cadman

I have (4) of the original Bates Hundo's and like them a lot. No issues with them. Took a little to get it dialed in, but it has been flawless. My biggest likes are: **Frame size, it is small. (I have small hands) ** Very light ** Body and side plate all aluminum. Very solid. ** Smooth and casts well. Dislikes: ** Don't like the knob color on the reel. Should have cork knobs for the price point (It really is insignificant though) ** Was a little hard to dial in, but once I figured it out everything is fine. Buy one at first, if you decide to buy multiples you can always buy another at a later date. You will like your Hundo. My reels before this were the (6) original Revo MGX reels. Then I had (4) Daiwa Tatulas and (4) Zillions, and wasn't impressed. Sold them all. Maybe their top tier like Steeze would have been a better choice for me. Anyway, If I didn't buy my Hundo, I would have gone with Shimano Metanium. I still have my Revo Mgx's. I still use these reels, however I have my (4) Hundos as my primary reels.

What Jig Man wrote is what I do. The only thing I can add to this is make sure the lead is very very dry. If you put a lead weight that was in water and it contains some water in one of its cavities, it will explode and you will get burned. On unknown lead I would put it all in a pot and melt it outside. As it heats, the water will turn into steam and burn off. Naturally don't stand in front of the pot while this is happening. Once you get it to a liquid, I would then start fluxing it. Be safe.

How is the paint holding up and did you clear coat it? I want to use this on a baitcasting reel.

Thank You Very Much for the info. You can e-mail me any questions as that would be easier. Talk to you soon.

What kind of paint brand did you use and what kind of paint? Any prep work? Thanks in advance

I usually winterize my boat and put it away for the season right after Halloween. Charge up the batteries, disconnect them and leave them in the boat. Take all tackle and everything out of the boat. Vacuum boat, put dryer sheets in all of the compartments, change lower unit oil, pull prop and grease everything. Finally drain oil from wheel hubs and put new oil. Cover up and that's it.

How about a jig with a skirt and a trailer? I catch a lot of bass on that set-up. Also if you are going to fish a jig fish it slow and I mean sloooowwwwww.

I agree with Jig Man. I would never pour lead or plastic in a house. If you have a patio, pick a sunny day and pour outside. This would be a better solution in my opinion.

I also use a split ring for the same above reasons. Cut off old hook put on new split ring and hook and you are done.

Just measure them and buy new ones if that is what you want to do.. The sequence goes like this when you order. Inside diameter x outside diameter x thickness. Usually in mm.

24 ga. copper wire.

Been using KVD a long time. I believe it makes mono more pliable. I see it more on my spinning reel than my baitcasters.

I have some spinning reels spooled with Tatsu and I like it very much. Never had any issues with it.

Nice catfish. What did you catch it on?

I could use the reel fix it and donate it to the high school here. PM sent

We had strong winds and rain last night but not much damage. Lot of broken branches and limbs. Supposed to have 50 to 60 mph wind gusts all day today. Drove around this morning and noticed all the ice is off of the lakes. Time to get the boat ready.

So what kind of reel did you replace it with?

For all you guys that buy from Ali express and others vendors in Japan, do you have to pay any additional taxes or customs charges?

Take a look at fishingskirts.com They have a lot of skirt colors. Also they have a tab on their website called "Builds" open that tab. There are some good colors there. Also they give you the skirt color numbers and the quantities used.

Welcome from northern IL

Since I make and sell jigs, I have about 100 different colors of skirts. Only reason being is many guys want a certain color and I try to accommodate them. With that said, I am a jig fisherman. I fish a jig 95% of the time all day long. My top three colors are Blk/blue, green pumpkin, brown and sometimes white, My colored skirts are blk/blue , solid green pumpkin, solid brown and solid white. That's it nothing fancy here. I do catch a lot of fish with these colors. To me jig fishing is more about presentation and finding out what the fish likes based on how you work the jig. I'm not saying making a three colored skirt on a jig doesn't work, but if you can't catch fish on a jig, it doesn't matter what perfect color you have. Keep it simple at first. If you want to add some color later on go ahead. A lot of fancy colored jigs are to sell to the fisherman. They look great in the package and we are visual humans. So when we see all these color we think wow a fish would definitely hit that, in all reality a solid color would work just as well. Just my thoughts

Any kayak anglers out there from Northern , IL that fish S.E Wisconsin waters? Friend is looking to join a small kayak club.

Depending on how much you are going to pour, I do a 80% pure soft and 20% hard. Reason being is. Pure soft although pours easier is too soft (JMO). You can buy and use pure soft if you don't want to buy different hardness's of lead. Adding 20% or 30% of hard to soft lead makes the perfect lead hardness in my opinion. If you need more help, PM me and I will help you out.

Try Roto-Metals on Line. They have very good prices and free shipping. I buy 400-500 lbs from there. Never any bad lead. If you decide to melt any lead that has been in the water, be very careful, lead and water don't mix. It will explode if heated too rapidly and you will get very badly burned. Best to buy dry lead from a good source.

I don't care where Bates reels are made. I don't know why some people get so involved about saying company is dishonest so they won't buy the reel. Do you think that other companies tell you all of the things that go on in their business dealings whether good or bad? All I look for in a reel is good quality, it performs well or better than I expect and if parts are available down the road for replacement parts. That is all.