Delaware Valley Tackle

I saw a man eating trout. He appeared to be enjoying it so I ordered some myself.

Some drags are designed to be run dry. If they are greased it must bebd one a drag specific grease by rubbing a film over the fiber washers. Gears are greased by applying a thin coat pressed into the teeth with something like a small craft brush. It's not necessary to pack the gear teeth. Most of the grease squeezes out and just makes a mess. To properly pack a bearing requires a special tool. Just to maintain your own I'd suggest just a heavy oil, for non-spool bearings this is. You'll need all 3 bearings for an upgrade to be effective.

I don't know Shimano's policy on warrantees regarding lube, but if this their policy it is a total cop out and should be challenged if experienced. Some automakers tried this in the 80s and it didn't work out so well for them. I'm not a fan of the Hot sauce lubes. There are better choices but in all fairness they won't cause a self destruction.

What model reel do you have? If it's valuable enough to repair you can send it in and I'll get it going for you. As for the rod, run a cotton swab around each guide to find the bad one and have it replaced. It should be about a $10 job depending on what guide it is.

Spinning reel handles vary more than casting reels. Contact the manufacturers as suggested.

You might want to flush and relube the stock bearings before jumping right to replacing them. If nothing else it will give a more accurate picture what you stand to gain.

Lube brand is much less important than proper application combined with cleaning. Adding new lube on top of old can do more harm than good. Once everything is clean a marine grade grease will work and you may have some already. If you're going to buy, using Cal's drag grease on the gears as well as drag lets you keep one less product laying around. The Super Lube synthetic works well but is not suitable for drags. I would not recommend Hot Sauce grease for any reel. It gums up too much. The same applies to bearings. Flush them completely before relubing and use one of the quality lubes available. I like Yellow Rocket Fuel and currently use Boca Speed Oil if I want lighter vis. One small drop is all you need on a spool bearing so a tube of the Bantam oil will last a long time. Non-spool bearings can be packed with grease or oiled more heavily. I use a middle ground and give them a bath in 90w-140 gear lube.

On some level IMO you pay for the name in the JM or any other signature series. The PQ is a great value.

I have a very similar setup for spinnerbaits. It's a 6' M/F I built for myself and it works great. About the closest thing over the counter would be a St Croix AVC60MF msrp $170

I'd like to hear more about this too. I've seen spools damaged from mishadling (dropped etc) but not an outright failure. Are we talking about bent shafts or what?

The amount of mag braking you need depends on conditions such as wind as well as the weight and profile of the bait. You'll need to educate your thumb as well. The SX is a nice casting reel but is not the most user friendly for a beginner.

Good advice so far. As you go prioritize your info: Location: Know your quarry's habitat and seasonal movements Depth: Be able to fish shallow to deep for year long success. Presentation: Guage the mood of the fish to figure out how fast (or slow) to fish Lure/Bait: choose baits appropriate for the conditions (depth, speed, weight...) that mimic natural forage in some way Color: 99% driven by water clarity. IMO this is the most over thought piece of the puzzle.

Would you disable thre anti-lock brakes on your truck to show how good a driver you are without them? Of course not. The feartures of the reel you choose to fish are there to make fishing more productive and enjoyable. You paid for them so use them. It says nothing about how good of an angler you are or aren't.

Tuning will not transform a reel into another model but: Cardiff = $109 + $32 Tuning $141 Calcutta = $199

Anything new should be right without messing with it so a return is in order. As for older ones, I know they can be had for well less than retail but, it's a shame to have $70 reels you can't use. If you want to send them in over the summer I'll see what I can do with them.

Flukes are one of my favorites especially for skipping with spinning tackle. I fish them weightless, t-rigged on a 3-0 EWG hook or if the cover allows nise hooked with an octopus hook. Often the strike comes on the initial fall or first movement just like a senko. If not I twitch it back pausing often letting it fall again.

Nick, The river is in good shape level wise. The thing to be aware of is that diddymo (rock snot) algae has made its way into the Delaware from Hancock down to below the Gap. Your equipment will have to be disinfected before usinig it in other stretches or waterbodies. This isn't to scare you away, just to be aware and prepared to not spread this junk. There is no known eradication method. A google search will tell all you need to know and then some.

I'll do a pitch style cast at some point with almost any bait I throw. Choose rod length using the same basis you usually would. Longer for distance and moving line quickly and shorter for in close accuracy etc. Flipping uses a static length of line so I like a little longer rod in the 7'6" range.

The Sahara is a much better reel of the two, but for a quality spinning reel on a budget the Pflueger President is one of the best bang for your buck deals. They're on sale regularly <$60 A ML St Croix will easily handle bass in creeks or open water but the M/F or XF is probably the more versatile. 6'6" is a good compromise length wise being manageable in tight quarters but not sacrificing too much casting distance in the open.

First and foremost line should be matched to conditions, lure and target species. The most effective way to manage the line and presentation will determine if you want casting or spinning tackle. It's largely preference. By design spinning tackle is better suited to light line 8# and less.

IMO line visibility is given too much priority, especially low diameter line. If it gives you more confidence you can color a few feet with a sharpie or tie on a leader, which I do only for abbrasion resistance in mussel beds or so I can break off in extra snaggy terrain.

x2 It's actually the length more than the weight that jack's up rod shipping. Vacum or conduit are a little less expensive that the schedule 40 and seem to hold up well enough if the cardboard scares you.

I couldn't even watch this whole video. Eye of the Tiger? Really? Let's just pretend for a second that this is both legal and ethical, are people in the cyber world really watching this and saying to themselves " WOW This guy is way cool!". If so, there's no hope.

I agree. In the meantime though like JF suggested, target the females that might be hanging around. One my best fish last year came from up under a dock in about 6" of water. I skipped a fluke up under there while the boater was diddling with a 1 1/2 pound male locked on a bed.

11 oz is a good bit of weight. An experienced weigh master can estimate pretty closely and probably became suspicious.