hatrix

I guess it would depend what you were on the charter for. I have only been on a few in my life and it was for walleye when I was young and we caught fish. I would probably never be on one unless it was some ocean type thing maybe looking for marlin or something. Even then nothing is for sure and I am sure they tried there best. Now if I went on one out on Erie for say perch like sooooo many people do and didn't catch any thing then we have a problem. Even walleye you had probably better catch some or you maybe don't belong out there doing charters.

Pop off the retaining clip for the bearing on the side plate. Keep your finger on it by all means. Don't assume its out enough and not hold your finger on it. Trust me on that. There is also a bearing where the tension knob is. That is also help in the same way but I think the clip is from the inside so you have to remove the other plate to get it out. I don't remember right now but you might get lucky and its from the outside. Toss them in some lighter fluid gasoline acetone or whatever and let it soak. If you can shake it around it will help. Any kind of movement will help even if it is just swishing them around. Then stick them on something that will hold it evenly like a pencil or pen and spin them around. I hit mine with a can of air duster and it will blow them dry almost right away. Add 1 drop of some light oil and spin them to work it in and your ready to rock. Some guys i think will do a drop on each side. You can use those tiny screw drivers to get the clip off but I personally use a big safety pin and find it easier although there is really nothing hard about it. Although the tatula does not have it. Reel's have a bearing on the spool shaft and you need a special tool to remove it without bending or damaging it. What works really well is to fill a empty pill bottle part way with your said cleaner and put the side of the spool with the bearing on top. Then just shake it a as much as you can and keep doing it till you think it is good enough. It is not perfect like totally removing it but works very well. Stuff will leak a bit and splash so just a heads up. If my spool has line on it I cover it with electrical tape and let it hang a bit off the edges for a good seal. Then nothing will get on your line and possibly weaken it or just do whatever to it when stuff splashes out.

Personally I have switched my "allegiance" as it may be to Diawa reels. If Tatulas are still out there for $100 that is probably impossible to beat. I think TW still have T3 Ballistica for $100 or whatever it is still. If you don't mind the knobs and all. Even so you can change the handle. If you don't fish a super ton and want to maybe go cheap possibly a Black Max. I actually hooked one up not to long ago since it was just sitting to give it a test. It was better then I had expected thas for sure. It was smooth and casting was very good. Although it was basically new when I got it I tore it down totally and did a full clean before I ever even used it. A new one off the shelf would probably not be accurate as to what I experienced since I correctly oiled and greased it. I do not see the Black Max being a reel you could use for years though unless you just don't fish a bunch or it is used for some really light work. But who really knows what can happen. I will say for $40 or whatever a new one is they will cast a bait and for sure catch some fish.

I have not tried this but so I hear. You can put a snap on your line and then attach a heavy weight to it and let it slide down and hit the bait. I guess it works really well. If not you only lost a snap and a weight trying. Probably need a good sized weight or just anything heavy I would assume. I am sure it does not have to be a fishing weight like a eqq sinker. Even something like a heavy nut or a bunch of big washers could work I would think.

I could of just used a normal weighted hook and been fine I am sure. I was almost force of habit to grab a screw lock and a good majority of my hooks have screw locks any more.

I don't mean the eye should of been more clear. I was talking about the bottom loop from the eye.

So I have converted to this knot from improved clinch recently after watching my brother cast off a fresh out the box S-Waver 200 and then a little later weedless 68. He claims he tied it fine and he is not new so it was a mystery but his line was all coiled where the knot was. Do you guys put it through the eye when you tie it? I have seen it shown both ways and checked videos. I have just been goin through the top loop and had no issue even though I have gone through by the eye also. Does it really matter to much how you do it? So far I have had no trouble only going up top.

I did the same but would only do 2. That's the minimum to make it hold. Now I just tape everything since it doesn't matter. I tape my spool and backing every time now.The uni depends on the line for me but generally 5 or more maybe 4 if the leader is really thick.

Super spook jr I like the 1 knockers

I am not sure who makes them. I have only seen a few pop up for sale but I know they are out there somewhere. They are not going to be cheap either. I don't remember what they go for but they could run like $40-$100 for them. Swimbait forums will maybe be your best bet to find one.

I would just get some of the great copoly lines they have now a days. They really are hard to beat and i don't even bother with much else. They work with any technique and will perform great. If you want super high sensitivity and low stretch find a really dense hard line. But that also has a draw back if things like memory are a issue for you. Find the right line for you and buy the 3k spools. That was one of the best changes I ever made was to stop playing around with 300 or 270 or whatever amont spools come in.

@gulfcaptian there has been duck baits out for a while now. Lots of guys use them. There big with musky guys also. I use to sit on my friends back deck and we would watch musky eat the baby ducks and geese all the time. It might sound mean but it is actually really awesome to watch.

They have those elaztech plastics. You could try those. I don't think they will pull that apart. I tried to use craws once but it didn't work out. I spent what seemed like forever trying to get a weighted screw lock in it. I eventually gave up and have never tried them again.

A 1.5# can eat a creature bait but maybe the water just stinks and is not really good. I take a friends son fishing at there apartment pond. And they are soooo small. I can slay them though on mini sweet beavers. But of I go any bigger at all like a baby D-Bomb I can't catch them. It is only the tiniest bit bigger to. These fish are like 1/4 pound small though. I went out to actually buy stuff to use there when we go. I didn't own any small lures

Lots of people love them. They fish only fenwick casting or spinning and I assume it includes the elite tech. I only know the spinning and its top notch and probably the best you can buy without paying way more. I have a HMG that is fairly new like this year and that's also been nice. It was the M/H and is a strong stiff rod for spinning but handles great for when I need any kind of power with spinning.

I still have tons of RES and KVD squarebills so no real need to buy any more and rarely do I even use baits that small any more. But there was a stretch where I kept getting the shaft like every time it seemed and I got somewhat fed up and finally emailed them. But I never got a response from them. As for the member who got a ton of stuff back thats awesome and probably like it happened for my buddy with Heddon. They ended up sending him a ton of everything they even made. I have some from that right now and i know for sure he has like all of them still. He doesnt even really fish all that much compared to what people do on here he is not even a weekend warrior.

Thats probably true. Also I think you said something about a post I made about a new Trion 30 getting crazy wind knots. That if the ID of the first eye is greater then half the spools OD that will happen. I had never heard or even knew of that. The place I buy a lot of stuff from traded it out for me to the next size up. Voila problem solved. That reel has never had a knot since. I even had them ut the braid that I took off back on the bigger reel and it was a little twisted but brand new. I pretty much always fish it with a swivel generally any ways. Really some where right now there is 2 rigged up I am sure from what ever the last time I used them was. I just tie the swivel on and it can be ready to go if it is not messed up. Some spinning reels always have a swivel on no matter what it is. Thats my little piece of leader from the braid and I will just use a swivel.

Yes a few along with KVD 2.5's I also sent a email after getting 3 bad baits out of the last 5 i bought or whatever it was. They are not super expensive but it wasn't cool any more. I never heard back about it though. Now Heddon though hooked my buddy up. He had a super spook or what ever it was split open on our musky trip and he e-mailed them. They sen't him a box loaded down with all kinds of spooks. He has like spooks for life now.

All that matters in the end is if you enjoy fishing it and are comfortable with it. It also does not hurt to cast far spin easily and be really sensitive but if you dont like it or it does not fit you it wont matter when you pick up something else besides it because it just feels better to you.

I haven't done it in ages really but being snagged with like 50# braid or more I would put my hand in my shirt so it goes up my wrist then wrap it around my wrist and grab it with my hand and pull. You can really exert the most force without having try and grab the line cause it is locked up against your hand and it really is not bad at all and super easy to do. You will have a mark for a bit like if you tighten some rubber bands around you or something but it goes away and is no worry. Now if you try to wrap it around your hand and pull that is where you will have some problems and it could be serious. I am sure almost every had originally tried that before. Once when I was a kid like maybe 8 or 9 I tried to cut mono probably 6 or 8# and i would guess like eagle claw or something with my hands. I wrapped the ends around my index fingers and pulled apart really hard. It just tightened down right through both my index fingers almost to the bones. I also recall my mother being very unhappy when I walked in bleeding all over.

I agree totally that it takes a level of knowledge and dedication to fish for the big ones and actually catch them. Matt had even said that he fishes ponds and it makes no difference where it comes from as big ones are hard to catch no matter where its from. they dont just jump out of the water onto you hook because people never fish there. He also said he will use live bait to get a giant with no qualms about it and catching for crayfish to use has produced tons of nice ones and works great. How ever you can get it short of snagging for them or something is what you might have to do. Also I know your pain on the public lake and park lakes. Some of them are brutal and I know they hold good fish and I have caught some. It the access to places you can get or even can or are allowed to go that can make it super hard. You had better just hope there are some where in the area you are fishing since you cant reach anywhere else. Sometimes its like casting from the bank of a place that is 1000 acres + if they are not there you are just straight up waisting your time. You are probably not going to get to them and had better hope they just find you. Its mostly bobber fishermen or people catfishing. They dont catch bass often and on average the amount of people who actually go there for bass is really low overall. But they can make it hard and I think a lot of it is that bucket. There is a lake by me that used to be pretty good but now it is literally d**n near fished out totally. The amish totally ravaged that placed and its good size. They would fish that place all day every day in monsterous groups and keep any thing they caught no matter what. They dont follow any law or whatever might be in place. They make there own rules i guess and do what they want.

I really am not particular in if they are in lakes or ponds or where ever. I do know though that if you pretty much only fish 1 lake and its all the time then it has some kind of place in your heart and that's like your home turf so you want to win the title for you home team not some visitors team. I understand that probably most people are like that and that makes sense. For me though I am on the hunt and always looking for whatever could be next. There are a places I fish way more then others but they are not my lake or pond even though the lake I fish most is on record according to the parks the best LMB lake they have in this system. I have just seen so many times over the years on here people talking about ponds being super easy to catch big fish and just in general looking down somewhat on them compared to some giant impoundment they fish every day. I would say that is not the case at all and it can go either way with the "difficulty" regardless of size. Also I guess because I am not really home bound it can be more rewarding to catch a nice fish out of a new place or one that has given me trouble even though I know there in there. On lakes you can mark for big ones and know the depth and search for bait and blah blah and eventually develop a system of points to hit just like Tom does his "Milk Runs" I am sure he has it down to a T and his success rate is d**n near as good as you could hope for. I do all that to but not at the same skill level thats for sure. He has been catching big fish for whatever it is 30 years or something thats as long as I have been alive. He was throwing big swimbaits and giant lures im sure before they even existed and were called swimbaits. It is like a accomplishment I guess to check off another spot you got a good one from. I have not really been doing this for long at all though so I have tons of places left to travel and so much more I need to try. Lots of people though are just fine where they are or maybe are already fishing a fantastic place and it is probably the best already so why change anything I guess. Lots of places are a little hike from me and I try to reach out as far as I can. Tomorrow I could find a place that i think would be great. Fix it for days and never really do much then pull a 10# or something like that out of it. I would come back and keep fishing it and it never really take off cause it was a hard spot to begin with. I was in the right place at the right time and had a good enough bait to get bit is all. There is no way of really know what could be in there except from past experience and you don't actually know where they are either. You can make some educated guesses but nothing is for sure. I might of got a 6# under some tree before but really chances are I am fairly unlikely to get it there again. They are only there for a short window of time and other then that your going from past experience there or at other places and what has been good. It seems like ponds are looked down on and somehow a fish from one is lesser. I will admit that you for sure have a better chance to catch a "GIANT" in regards to geography from a pond or something like that then the big lakes. But the bigger waters you have a way better chance of catching quite a few BIG ones in a day. That is usually pretty had to do and there is probably only so many in there to begin with. While it is all done on a "hunch" or whatever you would like to call it. You don't have sonar or sidescan or gps or 15 rods and 20 boxes of tackle and anything under the sun you could need. One of the biggest fish I have actually caught in a while came from a pond That I have hardly caught anything at and I spent a insane amount of time trying with only a couple fish to show for it. It across the street from a friend and and totally covered in weed top to bottom. You can not really fish anything very well there. There is frogs on top of frogs there is so many literally along the shore when you walk up and all the time you see huge blow ups and giant holes open up where it happened or one did happen. No one ever fishes this place for a fact. My brother and I were probably the first people in 10 years and I even talked with a guy who's father actually build the house when he was a kid and dug the pond. I have caught like 5 fish there but they were all generally of good size and have super fat guts like the ate a base ball or bigger. My brother has like 3 or so and about the same but nothing really great like the one I got.the amount of time spent at this place to fish ratio is by far the worst ever of any place I ever fished. I have used everything you could imagine short of throwing dynamite in there cause I want to know what is down there so bad. But they never bite even though they have never seen a lure or had any one even walk up to this pond. The lady is like some recluse and all the windows are blinded up the grass is 4' tall the houses is falling down and there is 2 corvettes and a couple mustangs and a charger sitting up on the drive way rusting away over the years. That doesn't have any thing to do with this but is so weird to me I can picture while i typed this.

I have a friend who bank fishes all the time and some really snaggy places at that. He fishes braid and gets hung all the time even though he knows its there the same places still get him. Its kinda funny. Well he carries some pretty heavy duty gloves just for being hung up or a fish possibly depending on the situation. It is really just for him snagging stuff all the time though. I just think its funny and we kind of have a laugh about it.

Senkos are boring and super slow. throw a drop shot or something instead. Or go with some beaver baits and tubes for plastics. Hollow body frogs and buzz frogs. Maybe a shallow running square bill. Some hollow belly swimbaits and a chatter bait. If it is any good I am sure that stuff will catch something. Also you can do things besides hurry up and wait for your senko to finally hit bottom. That's just me though.

That doesn't have to be true and really is not. A lot of the power of your rod will depend on the line you are using with it. If you have lets say 2 spools with totally different lines at both ends of the spectrum and can basically turn it into 2 different types of rods.