webertime

I've got the car packed, all the rods are rigged and my clothes laid out downstairs for this weekend. My club's "Classic", a 2 day tournament on Champlain starts tomorrow. North winds 15-20mph with 30mph gusts and air temps in the mid 50's... I'm psyched and nervous all at the same time. I love fishing... I love fall... I love the smell of braided line... I love having shredded thumbs on Monday mornings...

All British magazines (music, cycling, fishing, etc) love to randomly throw the eye-candy in there.

They are fantastic rods.

BACKGROUND I purchased a New Shimano Sahara 3000 last spring (ebay so no warranty). I was using it for a good part of the Summer and all was good. Then right about September of last year it started to get noisy, kind of like an old Mitchell 300, and felt "notchy" and a bit sloppy on the retrieve and a bit sloppy when wiggling the reel handle. I took off the side plate and lubed it and inspected the gears for wear, I did not disassemble anymore than taking off the spool, handle and side plate. I noticed nothing that would indicate wear and put her back together. It felt the same as before. This year I have used it sparingly, I actually let a buddy use it for the last 2 months he fished it MAYBE 5 times. When I got it back he mentioned how bad it felt. I fished it this weekend for 2 tournaments and it was locking up briefly on 99% of all retrieves, including one with a 4.3lb Smallie on the end of the line. A quick grab and jiggle of the handle where it goes into the body and it was good to go for a few revolutions then I would have to repeat. Obviously something in the alignment of the gears is very off. Would having this reel rebuilt/overhauled be able to allieviate the binding? Once the allignment of a spinning reel is thrown off is it just a goner? Or is it a case of lots of parts needing to be replaced to do it properly and to just write it off? I really liked the reel when it worked and would not like to go out and get another reel, especially this late in the season and I don't have to if this can be fixed. Thanks for all advice and taking a look.

I fished 2 tournaments this weekend, of the 10 fish I weighed in 9 were caught on a Fat Ika, of those 9 the 4 largest (4.3-3.5lbs Smallies) were caught with the Ika dragging along the bottom at .5mph or less according the GPS. There was barely a breeze and we just tossed them out there and twitched them a bit once they hit bottom (12-20 fow) then for all intents and purposes ignored them. I was culling when the 4.3 smashed it and I am 99% sure we weren't even moving and hadn't in some time. Just goes to show you can never fish too slow...

I just fished all weekend with a guy that pulls a 20' Stratos with a '00 Toyota 4 Runner V6 (3.4liter). We actually talked about it and he said he has no problems with it at all in hilly Vermont.

Larger Mepps XD spinners. Cast upstream, retrieve slightly faster than the current. Let it get past you and bring it back up stream to you. Basically a big "J". Try to orient yourself where the change of direction is just behind a boulder/rock or other cover.

Red, sign up for the American Legacy newsletter and get the $25 off code. 51's are $100, 50's are $115.

Fish, like all living creatures have reactions to trauma. Some just get angry/defensive, some go into shock, some die. You very well could have severed something but it could be this fish just had an extreme reaction to the hookset and died. I've seen more Smallies than I'd like to get tongue hooked and die. No damage to the gills/gut,/skull/etc. just a hook in the tongue and they die, just an odd reaction to what one would think isn't that traumatic of an injury/wound. That our you need to lay off the Juice with your hooksets

I've used these, they have a gritty side and it's an incredibly fast job to clean 5-10 rods. http://www.lysol.com/cleaning-products/disinfecting-wipes/dual-action-disinfecting-wipes

Spinning are still their regular $49.99.

MBM. Go to American Legacy Fishing Company's website and sign up for their email newsletter and get a $25 off code. They have Curado E's for $125, so they'd be $100+shipping from there. That leaves $125-$140 for a rod. You could get a clearence Crucial from them or a Veritas or a Powell or a Dobyns Savvy or a Loomis GL2, there are a ton of awesome rods in that range.

I don't think it has any effect on them at all. My brother is a trout guide and one of his "personal" spots is a river that runs through a firing range/National Guard training facility where they drop/shoot/practice with and develope all sorts of weapons (F-16's dropping 500lbers, Barrett 50 cal., General Dynamics testing new 20mm guns for aircraft). He's pulled some huge trout out of there. I was fishing this weekend at a local pond and a property owner was using a chainsaw to clear trees that had been blown down in all the recent bad weather. A few were half in the water and rather large, he was sawing away and the water was showing the vibrations from the saw, and boy was it loud! This went on for an hour. I pulled a nice 4.5lber out of 3fow about 25' from the vibrating tree.

1-1/0 Gammy's here. 1/0's 95% of the time.

Stocked Lake Browns look like Landlocked Salmon, IE not that goldish brown color you think of in wild/river run Browns. A Hudd in Phantom Holdover, or the regular old silver with some creative shapie-ing will get you a pretty close match. Don't over think the matching the hatch philosophy though.

I use the 6" Weedless Hudd (ROF 5 and 12). Deep pretty much nailed it with the retrieve, etc. The waters I use mine in don't have trout either and I have had the most success with the Golden Shiner and Perch colored baits. HOLD ON!!! Short of some big Northerns, the Largemouths that I have caught on the Hudds have been the hardest hits I've ever felt. I've had the best luck with a Sweep (albeit strong) hookset. I've also rigged stingers on the Weedless Hudds (treble in the butt) and it's had no effect on the action of the bait. The Phantom ones tend to not have the most durable paint/markings, my Phantom Perch turned into a fish shaped Heineken bottle after a couple weeks. I was able to fix it with some Spike It markers and a black sharpie. Get a bottle of mend-it to repair the inevitable holes/tears that can happen with this bait. Mattlure Perch is also a GREAT soft swimbait.

I have the same issue with my Curado 51E. Shimano said to send it back.

Pretty common with plenty of reason. Bait/food movement, wind change, barometric pressure change, you stung most of the fish and they are a bit sore . If it rains a lot and cools off or muddies the water...

Rooster nailed it. My Sahara binds and is really frustrating. My pflueger supreme xt (30) is amazing, although the Sahara's drag is nicer.

Basically the storms were a fast forward button. The Champlain fish are on their fall gorging as of about 2 weeks ago. Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and Ikas.

I had it all over my fingers and reached in my pocket for my phone... Got it in the ear an mouth openings as well as all over the touch screen. Took a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time to get rid of the stink.

If the UPC on the package is the same then they are the same, if not then they are Wallyworld specials. Wallyworld is notorious for doing this with small appliances (coffee makers, microwaves, blenders,etc.)

Just got off the phone with Fenwick. They are available now (all Spinning). PM me if you have a question, I think I have the same arrangement as you.

Last October my buddy and I were flipping docks and wood. My buddy got whacked and flipped this pig into the boat (15"). We sat there sort of stunned and laughed a bit. It smashed a 1/2oz Jig/Paca chunk. For some reason it will not allow me to upload a the picture... Think of a wicked bright Walleye.

I got a bunch of Charturuse tungsten weights and I sprayed them a nice flat black. A few THIN coats about 30 min between coats and you're done.