Goose52

Wow - great fish and a beautiful location. We had a recent thread about goals for 2010 and for one of mine I listed getting back into fly fishing after a 40+ year hiatus. I have my old 'glass 8wt fly rod up in the attic but I think I'll get a new graphite rod this year ...

I do that in WalMart - always need another Roostertail or whatever... I know what you are talking about. At wal-mart alone, I have bought a pack of tube heads, round jig heads, worm hooks, a rapala huskey jerk, bandit crankbait, bag of bleeding tubes, strike king senkos, cotton cordell lipless crankbait, and who knows what else. All of this since Chrismas day. Never bought more than three items in one visit. Oh yeah, I forgot my new $131 pair of native polarized sunglasses. I wonder what happened to all of my Christmas money? Wife and I are making our weekly trip to town tomorrow - will be going to the WalMart...already have my list made up for the fishing dept. ;D

Lookin' good! Also - sent you a PM about something...

Well - I put in my BPS order yesterday. Another Extreme BC rod and a bunch of baits. Will be waiting for the Carbonlite BC reel and the PQ BC reel in 5.2 to go on sale before grabbing those. No hurry, since my local lakes just froze-over the last two days and no fishing for me for a while... Too cold here for TN...

I'm toast - my local lakes froze over in the past two days. Enough ice that I can't fish...but not thick enough to ice fish. What now?

Your reel is more of a "light" reel (not ultralight size) but since you want to fish closer to 1/32oz baits, you will need an ultralight rod. I have an older Shimano UL spining rod but I don't know what the "hot" rod is nowadays. If you don't get some UL recommendations in this thread, do some catalog browsing for UL rods. Also - give some thought to the length that you want. My UL is 5' since I bought it to fish some smaller streams with lots of overhanging trees, etc. If you fish open water, you can get UL rods in 6' or longer and perhaps pick up some casting distances. Still - it's hard to get a 1/32oz bait to "load" a longer rod. If your lower level for bait size was 1/16oz, you could then look for light-power rods that might be a better balance for your reel. Just comes down to what baits you're sure you want to throw and then picking the rod.

All good advice above, including sending the reel in for service if you have doubts about getting it back together. If you DO decide to disassemble yourself - another tip is if you have a digital camera - to take shots at every "layer" of disassembly...the schematic is great but a picture can be better! I have 4 PQs but so far have only kept them lubed and clean and don't feel the need to do any disassembly yet - perhaps at the end of next season...

Good show! Too bad you can't fish it right away. Down here in TN it's 16deg right now and we aren't going to go above freezing for the next week or so. No fishing for me for a while.

Yikes - you've got to be hurting! An idea, go onto the BPS web site and put in for a free catalog .... then you'll end up with two - one for the WC and one for someplace else ...

Didn't notice much difference but I didn't layout the old and new catalog to compare. I mostly look for new stuff, new models, etc, or just browse to let the bait monkey get some ideas - then go to the BPS web site, or directly to the manufacturer's web site to check out the item. Anyway, the price is right for the catalog - free !

Yep - I've seen the chemical handwarmers...I just haven't figured out how to keep one between my hands and the rod/reel I probably DO need to pick some up so I can at least pause fishing and warm the fingers back up...

I don't have any personal experience with Browning gear either. However, I just checked out last year's BPS catalog and they were selling the Browning Midas combos for $219. The Midas reel alone was $149. So, if you were looking at the same combo for $100 - then it sounds like a great deal as far as the price markdown. The reel specs sound good as well and it has dual braking (both centrifugal and magentic) - a VERY nice feature. With that, of course, goes the risk of not having any idea of the quality/longivity of the gear. This could be a good starter package and the dual-braking feature of the reel will make learning to use a bait-caster easier. Another option at BPS is the 2009 model Extreme combos for $99. The specs on the Extreme reel don't come up to the Midas reel but lots of people on this board have experience with the Extremes. The Extreme rod is a good value for the price and I own quite a few of them myself. Good luck in your decision. ...

All good suggestions above. I don't have any problem keeping my feet and body warm but I have a BIG problem keeping my hands/fingers warm. (See http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1260207123/0 ) I ended up getting the UnderArmour Glove Liners - thin but relatively warm down to temps in the 40s. If the wind is blowing, or I'm fishing in the 30s, I add another layer of thin wool gloves. I've fished down to 29 degrees with both layers and while I can't say I was comfortable...I was able to keep working my reels and keep fishing (although I'm learning that when my fingers get too stiff, I should probably switch to spinning gear to avoid those "numb thumb" backlashes!). One thing I haven't tried yet is to start with latex gloves, then add the UnderArmours ... this would keep water off the skin and probably keep my fingers warmer overall...

Thanks for the tip. I just checked out their web site and they do have 1/2oz for $3.99 - I've been spoiled by only having to pay $2.36 at Walmart for all weights up to 3/8oz. BPS for some reason doesn't carry the 1/2oz ... but they DO carry 3/4oz and 1oz for striper fishing - for $3.99 either size. I might try a 3/4oz sometime.

As a fan of the technology, regardless of the brand of reel that uses it, I'll point out that the new Revo STX that was recommended earlier now has dual braking, which should greatly enhance the "castability" of the reel. If the STX dual braking works as well as the BPS and Pflueger systems, it can literally be a thumbs-free cast - except for stopping the spool at the end of the cast.

Well said. My thanks to Glenn and the other contributors - I'm learning a lot

Re the origin of BPS reels - interesting reading on this recent thread: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1260738686

I'm not sure I personally feel the need to go outside of the BPS brand BUT, the new STX does now have dual braking, finally catching up to BPS... :

Go directly to their home page, scroll about half-way down on the right side - "Fishing Guides" http://www.***.com/

First, as you've already seen, some of the experienced anglers on this site don't have much use for BPS reels (or rods for that matter). However, for a value-conscious angler, they are often good deals for the money - especially when you catch them on sale. I was surprised when the Johnny Morris reel was reduced by $100 down to the $170 range. The specs are good on the reel, and you get a key feature, dual braking, that gives you the best of both braking types. I feel this is a major selling point of the higher-end BPS reels. Anyway, the reel seems to be a good deal at the current price. In my case, I have standardized on the ProQualifier line and have 4 right now, with several more planned. It doesn't have the bearing count of the Johnny Morris reel, but it does have the dual braking feature and is quite a bit cheaper... Good luck in your decision.

FWIW - for those that haven't seen a Shyster, here's a photo I recently posted on another thread - check out the line tie - not much line twist on these babies. I didn't even know they were still being made until I did a web search the other day. Too bad they don't have better availability and size/color selection ...

I've been on the Worden web site - they're a bit pricey there! I've been spoiled by getting them at Walmart for $2.36 - same price for the 1/16 up to 3/8. However, Wally doesn't carry anything heavier than the 3/8oz and the tackle shop in town doesn't carry anything bigger than 1/4oz. I may end up having to foot the bill on the Worden web site... I've attached a photo of the bent eye & blade. Doesn't take much of a bend to get the desired effect. You can tweak the blade bend to get more or less motion/drag from the blade. BTW - I saw your Roostertail collection on the tackle thread that you started - very impressive and thanks for posting that photo. I had my wife look at it and said "see, I only get 1 or 2 Roostertails when we go to Walmart - I haven't got anywhere near what some people have ;D ;D

I voted for Roostertail based on availability, sizes/weights, and color selections. However, I actually think that the Shyster is a superior design. I always modify Roostertails to somewhat emulate the Shyster design by bending over the attach eyelet, and putting a small outward bend in the tip of the blade. The angled eyelet minimizes the entire bait spinning thus reducing line twist. The bent blade reduces the "stall" speed of the blade so you can fish the bait slower and still keep the blade active. As a multi-species angler, I often throw Roostertails in the little lakes that I fish here. While I usually end up with small to moderate size bass, I also get hits by catfish, crappie, perch, and brim. While not an ideal "big-fish" bait, my two biggest catches this year were on Roostertails. The 7.75lb bass in my avatar on a 3/8oz in firetiger, and a 20lb cat on a white 1/4oz. I usually only use 4 colors - white, black, chartreuse, and firetiger. For sizes, I use 1/16, 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, and 3/8oz. I sure would like to find some of the 1/2oz Roostertails mentioned by suicidenemesis...

That had to be a rush! In the little lakes I fish near my house, if you would have caught a line-up like that .... there wouldn't be any bass left in the lake ;D

No tournament for me today here in TN - I think you mean Bassn Blvd who fished today down in FL. It's 18 deg outside right now here and I'm stayin' inside 8-)