MattinOK

The bronze hooks rust...terribly. They aren't the sharpest either. The black nickels are decent, but no where near as good a gammies or owners. I like their trebles on my cranks and topwater, but the worm hooks are sub-par.

This forum section gets more, "What first bait caster" threads than Steezs have bearings every day. Most of these people are interested in reels in the fifty dollar range. After going through the "Buy a cheap reel first" song and dance I have a recommendation for all potential bait casting buyers. BUY A GOOD REEL TO START! If you learn on a cheap reel (like I did) you WILL have to relearn your casting practices. Personally I wait for clearances (some good one's at Academy right now) to buy reels and 50 to 75 percent off retail. I think you should look for a aluminum frame, bearing supported spool, good braking system, good drag, and smooth (good bearings). Look for all this in your favorite brand, maintain it well, and you will have a good reel to learn on, that will last you a long time. If you decide you hate bait casters; you can sell it for almost as much as you payed for it (if you buy on clearance). Sorry about the rant, but after experiencing it first hand, I wanted to rant a while.

This incident centers around the purchase of my new reel. This is the first reel with a free floating spool I've owned. My previous reel (lew's laser) required both hands, and a hefty amount of force to toss a lure any decent distance. So I grab my rod with both hands and really fling out my lure. Backlash! Now for the good part. While I picking out the backlash my cat comes over, grabs the line off the side of the reel, lays on his back and mauls it for a while. Well, he get's good a tangled up around his paws and takes of yowling, half hopping/half running. So now my reel is free spooling at a fast pace. The cat gets about 100 feet away and stops, creating the largest backlash I've ever seen. This caused me to lose a whole spool (150 yds.) Berkley 100% flurocarbon. Then my brother and I had to get out the scissors and cut the cat loose. I was seriously thinking of shooting that cat... ;D

Thanks everyone for the excellent tips. I hope they help some people as much as they have helped me. One thing I found that works for me. Brace the back grip of the rod on your shoulder; that puts the line guide directly on eye level (or it did for me) Then it's a cinch to thread it!

That's a great idea! I have a couple of packages left over from my brace wearing years. I finally get something useful out of my braces! ;D

I've stumbled upon a problem with my new baitcaster (already!). This new Quantum reel has a small round line guide. I have no depth perception and low vision out of my left eye, and I'm blind out of my right. As you can well image, this makes threading the line through the guide an interesting experience. This wasn't a problem on my first reel because it had a big oval shaped guide. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to get the dang reel ready to fish. Is there any tips or tricks you other vision impaired people have? Thanks Matthew Luce

For me, a clearance on fishing tackle is a two-edged sword. On one hand, it means I'll get a good deal. On the other hand, I'll spend a lot of money. Well today at Academy I found a whopper of a deal. I got a Quantum Accurist PT saltwater reel for 65$ (regular 150). It's really a step up from my first combo. I've got it spooled with 12lb berkley fluro, on an old Fenwick Eagle GT 6'6" MH/F. I think this will make a good worm/spinnerbait combo. I know some people have... doubts... as to Quantum's quality, but for the price I couldn't pass it up. I really like the brake set-up. I just got back from buying it, so it will be tomorrow for I can try it out. Now I just need a nice warm day to go fishing! ;D

It's not firetiger so I say... MEH I have spoken. (Nice pattern BTW)

Hey all, after a recent trip to a bluegrass jam I realized something. A 7' m rod with a size 2500 spinning reel with 30lb braid is not fun for crappie fishing from a dock. I'm looking for a 5'ish rod and spinning reel for crappie/perch fishing. I figure I'll be using light braid (10/2 or 14/4). I'm open to any brand. What are you recommendations?

I use cheap little 4x6" photo albums. They hold one spinnerbait per page, and it fits perfectly in my small tackle bag.

X3 The only things I understood were the hairy senko, and the fact that he doesn't know the difference between "whole" and "hole".

I'm going to be fishing a little public lake this week. It's about two acres in size, and I can only take one outfit. I'm going to be using a 6'6 med spinning rod/Shimano Sonoro 2500 w/ 8lb suffix siege. The lake has trees on the far left, and on the left side is pads and open water. My question is this: Are Spinnerbaits and lipless cranks interchangeable? Can one be used with as much success as the other? Thanks for your input.

I highly recommend spell check; it makes your posts readable!

There's the answer to your first question. Not sure what you mean by the second one. And here's a good guide on using your new reel http://www.***/education/baitcaster-setup-101.html

The Calcutta TE http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/reels/round_baitcasting/Calcutta_TE.html

Dear Mom & Dad, Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and are worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened. Oh yes, please call Adam's mother and tell her he is okay. He can't write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found Adam in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Ted got mad at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will blow up? The wet wood didn't burn, but one of the tents did and also some of our clothes. Matthew is going to look weird until his hair grows back. We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Ted gets the bus fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked okay when we left. Scoutmaster Ted said that with a bus that old, you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance. We think it's a neat bus. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the fenders. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in a bus made for 24. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrol man stopped and talked to us. Scoutmaster Ted is a neat guy. Don 't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Jessie how to drive on the mountain roads where there aren't any cops. All we ever see up there are logging trucks. This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out to the rapids. Scoutmaster Ted wouldn't let me because I can't swim, and Adam was afraid he would sink because of his cast (it's concrete because we didn't have any plaster), so he let us take the canoe out. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Ted isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the bus so we are trying not to cause him any trouble. Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Andrew dove into the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Steven and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Ted said it probably was just food poisoning from the left-over chicken. He said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. By the way, what is a pedal-file? I have to go now. We are going to town to mail our letters & buy some more beer and ammo. Don 't worry about anything. We are fine and tonight it's my turn to sleep in the Scoutmaster's tent. Love, Jimmie I got a kick out of if, maybe you will too ;D

The pairing it with an ugly stik is worse than using nightcrawlers IMHO ;D.

You can really get a better deal on a new squire than that. The model number would help on the Gibsun... http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-Bullet-Electric-Guitar-with-Tremolo?sku=517304 Brand new squire 120 shipped. Great place to buy gear BTW.

I thought it looked like someone got a little overzealous, and dipped their fishing rod in chart Spike It... :

I don't think the tape is necessary. I learned how without it (this is coming from someone who is so mechanical inept it's sad) Starting with a decent reel with low memory line will make it MUCH easier. Just start with the brakes at 8-9 (magnetic) or 5/6 (centrifugal) and the spool tension knob to where your spool stops turning when it hits the ground. You'll never look back after you learn how to use a casting setup.

Berkley gulp earthworms. The kind that come in a little jar. These things are awesome! I can usually catch 40-50 bluegill an hour, and I always have em' with me (which cannot be said for real earthworms.)

Well I've got a guide with 60+ years of experience, and a awesome little two man boat so I should do all right. (Cabbageing on to Grandpas is so fun...)

What if he only has one rod? Should he tie on a or a :-*. I think it mainly depends on the : of the lake, and whether the baitfish are > or . I might start with a 8-) and move deeper in the if that didn't work. If worst came to worst I'd use a rigged . Then again, what do I know?

I'm going to be fishing Lake R.C. Longmire in a few weeks, and I thought some of you might have fished it before. What should I throw? Where are some good spots on the lake? etc. etc... Any help would be appreciated.

Bow this thread is getting plum cheeky...