oldschoolbasser

I've upgraded all my older Ambassadeurs with new parts like dual bearing worm gears,bearing supported cog wheels,drive shaft bearings,and ceramic bearings.Most Ambassadeur parts are inter-changeable,so you can put a C5 Mag worm gear on that old 5000.Finding gear upgrades(3.8:1 to 4.7:1)are a little tuff,but not impossible.I currently have 4 Ambassadeurs with a total of 10 bearings,and these are all from the 70's &80's.If you need help,PM me,and I'll be glad to help you out.By the way,this is an older 4500CA with 10 bearings,and older Ambassadeurs can have this same upgrade.

My brother who worked at Phenix Rods for 17 years says the rod would be fine for blades up to 1/2 oz.There should be a model # on the rod (60 M2,65 H2).If you can find the model#,i can give you more info.

What you're missing is the anti-reverse dog,It goes on that short brass post on the right side bottom of the brake plate in the 3rd picture.It's silver with 2 brass arms that go on each side of the drive shaft wheel (the round part with the teeth).When you put it on,the brass arms should be pointed toward the bottom of the brake plate,then you swing it upward toward the drive gear teeth.Spread the brass arms apart so 1 arm goes on top of the teeth,and 1 below. You can get them on Ebay,or from Abugarcia.I believe it's part #5134.Here's a picture of what it should look like when it's in properly.

I've upgraded my older Ambassadeurs with Carbontex drag washers, ceramic side plate bearings, dual bearing worm gears,bearing supported cog wheel,drive shaft bearing,and a carbon fiber handle with 2 bearings in each knob,so there's 10 bearings total.The new Okuma Isis reels have a carbon fiber handle with the 2 bearings in each knob,and they only cost about $28.00,and are about 100mm long.I had bought a few from Mike's Reel Repair,but the Okuma are the same,and cost 47.00 less!

Here's a bigger picture.I switched the 1st photo with some other reels.I usually get my parts from a local tackle store,Ebay,or Purefishing.Most of the side plates are from the Japanese market,and the other parts I get from fellow collectors.If anyone needs info,or part #s let me know what you need,and I'll get them for you.Thanks for all the nice comments!Seems there are more guys out there who appreciate these "Classic" reels than I imagined.

As someone who still likes to use older Ambassadeur reels,I've spent a lot of time building,upgrading,and "Customizing these older classics.In addition to the normal bearing,drag washer,worm gear,cog wheel,and handle upgrades,I've been able to find unique colored side plates for my reels.I currently have reels in Pink,Teal,Blue,Burgundy,Red, &Gold.Some of my more unique reels are a Blue 4500C with matching frame,a Red 4600C with the Red thumb bar on a Gold plated frame,and Gold accents,and a Red 4600C.I recently upgraded a 4600CA for a friend that ended up with 10 bearings,and a carbon fiber handle!

Sorry,wrong website.It's abugarcia.com.The dual bearing worm gear can be found on the schematics for the 5600C5,ad the bearing supported cog wheel can befound in the Record Series schematics.

You can get the parts directly from purefishing.com.Just get the part #s from the schematics page,and call them with your order.Their phone # is (712)336-1520. You can also upgrade your cog wheel with a bearing supported one from the Record Series reels.I have upgraded all my older Ambassadeurs with all the bearing upgrades,and they do make a difference!The shipping takes about 5 days(not weeks)and the prices are about the same as Mike's.

Seems the algae problem is affecting more of the lakes down there.Last time I went to San Vicente it had the same problem.You could also try Sutherland or El Capitan.If you want a chance for Smallmouths you could go to Cuyamaca just outside of Julian.

I started fishing Hodges back in the "70s"and it's a great lake!My PB(12lbs) came out of there and a lot of other fish in the 5-10lb range.I like 6" Black Grape w/Blue Neon,and Cinnamon with either Red or Green Neon and Red flake.Split-shotting 41/2"Smoke/Blue flake Twin T's also works well.Chartreuse Fat Raps also work when the crank bite is on,and Brown and Black jigs work good in the Fall.The boat rentals are cheaper there than most SoCal lakes,and boat reservations are available.

I would go to westernbass.com.They have a lot of info for lakes in that area,and fishing reports.You can also Google California lakes and you'll find a lot of info that way also.

I don't live in Riverside,but I have fished most lakes in your area.You have Diamond Valley,Skinner,Perris,and Henshaw all within a short distance from you.You're also pretty close to all the San Diego Lakes if you don't mind driving.There's some good fishing on those lakes,and finesse fishing is usually the way to go.Welcome to SoCal!

Fishing out here in California,we get a lot of strange bites.most of the time we get what's called pressure bites,when you only feel a slight weight on your line.Normally this occurs whenever I fish a split-shot,drop-shot,or when I'm doodling.Another strange bite is when your line goes slack all of a sudden,and there's no pressure on the line.The fish has picked up the line,and is swimming toward the boat with it.Better to swing at nothing,than miss a fish by not swinging.I peg my worms with a toothpick so I don't have to reel in every time I set the hook on a fish and miss.

White spinnerbaits are also a good choice.Also smoke with red and green flake worms,and reapers

You should see the Revos they have for the Japanese market! Google purefishing/japan,and then click on abu garcia.The also have some sick rods.

It depends on what "super tuning" is.It could mean anything from just cleaning and changing bearings,to polishing the gears and spool shafts,putting bearing supported worm and idler gears.I've done this to a number of my reels,and it does make a difference.Also,who is offering this service? Ask around and see if anyone else had service done by them.Try cleaning your bearing first,and see if this helps.It could be that they are dirty,and that may be the cause of your reels decrease in casting distance.

Isabella is always worth the trip! the lake has so much different structure to fish,you could spend day's fishing and not cover everything there is to fish.Another plus is the Kern River flows into the lake,and that's another good area to fish.Plenty of rockpiles,fence lines,trees,the old flume that brought water into the lake,and a bunch of submerged humps,and even the old bridge! As for food,there's the Dam Corner Returant,which has killer food,and there used to be a plase call Bo's at the Paradise Cove Lodge that had great steaks,and the best cheese cake in the world.Bomber Long-A's in the chrome finish,black-grape worms,and crawdad colored jigs are all good baits to throw.

We have the new Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamonga,and there a number of others as well.Anglers Marine in Santa Ana,Bob's Tackle in Norwalk,Sav-on Tackle in Santa Fe Springs are a few that come to mind.These shops carry a large selection of rods,reels,and baits,and Sav-on also has rod wrapping and reel repair stations.Turner's also has a good selection,but some of their stores a small,and don't have as big a selection as their larger stores.

Kyle Busch looks like a big clown head on a Popsicle stick! After crashing out of the race on Fri he threatened to take out the other driver he was involved in the crash with.What a hypocrite!He can take somebody out and it's just hard racing,but if he gets taken out he starts crying and threatens to get the guy back!I think Jimmie Spencer needs to re-align his face like he did his older brothers!As for Denny Hamlin,that was a classless act that probably cost Jr. the win.He should have been fined,and had points deducted for pulling that stunt!

Hey Robert,there's only 50 people in Gilroy!You're bound to run into everybody in town at one point or another!(HAHA)

My Buddy and I went to Pyramid Lake Sat and had a good day fishing! We both had our limits fishing Drop-shotted oxblood color worms off points,and along mud-lines at 15-25ft of water.The day started out cool,but it cleared up and got into the mid 80's.The lake wasn't crowded at all,and the wind hardly came up.We caught both largemouth,and smallmouth,with all the fish looking healthy with good color.No problem getting the boat on the lake,as no one checking boats.

If any of you bassers from So.Cal need a fishing partner,and someone to share expenses,let me know.I'm not that far from Pasadena,and don't mind traveling to fish.I've fished up North (Casitas,Cachuma) and down in San Diego.I don't have a boat,and don't mind fishing from the back seat. Thanks Oldschool.

Don Iovino model Phenix 5"6" for worms

Deep water structure,drop-offs in deep water off points,anywhere on lake Isabella!

I like to doodle my worm deep!