John G

The reason why I asked is I was judging the potency by the wear n tear on your hands. I don't ever recall Simple Green being rough on my hands and I have used Greased Lightning Super Strength and it will mess your skin up on your hands if used without any protection. Greased Lighting works a lot better than full strength Simple Green on my work trucks. I am the last guy that worries about dish pan hands. LOL

Will Perfect Solution make your hands feel really rough if you use it enough on bare skin? Just curious

Thanks Snook. I have checked out the Teramars at Dicks and my first thought was......man this is one heavy rod!

Snook, you do consider the Hurricane Redbone to be a better rod than the Star? How is the quality of the Stars now that they are made in China? I am talking Stellar Lites. I remember back in the day when Star had the little American Flag just above the grip. They were good rods back then. I have an American Made Stellar Lite and a Nickle Lite, both spinning. My only regret is that I did not buy any casting rods back then.

To the OP, ghoti wrote a very interesting tune up article that you should find interesting. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html He says in the article that it's hard to put too small of a drop of oil on your bearings. When I read that, I bought some needle drop oilers from Brownells. The drop was so small that I put another on my spool bearings. LOL

This little beauty will be my next purchase. Shimano Ocea Calcutta 200HG 90mm Handle and a 6.7:1 gear ratio.

T-Rigged Craw

Which Rod Glove are y'all using? The regular mesh type or the neoprene Pro Series?

I feel like I have been doing it halfway after reading this Thread. I use reel covers but I do not own a rod cover. That's going to change soon!

I use reel covers like this. They are neoprene and inexpensive on eBay.. I see no reason why my investment in quality gear should not be protected from unnecessary wear and tear.

I just bought 2 Cavitrons the other day and I found out that if I reel too fast, they come in on their side a little bit. The cure is that I found is to reel a little bit slower.

You need to reel a little slower.

I wish that I could tell you but I don't have a clue. I fish from the bank and it's usually warm around here and water temp is something that I don't think about.

Uni with 5 wraps

I read/watched the Martens piece and I came away with the impression that he uses braid backing because it lighter than mono or flourocarbon. He did mention casting lighter weight lures is easier because of easier spool start-up.I may be totally wrong, but I don't think a heavier spool has anything to do with casting distance. A heavier spool means that you need more brakes to slow it down. Casting distance is determined more by the rod, good bearings, lure weight and the ability of the person casting the lure.

Zara Spook Jr

Then why does Loomis make Drop Shot casting rods? I also read where some guys use a 3/8oz weight. That is not very finesse IMHO! LOL

Maybe the mucky bottom thing is regional cause the area where I fish is pretty much nothing but muck and my bass do not look like that.

Why spinning and not casting?

American Legacy Fishing had brand spanking new old style 843 IMX's for $220.00 shipped. That's a great deal on a great rod! They may still have some left. http://www.americanlegacyfishing.com/g-loomis-classic-mag-bass-fishing-rod-mbr843-imx.html

There is no comparison if the rods are in equally good condition, the Loomis MBR843IMX any day of the week.

I found out the same thing two weekends ago. I found out that I had to slow my reel waaaaaaaaay down when throwing an unweighted Senko on a heavy/fast rod and 15# Tatsu.

Try slowly dragging it and as others have said, use a high visibility line like Power Pro Hi Vis Yellow. What kind of rod do you have?

I am in the same boat as you are. I want to use jigs to but I have never caught a bass while dragging or hopping a jig. I have caught a bass while pitching a jig though. Where I fish, a T-Rigged Craw or Worm rules and I don't know why I ever use anything else to be honest.

The problem with fishing a 1/2oz jig or heavier where I fish is that when reel it in, there is about 1 ounce of crap attached to it. The crap that I am talking about is all the leaves, pine needles and weeds that are on the bottom. The crap on the bottom makes the jig feel like it's being dragged through mud. Is this how jig fishing is supposed to be and I should get used to it or should I stick with a T-Rigged Craw with a 1/8oz Tungsten weight? I will add that I was using a 1/4oz Seibert Outdoors Arkie Jig with a Rage Tail Craw the other day and it collected almost the same amount of crap when dragged but it stayed really clean when being hopped.