.ghoti.

Zelmo, I have an 852, never fished the 802, so here's my take on it, for what it's worth. Loomis calls the GLX series jig & worm rods. Well, the others in the series may very well be; I don't have personal experience with them, so I can't say. The 852 is NOT a jig or worm rod. Not what I'd call a jig & worm rod. I got mine (the only Loomis rod I have) to be a finesse jig rod. Not enough power and the tip is way to soft to be jig rod, even a finesse jig. Ditto for t-rigged worming. I did however find a place for this rod in my collection. The 852 is an excellent tube rod. I have an R Edition Alphas loaded with #10 mono strapped on mine and it is the best tube and fluke combo I've ever fished. Put that combo in my hands, with an outside weed edge to fish, and I'm a happy guy. As far as the 802 goes, I'd go with the longer rod. But, I haven't fished an 802. If your more interested in short range accuracy, go with the 802. The 852 will give you an edge in distance.

I try to keep it simple. In no particular order; crankbaits jerkbaits spinnerbaits buzzbaits jigs soft plastics

Steve, if I were you, I'd buy one spool first, and give a good on the water test before stocking up. In all the years I've been fishing, I've gotten maybe a dozen spools of really bad line. That's very good by the way. I'm almost 60, and started fishing before I started school. Anyway, every spool of bad line I bought was bought on sale. I'm not saying every spool of clearanced line is going to be bad. Just that every bad spool I've ever had was on clearance. Not trying to whiz in your cheerios buddy. Just passing along my experience.

Shouldn't have checked this out while eating. Anybody know how to get Missouri Hick Sweet & Smoky BBQ sauce out of laptop's keyboard? Carpet does not match the drapes.

Try something besides Vanish. Many people have trouble with it. When cinching down your knot, do it slowly. I mean s-l-o-w-l-y. Try a SD jam knot. That works best for me. FYI, flouro has as much stretch as mono.

The Devil's Spear has good for me. I haven't tried any others, yet.

That's it, precisely.

Al Lindner. Nothing else needs to be said.

I have some of each. Love both the Avid line and the LT. I personally don't see why the LT line is worth fifty to sixty bucks more. While fishing, there's not much difference between them. The only time I would choose an LT over an Avid is to get a particular length, power and action unavailable in the Avid lineup. There are quite a few more models in the LT series. You will not go wrong with either.

One of my best topwater baits is a 3X tube, t-rigged, on a 4/0 EWG hook, with no weight. Not so good in open water, but is deadly in weeds and brush.

Mike, that is not what I would call an equitable division of labor. I get to manage the entire retail section. A lot of work. Kent has to run the whole BBQ operation? Again, a lot of work. And all you have to take care of is the casting couch? I think we should put you in charge of maintenance and custodial. I've seen you cast.

That would be a most interesting experiment. I'll admit to having a lot more confidence in a topwater hardbait with a dressed rear treble. But, all I've ever used is whatever they came with. Some sort of feathers for the most part. If I had to choose, I'd probably go for marabou. Marabou jigs are just what the doctor ordered for cold water, giving some nice subtle movement with very little input from the angler. Might be really good for a popper when worked very slowly. Show us some pics of what you come up with. And post the results, please.

Some thoughts on “balance”. Since there is no way to counter-balance the torque of a moving bait, such as a crankbait or spinnerbait, let’s concentrate on bottom contact baits. First, how do we describe a balanced combo? Most would say that a rod / reel combo is balanced if, when you hold it as you would when fishing, the tip is not being pulled down. What we’re talking about is torque. In this case, the rotational force we feel at our wrists. The most common scale we use is foot-pounds or pound-feet. Take your pick. The result is the product of the two terms. A one pound weight, two feet from the center of rotation produces the same result as a two pound weight, one foot out. So, where’s the center? Depends entirely on how you hold your setup. When I’m fishing a baitcast rig, all four fingers are in front of the trigger. I’ve fished several times with Kent, and he holds his rods completely different. Only his forefinger is in front of the trigger. Who is doing it correctly? I am, of course. And so is he, of course. We are going to experience different balancing torques from the same rod / reel combo. Like the disclaimers all say, your results may vary. Let’s run some numbers, and since I’m a simple-minded sort of guy, let’s use some simple numbers to start with. First determine where the rod balances naturally. That will be our center of rotation. Now suppose we’ve tied a piece of line onto the tiptop guide and tied a weight to the line. We’re working in foot-pounds so let’s use 4oz, or 0.25 pounds. And let’s say we have 8 feet of rod in front of our center of rotation. That gives us 2 foot-pounds of torque. Keeping in mind the way gravity works, the result is valid when the rod is parallel with the ground. How do almost all of hold the rod when fishing jigs or plastics? With the rod pointed up, not parallel with the ground, or with the water surface, is you prefer. Keeping the weight the same, as we move the rod from parallel with the ground towards perpendicular, what is happening? The distance from center is becoming less. The nearer to perpendicular the rod is, the closer to zero the distance becomes. If the rod is pointing straight up, the distance from center is zero and there is no torque. There is however, the weight of the rod, plus the weight of the sinker being pulled straight down. Think about that for a minute, and then tell yourself again how adding weight to balance a rod makes it “feel” lighter. Let’s look at some “real” numbers. My most “out of balance” combo is a 7’6” XH Duckett swimbait rod. With the reel mounted, and me loosely holding it where I hold this one to fish, I measured about 4 ounces of force at the tip. I also measured right at 6.25 feet of rod from the center of my hand/wrist. That gives a torque of 1.5625 ft-lbs when the rod is parallel with the ground. I hold my rods about 10 degrees off perpendicular for some reason. That’s just where it feels right to me. I’ve measured this, as best I can, from some pictures. At 6.25 feet, 10 degrees puts the rod tip about 1.1 feet from center. This gives a torque of 0.275 ft-lbs. Doing the calculations, I’d have to add 3.4 ounces of weight to the butt end of the rod to make it “balance”, in the sense that most people use the term. This rod only weighs a little over four ounces. Let me see, do I want to turn a nice 4 ounce rod into a 7.4 ounce pig of a rod? Or do I think my wrist can stand the incredible strain of 0.275 ft-lbs of torque?

Beer Bait Bullets Babes & BBQ Sounds like a winner to me. Let's open one. I'll take care of the first three, you will be in charge of the last two. We'll franchise, and take over the world. Colonel Sanders, eat your heart out. :D

I think Mark Twain said it best; "golf is a good walk spoiled".

Q. Why do they call it "golf"? A. Because *&$# was already taken.

Now that's low. Even Barney got one bullet. :D

Prednisone is the only thing that has ever worked for me. The over the counter remedies are useless. The old wive's remedies are useless.

Yesterday morning it WAS 38 degrees. Didn't get above 60 all day. The day before was the same. Today is not much better. It has rained nearly every day. Winds have been anywhere from 15 - 30 mph. This is typical weather for mid-Illinois in early April. It is not early April; it's the middle of May. We should be enjoying the finest weather of the year right now, and we're not getting it. Al; buddy, amigo, pal; you know that global warming you invented? Well, it's time to go back to the drawing board, because, ITS' NOT WORKING!!!!

tube

I'm working on, and have almost perfected, a line of terminal tackle. Hooks, weights, split-shot, jigs, jigheads, swivels and snaps; all permanently infused with the scent and flavor of donuts. Nobody can refuse coffee and donuts in the morning, least of all a bass.

Big John, you've now heard several people suggest that it's your technique which is the problem, but no explanations. I'll attempt to offer one. Please don't be offended if I sound simplistic. It's just the way my mind works. Be pedantic comes with the territory when you're dealing with me. :D First, there's nothing wrong with your setup. I use two spinning rods; one with 8lb and one with 6lb; both mono. One rod is a medium power and the other is med-light. No problems with hooksets, and no problems landing the fish. Your MH rod and #10 flouro are more than enough for the task at hand. I'm thinking you have two issues; one the hooks and the other your fighting technique. I'm going to guess you're one of those guys who, when they hook a fish, points the rod straight up and cranks as fast and hard as you can. Well, don't do that. You need to gain line on the fish using the rod, not the reel. Pull back on the rod without reeling. Reel only while moving the rod down, back toward the fish. This needs to be a coordinated effort. You need to reel fast enough, and drop the rod slow enough to maintain a bend in the rod, and thus maintaining tension on the line. It sounds harder than it is. It also harder to explain than to actually do it. If you allow any slack to form, it's all over, more often than not. You don't need braid, it will only make the problem worse. The stretch of mono will actually help with preventing slack while you're getting the hang of this. Now, about the hooks. Try some light wire hooks. Gammy makes nice light wire EWG hooks that I have used for years on my spinning rods. It takes a lot less pressure to get a good hookset with a light wire hook in comparison to a heavy hooks. The really heavy "superline" hooks are out of the question. Trokars are not the answer. I only used them once. I discovered that while they are scary sharp right out of the pack, the points roll over way too easy. Others have reported breakage issues, but I don't use heavy enough line to have experienced that. You hooks need to be scary sharp. If your hook isn't sharp enough to grab your fingernail when dragged across it, dispose of that one and tie on one that is. Hope this helps.

For those dual braking reels, I would start with the centrifugal brakes set three on, three off.Turn the magnetic braking to 5. Set the spool tension so that when you drop the bait, the spool will over-run just a turn or two when it hits the ground. Now try it out, using your thumb at the end of the cast. Start backing off the mags until you get comfortable with them off. When I still had BPS reels with dual braking, I had two on, four off, mags off, and spool set looser than what I described. With a little thumb training that's where you'll end up.I used the magnetics to correct for wind. If I was tossing baits into the wind, I'd turn the mags on. Higher wind, higher setting. That's a very nice little reel. It should be able to toss 3/8oz cranks as far as you want to. A little farther on the 7' rod than the 6'6".

You can do a search on the rods and reels forum and probably find more than you wanted to know. The short answer is grease for gears and drag pads; oil for everything else. Here are a few key points to remember. More is not better. If the gears "look" like they've been greased, you've used too much. One drop of oil per bearing. Do not use grease on the levelwind. Grease will trap dirt and grit, causing undo wear on these components. Unless your reel has spent some time under water, or has been dragged through the muck or sand, leave the IAR bearing alone.