on the Shhhhhh.

Holy smokes, I should have read flechero's post first. :-[

The differeces are there. I really think that detecting and feeling sensitivity is dependent on each individual angler. I think that people have different levels of sensitivity and to complicate things further, defining what is sensitive to one person could be different for someone else. This is easily illustrated: 1) Angler A picks up rod X, uses it and rates its sensitivity from 1-10 as a -1, i.e., a piece of cr@@. 2) Angler B picks uses the same rod and rates it as better than GLX. Assuming that everything else was equal, they arrived at different conclusions. Another illustration is the notion that ugly sticks lack sufficient sensitivity for bass fishing. Well, in my hands they are sensitive enough to feel a 5" dink take a senko of the same size on 10# big game mono. Other anglers would note that the ugly stick is a piece of junk. No, I don't use ugly sticks. ;D Also, I have a GL2 and it is pretty sensitive, better than my Clarus and about on par with my Compre. However, my Crucial and Lamiglas Certified Pro run circles around those rods. It isn't a fair fight. Consider yourself lucky that you see no difference between the GLX and a GL2. That is some serious $$$ savings for you. Paraphrasing what Bantam mentioned, once you're up there, lesser rods will feel inferior.

Yes. The prices are also reflected in their downloadable catalog. Cumara went up too I believe if their initial price for most was $199

I've never had that happen but I also take it easy where the bait meets the lip as noted in earlier posts.

Then windex it is. Lastly, what do you use as your sealer between paint coats? I finish my baits with Dev Con 2T as the finishing coat, but I think it would be a bit thick as an inbetween clear coat. Perhaps something like Min Wax polyurethane? Thanks again.

What I do is cover the lip with painter's tape. Works like a charm.

Man, that is some awesome advice!!! I am going to practice on some scrap pieces of balsa I have in the garage. I am planning to use water based acrylic paint. Should I thin with water, and if not, what should I use? The use of a dryer is just genius. Wouldn't have thought of that in an eon. 8-)

Guys, Thanks! I am going to follow those steps religiously. It seems that the purchase of an airbrush is my next step. Bye bye hand brushes. ;D

I'd like to know how does one go about "fading" colors when painting? I am not good at painting but with all the talk of The Natural's painting has somewhat renewed my vigor to learn when I gave up and threw in the towel with hand brush painting. :'( I see now that an airbrush will make this easier to learn but as a visual learner, I am having difficulty figuring out how to do this without the second color covering the first. An example of what I am trying to describe is beautifully shown in Idlove2fish's avatar or many firetiger color schemes. One color "fades" into another color. Thanks!

Poor fella... we call opening day of any given year, New Year's Day. By april, we are fishing post spawn. My advice, move south!! ;D Heck, our opener is the first saturday in May. I have got to find a way to live in the South. Opening day is the last Saturday in April for us. :'( Have to change gears to Salmon just to satiate the fishing urge. :

Were do I get these schematics? One should have come with your reel. One came with my Trion LP and I lost it. I went to Pflueger's Site and requested one via email. I gave my mailing address and model number and in about 1.5 weeks it arrived. It was painless.

I don't know, but that's probably its weak point. It's got a deep spool and takes a lot of line. I suspect a light bait would have a hard time getting all that mass to move. I've only used it with heavier baits. I have a Revo STX 6.4:1 on a 6'6" Fenwick I use for small and light crankbaits. Thanks!

That's a nice looking reel. How well does it cast 1/4 oz cranks?

That's funny. A friend of mine lost his Pflueger President overboard in salt water and retrieved it the next day. He rinsed it out, relubed it and has been using it for the last couple of years with no problems. It's not like the damage is going to happen overnight fortunately. However, heed that warning. Pflueger clearly states to not use some of their reels in saltwater in the owner's manual. The words they use, "Freshwater Only" as is written in my Trion LP manual or box. An interesting twist. I just checked out their site for the Trion LP. They now state, "Medium Freshwater, Light Saltwater." I wonder in the world medium freshwater means. : Perhaps brackish water worthy? They state that the Summit and Supreme are Medium Freshwater only. :

I have when I first tried fishing with jigs. I was so green that I didn't know what a trailer was. ;D

Hold on to your receipt and shop around. I got mine for $54.00 at sportsmans warehouse. It is the "older" model but it is still the same rod. I have the same MH fast action rod. It is awesome and the answer to a great all around rod. I've done just about everything without, including drop shotting. If you have an SW in your area, check it out. Yeah, unfortunately, the price increased and I imagine for production costs.

There should not be any problem for you. You ought to be alright and so should the line.

You just haven't found the happy medium point. This is what I do: Use a pair of forceps to hold the jig. Pliers will work but you will always have to apply pressure to hold them. Use a can of sterno that you can buy at any local department store. This beats a lighter because the flame is larger and you don't need to hold the fire source. Make sure the powder is loose and fluffy For about a 1/4 oz jig it might take 7-9 seconds. Just move the lead about/above the flame Dip it into the powder and I guess you know the rest. I did learn something. Not all powder paints yield shiny coats. Some come out really nice and other come out crappy. Have fun anyway.