rubba bubba

Do you have your wife take any fish you catch off the hook for you? Wouldn't want to get any of their slime coat or that real live fish smell all over your fingers.

The Alberto is calling you. Give it a try; you won't go back.

Read "Lunkerville: The Jighead" thread below. Then go to the articles section and pour over the tens of thousands of words written about jigs.

PM Roadwarrior - he's posted a lot of great Ika info in the past. He's a strong proponent of it.

I think he was just asking how he can do it. What you just described is definitely the preferred route, so you are dead on. He'll have to do some sanding/removing of the cork/butt on the Loomis rod to make it look seamless.

I have to echo the love for the lobster. My favorite mop jig trailer.

My recommendation: If you are a brand zealot, then I would search out the reviews on this site from your fellow zealots. Their input will be most similar to your needs. If you are not a brand zealot, then I would discard all the reviews from the zealot population (that would be both the positive zealots - i.e. Abu/Shimano snobs - and the negative zealots - ie. the Quantum bashers). I would focus on the reviews from those who are not brand loyal but have obviously used the gear for a while (not the noobs). People like Raul/J Francho/etc... They have their preferences but they aren't nazis either.

I disagree. I use the Alberto for flyline to leader, for instance. Butt section of the leader makes the wraps. If you're joining two lines of different diameters, the larger diameter gets the loop, the other makes wraps, that's the whole point of the knot, otherwise you should just tie a bloodknot. Um, this is exactly what I'm saying. The larger diameter line is going to be the stiffer of the 2 lines, so use it to make the loop. The smaller diameter will be softer so use it to make the wraps. No, exactly what you were saying is use the softer, that doesn't always equate to larger diameter as pointed to in that I use the knot for my line to butt-section knot. The only instance I would be aware of where the softer line would actually be bigger in diameter would be if someone would use a very large weight rating braid (like 60lbs) and a very small mono or fluoro line (like 6 lbs). Since we weren't talking fly fishing, nor am I even familiar with fly fishing tackle, your obscure exception to the rule is out of context of the discussion. But thanks for pointing out the minutia to a principle that will be valid 99% of the time. I'll modify the "always" to "always, except in rare circumstances".

I disagree. I use the Alberto for flyline to leader, for instance. Butt section of the leader makes the wraps. If you're joining two lines of different diameters, the larger diameter gets the loop, the other makes wraps, that's the whole point of the knot, otherwise you should just tie a bloodknot. Um, this is exactly what I'm saying. The larger diameter line is going to be the stiffer of the 2 lines, so use it to make the loop. The smaller diameter will be softer so use it to make the wraps.

Use the softer of the 2 lines (braid) for the wraps; the stiffer gets the loop. Always. Use this approach even if you are joining mono to fluoro (i.e. backing on a spool so as not to fill it all with pricey fluoro).

Mathew 7:3,5 Luke 6:42

Man, that baby duck was freaked out. Looks like half the lures had hooks and the other half did not. Cool vid; very cool.

What weight fluoro? It's going to be stiffer and retain more coil memory than mono so it won't cast the same. You'll have to tweak the brakes, but it's your thumb that you need to focus more on. Line conditioner will help some but it won't magically transform it into soft and supple velvet either..

Lefties only. Gander has the 51 on sale for $295 (free shipping). Use code GMH0313 for $50 off of $250 and get a brand new core for $245. Currently backordered, however. Here's the GM link: http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Shimano_Core_Mg_Baitcast_Reel&i=419948&r=view&aID=504AA2&cID=GSHOP_419948

I'm not sure if you're saying the end result with fluoro was about 35 degrees down or if it was worse than that. I use fluoro with my jerkbaits and have never had anything remotely close to the vertical nose down issue you describe. My longest pauses might be 7 seconds, so the fluoro doesn't sink fast enough to cause what you described. It may increase the tilt some over mono, but I found that was more due to mono's preference to float, it would pull up the nose more than fluoro would pull down the nose. Just my experience with 100's and 75's.

Although this is a wee bit exaggerated, I looked through a bunch of books of mine and did find a KVD quote where he, too, preferred mono for jerkbaits. He said he preferred the action mono gave it.

The same Mike McClelland, BASS Pro and designer of the McStick also talked about this in Nashville at a seminar and stated: "you want the bait to suspend or slightly sink nose down 95% of the time."

Careful Raul - we wouldn't want you to miss any fishing time because you dislocated your shoulder patting yourself on the back.

It's a deceptive reel - because it's so small and light, it may feel 'cheap' but it is anything but. Excellent reel that has pretty much no competition out there in it's size/price range (which is why I think it's priced higher than the 200).

Override the anti-reverse and reel it on backwards. You'll get twice the distance on your casts, I guarantee. This works especially well with Shimanos.

How much more line do you need? Most of us pre-fill our spools 1/3-1/2 way with junk to save line costs since you don't use anywhere close to a full spool. Are you fishing for tarpon?

I have the Thunderstorm II. The pass-through pocket is great to get to whatever you keep in your pants/shorts pockets. No issues of water getting in. It's lightweight/packable so if you're looking for the more sturdy/heavier this is not for you.

You could get a set of 5.4:1 gears for $25 for the Revo. I did this for a couple of my S's.

Nice reel; very small/compact and very versatile. I don't have mine anymore but I have only positive things to say about it.

I believe what he meant was unless you are fishing finesse and/or very clear water, 8lbs is a pretty light leader. 8lbs fluoro won't, as a leader, cause you any problems compared to your 8lbs mono leader. Since it's your spinning gear, it appears that this is more for finesse for you, so there's nothing wrong with an 8lbs leader.