Goose52

I knew he was talking about baitcasters - for two reasons: 1) He started this thread off by saying that he got his reels back from "supertuning and boca upgrades" - both modifications that are not typically done to spinning reels. 2) I also remembered a post from a couple weeks ago where Brian said he got his invoice from DVT for work on 6 Lews TPs and 2 Shimano Cores - all baitcasting reels I believe. To keep up with the action on the board - I invite you to read Brian's post here: Brian Gets His Invoice

Hey .ghoti. - any bass down there? For comparison, I was fishing this morning...surface water temp 38 deg....brrrrrrrr...

I usually have 70 to 80 yards of "primo" stuff on top. The reason for that much is that it allows lots of trim-backs, and perhaps a backlash or two, before you start to hit the knot to the backing on a long cast. Another consideration is the size of the supply spool. If it's 150 yards, I'd put on 75 yards and have a respool left. If it was 200 yards, I MIGHT try three 66 yard installs but would generally prefer to have more than 66 yards of top line. A 600 yard spool - lots of choices. I don't expect a bass to pull much drag so that's not really an issue in how much top line to install. I have had a fish pull my top line off the reel and I've watched the knot and about 10 yards or more of backing peel off the reel...but that was with a 50-pound class grass carp...

I remember you said you were going to count this year. I thought for SURE you were going to make it to 3,000 seeing how fast you came out of the gate ! Congrats!

I also record location, water temp, fish length, weight for 14" and over, and some other data. The data has come in handy for looking at seasonal or water temp trends and in some cases determining which of the 11 lakes to concentrate on. It really doesn't take long to jot down the data on the water. Boat days are 4 to 9 hours. From the bank, I fish anywhere from 45 minutes to 4 hours. I probably average a fish every 45 to 60 minutes of fishing time. You have to work for your fish in my little lakes - they are not productive at all. For instance, the local bass club has a metric they keep based on the total number of fish reported caught and the total angler hours for the tournament. During tournaments, the catch rate is about 1 fish every 1.5 angler hours. Some 2 angler boats will not get a 5 fish bag during a 6-7 hour tournament - and that is with a 10" keeper size. The tournaments are often won with a 5 to 7 pound bag. That's my water....

I know you do Wayne...and your totals are usually at least THREE times mine as I recall...

VERY COOOOOOOL ! Great story and a great reward for being on the water on a cold day. I think you are spot-on with your weight estimate for a 22" fish. Congrats !

I don't know anything about 'dawon' but for 'toyo' I have a feeling that you mean "Doyo Engineering Co., Ltd." If you google a bit, you'll find that Doyo is the patent holder of the BPS dual-braking system as used on a number of reels (RC, PL, PQ, CL Gen1) and also holds the patent for the side-plate release mechanism as used on the PQ and CL-1.

Hey RW - THIS is the reel that you were thinking of the other day....

Hey Dwight - I get teased about my record keeping...not only for fishing but for other hobbies as well. I think it relates to my background in aircraft maintenance and manufacturing, and being in the Quality field. One tends to work with lots of records in these environments - I guess it transferred to my personal endeavors...

I recommend that you read this earlier thread about the JM-CL - there are 86 replies and extensive discussion about the reel: JM-CL 86 Replies Briefly, some of the first production lot of this reel had a "grinding" feel on the retrieve. One knowledgeable source informed me that the cause of the problem had been found but I have no idea whether a new production lot of reels manufactured after resolving the problem has been made. I bought two JM-CLs just after they came out at the introductory price of $100 and one of mine is "grindy" as well. I chose the grindy one to fish first and left the other NIB. While the reel feels rough while playing with it in the house, I don't notice that grinding feeling while on the water. I finally mounted the 2nd reel on a rod and have had no problems when fishing that one. While the grindy reel is fishable, I have absolutely no idea whether the condition will result in long-term issues with premature wear. Since I now have 30 BC reels, I may not fish this grinding reel enough in the future to ever know. However, if a JM-CL was to be your only BC reel, or one that you will use often, long-term durability could be an issue for you. Other observations on this reel: The centrifugal braking system makes a "whrirring" sound on the cast - this may be irritating to some folks. The outside-adjustment for the centrifugal brakes adds complexity that some of us could have done without. The reel does cast VERY well with good distance. BPS really tried to hit the ball out of the park with this reel - a 5-OUNCE CLASS reel for not much bucks. Too bad this problem with the first batch may sour their sales for what might have been a pretty nifty reel. Conclusion: A JM-CL offers an incredible feature set (5-ounce class, bearing count, carbon drag washers, etc,.) for the price. Manufacturing issues on the first lot are known and long-term durability could be an issue. BUT, where else can you get a reel this light to play with for this cheap? You pays your money...and you takes your choice....

On the break-offs, one advantage I have is that there are no toothy critters in any of my lakes. Like we were talking about in the knot thread the other day, I just try to tie a good knot, wet the line when I cinch it down, make sure my drag is set properly, trim and retie frequently, retie every couple fish, feel the line occasionally for abrasion, etc. Then, when I get home from fishing, every rod that has had line in the water gets the line trimmed back (6" to 12" min. - sometimes a couple feet if necessary) and a fresh knot before being put away.

WOW! WTG - I think you're gonna have a 3,000 fish season this year...

A-Jay - keeping a record of break-offs is a pretty nifty idea. I should pick that up for this season. Just from memory, I probably had somewhere between 6 to 10 this year - each time probably due to rookie mistakes on my part. I lost a 50 pound class carp that I probably could have landed - I'm pretty sure I had a nick in the line that I didn't catch in time (10lb test). Three times I broke off on 8lb mono on the same reel and it was driving me nuts - one time it was on a BIG fish (same lake as my 9.5 pounder)...turns out that the drag was tightened down and I didn't realize it...duh!!! Each time, I tend to name myself as the tentative causal factor, and think of what I did and how to prevent it in the future... Hey Shimmy - I jot down notes as I fish and it really doesn't take long to record the data on the water - then a few minutes in the evening for data entry. Some folks think it's crazy - but it's fun for me to play with the data. Yeah - an 8x10 of that bucketmouth is on my wall - she wasn't a 10...but she had a big mouth for sure!

Hey Jeff - I fish "every day" - the quotes are there to indicate that there are a few exceptions: when I'm on a trip, a couple days a year when I just get too busy to grab some time to hit a lake, and when the water is hard. It doesn't happen often, but I have to admit that I have just flat skipped a day a few times when the weather was too brutal (although I do fish in the rain and have fished with the wind chill under 15deg). While I don't fish big water at all, I do have 11 little lakes (5 to 201 acres) plus a couple very small ponds all within a 6 mile radius of my house. So, it's just a matter of jumping in the car and driving a few minutes and I've got some water to fish. Not a lot of big, quality fish in these lakes, but at least a place to fish. Do I get skunked - not often in "prime time", but certainly I do in winter. I couldn't buy a bite in December and haven't caught a fish since December 28...but have fished every day. I even got skunked once in the boat this year - the last time on the water in November...and that was 7 hours on the water... So, for 2012, I probably fished about 300 to 320 days, perhaps more. I only keep "catching records" - not "days fished" records. However, I did jot down in the spreadsheet the days I didn't catch a fish in "prime time" - March through October: OT = out-of-town March 2 - skunk March 20-22 - OT June 5-7 - OT July 17 - OT Sept 11-13 - OT October 1 - skunk October 3-10 - OT October 23 - skunk October 29 - skunk October 31 - skunk For comparison, in 2011 I had 262 "catch days" (eerily close to the 263 catch days in 2012) and in 2010 I had 220 "catch days" (I had hard water in January and December that year). So, I've caught fish on 745 days during the last three seasons. I recently "un-retired" with a little gig that will take some time later this year so I think my numbers will be going down for 2013

WOW - great deal! Good find indeed...

The OP gave a price on a ONE POUND spool of line (3,400 yards for 15 lb) - usual price up around $90-$100 or so. Are you thinking of a 600 yard spool? If you did mean a 1 pound spool - please post those online retailers cause lots of folks might want to place some orders...

I saw that some folks were posting facts and figures for their successes in 2012 so I decided to join the party and fire up Excel and crank-out some semi-interesting factiods from my "catching" spreadsheet... 2012 was a pretty good year for me. A new 9.54lb LMB PB. Lots of bass in numbers, but not quite as many quality fish as in 2011. I do keep detailed “catching” records and the statistics are sorta fun to review. For those that are interested in such minutiae, here are some of my stats for 2012: 263 Days that I caught fish 1236 Total fish caught 1202 Total bass caught (all LMB) 9.54lb Biggest LMB caught (new PB) 48.6lb Biggest fish landed (grass carp) 853 Fish caught from the bank 383 Fish caught from the boat 41 Days I had the boat on the water 9.3 Average number of fish on a boat day Baitcasting vs. Spinning: 668 Fish caught with baitcasting gear 568 Fish caught with spinning gear Baits: 880 soft plastics 356 hard baits Fish by Rod Brand: 7 All Star 268 BPS 635 Loomis 1 Phenix 14 Shimano 311 St. Croix Fish by Reel Brand: 649 BPS 3 Daiwa 568 Pflueger 16 Shimano Fish by Line Test: 12 4lb 121 6lb 157 8lb 427 10lb 84 12lb 2 14lb 433 20lb (braid) Gasoline consumed to support fishing: ~80-100 gallons (estimate) Best fish photo posted this year:

"47 were 5+lbs (13%)" WOW - that's a fantastic number! I can only dream about a number like that in my little lakes... Sounds like a good year - hope you double those numbers this year. I didn't catch a lot of big fish this year, but I do have lots of statistics - I think you've inspired me to do a wrap-up as well...

Hey Dwight - WTG! The darkest bass I catch are at my Dad's house in central Florida...

At least 50 years ago now Tom. I still have some of those exact baits that I got in the early- to mid-60s.

Seems like line is one area that there is never agreement. However, many of the folks on this board give good marks to YZ. Is it the best line for all applications. Nope. But it's a good jack-of-all-trades line that works good enough to suit most uses. AND, as mentioned, it is very cost effective. Some of us on the board took advantage of the deal on YZ Ultrasoft from The Longfin. - $25 for 1lb spools. I am committed to Ultrasoft for the next few years, having purchased 15 MILES of line: Does UltraSoft work? Well, I fish mostly open water, some rock ledges, a little slop, not much timber. It works well enough to bring in 1407 fish in the last couple seasons - up to 9.5 pound bass and 48 pound carp. Strong enough for my purposes... YMMV

The current Daiwa PX Type R (a beefed up Pixy) is available in LH (PXL-R). I'm curious, which Crappie Maxx reel are you looking at and how are you relating it to a Daiwa Pixy? I do see a new low-profile Crappie Maxx with magnetic braking...is that what you're looking at? If so, there are lots of magnetic braking reels out there that you could chose from, however, most have very little in common with a Pixy in particular or even with Daiwa's Magforce V or Z braking systems in general...

"The Best Answer Feature" sounds very interesting. Unfortunately, it will also be boring - since the answer chosen by (some) moderators will always be Shimano...

This came in an email from BPS this morning. The cat's out of the bag now for sure....