BrASSmonkey

I have upgraded my drag washers to carbontex, and measured the following: The Bass Pro Shops reel has 4 fabric washers. 1. On the underside of the main gear, the drag washer measures 8.0 mm (ID) x 19.7 mm (OD) x 0.7 mm (th) or 21/64" (ID) x 50/64" (OD) x 2/64" (th). 2. The other 3 drag washer are stacked on the topside of the main gear. The innermost drag washer measures 8.5 mm (ID) x 23.6 mm (OD) x 0.5 mm (th) or 21/64" (ID) x 60/64" (OD) x 1/64" (th). 3. The middle drag washer measures 8.2 mm (ID) x 24.0 mm (OD) x 0.5 mm (th) or 21/64" (ID) x 60/64" (OD) x 1/64" (th). 4. The outer drag washer measures 8.2 mm (ID) x 23.6 mm (OD) x 0.4 mm (th) or 21/64" (ID) x 60/64" (OD) x 1/64" (th). I was sent the following: Bass Pro 3 main washers: 23 mm OD 8.2 mm ID .5 mm thick Under gear: 20.55 mm OD 8.2 mm ID .5 mm thick I had to do a little trimming once I received the washers. I hope that helps!

I also try to imitate the forage in my lakes. As such, I tend to throw a lot of perch and bluegill patterns.

I used to fish those all the time up here in Ontario (Canada). I have had great luck with those lures, and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. Fish them like any regular inline spinner. Whether the fish body makes a difference or not, I am not sure. they do, however, catch fish.

Numbers 1, 2, 5 and 8 x2! This past season, white has become my confidence colour. I always add a trailer hook for short striking fish, and I always add a zoom split tail trailer for added action. When fishing a spinnerbait, I tend to fish it around cover, and will vary my retrieve speed until I am ticking the tops of grass or cover. I will fish the spinnerbait by retrieving it constantly until it makes contact with cover, and then pop it free (in the case of grass) and continue retrieving. I have had many strikes just as the bait pops free of the grass. Contact with structure changes the vibrations, changes the flash, and instigates reaction strikes.

As an alternative to spinnerbaits, I began throwing swim jigs with a flapping tail shad trailer and had some success. I found the bait to be effective for me, and I no longer hesitate to throw that bait. I am still working on jigs and soft plastics.

Can anyone say definitively that a past great, were they playing in their prime today, with the same advantages that today's athelete's have, would be inferior to today's stars? How much of their greatness was physical and how much was mental?

Congrats

My fiance prefers t-rigged senkos because of the speed at which we often troll or drift. We often drift or troll a little too fast for her senko to get to the bottom. So we add a bullet weight for her senko to get to the bottom. She has outfished my brother and I on occassion doing this.

I have had my best luck using Rapala Shallow Shad Raps, Husky Jerks and X-Raps. I have also caught on jointed Shad Raps. My brother swears by the jointed Floater.

Maybe the salt in the soft plastics (if you used the rods for soft plastcs) caused the corrosion?

Pool. j/k. Spinnerbaits.

I do not have the 6'10 MH, but I do have the 6'6" med fast Midas. I find the rod to be very light and balances extremely well with any reel that I have put on it. It is, in fact, my favourite rod. However, I do use it primarily for jerkbaits and shallow cranks. I have used it for soft plastics and find the senstivity good. I do not know what impact the boron has in the feel of the rod. I have read that boron is a dense material, and if used, is often used sparingly in order to save weight. Depending on the price, I would recommend the 6'6" med fast. I don't know if that helped.

I agree witht he 7' m or mh fast rod in order rip cranks through grass and weeds. I also agree on the faster gear ratio for lipless cranks. In high grass, I found myself cranking too d**n fast with my 5.1 when I tried it for lipless cranks.

I personally do not think you can go wrong with the PQ's. With respect to the rods, what you tend to get as the price increases are decreases in weight and increases in sensitivity. For cranking, which is a reaction technique, the sensitivity is not of utmost importance. However, sensitivity will play a role in your ability to discern the types of cover you are running your crankbait into - weeds, wood, soft muck bottom, etc. Other differences to watch for is the rod material. Glass rods tend to be heavier, but give the moderate action that is often sought after by crankbait fishermen. Graphite blends are often used to decrease weight, while achieving moderate-fast actions. I fish a St. Croix Premier med mod-fast crankbait rod, which has sufficient action for me, while remaining relatively light for a 7' rod. Your best bet would be to go into a BPS, and pick up the rods, throw the reel onto them, and determine if you like the balance, overall weight and feel of the combo. Then determine if the price difference is worth it to you.

I too love the Fuego. I picked up my first before the open water season started here in Canada, and bought my second before the season was up. I find them to be very well designed ergonomically. They fit my hand extremely comfortably. They are nice and light with a nice, all-purpose gear ratio. They are good for slightly heavier weights in my opinion, compared to my Sol, also picked up this year. The Fuego can and will cast lighter baits, but not as well as a reel designed for lighter presentations. At $100, don't hesitate. I got my second, used, for $65!

I have a ton of confidence in the Pumpkinseed lures - in clear water. I like the finish and action and have caught muskie, bass and other pumpkinseed on them. Can be quite an effective lure under the right conditions, and provided that they match the appropriate forage in the body of water you are fishing. In stained or murky waters, I would choose brighter colours. With respect to the comment on them being too realistic and fish targetting prey that look like there is something wrong with them; Does that mean a predator fish will not eat a healthy prey fish? Would not a predator fish determine the state of a fish by the way in which they swim? If so, then the retrieve and variations on the retrieve, bouncing of structure, etc., would be how one would instill the notion of your lure being an injured baitfish. Just my opinion.

Their is a weight difference, carbon fiber handle, foam knobs. Not sure of what else.

I have never had a lot of success on rattle baits. However, I really dislike the clackin rap. I find that it gets hung up extremely easily, and you have to swim it quite fast to get the vibrations going. Just my 2 cents.

From what I understand, the Cayenne and Serrano both use ABEC-5 bearings out of the box. I played with one at a fishing show earlier this year and have to admit that I was very impressed with how light and smooth those reels were. I have read other user's reviews on the Serrano, saying that it was as good as the Daiwa Fuego. So, I believe that is high praise. The only question, really is longevity.

If you are bass fishing, then I think the 300 is overkill. For working heavy cover, you still will not likely need thatm uch line, and teh 200 should be sufficient.

I have caught crappie in a small urban pond on small spinnerbaits, and inline spinners.

d**n your practical advice!!!!! You win this round...

Dumb down? I don't think so. I think it simply provides you with more refinement options for varying situations on the water. You can also get the best of both worlds.

On a bike, the reason the larger gears are harder to turn is due to the mechanical gear ratios. The pedalling gear is being used to turn another gear, and the energy required to turn the gear is based on the ratio of the gears in that case. The thing with a casting reel is, there is a balance between the spool weight and the distance from the axis of rotation at which the force to start the spool in motion is applied. The force required to start the spool in motion is based on the mass of the spool, the radial distance from the axis of rotation, and the static force keeping the spool at rest. From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_around_a_fixed_axis The ratio of torque and angular acceleration (how difficult it is to start, stop, or otherwise change rotation) is given by the moment of inertia. Moment of inertia Increasing the mass increases the moment of inertia, symbolized by I, which is sometimes called the rotational inertia of an object. But the distribution of the mass is more important, i.e. distributing the mass further from the centre of rotation increases the moment of inertia by a greater degree. from the article on Moment of Inertia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_of_inertia The moment of inertia of an object about a given axis describes how difficult it is to change its angular motion about that axis. Therefore, it encompasses not just how much mass the object has overall, but how far each bit of mass is from the axis. The farther out the object's mass is, the more rotational inertia the object has, and the more force is required to change its rotation rate. Therefore, the energy to get your spool spinning is in fact, lower for that same spool, but only half-filled. That is actually why there are brakes on a baitcaster. Once you get your spool started, the brakes on a reel are there to slow down the spool speed to match the speed of the lure in flight. (That is why you get birdsnests with too little braking - the spool spins faster than the lure is taking the line, causing the spool to overrun and tangle). Therefore, once the spool has started spinning, and the lure is in flight, the radius of the spool with line has no impact on the casting distance.

Wouldn't a half full spool have less weight due to the lower mass of line on it, thus requiring less energy to get into motion? The heavier spools have more intertia once in motion and will spin for longer periods. + Shallow spools are often desired for light line applications due to the reduced weights. People who like to use baitcasters for ultralight applications often go for the reels with extremely light spools and the lower energy required to get these spools spinning.