Goose52

Yeah - the days are shorter, colder, windier, and the bite is poor. BUT, at least some of us still have soft water; fishing is hard, but you can still fish.... Usually, by this time in December, I have REAL cabin fever - the kind you get when your lakes look like this.

X2. If you look at my photo in post #14, you'll see that's how mine is rigged. I sit on what used to be the "front" seat, facing "backwards." You might have to mod your motor mount so it can handle a wider span however. In my little 11'6" canoe, running the canoe "backwards" is just about mandatory - otherwise, you get the condition shown in the photo below... :lol:

I sorta see your point. BUT, some people DO "prefer" canoes - budget independent. It's a totally different experience. Nothing like paddling, silent, through a quiet stream, river, or lake - just you and nature. Many of those folks would never consider any gas propulsion and the associated noise, smell, and pollution; many wouldn't care for electric propulsion either. It is indeed a preference. Canoe purists even look aghast at my canoe contraption... However, for me, a canoe wasn't a "preference." As I mentioned in post #14, I studied all small watercraft from float tubes up to bass boats. My budget could have been up to, say, $25k or so. BUT, the best solution for me, given my needs and wants, was the tricked out canoe. Budget independent, would I have "preferred" how-ever much bass boat $25k would buy? Absolutely not. If I wanted a bass boat, I'd just buy one...but I won't...because it's not the best solution to the problem. As you said - it's more about where and how you fish, determining the best solution to get yourself on the water, and then going out and catching fish. For me, a bass boat would get me absolutely NO more fish on MY water...than my canoe...

I fish out of a canoe and I put that away when the water temps get much below 50 degrees. Partially because the bite slows then, but mostly because of the survival issue. I fish alone and don't want to be in that cold water if I have some sort of incident. After the canoe is put up, I fish from the bank as long as I've got soft water. I'm fortunate that I have 11 small lakes within a 6 mile radius of my house so I can jump in the car, hit a lake, fish for a while, and if weather is too brutal, just come home. How do I do off the bank? Each winter is a bit different - this month I've only caught two bass - both 15". I can't buy a December bite so far this year. BUT, last year, I caught 25 bass in December, including an 8, two 6's, a 5, a 4, and some 3's. For my little lakes, those are very high-quality fish any time of year. This in surface water temps as low as 39 degrees. The chance that I might get some of the biggest fish of the year is what keeps me going out every day.

There are many styles of bags - some with tote handles/shoulder straps, some you wear like a backpack, etc. You have to decide what style you're looking for. For a regular tote/shoulder type bag, I've always been impressed by the green bags at Cabelas. I don't normally use a tackle bag, but if I did, these are what I would use: Advanced Angler Pro-Series Tackle Bag - no boxes Advanced Angler Pro-Series Tackle Bag - with boxes These bags are on sale right now!

I agree totally. While knot testing over the years has shown that certain knots have an "X" percent advantage over others for certain applications, the advantage usually amounts to a small percentage value. I try to set my drag properly, make sure I don't have nicks in my line, tie my knot of choice correctly and wet the line when pulling the knot tight, and re-tie often. So, I don't try to chase the latest and greatest knot, and have been using an improved clinch since my Dad taught it to me over 50 years ago. I will occasionally tie a palomar while rigging tackle at home, but on the water, I always use the improved clinch. Like others have said above, it's also my "easiest" to tie solution - given my aging eyesight and stiff fingers...

Thanks. I knew there was interest in the new Cumara, thus the lengthy report. I'm usually not the first kid on the block to get newly introduced tackle; normally, everybody and their brother has new tackle before me and other folks do the reporting...

OK, it rained this morning but we had some clearing at mid-day so I hit the water with the Cumara and two other rods for comparison - a St.Croix LTB 6'9" ML-XF and a Loomis GLX MBR842C 7' M-F (my current all-around "worm rod"). I did some side-by-side comparisons, then fished the Cumara for over an hour. Ergonomics: As mentioned in the first post, the grip behind the reel seat is short - really short. During casting, half of my right hand is off the grip and on the blank. That's the bad news. The good news is that I didn't really notice it. Two reasons: (1) this is a light rod casting light baits so you don't have to put a lot of effort to get the rod to load and complete the cast, and (2) my hand placement on the bottom grip was bugging me more than the top grip That brings me to my second grip issue: the entire grip length seems too long for the length and power rating of the rod. The grip length on this rod (measured from the trigger to the back of the butt) is 1 3/4" longer than the LTB, and 1" longer than the GLX. If I had my druthers, I would prefer it to be the GLX length. This is one reason why I have been resisting going to split-grip rods - you are stuck with the length dimension that the rod company CHOSE for you...rather than having the opportunity, with a solid rear grip, to place your hand where you want. I do have to say that as it is, the rod is pretty well balanced - if they shortened the overall grip length, you'd end up moving the balance point farther forward and perhaps start to feel a little tip-heavy. So, perhaps it's just better to learn to live with the longer grip length. If this was a deep-cranking rod, or their umbrella rig rod, where you're trying to chuck out heavy baits during repetitive casts, I think this short grip could be a problem for lots of folks. I don't know why they shortened the grip so much but I'd rather have the rod weigh the tenth or couple tenths of an ounce heavier and have a longer grip. Whoever they had field testing these things must have small hands, or perhaps this is only a problem for me? Anyway, for this particular rod - I don't think the short grip will be an issue. The overall grip length and where to put your off-hand is just a matter of muscle memory. After fishing it for an hour, I was getting my off-hand where it needed to be on the rear grip without any thought - but it will make going back and forth between two or more rods interesting. Indeed, after I fished the Cumara for an hour, I picked up my trusty lipless crank rod (a 7' MF St. Croix Premier with full cork grip) and the grip on it felt very fat and I was placing my hand too far back on the grip (like in the air... ). Construction: Can't say much here - no problems, looks good, guides are aligned, windings and finish are good. I like the reel seat. A nice rod. It's my first rod with micro-guides - as I mentioned earlier, I do fish in sub-freezing weather in the winter so I won't be fishing this when it gets down near freezing. Sensitivity: I can't give any definitive report on this. Sensitivity is subjective, not easily measured, and means different things to different folks. I'm one of those people with somewhat "dead" hands - after I go north of something like an Avid, I have a hard time feeling the increased sensitivity. I can say that the blank feels "crisp" - what bumps I did feel today were sharp - that could be a combination of both the blank and micro-guides I guess (and this was with YZ copoly line). I can also say that the Cumara felt as sensitive as the LTB and GLX - in my hands. I don't have the earlier generation Cumara so I can't compare the new to the old. Unfortunately, the two lakes that I fished today both have leaf/muck bottoms, thus limiting the opportunity to feel the bait bump over structure or cover, so I didn't have a good opportunity to get a really good feel for the relative sensitivity of the rod. For a good report on sensitivity, I think we will have to wait until someone like Hooligan, and others, who have extensive experience with the earlier Cumara, to come along with a report. Power / Action: I switched back and forth between the three rods, all of which were rigged with identical baits: Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craws with 3/16 oz bullet weights for a total weight of .42 ounce (just over 3/8 oz). As I suspected by playing with it last night, the Cumara is a "light" medium. The lure weight rating (1/8 to 1/4) gives a hint of this and the rod fishes "light." It had no problems casting the 3/8+ ounce bait used today and I'm sure would handle 1/2 ounce OK as well. But it's definately not a mainstream "medium." The rod fishes heavier than the LTB ML-XF, but is noticeably less stout than the GLX which, while only a 2-power, has a lot of backbone. I'm still thinking that perhaps I should have got the M-XF instead of the M-F - BUT, this rod loads really well at 3/8 oz and casts well - so maybe I'm good with the M-F. Since I didn't catch anything on it today, I can't comment on hook-setting or fish-fighting ability. I am in the habit of doing a mongo-hookset so I don't think I will have a problem with that. Nearly all my water is open so the lighter power is not a problem there either. I guess my only issue with the rod power is that the rod is probably going to fish too close to a number of other rods that I already have. That's not a problem with the rod, just with my purchasing decision. I will fish this rod on the light end of the range - lighter creature baits and plastic worms up to 7.5" which accounts for the bulk of my T-rig fishing. 10" plastic worms and larger creature baits and I'll move up to an MH-XF. I used to cover that entire range - from light to 10" worms on the MBR842C, but it wasn't really happy at the heavier end of the range. Now, I'll split the weight range between two rods. If I'm in the boat, and rod-space limited, the Loomis might be used again to cover the entire range. Summary: This is a quality rod - with features, build quality, and (probably) performance commensurate with it's price. I will fish it as my primary light T-rig rod next season. The color of the blank is a non-issue with me. It will be interesting to see if the grip issues become non-issues, or whether they continue to bug me throughout next season. For now, I won't be buying another Cumara until I get more time on the water with this one. For a good report regarding on-the-water performance, and fish-catching ability, of the new Cumara...we'll have to wait for someone else that still has both soft water, and a good bite, to check in! Today's players:

I guess I should have said "pretty dang light" ! I was somewhat reserved on the weight since I have a 7' M-F BPS Carbonlite that is only .8 grams heavier than this Cumara (it weighs 3.68oz)... I like the open hook-keeper (and prefer that design), and haven't personally had any problems with the bottom placement on my other rods with the keeper at that location. It seems that at times I can foul my line on the keeper no matter where it's located. I just got back from fishing the Cumara and will type-up my on-the-water impressions report.

Yeah - the 3" grip length used on the new Crucial and Compre would have been a better length (for me) than this little grip on the Cumara. Shimano's web site is even wrong - they even say the Cumara A has a 3" grip....'taint so at all... Since it's a worm rod, you would typically not be making as many casts as a rod used for a fast moving bait, but still, I think this short grip might be bugging me for a while...

Today I received a new Cumara A casting rod - CUC-72MA - 7'2" medium-fast. This is in the worm & jig series and will be used as a light t-rig rod. The color of the blank is...interesting; a sorta maroon color but a bit lighter than maroon. I'm no color expert so I guess I don't really know what to call it. I can't say it floats my boat...but then it doesn't bother me too much either. The brown truck came after dark tonight so I haven't seen it in the daylight yet - perhaps the color will "pop" in sunlight... On the earlier thread about the Cumara A, one board member said the color reminded him of a BPS Bionic Blade. As the photo below shows, they are not the same color (and I prefer the color of the Blade actually!). Also mentioned in the other thread was a concern being expressed by some about the truncation of the grip behind the reel seat. Well, it's true, it's a short little bugger - only 1 3/4" in length. Not a problem during retrieve - with my palming method (one finger behind the trigger), my entire hand fits on the grip. However, with my casting grip (one finger in front of the trigger), one finger and most of the heel of my hand are off the grip and on the blank. I'm not liking that at all right now but will reserve judgement on that until I get it on the water and make a number of casts. The reel seat is the new Shimano seat with rear locking. This works great for me and gives me three fingers on the blank during a retrieve. The power of the rod feels (here in the house) lighter than most mediums, perhaps a bit heavier than a medium-light. Shimano recommends the fast action for worms, extra-fast for jigs. Had I handled this rod in a store, I think I would have bought the medium extra-fast, or an MH fast. I have a whole bunch of medium-light rods now and this rod seems a bit too close to them in power and action. Still, have to get on the water to see how it feels. The rod is fairly light - 103.6 grams / 3.65 ounces. With a Core 50 mounted, the combo weighs 261.4 grams / 9.2 ounces (without line). The rod has micro-guides, so this will be a fair-weather rod for me - no fishing in sub-freezing temps in the winter. Tomorrow, I'll spool up some line and get it wet. Catching is poor here right now, but at least I've got soft water so I can make some casts with it.

I use a small alchohol thermometer made for fishing - it has a metal sheath to protect it from breakage - similar to this one: http://www.basspro.com/Stream-Fly-Fishing-Thermometer/product/22921/

IPT is determined not only by the gear ratio, but by the diameter of the spool. So, one particular reel model could have a different IPT than another even though having similar gear ratios. Best bet would be to just go to the Shimano web site and look up the reel that you're interested in - the IPTs are listed in the specification data. http://fish.shimano.com P.S. - while I own a number of Shimano reels...I'm not a "Shimano Guy"...

Yeah - "as needed" for me as well. Unless continually exposed to adverse environmental conditions (like excessive heat, UV, etc.) I don't think any line, including nylon mono, goes "bad" all of a sudden. I think braid would probably last forever; you will trim back or backlash it and eventually need to replace it, but it doesn't go bad. For flouro and nylon mono installed on a reel, it might eventually take a set (coiling) and present manageability issues before it actually became brittle or otherwise lost enough line strength to matter. Given the above, I replace braid when it gets too low on the spool for my purposes (and I'll add backing in some cases to bring it back to full spool). I don't use flouro too often but when I do it rarely lasts more than 3 or 4 months on a reel due to trim-backs and perhaps a backlash. For co-poly YZ and nylon mono - it's as needed. I respool a couple of my most used reels every 2 months or so due to trim-backs. Other niche reels that I don't use too often might have the line on there for a couple of years, and then I might respool just for grins or because the line took a set...not because I think the line went bad. Regarding shelf-life on line still on a bulk spool, I think with proper storage it will last a long time. I have been buying 1-pound spools (up to 8,000 yards a spool) of YZ and it will take me a number of years to use it up - I have no concerns about shelf-life at all.

Probably the second best tip I've got from this board (thanks to RW) was the pointer to Yo-Zuri. I now have it on most of my reels. I have braid on a couple, and some nylon mono on others, but YZ is now the "standard" go-to on nearly all the new reels I purchase...

I have a 50 year-old Ambassadeur 5000 that really zings it out there when I get a bit skippy and back off the spool tension, especially right after I service the reel and there is fresh oil in the spool bushings. It's crazy the distance it gets with the line guide zipping back and forth across the worm shaft. AND, there are exactly ZERO bearings in the reel...

If factory reconditioned - probably OK. I've purchased several, including a Revo S that I got from FFO for $51 shipped... I couldn't find even any rash on the Revo - it looked and fished as new. Might be other folks out there that are more experienced recon reel purchasers than myself - maybe they'll chime in ....

Good grief Chris - even chasing it down, how long did it take to get that thing to the boat! If I had hooked that fish in my little 138" long canoe...I would have had a Jaws moment................I think I need a bigger boat!! Congrats. Hope you get the big bass next year.

A Core would look good on that rod. The gray body of the reel wouldn't match the color of the rod, but the Core does have a red spool and some red accents. It would be a good color combination.

I don't think Shimano or anyone else is going to recommend a Cumara/Caenan combo. As was mentioned earlier in this thread, an excellent match would be (at least color-wise)....a Scorpion XT.

Bantam1 posted this photo on a few other forums: I'm sure he won't mind the repost here. He also posted the specs for the new line-up (it's being called "Cumara A") and at a glance they look similar to the old Cumara. He did say that these were not Cumulus blanks - FWIW. A concern expressed in another forum was the truncation of the grip behind the reel seat - it's much shorter than the old Cumara, and shorter than the current model Crucials/Compres. I think I would have to handle one of these rods to see if my hand fits, and stays on, the grip portion of the rod during the casting stroke...

X2. From what I can see, I think I like that color. I could do without the brushed aluminum (or whatever it is) trim strip on the front of the foregrip though. Hmmmm - Maybe have to get one of these new Cumaras and put an orange Daiwa Sol reel on it...

Mine too. Even with all the gear in mine, it floats like a cork and catches wind like a sail....

That's what I was thinking. Here's a shot of the 'ole Goose trying to hoist just a 44 pound carp off the ground - that's not really a smile on my face...it's really a grimace! 60 years old and don't have the upper-body strength of the good 'ole days.... :lol:

Hey Dwight - that fish just has a gorgeous belly!